Drake’s Favorite Theological Reads of 2020
Just in time for your Christmas book buying, I have compiled some of my favorites books of accessible theology that were released in 2020. I read other books this year: plenty of great fiction, some academic works, and old books too. But I’ll let someone else recommend those. For now, here are my top works of accessible theology published this year, in no particular order:
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ For Sinners and Sufferers
Ok, so I said no particular order, but… this one should be at the top of everyone's list. I thought about buying 50 of them with my own money just to hand out to church members. It’s just that good. I remember when I first starting reading the puritans in college and was awakened to the joy and emotion of really knowing the love of God in Christ. This book taps into that masterfully. If you are in need of a sure and steady embrace of gospel truth, read this book about the character of Jesus.
Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution
Why is the phrase: “I am a woman trapped in a man’s body” not only accepted as normal in our cultural moment, but celebrated and defended? How did this ideal become mainstream so quickly and forcefully? Part philosophical history and part exploration of the modern heart, Trueman goes backward in order to explain our forward. Instead of seeing the staggering speed of sexual revolution as the marker of our modern age, Trueman argues it is a symptom. The real root is our reinterpretation of what is means to be self. I thoroughly believe every Christian will be helped by considering Trueman’s arguments, and better equipped for confident and clear gospel proclamation in a modern age. I’m only half-way through (it came out a few weeks ago!), but here is what I can say: this may be the most clarifying and insightful book of 2020.
Esau McCaully, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope
McCaully is a professor at Wheaton College and does a fantastic job holding fast to a robust orthodox Bibliology while exposing an important hermeutical lens. He walks through not only the history but the soul of African-American interpretation, revealing key images and motifs in Biblical texts that were always there, but have just needed the right perspective to bring them out. The book isn’t particularly riveting in style, but I am thankful for a work which can show how the global and colorful church needs one another to experience more deeply the joys of Scripture.
Matthew Emerson, Christopher Morgan, and R. Lucas Stamps, Baptists and the Christian Tradition: Towards an Evangelical Baptist Catholicity
Baptists have always believed in the autonomy of the local church, but is there a greater catholicity that binds centuries of Baptist thought together with the rest of Christendom? That is the question this collection aims to address in the affirmative. Conservative, evangelical Baptist faith is (and never should be) divorced from the historic Christian tradition—this book opens the door to explain why.
Mark Vroegop, Weep With Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation
Vroegop’s book on lament made my list last year, and helped inform our time in Lamentations as a church this year. This one builds on his framework to apply the principles of lament to racial reconciliation. In a year where racial tensions were at times seemingly insurmountably high, and opinions raged without patience or grace, this book calls us to slow down and bring our pain, sorrow, and confusion about race to the Lord. It was helpful to me.
Justin Giboney, Michael Wear, and Chris Butler, Compassion and Conviction: The AND Campaign’s guide to Faithful Civic Engagement
This book is the least theological of the bunch, but it still remains robustly Biblical. Civic engagement is often and regrettably a huge after-thought to me. After studying political science in college, the back and forth of policy and law never really impassioned me. I read this work by the founders of the AND Campaign in one night, and it reawakened a hope that civic engagement need not mean I sacrifice Christian conviction or Christian compassion. It may mean we are outsiders from any particular popular political parties, but there is a path forward. Pick up this book if you are exhausted and cynical about our current political climate.
Jared Wilson, The Gospel According to Satan: Eight Lies about God that Sound Like the Truth
You really think I would have a yearly list of Christian books and not include Jared Wilson? This years installment is a winsome and convicting entry into the subtle ways our great enemy convinces us of half-truths and flat out contradictions. Seasoned saints may not be shocked by the lies of Satan presented, but they will be strengthened by examining their own hearts for how easy it is to believe them.
Jonathan Leeman, One Assembly: Rethinking the Multisite and Multiservice Church Models
2020 was the year when every church’s ecclesiology was put to the test. As we all went into varying degrees of lockdown, shutdown, and increased online presence, Leeman’s call to one-service, incarnational worship seemed even more radical than before. The real crazy thing is, as he presented his Biblical arguments in his newest book, it’s the multicampus, multisite, online church, multiservice models that felt more radical. Church members picking up this book will benefit from a clear and sharp defense of Christian unity over and above pragmatism.
Gavin Ortlund, Finding The Right Hills To Die On: The Case For Theological Triage
This book is important. It’s simple, and short, but it’s needed. 2020 was the year I said “sayonara” to twitter. Why? Because of the temptation to view secondary theological differences as moral failures. Ortlund’s book (this family is prolific!) outlines both the dangers of doctrinal sectarianism (holding too firmly to secondary matters) and doctrinal minimalism (holding too loosely) in way that is digestable and directly applicable.
J. Todd Billings, The End of The Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us To Truly Live
Is death the enemy of the Christian, or the friend? Christian hope does something incredible with death: it defeats in it Christ and then transforms it into a necessary means of glory. Billings argues that in a death-defying age, we need to learn (early on!) to embrace our mortality. I think he’s right, and it’s why this book is worth reading.
Patrick Schreiner, The Ascension of Christ: Recovering a Neglected Doctrine
Clocking in at 116 pages, this bite-size theological snack doesn't lack in richness. When was the last time you heard explained the significance of the ascension? If that answer is anything more than a few months, take a week to chew on this.
Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God
Technically this came out in December 2019, but 2020 needed some help anyway, and this work was a constant quarantine companion. Originally published in 1956, Bavinck’s beautifully accessible one volume systematic is now available in English. It reads more robustly and convincingly than nearly any other theological work I’ve read. Take a chapter every few weeks and work through it in 2021—you won’t be disappointed.
J.I. Packer, Concise Theology
Packer, an evangelical giant, died this year, and many a budding theologian feel the void of his absence on earth. This year Crossway published a beautiful edition of one of his most accessible yet little-trafficked books: Concise Theology. Consider it an entry way into Packer’s tight prose and a extremely palatable mini-systematic. It’s wonderful for reference and also for encouragement, and belongs on your shelf.
