The Gospel of John: A beginner’s guide to the way, the truth, and the life by Amy-Jill Levine (Abingdon Press, £14.99 (£13.49); 978-1-7910-2792-6).

“With her characteristic wit and charm, Amy-Jill Levine introduces readers to the world of the Gospel of John by unpacking the stories in their original context, along with examining how the text is read today. This book considers the Gospel of John in its entirety, moving through the Gospel and exploring the prologue, the wedding at Cana, the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery, the healing of the man at the pool and the man born blind, foot washing, Mary Magdalene and Doubting Thomas, and the Lamb of God.”

All Things Are Full of Gods: The mysteries of mind and life by David Bentley Hart (Yale, £25 (£22.50); 978-0-300-25472-3).

“Writing in the form of a Platonic dialogue, he [Hart] systematically subjects the mechanical view of nature that has prevailed in Western culture for four centuries to dialectical interrogation. Powerfully rehabilitating a classical view in which mental acts are irreducible to material causes, he argues through the gods’ exchanges that the foundation of all reality is spiritual or mental rather than material. The structures of mind, organic life, and even language together attest to an infinite act of intelligence in all things that we may as well call God.”  

The Big Bang and the Holy Trinity by Paul Cobb (Sacristy Press, £9.99 (£8.99); 978-1-78959-349-5).

“The Big Bang and the Holy Trinity explores how science and Christianity together provide an explanation of the story of humankind to date and a vision for our future. Biblical accounts of the creation of the universe and the nature of God are used to show how science has shone a new light on the truths they contain.”

 
Selected by Frank Nugent, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.