Books

Wilson’s Bookmarks

From the editor of Books & Culture.

Reading For Preaching

Cornelius Plantinga Jr. (Eerdmans)

For gists and piths, you won't find a better book than this one, which grew out of a series of summer seminars for preachers that Plantinga has led at Calvin College since 2003. Anyone who works with words—not preachers only—will find instruction and delight here. Reading for Preaching is a marvel of concision, blunt good sense, sharp insight, and intellectual generosity. Buy one for yourself and one for your pastor. (If you are a pastor, buy a second copy for a friend in the pulpit.)

A Curious Madness

Eric Jaffe (Scribner)

The combat psychiatrist in question, Major Daniel S. Jaffe, was the author's grandfather. The war crimes suspect was Okawa Shumei, neither a military officer nor a government official but a writer and speaker whose ideas helped to lead Japan into war. Starting with the moment at the 1946 Tokyo counterpart to the Nuremberg trials that brought the two men into contact, Jaffe skillfully shifts back and forth between their stories while filling in the historical context. His narrative is fascinating on multiple levels—not least for a Japanese perspective on the war.

The Collected Poems of Denise Levertov

Edited by Paul A. Lacey (New Directions)

For your poetry-loving friend, this massive volume (with an introduction by poet Eavan Boland) would provide a yearlong feast. Born in England, Levertov (1925–97) came to the United States in her 20s and became one of the leading American poets of her generation. She lost some readers and gained new ones when she took a fiercely political turn in the 1960s. With the arc of her career laid out for us, it becomes clearer than ever before that she was fundamentally a religious poet whose work culminated in a deeply Christian vision.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries

What 'House of Cards' Gets Right About Staying in Politics

Reply All

New & Noteworthy Books

Who Owns the Pastor's Sermon?

Excerpt

The Right Way to Give Someone a Blessing

Testimony

Christ Called Me Off the Minaret

The Foreign Policy Mission of American Evangelicals

Review

Tim Keller on Enduring Suffering Without Losing Hope

The Dark-Tinted, Truth-Filled Reading List We Owe Our Kids

Hummus and the Holy Spirit

News

Gleanings: January/February 2014

Why We're Losing the War on Poverty

News

Why Egypt's Christian Families Are Paying Ransoms

Editorial

The Problem with the Fetal Pain Abortion Bans

News

Will the Supreme Court Pop Abortion Clinic Bubbles?

Shelter From the Storm

When God Wears a Costume

Three Views: Is the $17 Trillion Federal Debt Immoral?

Our Position on Missionaries

News

What Happens When Schools Cut Denominational Ties

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Jesus Is More All Right with Jews

Review

Where Heaven and Nature Sing

News

Should Christians Read Through the Entire Bible in One Year?

The 2014 Christianity Today Book Awards

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