Books

2006 Christianity Today Book Awards

Out of 37 publishers and 240 titles, our judges selected 22 of this year’s best books.

This year, 37 publishers nominated 240 titles. CT staff selected the top books in each category, and then panels of judges (one panel for each category) voted. In the end, we chose 22 titles that bring understanding to people, events, and ideas that shape evangelical life, thought, and mission. Selections of our judges' comments follow the titles of the winners.

APOLOGETICS/EVANGELISM Is Jesus The Only Savior? James R. Edwards (Eerdmans) Just the right book to speak to those in the church who find it hard, if not impossible, to reconcile their faith in one who claimed to be the only begotten Son of God with their (often unconscious) cultural commitment to relativism, pluralism, and multiculturalism. A book that will also speak to skeptics and seekers who are drawn to Christ.

BIBLICAL STUDIES Dictionary For Theological Interpretation Of The Bible Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Craig G. Bartholomew, Daniel J. Treier, and N.T. Wright, eds. (Baker Academic) A landmark volume for the church's engagement with Scripture. It will be a basic resource on the role and use of the Bible.

CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURE Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton (Oxford) A masterful, scholarly study of spirituality. What American youth mostly hold to—what Smith and Denton call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism—is, sadly, a long way from full-blooded, traditional Christian faith.

Christian Living The Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World? Ronald J. Sider (Baker) A strongly biblical, unflinching, thoughtful assessment of the attitudes and practices of self-identified evangelicals relative to American culture at large.

The Church/Pastoral Leadership The Art And Craft Of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today's Communicators Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson, eds. (Zondervan) A significant undertaking. The variety of voice is especially valuable. A good encyclopedic reference with fresh perspective.

Fiction This Heavy Silence Nicole Mazzarella (Paraclete) Nuanced characterization, finely wrought scene-setting, subtlety in addressing questions of faith, repentance, and forgiveness. Mazzarella appreciates the ways that decent, hardworking, righteous people can be tempted to go astray. Her characters are developed masterfully, and her prose style is both beautiful and precise.

History/Biography The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis Alan Jacobs (HarperSanFrancisco) If you want to read just one book about C. S. Lewis, this is it. A deeply insightful yet broadly accessible intellectual biography, written in an engaging voice.

Missions/Global Affairs Contextualization In The New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission Dean E. Flemming (IVP) Rooted in the primary source, the Bible, this book is useful whatever the culture and will be into the coming decades.

SPIRITUALITY Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology Eugene H. Peterson (Eerdmans) Authoritative, vital, timely, scriptural, and urgently spiritual. Oh, that worldwide Christianity would borrow a page, if not entire chapters, from this uncompromising thesis on what it means to let God play out his life through his broken people and their redemptive communities of faith.

THEOLOGY/ETHICS The Drama Of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Westminster John Knox) A substantial contribution to contemporary evangelical theological method. Erudite and creative, it does not cover old ground. Will stimulate thought and discussion about difficult questions and possible solutions to thorny theological problems for a long time.

Awards of Merit

APOLOGETICS/EVANGELISM So Much More: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality Debra Rienstra (Jossey-Bass)

BIBLICAL STUDIES The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture N. T. Wright (HarperSanFrancisco)

CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURE America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity Robert Wuthnow (Princeton)

CHRISTIAN LIVING (tie) Finding Our Way Home: Turning Back to What Matters Most Mark R. McMinn (Jossey-Bass) Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity Lauren F. Winner (Brazos)

THE CHURCH/PASTORAL LEADERSHIP Ministry In the Image Of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service Stephen Seamands (IVP)

FICTION Startling Joy: Seven Magical Stories of Christmas James Calvin Schaap (Revell)

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY (tie) The Victory Of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success Rodney Stark (Random House) Why Study the Past? The Quest for the Historical Church Rowan Williams (Eerdmans)

MISSIONS/GLOBAL AFFAIRS The Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends Michael Pocock, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell, eds. (Baker Academic)

SPIRITUALITY Born Again and Again: Surprising Gifts of a Fundamentalist Childhood Jon M. Sweeney (Paraclete)

THEOLOGY/ETHICS Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom (Baker Academic)

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

See our earlier book awards for 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997, as well as our Books of the Twentieth Century.

Is Jesus the Only Savior? is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Eerdmans.

Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Baker Academic.

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

Books & Culture interviewed Christian Smith about his book.

CT columnist Andy Crouch commented on the book.

More information is available from Oxford University Press.

The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

CT interviewed Sider about the book.

Books & Culture excerpted the book.

More information is available from Baker.

The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Zondervan.

Leadership Journal reviewed the book.

This Heavy Silence is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Paraclete Press.

The Narnian is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Christianity Today excerpted the book.

More information is available from HarperSanFrancisco.

Contextualization in the New Testament is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from InterVarsity Press.

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Books & Culture reviewed the book.

CT interviewed Eugene Peterson when the book was published.

More information is available from Eerdmans.

The Drama of Doctrine is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Westminster John Knox.

So Much More is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Jossey-Bass.

The Last Word is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from HarperSanFrancisco.

America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

An excerpt from the book is available on our website.

Mark Noll reviewed the book.

More information, including the introduction, is available from Princeton Press.

Finding Our Way Back Home is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Jossey-Bass.

Real Sex is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Our sister publication, Books & Culture, reviewed Real Sex .

An excerpt of the book is available on our site.

Ministry in the Image of God is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from InterVarsity Press.

Startling Joy is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

An excerpt is available on our site.

More information is available from Revell.

The Victory of Reason is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Random House.

Christianity Today reviewed the book.

Why Study the Past? is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

CT reviewed the book.

More information is available from Eerdmans.

The Changing Face of World Missions is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

CT interviewed one of the authors of the book.

More information is available from Baker Academic.

Born Again and Again is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Books & Culture reviewed the book.

More information is available from Paraclete.

Is the Reformation Over? is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Christian History & Biography reviewed the book.

Books & Culture excerpted the book.

More information is available from Baker Academic.

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