Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. Schocken, $28.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-8052-4304-8
Also known as Bamidbar, which is Hebrew for in the wilderness (hence the title Bewilderments), the Bible’s book of Numbers may seem an assortment of stories and legal texts. Zornberg, however, argues that it coheres as the story of a tragedy. Her grasp of the rabbinic interpretations of the text (as well as Jewish philosophy generally) is masterful.
Wrestling With God: Stories of Doubt and Faith
Barbara Falconer Newhall. Patheos
(patheos.com), $14.95 trade paper (235p) ISBN 978-1-939221-25-4
Longtime reporter Newhall takes the reader on a wild and wonderful ride, with sixteen individuals she interviewed who talk about their faith in their own words. Though she suggests she hasn't been struck by any thunderbolts of revelation in her life, Newhall has an uncanny way of shaping a story that engages seekers of a higher power.
Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy
Donald Miller. Thomas Nelson, $19.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-7852-1318-5
More than five years after his last book, Miller returns to his brand of telling it like it is—this time about relationships. In a conversational tone, he discloses thoughts about intimacy and how to find it by taking off the masks that hide our true selves.
Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ
J. Todd Billings. Brazos, $18.99 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-58743-358-0
In 2012, at age 39, seminary professor and minister Billings was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Along with disclosing his wrenching questions, fears, and hopes, Billings explores “the ways in which God’s story intersects with the cancer story.” His poignant insight into the role of lament in faithful Christian living makes this a work of both astute scholarship and powerful testimony.
