Prophetic Evangelicals:
Envisioning a Just and Peaceable Kingdom Edited by Bruce Ellis Benson, Malinda Elizabeth Berry, and Peter Goodwin Heltzel (Eerdmans)
Evangelicals tend to reinvent themselves. The authors of this book are no exception. Unlike presumably Western, white, patriarchal, pietistic evangelicals, these “prophetic evangelicals” follow the shalom politics of Jewish prophet Jesus; emphasize deeds—”neighbor love, hospitality to the stranger, and the ministry of peace and justice”—over creeds; conceive of the church as mission more than polis; and envision a new social order, inspired by the abolitionist and civil rights movements, that challenges empire. Their minority report may be commended for its improvisational interpretation of Scripture and confession of Christian culpability in historic cruelties, but it goes overboard in its activism, reducing the biblical religion to a justice movement.—Christopher Benson
The Explicit Gospel:
Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson (Crossway) Nicholas Holtam (National Gallery Company)
In his debut book, popular Dallas pastor Matt Chandler reaches out to those weaned on what Reformed theologian Michael Horton once called “Christless Christianity”: the man-centered, semi-Pelagian, therapeutic pseudoreligion all too prevalent in contemporary evangelical churches. Shunning this false gospel of self-improvement starring Jesus as life coach, Chandler walks readers through the “gospel on the ground” (God’s work to redeem sinners) and the “gospel in the air” (God’s work to restore the entire cosmos).—Matt Reynolds
Winning the Food Fight:
Victory in the Physical and Spiritual Battle for Good Food and a Healthy Lifestyle Steve Willis with Ken Walker (Regal)Pastor Steve Willis took it as a sign from God when celebrity chef Jamie Oliver brought his “Food Revolution” to Willis’s small West Virginia community—one of the poorest and fattest in the nation. Faith-based diet books are nothing new for American evangelicals, but Willis breaks new ground by making the connection between poverty and obesity (as well as the unbalanced farm subsidies that make chips cheaper per calorie than carrots), and aiming more deliberately at masculine readers (he narrates a “battle” with 12 “rounds” in place of chapters).—Rachel Stone
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Related Elsewhere:
Prophetic Evangelicals, The Explicit Gospel, and Winning the Food Fight are available from Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, and other retailers.
