Take & read: Spring books

Books in the April 29, 2015 issue

Image by Flickr user ginnerobot, licensed under Creative Commons.

Our spring books issue includes scholars' recommendations of the best recently published books in their fields:

Patricia K. Tull on Old Testament

Amy Plantinga Pauw on theology

D. Brent Laytham on ethics

This article appears in the April 29, 2015 issue.

The new Bonhoeffer movie isn’t just bad. It’s dangerous.

By egregiously misreading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s moral crisis, it primes viewers for violence.

by Mac Loftin

Features

An accomplished soldier, fired for no reason

Sergeant First Class Kate Cole isn’t an activist. She isn’t a radical. She’s a trans woman, a rock climber, and my friend—and after 17 years of military service, Trump kicked her out.

by Anna Keating

Feature

Body counts: The dark side of Christian history

With its long coastline, rugged mountains and haunting sand dunes, Oman is a paradise for desert lovers, hikers and boaters. Muscat, the capital city, is a gem—its arched white buildings and flat roofs squeezed between the blue ocean and black mountains. Yet call me an egghead, but what I remember most from a trip to Oman is a booklet I read there with an ominous title: Body Count: A Quantitative Review of Political Violence Across World Civilizations (2009). In it, author Naveed Sheikh claims that “the Christian civilization emerges as the most violent and genocidal in the world history.” Compared to Islam, Christianity is a clear winner: 31.94 million deaths by Muslims to 177.94 million deaths by Christians.

by Miroslav Volf

Voices

Knowledge is not enough

Patience, kindness, and love are far more valuable to the formation of our faith communities.

by Julian DeShazier

Take & read: Spring books

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I’m a deconstructing American

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Most Popular

The new Bonhoeffer movie isn’t just bad. It’s dangerous.

An accomplished soldier, fired for no reason

Body counts: The dark side of Christian history

Knowledge is not enough