Favorite Book of 2021 + Books I Read

This year I was focused on a project that led me to reflect upon the intersection of Christology, the doctrine of creation, and theological anthropology so you can imagine how excited I was to find a book titled: Christ the Heart of Creation. [If you follow the London Lyceum, you already know that this was my favorite book of the year.] I try to read most of what Rowan Williams writes because his writings stretch my theological imagination all while digging my roots deeper in the “great tradition.” This book, which was actually published in 2018 lived up to my expectations. There Williams argues that the relation between the Word and the created nature of Christ described in the Chalcedonian formula—while being unique—is a model for understanding God’s relation to creation. This is a “non-competitive” relation because God is “not another thing” in the world. Weaving his way through the New Testament, Maximus, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Bonhoeffer, among others, he concludes that Christ not only is the heart of the doctrine of creation, but that Christ is the heart of creation itself. 

Now on to the books I read this year… For the first 6 months of the year I kept track of the books I read each month. Then I stopped writing them down *sigh* so the list for July to December isn’t in the order I read them.

Total Books Read in 2021: 54

Books Read in 2021

January

1. Restless Faith: Holding Evangelical Beliefs in a World of Contested Labels – Richard Mouw
2. Reading While Black – Esau MacCaulley

February

1. Andrew Fuller’s Theology of Revival – Ryan Rindels
2. Creation – David Fergusson
3. Christ the Heart of Creation – Rowan Williams
4. Christ and Creation – Colin Gunton
5. Brown Church – Robert Chao Romero
6. Youth Ministry in the 21^st Century: 5 Views – Chap Clark

March

1. God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World and Why Their Differences Matter – Stephen Porthero
2. Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life – Rowan Williams
3. Tokens of Trust – Rowan Williams
4. In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls us to Reflect his Character – Jen Wilkin
5. Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming our Ethnic Journey – Sarah Shin

April

1. Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of America’s Public Lands – John Clayton
2. A Spirituality of Fundraising – Henry Nouwen
3. Meister Eckhart’s Sermons – Meister Eckhart
4. Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship – Andrew Wilson

May

1. Quiet Talks on Prayer – Samuel Gordon
2. Viewpoints – Steve Shadrach
3. Being Human – Rowan Williams
4. Trinitarian Grace and Participation: An Entry into the Theology of T. F. Torrance – Geordie Zeigler

June

1. Gospel Driven Church – Jared Wilson
2. With: Reimagining the Way you Relate to God – Skye Jethani
3. Relational Spirituality: A Psychological Paradigm for Transformation – Todd Hall and M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall
4. Where Prayer Becomes Real – Kyle Strobel and John Coe

July to December (in no particular order)

1. T.F. Torrance as Missional Theologian: The Ascended Christ and the Ministry of the Church – Joseph Sherrard
2. Better than the Beginning – Richard Barcellos
3. Worshipping with the Reformers – Karin Maag
4. Milk for Little Ones: An Introduction to the Baptist Catechism
5. Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion – Lamar Hardwick
6. Person, Personhood and the Humanity of Christ: Christocentric Anthropology and Ethics in T.F. Torrance – Hakbong Kim
7. Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity – Kathryn Tanner
8. Science and the Doctrine of Creation: The Approaches of Ten Modern Theologians – Geoffrey Fulkerson and Joel Chopp
9. Redemptive Kingdom Diversity – Jarvis Williams
10. Making Sense of God: Finding God in the Modern World – Timothy Keller
11. Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics – Joli Jensen
12. Divine Ideas – Thomas Ward
13. Streams of Latin American Protestant Theology – Ryan Gladwin
14. Why Science and Faith Need Eachother – Elaine Howard Ecklund
15. Science and the Christian Faith – Christopher Knight
16. Sacred Rhythms – Ruth Haley Barton
17. How to Talk about Jesus – Sam Chan
18. Thriving With Stone Age Minds – Justin Barrett and Pamela King
19. An Analysis of Herman Witsius’s The Economy of the Covenants – Patrick Ramsey and Joel Beeke
20. The Book of Pastoral Rule – St. Gregory the Great
21. An Exposition of the Apostles Creed – Caspar Olevianus
22. The Art of Prophesying – William Perkins
23. The Same God who Works All Things – Adonis Vidu
24. Reformed Theology – R. Michael Allen
25. Reformed Theology – Martha Moore-Kiesh
26. Dogmatic Theology – Vladimir Lossky
27. Faithful Theology – Graham Cole
28. A Reformed Baptist Manifesto: The New Covenant Constitution of the Church – Samuel Waldron and Richard Barcellos
29. Water to the Angels: William Mullholand, His Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles – Les Sandiford