Christian Belief

Janet Kellogg Ray is an enthusiastic science educator who blogs at JanetKRay.com on the intersections of science, faith, and culture. Raised a creationist, she is uniquely equipped to explain evolution to questioners, doubters, deniers, and those who just want to know more about the science of origins.

James V. Brownson is the James and Jean Cook Professor of New Testament at Western eological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. He is also the author of Bible, Gender, Sexuality and e Promise of Baptism. The Bible and Modern Science and the Trouble of Making It All Fit Janet Kellogg Ray

Foreword by Deborah Haarsma A scienti c look at creationism om a former creationist

A signi cant number of Americans, especially evangelical Christians, believe Earth and humankind were created in their present form sometime in the last 10,000 years or so—the rationale being that this is (presumably) the story told in the book of Genesis. Within that group, any threatening scienti c evidence that suggests otherwise is rejected or, when possible, retro ed into a creationist worldview.

But can this uncomfortable blend of biblical literalism and pseudoscience hold up under scrutiny? Is it tenable to believe that the Grand Canyon was formed not millions of years ago by gradual erosion but merely thousands of years ago by the Great Flood? Were there really baby dinosaurs with Noah on his ark?

Janet Kellogg Ray, a science educator who grew up a creationist, doesn’t want other Christians to have to do the exhausting mental gymnastics she did earlier in her life. Working through the ndings of a range of elds including geology, paleontology, and biology, she shows how a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis simply doesn’t mesh with what we know to be reality. But as someone who remains a commi ed Christian, Ray also shows how an acceptance of the theory of evolution is not necessarily an acceptance of atheism, and how God can still be responsible for having created the world, even if it wasn’t in a single, momentary, miraculous event. mentary, miraculous event.

“ is is a well-wri en, insightful, and accessible book with pitch-perfect and well-balanced tone. I couldn’t help but to be drawn into the stories that punctuated the treatment.” — JOHN H. WALTON

Wheaton College

“If you are . . . wondering if there is any way that Christian faith and evidence-based science can work together, Janet Ray is an able guide. She is a biology teacher and a Christ-follower who invites you to walk alongside her in her journey and provides an engaging overview of the views, evidence, and arguments on origins science.”

— DEBO H HAARSMA

from the foreword

978-0-8028-7944-8 | Paperback | 229 pages | $17.99 US | $23.99 CAN | £13.99 UK | Available September 2021

Questions Christians Aren’t Supposed to Ask

James V. Brownson

Why should anyone believe in God in a world with so much pain? Why should I become a Christian when I nd the public agenda of many Christians so o ensive? I have been hurt by the church in the past. Why should I bother with it now? Most Christians have found themselves in conversations with nonbelieving friends and family where these kinds of questions have come up. In fact, most Christians have probably found themselves asking these questions too. But everyone who has ever wondered about such complicated things knows that this is dangerous territory—a er all, what if there’s no easy answer? is book welcomes and encourages these questions that Christians “aren’t supposed to ask.” In each chapter, James Brownson introduces a particular question and then reframes it with a relevant passage from the Bible, bringing to bear his expertise as a biblical scholar. Rather than providing dogmatic (and ultimately unsatisfying) “Sunday school answers,” he explores the questions in provocative ways that o en challenge the status quo of American Christianity. Fi ingly, each chapter closes with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading, so that the conversations begun here can continue among the book’s readers in fruitful ways.

“Jim Brownson is one of the most important biblical scholars writing today, and in this book, he lends his theological expertise to a variety of contemporary issues that o en prove to be stumbling blocks for young people and others wrestling with doubts about Christianity. From the problems of hypocrisy and abuse in the church to theological debates about sexuality, hell, and women’s roles, Dr. Brownson o ers important insights om Scripture to help Christians think more clearly about complex topics.” —MA HEW VINES

author of God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case for Same-Sex Relationships

978-0-8028-7841-0 | Paperback | 176 pages | $17.99 US | $23.99 CAN | £13.99 UK | Available June 2021

Bad Faith

Race and the Rise of the Religious Right Randall Balmer

ere is a commonly accepted story about the rise of the Religious Right in the United States. It goes like this: with righteous fury, American evangelicals entered the political arena as a uni ed front to ght the legality of abortion a er the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. e problem is this story simply isn’t true.

Largely ambivalent about abortion until the late 1970s, evangelical leaders were rst mobilized not by Roe v. Wade but by Green v. Connally, a lesser-known court decision in 1971 that threatened the tax-exempt status of racially discriminatory institutions—of which there were several in the world of Christian education at the time. When the most notorious of these schools, Bob Jones University, had its tax-exempt status revoked in 1976, evangelicalism was galvanized as a political force and brought into the fold of the Republican Party. Only later, when something more palatable was needed to cover for what was becoming an increasingly unpopular position following the civil rights era, was the moral crusade against abortion made the central issue of the movement now known as the Religious Right.

In this greatly expanded argument from his 2014 Politico article “ e Real Origins of the Religious Right,” Randall Balmer guides the reader along the convoluted historical trajectory that began with American evangelicalism as a progressive force opposed to slavery, then later an isolated apolitical movement in the mid-twentieth century, all the way through the 2016 election in which 81 percent of white evangelicals coalesced around Donald Trump for president. e pivotal point, Balmer shows, was the period in the late 1970s when American evangelicals turned against Jimmy Carter—despite his being one of their own, a professed born-again Christian—in favor of the Republican Party, which found it could win their loyalty through the espousal of a single issue. With the implications of this alliance still unfolding, Balmer’s account uncovers the roots of evangelical watchwords like “religious freedom” and “family values” while ge ing to the truth of how this movement began—explaining, in part, what it has become.

Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest, is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. Prior to coming to Dartmouth in 2012, he was professor of American religious history at Columbia University for twenty-seven years.

978-0-8028-7934-9 | Jacketed Hardcover | 128 pages | $16.99 US | $22.99 CAN £13.99 UK | Available August 2021

Reading Evangelicals

How Christian Fiction Shaped a Culture and a Faith Daniel Silliman e story of ve best-selling novels beloved by evangelicals, the book industry they built, and the collective imagination they shaped

Who are evangelicals? And what is evangelicalism? ose a empting to answer these questions usually speak in terms of political and theological stances. But those stances emerge from an evangelical world with its own institutions—institutions that shape imagination as much as they shape ideology.

In this unique exploration of evangelical subculture, Daniel Silliman shows readers how Christian ction, and the empire of Christian publishing and bookselling it helped build, is key to understanding the formation of evangelical identity. With a close look at ve best-selling novels—Loves Comes So ly, is Present Darkness, Le Behind, e Shunning, and e Shack—Silliman considers what it was in these books that held such appeal and what e ect their widespread popularity had on the evangelical imagination.

Reading Evangelicals ultimately makes the case that the worlds created in these novels re ected and shaped the world evangelicals saw themselves living in—one in which romantic love intertwines with divine love, in which humans play an active role in the cosmic contest between the divine and the demonic, and in which the material world is infused with the literal workings of God and Satan. Silliman tells the story of how the Christian publishing industry marketed these ideas as much as they marketed books, and how, during the era of the Christian bookstore, this—every bit as much as politics or theology—became a locus of evangelical identity.

Daniel Silliman is the news editor for Christianity Today. He earned a doctoral degree in American studies from Heidelberg University in Germany and has taught US history and humanities at Heidelberg, Valparaiso University, and Milligan University.

978-0-8028-7935-6 | Jacketed Hardcover | 288 pages | $27.99 US | $37.99 CAN £21.99 UK | Available October 2021

The Politics of the Cross

A Christian Alternative to Partisanship Daniel K. Williams Where do Christians t in a two-party political system?

“If you relish the inane partisanship that characterizes American political life, e Politics of the Cross is not for you. But if you are looking for a judicious assessment of the deep history and contemporary challenges of Christian faith and American politics, this is the book you’ve been waiting for.” — THOMAS S. KIDD

author of Who Is an Evangelical? The History of a Movement in Crisis

“Daniel Williams is one of our nest historians of evangelicals and politics. In e Politics of the Cross, he draws on his previous works, but takes us even deeper into these issues through timely theological re ections on how evangelical Christians should engage in public life. His chapter on abortion alone is worth the price of the book.” — JOHN FEA

author of Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump

“We live in a time when far too o en partisan politics and catchy slogans replace thoughtful Christian engagement. Fiery rhetoric is o en detached om fairminded assessment of the past and present. It occurs on both sides of the aisle. ankfully we have people like Daniel K. Williams, who o ers both the nuance of a historian and the concerns of one commi ed to the fullness of ancient Christian concerns. is book will at times surprise, but also hopefully inform and encourage, those seeking to more faithfully navigate the debates of our age.”

— KELLY M. PIC

Covenant College

“I have learned as much om Daniel Williams as anyone else in recent years about the history of evangelicals and politics. Reading this book is like having an extended debate with an especially wise and insightful iend. You don’t necessarily agree, but you’re always challenged to think more carefully and deeply.”

— COLLIN HANSEN

editorial director for The Gospel Coalition

Daniel K. Williams is professor of history at the University of West Georgia. His other books include God’s Own Party: e Making of the Christian Right and Defenders of the Unborn: e Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade. His published work has appeared in e New York Times, e Washington Post, Christianity Today, First ings, and The Gospel Coalition. EMORY UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN LAW AND RELIGION

Pagans and Christians in the City

Culture Wars from the Tiber to the Potomac Steven D. Smith

Foreword by Robert P. George Traditionalist Christians who oppose same-sex marriage and other cultural developments in the United States wonder why they are being forced to bracket their beliefs in order to participate in public life. is situation is not new, says Steven D. Smith: Christians two thousand years ago faced very similar challenges.

Picking up poet T. S. Eliot’s World War II–era thesis that the future of the West would be determined by a contest between Christianity and “modern paganism,” Smith argues in this book that today’s culture wars can be seen as a reprise of the basic antagonism that pi ed pagans against Christians in the Roman Empire. Smith’s Pagans and Christians in the City looks at that historical con ict and explores how the same competing ideas continue to clash today. All of us, Smith shows, have much to learn by observing how pa erns from ancient history are reemerging in today’s most controversial issues. from ancient history are reemerging in today’s most controversial issues.

“Smith’s book is as engrossing, lucid, and jargonless a scholarly book as has ever been wri en.” — BOOKLIST (starred review)

“Fascinating. . . . Smith argues that much of what we understand as the march of secularism is something of an illusion, and that behind the scenes what’s actually happening in the modern culture war is the return of a pagan religious conception, which was half-buried (though never fully so) by the rise of Christianity.”

— ROSS DOUTHAT

in The New York Times

“An elegant take on T. S. Eliot’s proposition that a contest between Christianity and ‘modern paganism’ would decide the West’s future.”

— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Steven D. Smith is the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego and serves as codirector of the university’s Institute for Law and Religion. His other books include e Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom.

978-0-8028-7851-9 | Jacketed Hardcover | 348 pages | $27.99 US | $37.99 CAN £21.99 UK | Available 978-0-8028-7880-9 | Paperback | 404 pages | $29.99 US | $39.99 CAN | £23.99 UK Available

If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I?

Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority Angela N. Parker

Foreword by Lisa Sharon Harper “We have all had doctrines of White supremacist authoritarianism take up residency in our minds and bodies. What will we do to exorcise those demons?”

Angela Parker wasn’t just trained to be a biblical scholar; she was trained to be a White male biblical scholar.

She is neither White nor male.

Dr. Parker’s experience of being taught to forsake her embodied identity in order to contort herself into the sti ing construct of Whiteness is common among American Christians, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. is book calls the power structure behind this experience what it is: White supremacist authoritarianism.

Drawing from her perspective as a Womanist New Testament scholar, Dr. Parker describes how she learned to deconstruct one of White Christianity’s most pernicious lies: the con ation of biblical authority with the doctrines of inerrancy and infallibility. As Dr. Parker shows, these doctrines are less about the text of the Bible itself and more about the arbiters of its interpretation— historically, White males in positions of power who have used Scripture to justify control over marginalized groups. is oppressive use of the Bible has been su ocating. To learn to breathe again, Dr. Parker says, we must “let God breathe in us.” We must read the Bible as authoritative, but not authoritarian. We must become conscious of the particularity of our identities, as we also become conscious of the particular identities of the biblical authors from whom we draw inspiration. And we must trust and remember that as long as God still breathes, we can too.

Angela N. Parker is assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at Mercer University’s McAfee School of eology. In 2018, Dr. Parker received the Journal for Feminist Studies in Religion’s ESF New Scholar Award for her article “One Womanist’s View of Racial Reconciliation in Galatians.” In her research, Dr. Parker merges Womanist thought and postcolonial theory while reading biblical texts with real lived experiences of actual bodies.

Decolonizing Christianity

Becoming Badass Believers Miguel A. De La Torre A call for American Christianity to stand in solidarity with marginalized people and end its complicity with white supremacy

“Miguel De La Torre has long been one of the premier social ethicists in the world, seeking to o er a radical, no-holds-barred reconceptualization of Christianity that supports the most marginalized and oppressed. In Decolonizing Christianity, De La Torre continues in his bold and prophetic a empt to rid Christianity and the church in the US of the bad habits accrued by several centuries of brutal colonialism and racism. is text is a must-read, wri en by one of the most badass theologians on the planet!” — ANTHONY G. REDDIE

editor of Black Theology: An International Journal

“ e church in America will be recovering om the Trump presidency for many years to come, and De La Torre puts his nger squarely on the problem om a sociological and theological standpoint. e Trump regime bu ressed ‘white Christianity,’ the insidious worldview that embraces racial supremacy and believes in the manifest destiny of white bodies to occupy the highest echelons of power, pro ts, and privilege.” — ROBERT CHAO ROMERO

author of Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity

“Miguel De La Torre’s Decolonizing Christianity is a tour de force. Colonization is not only a takeover of nations but an active takeover of knowledge. Challenging the colonizing theology of racialized nationalism, De La Torre courageously calls us to follow Christ toward actual eedom.” — PETER GOODWIN HELTZEL

author of Jesus and Justice: Evangelicals, Race, and American Politics

Miguel A. De La Torre is professor of social ethics and Latinx studies at the Ili School of eology in Denver. He has published over thirty- ve books, including Burying White Privilege: Resurrecting a Badass Christianity and Reading the Bible om the Margins.

978-0-8028-7847-2 | Jacketed Hardcover | 240 pages | $24.99 US | $33.99 CAN | £19.99 UK Available

978-0-8028-7926-4 | Paperback | 128 pages | $16.99 US | $22.99 CAN | £13.99 UK Available September 2021

The Gravity of Joy

A Story of Being Lost and Found Angela Williams Gorrell

Foreword by Miroslav Volf

Shortly a er being hired by Yale University to study joy, Angela Gorrell got word that a close family member had died by suicide. Less than a month later, she lost her father to a fatal opioid addiction and her nephew, only twenty-two years old, to sudden cardiac arrest. e theoretical joy she was researching at Yale suddenly felt shallow and distant—completely una ainable in the fog of grief she now found herself in.

But joy was closer at hand than it seemed. is is the story of Angela’s discovery of an authentic, grounded Christian joy, a joy with “a mysterious capacity to be felt alongside of sorrow and even— sometimes most especially—in the midst of suffering.” Even more, it is an invitation for others to seize upon this more resilient joy as a counteragent to the twenty- rst-century epidemics of despair, addiction, and suicide—a call to action for communities that yearn to nd joy and “walk together through the shadows” to nd it.

“Honest, vulnerable, and healing.”

— PARKER J. PALMER

author of A Hidden Wholeness

“ ese pages crackle with raw honesty, deep wisdom, profound realizations, and potent reminders that ultimately goodness can be found amidst the rancor of daily life.” — ROBERT EMMONS

author of The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns

“Gorrell’s therapeutic message provides a healing balm that will resonate with any Christian.”

— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Angela Williams Gorrell is assistant professor of practical theology at Baylor University’s George W. True eological Seminary and an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA. She is also the author of Always On: Practicing Faith in a New Media Landscape.

978-0-8028-7794-9 | Jacketed Hardcover | 252 pages $21.99 US | $29.99 CAN | £17.99 UK | Available

Flashes of Grace

33 Encounters with God Patrick Henry

Foreword by Joan Chittister

We all know about grace being amazing—a er all, there’s a whole song about it—but Patrick Henry reminds us that that’s not all it is. It’s also intimidating, disorienting, demanding, reassuring, and sometimes even just downright mind-boggling. Describing thirty-three di erent aspects of grace based on his everyday experiences, Henry tells the story of a grace that is wide-ranging and comprehensive—if not always comprehensible. Rather than trying to capture and tame his encounters with God, he lets the mystery of memory speak for itself, exemplifying his mantra that being a Christian is about being “an explorer, not a colonizer.”

“Patrick Henry draws on an immense range of learning—as well as o ering theological re ections on Star Trek: e Next Generation—to chart for us a territory where we can explore in con dence, expecting at every turn the completely unexpected and completely commi ed grace of God in Christ.”

— ROWAN WILLIAMS

104th Archbishop of Canterbury

“ is thoughtful and thought-provoking book, rich in reference to theologians, historians, biblical scholars, philosophers, and social critics—including those critical of religion—is for anyone who wants to understand what a Christian faith can mean in the present day.” — THLEEN NORRIS

author of The Cloister Walk

Patrick Henry was professor of religion at Swarthmore College from 1967 to 1984 and executive director of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research from 1984 to 2004. In retirement he is a monthly columnist for the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota, where he writes about the renewal of human community. He is also the author of e Ironic Christian’s Companion: Finding the Marks of God’s Grace in the World.

978-0-8028-7864-9 | Paperback | 318 pages | $19.99 US $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK | Available

Just Tell the Truth

A Call to Faith, Hope, and Courage Richard Lischer What does it mean to live the Christian life with conviction?

“Richard Lischer is one of the most respected preachers and teachers of preaching I know, whose books have blessed my shelves for years. Now comes his rst volume of published sermons, allowing readers to savor words and meanings that listeners may have missed. Whether you have heard him live or are meeting him for the rst time in print, prepare to be encouraged, challenged, and emboldened by someone who reminds you why the Gospel ma ers—and that sermons can be works of literary art.”

— BARBA BROWN TAYLOR

author of Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far from Home

“Richard Lischer plumbs both deep traditions and urgent contexts to remind us that it is when the ancestors speak strongest through the preacher that she or he unfurls the most original and creative visions.”

— WILLIAM J. BARBER II

co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign

“Lischer has long been regarded as one of the most eloquent and substantive preachers we have in our strange and confusing times. ese sermons, which only tell the truth, con rm that judgment. But not to be missed is what makes Lischer such a profound witness to the Gospel.” — STANLEY HAUERWAS

author of Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir

“ is luminous volume erases any doubt about the sermon’s capacity to cheer the heart. With striking immediacy, God’s word emerges as salve, compass, catalyst, and joy.” — DONYELLE McC Y

Yale Divinity School

Richard Lischer is distinguished professor emeritus of preaching at Duke Divinity School. His fourteen books include the prize-winning e Preacher King, the anthology e Company of Preachers (named a “Best Book” in 2003 by Christianity Today), and two beloved memoirs: Open Secrets and Stations of the Heart.

978-0-8028-7884-7 | Paperback | 224 pages | $24.99 US $33.99 CAN | £19.99 UK | Available

Family of Origin, Family of Choice

Stories of Queer Christians Katie Hays and Susan A. Chiasson

Foreword by Paula Stone Williams Testimonies for LGBTQ+ Christians and all who love them

What happens in a family when one member comes out? What does Christian love require and make possible for families moving forward together? A social scientist and a pastor asked their LGBTQ+ friends from church to help them understand how they navigate relationships with their a rming, nona rming, and a rming-ish families of origin, even as they also nd belonging in other families of choice. e resulting stories, cra ed from interviews with een queer Christians and family members, kept anonymous at their request, are as varied as the colors of the rainbow. Over the years, some grew closer to their families of origin; others grew more distant. Some were surprised by the hardness of heart they encountered; others were amazed by the breadth of their family’s love. Most all describe a trajectory, a journey, from the coming-out moment until now and beyond, as their families of origin, like all families, remain a work in progress. like all families, remain a work in progress.

On Her Knees

Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel Brenda Marie Davies

Foreword by Joshua Harris “My Christianity depended on Purity.”

Going to a conservative Christian church when she was young, Brenda Marie Davies heard a consistent message—save yourself for marriage—that instilled in her fear and shame about sex. But a er moving to Los Angeles at nineteen and nding herself suddenly exposed to a world far outside her comfort zone, she was forced to wrestle with the power and perversity of Christian purity culture.

On Her Knees chronicles Brenda’s spiritual journey over the course of a decade in LA, through marriage, divorce, unlikely friendship, and sexual exploration. rough it all, she began tearing down the false idol of purity while refusing to abandon her faith.

Told with raw honesty, sans obligatory shame, this is a story for anyone who wonders if it’s possible to love God without fearing sex, in all its shades of grey. of grey.

“ ese narratives speak boldly and carefully about the courage queer folks and their families embody as they discern their way through disclosures and invitations to enter closets and as they invite others to get to know them anew.”

— JORE A L. MARSHALL

professor of pastoral theology and care at Brite Divinity School

“Hays and Chiasson have assembled a fascinating and forceful collection of stories om LGBTQ+ Christians about their experiences with kinship and condemnation, love and loss, reconciliation and resilience, and coming out—and coming to terms with one’s queer self.” — TONY E. ADAMS

author of Narrating the Closet

Katie Hays is the founder and lead evangelist of Galileo Church, a church that “seeks and shelters spiritual refugees,” especially young adults and LGBTQ+ people, in the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas. She is also the author of We Were Spiritual Refugees: A Story to Help You Believe in Church.

Susan A. Chiasson is a qualitative researcher who tries to understand, rather than predict, people’s beliefs and a itudes. Her work involves a lot of talking to people as she observes them at work or play, in interviews, and in focus groups.

978-0-8028-7857-1 | Paperback | 162 pages | $19.99 US | $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK Available “A story with which many young women, forced to reconcile the world’s incongruous expectations for their sexuality, will identify.” — LINDA Y KLEIN

author of Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free

“Brenda Marie Davies is that rare brave soul who trusted the instincts of her desire.” — IAN KERNER sex therapist and New York Times bestselling author of She Comes First

“Exposes the lies of evangelical purity culture that have long crushed the spirit and ruined the lives of millions of faith- lled Christians.”

— TINA SCHERMER SELLERS author of Sex, God, and the Conservative Church: Erasing Shame from Sexual Intimacy

Brenda Marie Davies hosts the podcast and YouTube channel God Is Grey—a “guide to becoming an inquisitive, fearless, sex positive, free-thinking Christian in the modern world.”

978-0-8028-7853-3 | Jacketed Hardcover | 200 pages | $22.00 US | $29.99 CAN £17.99 UK | Available

Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies

SECOND EDITION Marilyn McEntyre “Caring for language is a moral issue.”

With the pervasiveness of vitriol and dishonesty today, language needs to be revived and restored. In Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, Marilyn McEntyre exposes the commercial and political forces that a ect public discourse in American culture and counters with twelve constructive “strategies of stewardship”—such as challenging lies (including widely tolerated forms of deception and spin), fostering the art of conversation, and encouraging playfulness and prayerfulness in writing and speaking. e second edition of this timely and timeless book includes updated cultural references and questions for re ection and discussion at the end, allowing a new generation of readers to apply McEntyre’s wisdom in a world that struggles with truth and graceful language more than ever before.

“A wonderfully composed treatise.”

— THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY

“A successful textual balance between sustenance and delicacy.” — RELIGION AND THE ARTS

Marilyn McEntyre is the author of several books on language and faith, including What’s in a Phrase? Pausing Where Scripture Gives You Pause (winner of a Christianity Today 2015 book award in spirituality), When Poets Pray, and Speaking Peace in a Climate of Con ict.

978-0-8028-7889-2 | Paperback | 248 pages | $19.99 US $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK | Available May 2021

The Character of Virtue

Letters to a Godson Stanley Hauerwas

with an introduction by Samuel Wells Timeless wisdom om a renowned theologian on living well

“Encapsulates a life of writing about virtues and theology in these lovingly cra ed le ers to his godson. . . . Hauerwas’s elegant book will provide any reader with insight and wisdom into living a virtuous life.”

— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Stanley Hauerwas’s wise, gentle, and compassionate le ers to his godson are, in fact, timeless teachings om a great spiritual master to all of us.”

— JAMES MARTIN, SJ

editor of America magazine

“Seeing Stanley Hauerwas’s treatment of the virtues through the eyes of Sam Wells’s growing son, re ecting one minute on vast reaches of truth and the next on close-up political and personal challenges, all with a light touch and characteristic Texan grit—this is a treat. A book to read and savor.” — N. T. WRIGHT

author of Simply Christian

“Hauerwas’s marvelous le ers in e Character of Virtue are not only wisdom for those growing in the faith; they are also a model for how all of us can come alongside parents in the hard but good work of raising children in the faith.” — JAMES K. A. SMITH

author of You Are What You Love

“A distillation of Stanley Hauerwas’s thought, and a distillation of love—these le ers should nd a home on your bookcase. “ — LAUREN F. WINNER

author of Mudhouse Sabbath

Stanley Hauerwas, one of America’s best-known and most highly regarded contemporary theologians, is the author of many notable works, including e Work of eology, Approaching the End, Hannah’s Child, and Growing Old in Christ.

978-0-8028-7879-3 | Paperback | 205 pages | $16.99 US $22.99 CAN | £13.99 UK | Available May 2021

Money Matters

Faith, Life, and Wealth R. Paul Stevens and Clive Lim “Just how can we invest money in the kingdom of God?”

Money Ma ers is a comprehensive yet accessible guide to integrating one’s faith with one’s approach to money. Just as the Bible variously treats money as a blessing, a sacrament, and a problem, so do Stevens and Lim approach this ma er judiciously—avoiding the prosperity gospel on one side and the demonization of material wealth on the other. Capitalism is treated as what it is: a system that has created widespread opportunity and relieved poverty for millions while also exacerbating the gap between the haves and the havenots. e authors’ wisdom is at turns theological, historical, and practical—and always focused on what it means to live with faithful integrity in our contemporary global economy.

“For those wishing to put mammon in its proper place and deploy it for Kingdom purposes, this book is required reading and will no doubt become another classic in the faith, work, and economics space.”

— KENNETH J. BARNES

author of Redeeming Capitalism

“O ers clarity, hope, and a challenge to live our lives intentionally for the Kingdom in a way that is life- changing and impactful.” — DAVE HATAJ

author of Good Work: How Blue Collar Business Can Change Lives, Communities, and the World

R. Paul Stevens is professor emeritus of marketplace theology and leadership at Regent College, Vancouver, and chairman of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation, an agency that assists people with the integration of faith and work.

Clive Lim is CEO of Leap International, an investment rm in Singapore. He is also adjunct marketplace theology lecturer at Biblical Graduate School of eology and Trinity eological College, both in Singapore, as well as visiting associate professor of marketplace theology at Regent College.

978-0-8028-7751-2 | Paperback | 199 pages | $19.99 US $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK | Available

LIBRARY OF RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY

Mitka’s Secret

The Religious Journey of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Duty, God, and Country Jack M. Holl

One of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s core convictions was that for a country to thrive, it needs a shared faith—a concept that came to be known as American civil religion, which de ned and drove much of the cohesion of the 1950s under Eisenhower’s leadership. is biography tells the story of how deeply religious convictions ran through every aspect of Eisenhower’s public life: his decision to become a soldier, his crusade against fascism and communism, his response to the civil rights movement, his belief that only he as president could lead America through the Cold War, and his search for nuclear peace.

As Eisenhower’s historical standing continues to rise, and his contrast with the modern Republican Party deepens, Jack Holl’s study of this consequential gure of twentieth-century American history shines a spotlight on what has changed in the intervening years. What can be learned from the religious outlook of a public servant who embraced moderation instead of partisan division? What is the nature of a faith that led a former general to a position of skepticism against the military-industrial complex? e era of American civil religion may be past, but Eisenhower’s religious journey is worth renewed a ention among Americans in light of the enduring challenge of E pluribus unum—out of many, one.

Jack M. Holl has served as a professor of history at Williams College, the University of Washington, and Kansas State University. A public historian at the US Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy, he played a leading role in the founding of the Society for History in the Federal Government and launching the National Council of Public History. He has also served at the Eisenhower Foundation and continues to evaluate Eisenhower Foundation Research Grants at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

978-0-8028-7873-1 | Jacketed Hardcover | 352 pages | $29.99 US | $39.99 CAN £23.99 UK | Available October 2021 A True Story of Child Slavery and Surviving the Holocaust Steven W. Brallier

with Joel N. Lohr and Lynn G. Beck Mitka Kalinski had never revealed his past to anyone. Not even to his wife or his four children.

But in 1981, three decades a er it had all ended, Mitka nally broke his silence about the horrors he had endured during the Holocaust and in the years immediately a erward: not only German concentration camps and sadistic medical experiments but also seven years of enslavement in the household of a Nazi o cer, “Iron” Gustav Dörr.

Having been orphaned before the war, Mitka did not know his origins or even his name. Torture, slavery, and a false name stripped him of his identity entirely. us, when he immigrated to the United States in 1951, Mitka seized the opportunity to bury his past and forge a new life. He lived the American life in all its fullness and moved to Nevada with his beloved wife, Adrienne, and their children. But the secret he carried became an increasingly heavy burden, preventing wholeness and healing. is is Mitka’s account of facing the past, confronting his captors, connecting with lost relatives, and nding peace in the rediscovery of his origins. For Mitka, this also meant reclaiming his Jewish heritage—a journey that gave him a new sense of purpose and freedom from the lingering e ects of trauma that had lled his life to that point. By the end, Mitka’s Secret is less a story of survival and more one of redemption and transformation—from hidden suffering to abundant joy.

Steven W. Brallier is both a collector and a teller of stories, qualities he developed in his childhood on the western highlands of Kenya. A er life in Kenya, Steve had a long career in the entertainment industry as a promoter, agent, and writer, which exposed him to many people with amazing stories. None was more compelling than Mitka’s. Almost immediately a deep trust developed between Steve and the Kalinskis, a trust that provided the essential foundation for the powerful story that is Mitka’s Secret.

Joel N. Lohr is president of Hartford Seminary, a leading interfaith graduate school. He is an award-winning author, scholar of religion, and passionate leader in interreligious relations and higher education. Lynn G. Beck has served in faculty and leadership positions at various universities. She is the author or coauthor of eight books and a number of articles and has had leadership roles on national, state, and local boards.

978-0-8028-7916-5 | Paperback | 320 pages | $19.99 US | $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK Available July 2021