Alex's Top Theology Books!

I got a request – “Alex, what are your top ten favorite Theology books?”

When I responded – the person requested that I share it more broadly, as more people would benefit and enjoy it.

I have really enjoyed pondering this Question about Top 10 Theology Books.

I suspect this list could shift, depending on the month, or season.

As I have been moving and clearing out books, these seem to emerge at the top. And I hesitate to number them - :)

· Shirley Guthrie, now deceased, taught at Columbia Seminary (PCUSA) in Decatur, GA and his Christian Doctrine, revised edition, is a book I reach for time and again. It is so accessible (originally written for lay people), covers so much.

· John Leith, Basic Christian Doctrine, is also great. He was my professor, perhaps the one person from whom I learned the most theology.

· Brian McLaren - basically I love whatever he writes - also very accessible and thoughtful, and his Generous Orthodoxy is excellent. Also, most recent - Faith After Doubt.

· Miroslav Volf has also written so many books. All are good. He writes from his own experience of war in Croatia and keeps current on everything. One of his best books is Against the Tide - love in a time of petty dreams and persisting enmities. He also has a great book - The End of Memory - remembering rightly in a violent world.

· Walter Brueggemann - premier Old Testament scholar has shifted from writing Commentaries to lots of smaller and accessible books. He cranking them out - check out A Gospel of Hope. It’s a compilation of lots of his thoughts.

· Eugene Peterson has written so much - including The Message. You might like Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.

· Barbara Brown Taylor (my teacher in my doctoral program), Rob Bell, Marcus Borg, Gregory Boyle, Jonathan Sacks (now deceased) - I try to read whatever they write.

So that is what comes to mind today. – The Rev. Alex Evans