More Books!

Or: A Few of my favorite reads of 2024 (part 2)

Since sharing part 1 of my list of favorite reads last week I’ve read several other ‘best reads of 2024’ lists, but I would love to hear from you! What’s one book you loved this year? Please leave a comment here:

Now, back to the books!

Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds by James Matthew Wilson*

I don’t read a lot of poetry. I wish I read more, but usually if I read a collection of poems I start a long collection of great poems (like this one by Wendell Berry) but never get close to finishing. This one was different. It was short. It was also captivating, moving, and came highly recommended.

Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

What it Means to be Protestant by Gavin Ortlund

This book was recently named Christianity Today’s book of the year. There is a pull for many who are tired of the shallow, superficial, ahistorical, and compromised elements of evangelicalism to look far afield for a more robust and historically rooted expression of the Christian faith. But Ortlund encourages us to look more deeply at real Protestantism, at the rich roots of our own tradition, and to look honestly at reasons why Protestants protested in the first place. Eastern Orthodoxy and Romans Catholicism may look attractive from a distance to discouraged evangelicals, but before you make a change in one of these directions are you ready to embrace the veneration of icons or the bodily assumption of Mary? Ortlund helps us think clearly about this things with charity and grace.

Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World Like the Early Church by Stephen Presley

I would have ignored this book based on the title, but two things made me want to read it: 1) a high recommendation and 2) the subtitle. I have found the early church to be not only a wealth of rich theological reflection but also an aid to my sanity in a wild world. The early church lived in a wild world too, but they didn’t lose their minds and they didn’t concern themselves overmuch with political power. What they did concern themselves with was making sure new Christians truly understood the faith they were embracing and living faithful Christ-like Christian lives. I loved this book and hope it receives a wide reading. (Also, I’m looking forward to Presley’s book on biblical theology in the early church scheduled to come out next year).

A Theology of the Christian Life by Christopher Holmes

A challenging book, but a robust look at the Christian life. These are deep waters, and I don’t think I absorbed all of it, but what I did was a feast.

Aquinas on Scripture by John Boyle

I’ve enjoyed reading Aquinas in recent years, including his commentary on the book of Romans as I was preaching through Romans at my church. But the biblical commentaries of Aquinas don’t get nearly as much attention as his Summa. So I really appreciated this brief look at how Aquinas wrote about Scripture and how his commentaries work. Definitely worth reading if you’re interested in Aquinas or think you might be.

That’s all for this week, but there’s more to come. Five more books plus my favorite book of 2024.

And don’t forget to leave a comment letting me know your favorite book you read this year!

*The links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Basically that means if you click on a book I linked to and decide to buy it I get a little kickback (which I’ll likely use to buy more books!).