MANY titles reviewed in the Church Times reflected current events, debates, and concerns.
Race and the history of slavery were discussed in Colonialism: A moral reckoning by Nigel Biggar; The Sam Sharpe Lecture: History, rebellion and reform, edited by Rosemarie Davidson and E. P. Louis; Britain’s Slavery Debt: Reparations now! by Michael Banner; and Flourishing in Babylon: Black British agency and self-determination by Joe Aldred.
The Middle East was covered in Israelis and Palestinians: From the cycle of violence to the conversation of mankind by Jonathan Glover; In the Eye of the Storm: Middle Eastern Christians in the twenty-first century, edited by Mitri Raheb; The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the United States and the Middle East, 1979-2003 by Steve Coll; Hope and Despair: Israel’s future in the new Middle East by Michael A. Horowitz; and HAMAS: The quest for power by Beverley Milton-Edwards and Stephen Farrell.
Gender and same-sex relationships were considered in Vile Bodies: The body in Christian teaching, faith and practice by Adrian Thatcher; James and John: A true story of prejudice and murder by Chris Bryant; Trans Formations: Grounding theology in trans and non-binary lives by Alex Clare-Young; Gender Inequality in the Ordained Ministry of the Church of England: Examining conservative male clergy responses to women priests and bishops by Alex. D. J. Fry; Queer Redemption: How queerness changes everything we thought we knew about Christianity by Charlie Bell; Notes on Feminism: Being a woman in a Church led by men by Lauren Windle; and Queering the Church: The theological and ecclesial potential of failure by Penelope Cowell Doe.
Ageing and end-of-life issues were discussed in Death and Life: A church’s guide to exploring mortality by Joanna Collicutt, Jo Ind, Victoria Slater, and Alison Webster; Rites of Passage: Death and mourning in Victorian Britain by Judith Flanders; Transforming Friendship: Investing in the next generation — Lessons from John Stott and others by John Wyatt; and Grandparenting for Faith by Becky Sedgwick.
Titles covering mission and church growth included On Mission with Jesus: Changing the default setting of the Church by Graham Cray; Anglo-Catholic Church Planting: Can it work? by John Wallace; Thrive: Helping your multi-parish benefice to grow by Pam MacNaughton; Yearning for the Vast and Endless Sea: The good news about the Good News by Chris Russell; In the Fullness of Time: A story from the past and future of the Church by Paul Bradbury; and Mixed Ecology: Inhabiting an integrated Church by Ed Olsworth-Peter.
Titles on apologetics included the Michael Ramsey Prizewinner The Love That is God: An invitation to the Christian faith by Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt; Christian Apologetics: An introduction by Alister E. McGrath; What to Believe? Twelve brief lessons in radical theology by John D. Caputo; The Eclipse of Christianity: And why it matters by Rupert Shortt; Faiths Lost and Found, edited by Martyn Percy and Charles Foster; and Spirituality and Christian Belief: Life-affirming Christianity for inquiring people by Keith Ward.
The relationship of science and religion was explored in Playing God: Science, religion and the future of humanity by Nick Spencer and Hannah Waite; God and Astrobiology: Elements in the problem of God, edited by Richard Playford, Stephen Bullivant, and Janet Siefert; Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the war between science and religion by Michael Taylor; and James Clerk Maxwell: Faith, Church and physics by Bruce Ritchie.
Books on the Bible included Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson; Into the Heart of Romans: A deep dive into Paul’s greatest letter by Tom Wright; God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the making of the Bible by Candida Moss; and Jesus for Everyone: Not just Christians by Amy-Jill Levine.
Lent titles reviewed in the Church Times included the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book Tarry Awhile: Wisdom from Black spirituality for people of faith by Selina Stone. Other offerings included A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 40 days with Jane Austen by Rachel Mann; Lent with the Beloved Disciple by Michael Marshall; The Infernal Word: Notes from a rebel angel by Nicholas Papadopulos; and Stations of the Resurrection: Encounters with the risen Christ by Guli Francis-Dehqani and Malcolm Guite.
Titles for Advent included the Archbishop of York’s Advent Book, Do Not Be Afraid: The joy of waiting in a time of fear, by Rachel Mann; Wounded I Sing: From Advent to Christmas with George Herbert by Richard Harries; and Women of the Nativity: An Advent and Christmas journey in nine stories by Paula Gooder.
Liturgy and worship were the subject of Hearing Our Prayers: An exploration of liturgical listening by Juliette J. Day; A Companion to the Book of Common Prayer by Gerald Bray; How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A guide to the Anglican liturgy by Samuel L. Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane; and Black Liturgy: Prayers, poems and meditations for staying human by Cole Arthur Riley.
Titles on theology, philosophy, and ethics included Christianity as a Way of Life: A systematic theology by Kevin W. Hector; Where is God in All the Suffering? by Amy Orr-Ewing; John Locke’s Theology: An ecumenical, irenic, and controversial project by Jonathan S. Marko; Richard Hooker: Theological method and Anglican identity by Philip Hobday; Charismatic Christianity: Introducing its theology through the gifts of the Spirit by Helen Collins; Human Perfection, Transfiguration and Christian Ethics by Robin Gill; Cultural Hermeneutics: The world through the lens of theology by Roger Standing; Why? The purpose of the universe by Philip Goff; A Philosophy of Prayer: Nothingness, language and hope by George Pattison; and Could a Good God Permit So Much Suffering? A debate by James Sterba and Richard Swinburne.
Books analysing the effects of the Covid pandemic included The Fatal Breath: Covid-19 and society in Britain by David Vincent, and The Covid Pandemic and the World’s Religions: Challenges and responses, edited by George D. Chryssides and Dan Cohn-Sherbok.
The full-music edition of the long-awaited The Revised English Hymnal was reviewed in 2024. Other titles on music included On Voice: Speech, song and silence, human and divine by Victoria Johnson; A Joyful Noise: Some authors, their times and their hymns by Charles Moseley; and Sing to the Lord! 30 hymn meditations by Gordon Giles.
Works of church history included Lower than the Angels: A history of sex and Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch; The English Soul: The faith of a nation by Peter Ackroyd; The Bone Chests: Unlocking the secrets of Anglo-Saxons by Cat Jarman; The Medieval Scriptorium: Making books in the Middle Ages by Sara J. Charles; and Martin Luther’s Bible: Perspectives on a rich legacy, edited by W. Gordon Campbell.
Titles on spirituality included Fully Alive: Tending to the soul in turbulent times by Elizabeth Oldfield; Mapping Your Spiritual Journey: A creative reflection method by Sally Welch; Tolkein’s Faith: A spiritual biography by Holly Ordway; and Wisdom Calls: Transformative ways for insightful living by Helen Warwick.
Books by authors well-known to our readers included Passions of the Soul by Rowan Williams; The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its origins, development, and function by Alister E. McGrath; P is for Pilgrim by Stephen Cottrell; My Big Story Bible: 140 faithful stories, from Genesis to Revelation by Tom Wright; and Unforgiveable? Exploring the limits of forgiveness by Stephen Cherry.
Books on literature included Conversations with Dostoevksy: On God, Russia, literature, and life by George Pattison, and George Eliot: Whole soul by Ilana M. Blumberg. Poetry collections included Desire by poet Michael O’Siadhail; The Vanishing Song by Jay Hulme; Seeing the Light by Kenneth Steven; and Scottish Religious Poetry: From the sixth century to the present, edited by Linden Bicket, Emma Dymock, and Alison Jack.
Biographies included Blythe Spirit: The remarkable life of Ronald Blythe by Ian Collins; When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the radical pursuit of justice for women by Sarah C. Williams; and Kier Starmer: The biography by Tom Baldwin. There were also biographies of leading church figures including Edward Vernon-Harcourt: The last aristocratic Archbishop of York by Tony Vernon-Harcourt; The Missionary of Knowledge: Hastings Rashdall’s life and thought by Christopher Cunliffe; and Alice’s Father: The life of Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford by John Witheridge
Novels reviewed included Enlightenment by Sarah Perry; A Book of Days by Francesca Kay; Clear by Carys Davies; and two titles in the murder-mystery series by Richard Coles, Murder at the Monastery and Murder Under the Mistletoe.
Other books of interest reviewed in our columns included Heresy: Jesus Christ and the other Sons of God by Catherine Nixey; Archbishop Grantly Walks Again: Trollope’s clergy then and now by Michael Higgins; Knife: Meditations after an attempted murder by Salman Rushdie; Generous Faith: Creating vibrant Christian communities by Giles Goddard; Life After Doom: Wisdom and courage for a world falling apart by Brian McLaren; Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the history of women’s bodies by Helen King; and AI Morality, edited by David Edmonds.