War is “entirely incompatible with the spirit and teaching of Jesus,” argues pastor Daniel (Thoughtful Christianity) in this timely manifesto. He contends that a society-wide epidemic of “loneliness and fear” has driven American Christian communities toward an idolatrous worship of the nation and its “weapons of war.” This not only contradicts Christianity’s core command to love one’s neighbor, it’s also illogical, he writes, since history shows that wars generally beget endless cycles of violence, that the presence of a robust military fails to deter other countries from starting conflicts, and that crimes against humanity are committed by the same countries that purport to prevent such atrocities. (Further, he argues that the money spent on the military would do much more social good if allocated toward alleviating problems like homelessness.) With this in mind, he puts forth a philosophy that centers grace, advocating for peaceful solutions to global conflicts, and communities that prioritize connection and inclusion. The author effectively balances his optimistic vision for a peaceful world with a clear-eyed look at how the church has historically aligned itself with empire in ways that contradict its foundational philosophy (“For most of its history the church has not been the siblings Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, leading their people to freedom, it has been the enslaving pharaohs”). Christian pacifists will find much to chew on here. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

Fields (When Faith Disappoints), CEO of the Jude 3 Project, an apologetics organization, outlines in this flimsy guide how to recover from betrayal at the hands of a pastor, parent, or other person one looks up to. She argues that putting such “heroes” on a pedestal obscures their weaknesses, suggesting that readers embrace a more “nuanced” view that acknowledges their flaws along with the ways God has used them to “do good in your life.” Readers are advised to grapple with the pain of betrayal through therapy, journaling, and community support; work to extend forgiveness to the person in question; and pray for their redemption or, when appropriate, “check in regularly as we gently and humbly point them back to God.” Believers are also reminded to strengthen their faith and look to Jesus for wisdom rather than placing too much stock in inherently fallible human leaders. Unfortunately, much of the author’s argument feels familiar, and she bolsters it with odd examples (ranging from Sean “Diddy” Combs to King David) and questionable suggested practices like fasting to help the fallen hero work toward redemption. Hurt believers would be better served elsewhere. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

“The Bible was inspired for us, [but] it’s not directly addressed to us,” argues pastor Ollerton (The Bible: A Story that Makes Sense of Life) in this comprehensive reassessment of core scriptural issues. Employing a nonliteralist lens, he surveys seven topics. These include how life on earth began, which he argues need not be a matter of debunking the creation story, as it’s less an objective report than a means of explaining, in a faith-centered way, “the origin and purpose of everything.” Instead, he invites readers to find God in the “unimaginably precise” conditions necessary for life to emerge. Elsewhere, he tackles the age-old conundrum of why God allows suffering, writing that God didn’t create evil, but can “bring good out of it” in ways that are unknowable within finite human lifespans. Despite a few ill-fitting elements, including the letters addressed to his children that conclude each chapter, Ollerton offers balanced, thorough takes on difficult scriptural issues and generally resists pat explanations in favor of leaving things open-ended. Curious Christians, especially young people, will get a lot out of this. (June)

Reviewed on 04/03/2026 | Details & Permalink

“Today’s athletes are doing more than thanking God in postgame interviews,” writes sports journalist Eubanks (All American) in this scattershot polemic. “They are changing the culture of teams, leagues, sports, communities, and nations.” Eubanks begins by celebrating high school football coach Joe Kennedy, who was disciplined in 2015 by his school district in Washington State for leading prayers at midfield but vindicated in 2022 when the Supreme Court deemed his prayers protected speech. For Eubanks, this signals a welcome thinning of “the wall separating church and state,” fueled in no small part by the rise of “sports-driven evangelism” that finds athletes using their platforms to praise God and coaches leading prayers in locker rooms and on sidelines. The movement has emerged at a moment when trust in institutional churches has plummeted to historic lows, putting athletes in a unique position to organically spread their faith to fans, especially young men, who now outnumber women in identifying as Christian. The author sees this “revival” as an antidote to a secular culture rife with sin and starved of positive Christian American values. Unfortunately, most of the account is spent scare-mongering about everything from “goat-headed statues of Satan” on U.S. state capitol grounds to the supposed proliferation of “drag queen story hours” in schools, leaving little room for Eubanks to develop his thesis about athletes and Christianity in depth. This misses the mark. (June)

Reviewed on 04/03/2026 | Details & Permalink

Country music artist Wilson (My Jesus) issues a strident call for readers to “speak up and speak out” for Christ. Noting that Jesus was a rebel of his time who defied conventions by associating with social pariahs and flouting laws to spread his message, Wilson calls on readers to use his example as inspiration to stand up for godly principles. On a broad scale, that means finding meaning in Christ rather than in fame or money, while on a day-to-day basis readers can choose to dress modestly, avoid cursing, and stand up for political causes that reflect traditional Christian teachings. Throughout, the author memorably chronicles how she’s gone against the grain by spreading her faith through her music even when it meant defying industry conventions, and reflects on grieving the death of her brother as a teen. While Wilson’s passion is undeniable, her message often gets lost in hyperbolic warnings about Christianity being “under attack across the globe” and odd interpretations of what it means to “speak up” for God, as when she implores readers to be “ready to lay it all down for Jesus the way Charlie Kirk did.” This is best suited for conservative believers already in agreement with Wilson’s views. (June)

Reviewed on 04/03/2026 | Details & Permalink

The women of scripture can serve as valuable examples for those enduring motherhood’s trials, according to this cheery collection of parenting advice. Old Ladies Know Stuff podcaster Stoppe (The Marriage Mentor) unpacks what readers can learn from a pantheon of biblical moms, such as Mary, whose strength in the face of communal judgment after she announced her immaculate pregnancy reminds believers that parenting difficulties can spur godly growth, and Esther, whose integrity and bravery in the face of danger may have rubbed off on her stepson Ataxerxes, who exhibited notable “compassion for the Hebrew people” during his rule. Examples not to follow include Lot’s wife, whose disregard of angels’ warnings to escape Sodom without looking back reminds readers to “trust God through the ups and downs of life” and thereby set a positive example for their children. While the biblical analyses can feel forced, the author weaves in valuable parenting wisdom of her own, like being honest when one doesn’t know the answers to their kids’ questions and realizing that less is more when it comes to parental advice. The result is an earnest and upbeat, if somewhat familiar, set of reassurances for moms of faith. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Therapist Collins (A Couple’s Guide to Sexual Addiction) chronicles in this candid memoir her long, rocky relationship with Tibetan Buddhism. After her marriage fell apart when she was 26, the author became interested in meditation, seeing in it a “way out” of the mental suffering that had long plagued her. At 34, she visited a friend at a Tibetan monastery on the Hudson River in Upstate New York and wound up staying for five years, drawn to the sense of security provided by the program and its spiritual teachers. Eager to become “the best student ever,” she threw herself into Buddhist practice, even as she recognized how it sparked an unhealthy sense of competition with other participants. After taking vows to become a nun, she embarked on a three-year retreat where participants engaged in rigorous, painful practices like sleeping cross-legged in a three-square-foot meditation box. But in her attempts to “pretzel myself into some version of an ideal nun,” she slowly came to realize she’d paradoxically rejected the central tenet of Buddhism—namely, that one must find acceptance in oneself rather than in external approval—and left the monastery. In lucid prose, Collins acknowledges the beauty of Buddhism while emphasizing the flexibility of a spiritual tradition where pursuing awakening can mean turning away from institutional practice. It’s a frank, refreshingly nontraditional take on what spiritual growth looks like. (May)

Reviewed on 03/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this pugnacious exposé, Hall (Laughing at the Devil), an associate professor at Duke Divinity School, incisively explores the evolution and influence of a form of Christian nationalism that blends “faith, masculinity, capitalism and political power under the guise of moral leadership.” She traces the roots of this “muscular Christianity” to the mid-19th century, when Victorian cleric Charles Kingsley drew on Darwinism and Christian providentialism to explain how the “survival of the fittest” was ordained by God. The ideology gained ground in early 20th-century America, informing the ethos of elite institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation and later spreading into the evangelical mainstream. Hall scrutinizes how muscular Christianity animates today’s hypermasculine evangelical subcultures, including so-called “cowboy” and “fight club” churches that combine faith principles with a “tough-guy” ethos, as well as networks like “the Family,” a secretive organization that leverages its ties in business, academia, and politics to promote a conservative religious agenda. Despite sometimes getting lost in the weeds (with lengthy descriptions, for example, of popular gatherings held by organizations with Christian nationalist values), Hall persuasively reveals how muscular Christianity has remade the American religious landscape in ways both overt and subtle. Readers will find much to chew on. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly), a professor of creative writing at Seattle Pacific University, explores in this affecting memoir how movies have shaped his faith. Though he grew up in a strict Baptist church that warned against “worldly preoccupations” (cinema doors were gateways “through which the devil would lure people away from the safety of Christian communities”), he found in trips to the theater new ways of seeing the joys and brokenness of a morally complex world. Among the films discussed are Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, which recalls the biblical command to seek justice for the less privileged and revealed to the author how life “looked like a five-alarm fire through the eyes of a Black American artist,” and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, in which the efforts of Robin Williams’s Mr. Keating to mentor his students out of “society’s narrow definition of success” and embrace art and imagination makes him an “imitation of Christ.” Overstreet’s graceful prose amplifies his resonant defense of art as a vehicle through which believers can construct a more flexible, complex, and rewarding relationship with God. Readers will be left with a richer understanding of both film and faith. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Georgia senator Warnock (A Way Out of No Way) lays out a persuasive Christian case for reforming an America divided by cynicism, inequality, and disconnection. He finds the antidote in the biblical book of Isaiah, where God assures the exiled people of Israel that “every mountain and hill shall be brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth”—a “bold reimagining,” in Warnock’s view, of a more equitable society. He applies this philosophy to six of America’s most pressing issues, including mass incarceration, which perpetuates profound racial and financial inequality, and, according to the author, should be reformed with initiatives that enable “the uplift of all citizens” and laws like 2018’s First Step Act, which improved prison conditions and implemented fairer sentencing practices. Also considered is the epidemic of gun violence, which Warnock argues must be tackled with federal background checks and laws limiting the power of the gun lobby, a system of “legalized bribery” that blocks commonsense reforms supported by most Americans. While there’s not much here in the way of actionable steps for readers to take, Warnock’s view of the current state of the country is both clear-eyed and refreshingly optimistic. It’s a clarion call for a fairer America that speaks to the urgency of the moment. (June)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink