Books
Deconstructing the Catholic imagination
Rebecca Bratten Weiss finds treasures in the ruins of Christian literary classics. But first, the idols need to be smashed.
Practicing compassionate patriotism
Recent books by Amanda Tyler and Drew Strait offer concrete, actionable advice for resisting Christian nationalism.
What a society needs to survive
Yuval Noah Harari’s history of information networks emphasizes two crucial characteristics: truth telling and self-correction.
A novel about the real mother of Jesus
In Kaethe Schwehn’s imaginative tale, the lives of Yeshua, his Greek birth mother Salome, and his adoptive parents Mari and Yosef drip with the brutal and the beautiful.
Catholics and Jews discuss Zionism
This provocative book wrestles with a big question: What, if anything, is the theological significance of the emergence of the state of Israel in 1948?
An unconventional devotional for our times
This slim volume by theologian Hanna Reichel is a first aid kit for people who are trying to reckon with an imperial presidency.
When ecumenism foments hate
Udi Greenberg’s history of the ecumenical movement locates the errors—such as colonialism—that underlaid the project from the start.
Abstinence and agency
I grew up in evangelical purity culture. Melissa Febos’s decision to abstain from sex was quite different.
What does solidarity require?
Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor offer a dizzying tour of the concept across geography and history.
American Canaan
Biblical scholar Daniel Hawk shows how White American scripts of Indigenous conquest mirror the book of Joshua.
Trained to disappear
Anna Rollins’s memoir examines purity culture, disordered eating, and the cost of being a good Christian girl.
The quest for a Black frontier world
Caleb Gayle tells the story of Edward McCabe, who sought to establish a Black state in the American West.
A Judaism primer for Christians
Tzvi Novick walks readers through Jewish practice, interfaith history, and the honest reckoning required for authentic relationship.
A harrowing account of Soviet imprisonment
Alexander Podrabinek’s memoir sheds light on the oppressive underbelly of Leonid Brezhnev’s premiership.
How can the Democrats catch up to Trump?
Joan Williams correctly diagnoses the party’s failures. I am less sure about her prescriptions.
When priests are sexual tourists
Kevin O’Neill uses the case study of a predatory Catholic priest shuffled to Guatemala to discuss provocative ideas about abuse and justice.
The pastor behind the myth
When Bonhoeffer stops being a symbol, he can start being a guide.
Augustine’s African heritage
Catherine Conybeare’s new biography reveals a bishop formed by two worlds, two languages, and a church struggling to define itself.
Bearing witness in three lines
Frustrated with the limits of journalism, former war correspondent Rick Black turned to haiku.
A book that tells a story beyond its pages
Jason Mott’s wildly inventive novel depicts two Black American writers, an ocean apart. It’s up to the reader to decide how they’re related.