2005 Christianity Today Book Awards

This year we received 327 nominated titles from 52 publishers. CT staff selected the top five books in each category, and then panels of judges (one panel for each category) determined the winners. In the end, we honor 23 titles that bring understanding to people, events, and ideas that shape evangelical life, thought, and mission. We also include our judges’ comments on the winners.

APOLOGETICS/EVANGELISM

The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God Lee Strobel (Zondervan) Explores the arguments for the existence of a personal Creator granted to us by advances in physics, cosmology, astronomy, biology, biochemistry, and other sciences.

CHRISTIAN LIVING

The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others Scot McKnight (Paraclete Press) In clear, engaging prose, The Jesus Creed offers a broad range of material—from personal anecdote to Jewish prayers—for abundant reflection on Jesus and on practical ways for loving God and others.

BIBLICAL STUDIES

Africa and the Bible Edwin M. Yamauchi (Baker Academic) Fresh, deep research that challenges many of the excesses of Afrocentrism in U.S. and African biblical interpretation.

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY

The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys Mark A. Noll (IVP) Destined to be the benchmark for an entire field of inquiry, no other book tells the story of evangelicalism’s formative decades with such illuminating attention to the movement’s historical antecedents.

CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURE

The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design William A. Dembski (IVP) Exemplifies the classic way in which ideas are sharpened—through vigorous engagement with the strongest objections that can be raised against them.

MISSIONS/GLOBAL AFFAIRS

Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost, & John W. Morehead II, ed. (Kregel) The book treats a breathtaking range of biblical, historical, methodological, and practical issues related to Christian witness to new religious movements.

THE CHURCH/PASTORAL LEADERSHIP (tie)

Christ, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship Leonard J. Vander Zee (IVP) Clear as air and brilliantly organized and written, this book offers sources and insight to pastors of any Christian tradition, including the emergent church.

Reviewing Leadership: A Christian Evaluation of Current Approaches Robert Banks & Bernice M. Ledbetter (Baker Academic) Focusing more on character and integrity than on methods and techniques, this book sifts through the enormous amount of literature on leadership to present essential theories and practices.

FICTION

Gilead: A Novel Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Like a wise elder whose front-porch musings keep you listening deep into the night, the narrative voice in this portrait of grace sparkles with insight, wonder, and both the frailty and indomitability of the human creature.

SPIRITUALITY

Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence Ruth Haley Barton (IVP) Countering the hyperactive evangelical subculture, this book shows in practical ways how a deepened intimacy with God, found in silence and solitude, can influence our perceptions and choices in daily life.

THEOLOGY/ETHICS

Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition Hans Boersma (Baker Academic) One of those rare evangelical tomes that engages critically and creatively with a major doctrine under attack—the Atonement. Boersma has written a spirited defense of divine violence as a means toward an eschatological state of pure hospitality.

Awards of Merit APOLOGETICS/EVANGELISMThe Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona (Kregel) BIBLICAL STUDIESFamiliar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth Michael J. McClymond (Eerdmans) CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURETotal Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity Nancy Pearcey (Crossway) CHRISTIAN LIVING (tie)Spirit and Flesh: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church James M. Ault Jr. (Alfred A. Knopf)When I Lay My Isaac Down: Unshakable Faith in Unthinkable Circumstances Carol Kent (NavPress) THE CHURCH/PASTORAL LEADERSHIPIt Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives Tod E. Bolsinger (Brazos Press) FICTIONUnveiling: A Novel Suzanne M. Wolfe (Paraclete Press) HISTORY/BIOGRAPHYThe Kingdom Is Always But Coming: A Life of Walter Rauschenbusch Christopher H. Evans (Eerdmans) MISSIONS/GLOBAL AFFAIRSChristianity Reborn: The Global Expansion of Evangelicalism in the Twentieth Century Donald M. Lewis, ed. (Eerdmans) SPIRITUALITY (tie)How to Be Good in a World Gone Bad: Living a Life of Christian Virtue James S. Spiegel (Kregel)Seeing Is Believing: Experience Jesus Through Imaginative Prayer Gregory A. Boyd (Baker) THEOLOGY/ETHICSThe Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship Robert Letham (P & R Publishing)

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To order any of these books click on the book covers above or visit Christianbook.com.

Past coverage of the books listed include:

The Jesus Creed | Jesus’ Guide to Spiritual Formation | The Lord’s modified creed was key for disciples’ growth, author says. (April 06, 2005)

Africa and the Bible | Sudan’s Biblical History | Sudan’s ongoing civil war isn’t the only reason Christians should be familiar with the region. (May 25, 2004)

The Rise of Evangelicalism | An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkable and Interesting Particulars | Mark Noll delivers the first installment of a five-volume, multiauthor history of evangelicalism. (Books & Culture, July/August 2004)

The Design Revolution | William Dembski’s Revolution | The author of Intelligent Design set out to answer the toughest questions about the movement he helped promote. (March 30, 2004)

Encountering New Religious Movements | Targeted Apologetics | Encountering New Religious Movements with the Gospel. (July 07, 2004)

Gilead | This Poor Gray Ember of Creation | Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead is a novel to savor. (Books & Culture, March/April 2005)

Of Fathers and Sons | The sometimes-fractured relationships between fathers and sons are the heart of this stellar second novel from Marilynne Robinson (first item, March 09, 2005)

Invitation to Solitude and SilenceExcerpt: Are You Dangerously Tired? | A hard-to-recognize hazard for Christian leaders (from sister publication, Building Church Leaders)

Excerpt: Rest for the Mind | How can you still your racing thoughts in order to enjoy the presence of God? (from sister publication, Building Church Leaders)

Familiar StrangerNot a Tame Lion | An engaging theologian questions the Jesus of modern scholars. (Feb. 15, 2005)

Spirit and FleshLiving with Fundamentalists | Spirit and Flesh documents life in a Baptist church. (Oct. 27, 2004)

Excerpt: Fundamentally Personal | At The Shawmut River Baptist Church, worship and preaching are saturated with the familiar, the “at-home.” (Oct. 27, 2004)

When I Lay My Isaac DownGod Amid Tragedy | A review of When I Lay My Isaac Down. (Aug. 12, 2004)

Excerpt: When My Son Was Arrested for Murder | Finding faith under unthinkable circumstances. (Aug. 12, 2004)

UnveilingLife Imitates Art | Unveiling is a commendable debut novel. (April 05, 2004)

Seeing Is BelievingPictures of God’s Love | Seeing Is Believing lays the theological foundation for imaginative prayer. (May 05, 2004)

See our earlier book awards for 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997, as well as our Books of the Twentieth Century.

For other coverage or reviews, see our Books archive and the weekly Books & Culture Corner.