Christian Belief

In the Margins

A Transgender Man’s Journey with Scripture Shannon T. L. Kearns

Foreword by Paula Stone Williams rough scriptural re ection and personal stories about gender identity, an ordained priest moves the conversation beyond transgender inclusion to demonstrate the unique and vital theological insights transgender Christians can provide the church.

Father Shannon Kearns is familiar with liminal spaces. He’s lived in them his whole life. And while his experience as a transgender man has o en made it di cult for him to t in—especially in the context of Christianity—it has also shaped his perspective in important ways on complicated, gendertransgressing aspects of theology and Scripture.

In the Margins weaves stories from Shannon’s life into re ections on wellknown biblical narratives—such as Jacob wrestling with the divine, Rahab and the Israelite spies, Ezekiel and the dry bones, and the trans guration of Jesus. In each chapter, Shannon shows how stories have helped him make sense of his own identity, and how those same stories can unlock the transformative power of faith for those willing to listen with an open mind and stand alongside him in the in-between.

“I love Shannon’s conviction that resurrection is not a moment, but a process. ere is a holy unfolding in this book, as Scripture comes to life in a esh, accurate, and authentic way. In the process Shannon blesses us with the story of his own resurrection.” — PAULA STONE WILLIAMS

from the foreword

Shannon T. L. Kearns is an ordained priest, a playwright, a theologian, and the cofounder of Queer eology.com, which has reached more than a million people all over the world through videos, articles, and online courses and community. A recipient of the Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship in 2020–21, a Lambda Literary Fellow in 2019, and a FINNOVATION Fellow in 2019–20, Shannon is a sought-a er speaker on transgender issues and religion as well as a skilled facilitator of a variety of workshops.

978-0-8028-7948-6 • Paperback • 216 pages • $19.99 US • $26.99 CAN • £15.99 UK

AVAILABLE AUGUST 2022

God Is

Mallory Wycko God is Mother. God is Midwife. God is Hostess. God is Mystery. God is Home.

Traditional language for God has been dominated by a single image—Father—and masculine norms. For some, this language is meaningful. For others, it is deeply problematic. In both cases, it’s limited.

One thing is certain: God is More.

Mallory Wycko believes it’s past time to expand the ways we think about God. rough personal story, theology, spirituality, and social justice (and highlighting the interconnectedness of each), Wycko explores feminine metaphors and untapped language for God—some biblical and familiar, some less well-known, but all revelatory of a God who is More than we’ve been allowed to imagine.

As Wycko illustrates, when we expand the ways we image and engage with God, we are invited to see the Divine more fully—and, in the process, our neighbors and ourselves. ose who have felt alienated by the typical ways of describing God in Christianity will meet God anew: As a Seamstress who stitches tapestries out of our ta ers of shame. As a Sexual Trauma Survivor who has su ered alongside those who have endured the worst. As a Mother who nurtures us to life with her body.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. God Is in the Waves 2. God Is Hiding under the Table 3. God Is More an We’ve Been

Led to Believe 4. God Is Communicator 5. God Is and Is Not 6. God Is Creator 7. God Is Seamstress 8. God Is Mother 9. God Is Midwife 10. God Is Hostess 11. God Is Sexual Trauma Survivor 12. God Is Wisdom Within 13. God Is Home 14. God Is Mystery 15. God Is… Epilogue

Mallory Wycko is a teacher, preacher, writer, and spiritual director who currently serves as Key Relationships O cer with Preemptive Love, a global community of peacemakers working to end war and stop the spread of violence. Having completed her dissertation on the impact of sexual trauma on survivors’ theological perception and spiritual formation, Mallory has a DMin from Lipscomb University in missional and spiritual formation.

978-0-8028-8208-0 • Jacketed Hardcover • 160 pages • $21.99 US • $29.99 CAN • £17.99 UK

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2022

Knowledge for the Love of God

Why Your Heart Needs Your Mind Timothy Pickavance

Foreword by Lee Strobel What is the role of the intellect in the life of faith?

Jesus commanded us to love God with our minds—but why? Isn’t simply believing enough? Confused on this point, many Christians choose to focus only on the role of their hearts in shaping their faith and consider that adequate. Some Christians go even further, arguing that knowledge exists in opposition to faith—that one must choose either the truth of science or the truth of the Bible. e reality is that our formation into Christlikeness relies heavily on our minds and that Christian belief is about thinking more, not less. Far from being a threat, the intellect is central to faith—so long as it is treated as an instrument of worship rather than as the object of worship.

Knowledge for the Love of God is for followers of Jesus needing to be er understand the crucial connection between faith and rationality. Timothy Pickavance shows how learning about who God is and what he has done, is doing, and will do draws us closer to him—just as in any relationship. With stories from his own experiences wrestling with this aspect of faith, Pickavance relates a compelling vision of how cultivating the intellect strengthens our Christian worldview, helps us gain freedom in Christ, and enables us to love God with our whole being. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter make this a book to be fruitfully shared among fellow believers desiring a deeper faith—one of heart, soul, strength, and mind.

“ is is the book I searched for in vain when my daughters were in high school and college. But now it’s available, and I am so, so pleased about how good it is. Professor Pickavance has managed to put a lot of life-changing philosophical content in a conversational, easy-to-read style. It feels like Pickavance is a wise old iend si ing down to have a chat with the reader. ”

— J. P. MORELAND

author of Scientism and Secularism

Timothy Pickavance is associate professor and chair of philosophy at Talbot School of eology, Biola University, and scholar in residence at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Newport Beach, California, where he is also a ruling elder. He is the coauthor, with Robert C. Koons, of both Metaphysics: e Fundamentals and e Atlas of Reality: A Comprehensive Guide to Metaphysics.

978-0-8028-8195-3 • Paperback • 184 pages • $18.99 US • $25.99 CAN • £14.99 UK

AVAILABLE AUGUST 2022

Navigating Faith and Science

Joseph Vukov Religious belief is o en perceived as being in con ict with science— but does it have to be?

Not usually, says Joseph Vukov. In this short, accessible guide, Vukov advances three models for Christians to utilize when navigating the relationship between science and faith: con ict, independence, and dialogue. He argues that dialogue is the ideal model to follow most of the time—but not necessarily all the time. rough a philosophical approach grounded in compelling real-world examples, Vukov shows how no single model can be universally adequate, and how Christians must proceed with discernment according to the nature of the ma er at hand.

Considering a wide variety of illustrative issues—including cosmology, evolutionary biology, extraterrestrial life, miracles, brain death, and theoretical physics—Vukov introduces and describes each of the three models of interaction between faith and science, surveys their applications, and evaluates the e ectiveness of each. roughout, he encourages Christians to embrace a spirit of intellectual humility and remember that, at their best, faith and science converge in their relentless human pursuit of truth.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1. Intellectual Humility 2. Con ict 3. Independence 4. Dialogue 5. Choosing a Model Conclusion References

Joseph Vukov is assistant professor of philosophy and graduate program director in the philosophy department at Loyola University Chicago.

978-0-8028-7961-5 • Paperback • 184 pages • $19.99 US • $26.99 CAN • £15.99 UK

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2022

Into the Headwinds

Why Belief Has Always Been Hard—and Still Is Terryl Givens and Nathaniel Givens

Foreword by Richard J. Mouw A deeper look at how people individually and collectively form religious beliefs—and what that means for faith in a society of declining religious a liation.

In this compelling inquiry into faith in a society of declining religious a liation, acclaimed author Terryl Givens and his son, Nathaniel Givens, o er a fresh take on religious belief through the lens of contemporary research on psychology, cognition, and human nature. ey also address two of faith’s foremost modern-day antagonists: rationalism—the myth that humans can or should make the majority of their choices based on logical thought—and scientism—the myth that science is the only reliable means of discovering truth. A er reckoning with the surprising fact that people o en don’t even understand their own beliefs and are in uenced in ways they seldom perceive, the authors go on to describe genuine faith as an act of will—an e ortful response to the deepest yearnings of the mind and heart—that engenders moral responsibility, the ability to embrace uncertainty, the motivation and means to relate to others, and the capacity to apprehend reality through nonrational means.

Terryl Givens is a Neal L. Maxwell Senior Fellow at Brigham Young University. He formerly held the University of Richmond’s Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English, where he was professor of literature and religion. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including All ings New, e God Who Weeps, and e Crucible of Doubt.

Nathaniel Givens has been published in First ings, the Deseret News, and RealClearReligion on the topics of faith and politics. With graduate degrees in economics and systems engineering, he is a data analyst and entrepreneur currently working with an international startup.

978-0-8028-8243-1 • Jacketed Hardcover • 140 pages • $19.99 US • $26.99 CAN • £15.99 UK

AVAILABLE OCTOBER 2022

Encountering Mystery

Religious Experience in a Secular Age Dale C. Allison Jr. Despite widespread skepticism on the ma er, a signi cant number of people today have stories of religious experience—moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near-death experiences of the a erlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions. How should rationally minded people respond?

“Steeped in transparency and infused with a lifetime of world-class scholarship, Dale Allison has wri en a book that truly needed to be wri en, and that few others could have. He has gi ed us all with a spiritually personal and pastoral exploration of the power of extraordinary religious experiences in shaping and de ning the nature of faith. In my estimation, Encountering Mystery will join other such works in pu ing to rest any notion that God’s creation is limited to what we normally perceive.” — PETER ENNS

author of How the Bible Actually Works

“Dale Allison o ers lovely, theologically informed re ections on how mystical moments, epiphanies, visions, prophetic dreams, and other surprising encounters leave us changed—those of us who experience them directly and those of us who hear about them om others we trust. We may, as Allison says, live in a secular age, but more and more of these stories surface as we open hospitable space for them and allow ourselves to be humbled and surprised by the joy they so o en bring to us who are nding our way together on this ‘darkling plain.’”

— MARILYN McENTYRE

author of Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies and Speaking Peace in a Climate of Confl ict

“Highly respected scholar Dale Allison dares to raise important questions that academic protocol has too o en excluded. Many of the case studies he o ers will challenge our own presuppositions about the world—whatever they are—and for that reason are all the more important for us to consider. Allison rightly expands the repertoire of experience that studies of religion and Scripture must take into account.” — C IG S. KEENER

author of Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World

Dale C. Allison Jr. is the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Studies at Princeton eological Seminary. His numerous books include Night Comes: Death, Imagination, and the Last ings and e Luminous Dusk: Finding God in the Deep, Still Places.

978-0-8028-8188-5 • Paperback • 263 pages • $21.99 US • $29.99 CAN • £17.99 UK

AVAILABLE JULY 2022

978-0-8028-7931-8 • Jacketed Hardcover • 248 pages $22.99 US • $30.99 CAN • AVAILABLE NOW

Samuel Wells is vicar of St. Martin-in-theFields, London. His previous books include Walk Humbly, Incarnational Ministry, Incarnational Mission, Shaping the Prayers of the People (with Abigail Kocher), and Learning to Dream Again.

978-0-8028-7963-9 • Paperback • 266 pages $19.99 US • $26.99 CAN • £15.99 UK

AVAILABLE NOW

Kevin J. Adams is the founding and senior pastor of Granite Springs Church in greater Sacramento, California. His other books include e Gospel in a Handshake: Framing Worship for Mission. Finding a Story to Live By Samuel Wells

In Humbler Faith, Bigger God, Samuel Wells o ers a model for the renewal of Christian faith by considering ten great challenges to conventional Christianity. In each case he portrays the traditional position and the skepticism of the modern age as two rival stories. Transcending both, he then o ers a revitalized Christian story that be er renders the radical, courageous, and vulnerable nature of authentic faith. Wells is unwaveringly honest about the failures of the institutional church and acknowledges many people’s negative prior experiences of Christianity—making this a book for both Christians and non-Christians who have found the stories of their lives disrupted and now seek a ful lling and truthful story to live by.

“A book at once incisive, wise, compassionate, and deeply devout. Wells avoids with equal agility the traps of empty dogmatism and empty faddishness, never forge ing that it is the love of God and neighbor—on which depend all the Law and the Prophets—that provides the proper key to any interpretation of the Christian mystery.”

— DAVID BENTLEY HART

author of Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief

“I’m not sure who else alive could have wri en this book. Scholars are not usually this accessible. Pastors not usually this sharp-eyed. Critics not usually this devastating. Advocates not usually so beautiful. is unusual book calls to mind Augustine’s heart, Aquinas’s mind, Day’s activism, Temple’s leadership. You say I exaggerate? Take up and read before you tell me I’m wrong.”

— JASON BYASSEE

coauthor of Following: Embodied Discipleship in a Digital Age

“God has surely heard it all: the complaints, the objections, the silence of a back turned on faith. Samuel Wells asks us—those of us who still believe that God can be found in Christian faith and its expression—if we have taken seriously the protests of our disbelieving neighbors. Now is the time for humility, church. Now is the time to listen. Now is the time for us to put up or shut up. Humbler Faith, Bigger God is here to help.”

— TIE HAYS

author of God Gets Everything God Wants

CALVIN INSTITUTE OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP LITURGICAL STUDIES

Living under Water

Baptism as a Way of Life Kevin J. Adams

Foreword by Cornelius Plantinga What does baptism mean? And what do we do with it? Kevin Adams—an experienced pastor and church planter who has baptized people of all ages and spiritual origins—makes the case that baptism isn’t merely a one-time ceremony but something to be lived and a rmed throughout one’s life. In Living under Water, Adams shares stories that illustrate how baptism shapes one’s identity and enters us into an alternate narrative, one ongoing since the dawn of creation, through which we understand our truest selves with all our joy and trauma and by which we are united with a group of people unbound by race or language, continent or generation.

“I’ve been reading Kevin’s book during a time when it feels like we are coming apart at the seams in the United States, and perhaps globally as well. But as I read, I felt rooted and grounded, invited into a larger and more substantial reality than my shi ing one. at’s the great gi of this book.”

— CHUCK DeGROAT

professor of pastoral care and Christian spirituality at Western Theological Seminary

“ is wonderful pastoral book encourages its readers to tune a keen listening ear to the stories of baptismal formation. So many discussions of baptism focus on points of contention; this one focuses on horizons of hope and healing. Congregations who study this book will expand their horizons for the many ways that God is seeding shalom in communities of faith through the gi of baptism.”

— LEANNE VAN DYK

president and professor of theology at Columbia Theological Seminary

“ is is an insightful, exciting, carefully researched, and timely analysis of the gi of baptism that will energize Christian practice. Using diverse stories om many traditions and times of the Christian church, as well as om popular culture, Living under Water provides both an invitation and a tangible pathway to embracing an everyday baptismal identity of faith in action.”

— EDWIN DAVID APONTE