This season, theologians and historians continue to rethink the lives and legacies of Biblical figures, including Moses and the women of the Bible. And many authors recommend an inward turn, closer listening, and a more open spirituality in response to worries about partisanship.
Chasing Vines: Finding Your Way to an Immensely Fruitful Life
Beth Moore. Tyndale Momentum, Feb. 4
Bible teacher Moore uses the cultivation of grapevines as a metaphor for living a fruitful and meaningful life.
Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You
Jen Hatmaker. Thomas Nelson, Apr. 21
Bestselling author and speaker Hatmaker helps Christians go beyond people pleasing with five self-reflective categories—who I am, what I need, what I want, what I believe, and how I connect—to help readers think about their identities, convictions, and communities.
For All Who Hunger: Searching for Communion in a Shattered World
Emily M.D. Scott. Convergent, May 12
Scott, founder of St. Lydia’s Dinner Church in Brooklyn, explores the success of her congregation, which is based on providing meals to congregants and a focus on social activism.
Grace from the Rubble: Two Fathers’ Road to Reconciliation After the Oklahoma City Bombing
Jeanne Bishop. Zondervan, Apr. 14
Bishop, a public defender, tells the powerful tale of how the father of a young woman killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the father of her killer found an unlikely friendship and forgiveness.
Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife
Bart D. Ehrman. Simon & Schuster, Mar. 31
Bestselling historian Ehrman considers the core theological questions of where the ideas of heaven and hell came from and why they endure. He analyzes the early history of conceptions of the afterlife, including The Epic of Gilgamesh and the teachings of Jesus and his early followers.
How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life
Craig and Devon Hase. Shambhala, Apr. 21
Married Buddhists Craid and Devon Hase, cofounders of SATI Mindfulness, provide candid, Buddhism-inspired advice for staying grounded in a chaotic world.
Moses: A Human Life
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. Yale Univ., Mar. 17
Biblical scholar Zornberg teases out Moses’s inner life and character by drawing on a broad, eclectic array of sources, including works by George Eliot, Werner Herzog, and W.G. Sebald.
Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest
David Bentley Hart. Univ. of Notre Dame, Apr. 5
Theologian Hart reflects on the state of theology “at the borders” of other fields of discourse—including metaphysics, philosophy of mind, science, the arts, ethics, and biblical hermeneutics—in this manifesto on the manner in which theology should engage other fields of scholarship.
The Way of Gratitude: A New Spirituality for Today
Galen Guengerich. Random House, May 26
Unitarian minister Guengerich argues that transcendence is not limited to an experience of God but can be reached through the ability of gratitude to take someone to a greater awareness.
You Are Enough: Revealing the Soul to Discover Your Power, Potential, and Possibility
Panache Desai. HarperOne, Feb. 25
Desai, featured guest on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday podcast, helps readers overcome anxiety and become one with “the life source” through grappling with one’s personal narrative.
