The biblical Joseph’s path from slave to savior of Egypt is instructive to modern-day believers enduring hardships of their own, according to this flimsy offering. Bible teachers Lotz and Wright (coauthors of Jesus Followers), daughter and granddaughter of the late televangelist Billy Graham, recount how Joseph was sold to slavery by his scheming brothers and imprisoned in Egypt. After correctly interpreting Pharaoh’s dream as a harbinger of seven years of prosperity and seven years of famine, he stockpiled grain that helped save Egypt and his family from starvation. The authors use the story to contend that suffering is a means through which God “get[s] us where He wants us to be and develop[s] us into the people He created us to be.” With that in mind, they advise readers to stay alert to “the purpose the Lord may be preparing you for” and “stand firm... in your commitment to holiness.” Unfortunately, that’s as far as their insights go; most of the book reiterates this message, relating Joseph’s story in highly embellished fashion and stitching in platitudes (“People will fail us, but God never does”) and unrelated potshots at the queer community (Satan, the authors contend, is “relentlessly attacking young people through gender confusion”), among other topics. This fails to shed new light on the biblical story. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

University of Pennsylvania religion professor Weitzman (The Origin of the Jews) traces in this sweeping account how the story of the 10 plagues of Egypt has been interpreted and imagined across time and space. More concerned with the story’s reception than its historicity, Weitzman juggles a sweeping range of perspectives on how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars have wrestled with, and found comfort in, the narrative. Some medieval European Jewish communities, for example, used Goshen, an area of Egypt where the Israelites are said to have sought refuge from the plagues, to symbolize their own search for safety in their homelands. Goshen also served, for Black writers like Zora Neale Hurston, as a symbol of spaces that, “rendered invisible by their marginality,” afforded Black people a measure of “limited autonomy” within the Jim Crow South. Elsewhere, Weitzman documents how poets, politicians, activists, and other groups mapped their own interests onto the narrative. He explains, for example, that changing portrayals of the cattle plague reflected evolving attitudes toward animal rights, and that God’s “hardening” of Pharaoh’s heart against the Israelites launched debates about autonomy and free will. Weitzman skillfully unearths hidden connections between theology and culture, showing how biblical texts have served as sites for thinkers and communities to negotiate identity, persecution, and meaning. It’s a comprehensive overview of a foundational biblical narrative and its complex legacies. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

This impressive collection celebrates the life and thought of late progressive Christian author Rachel Held Evans (A Year of Biblical Womanhood). Arranged thematically, the entries critique the evangelical Christianity in which Evans was raised, including the tendency of some believers to view themselves as persecuted by an increasingly atheistic society—a point of view, Evans argues, that blinds them to the genuine challenges “faced by the underprivileged in this country.” Also taken to task is evangelical Christianity’s perversion of scripture to justify oppressing women and LGBTQ+ people. Yet Evans makes room for her own doubts and questions, noting that her faith evolution has involved much “wrestling, meandering, stretching, struggling.” Elsewhere, she gives due to the lessons of her youth: “While my disagreements with many in that community are important and real,” she writes, “those Christians... taught me to love and memorize Scripture, to change a diaper, to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and to think critically enough to deconstruct and reassess some of their own teachings.” Short entries from friends, thinkers, and teachers contextualize Held’s essays and track their influence on contemporary Christian thought. The result is an excellent introduction to Evans and her powerful model of holding Christianity to account. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

Bible teacher Allen (Get Out of Your Head) argues in this flimsy guide to rebuilding one’s self-esteem that each person is shaped by a “core lie” that prevents them from truly connecting with God and living authentically. She leads readers through the process of identifying their core lie—often that one is helpless, unlovable, or worthless—and how to vanquish it. Steps include determining where the lie originated (damaging family dynamics, traumatic experiences), paying close attention to negative self-talk, getting closer to God, and exchanging the lie for a holier vision of one’s life. Such a vision involves becoming part of a God-focused community and connecting with God in small, everyday ways, like praying and attuning to his will when making choices. Readers may appreciate Allen’s candid disclosures about overcoming her own core lie but will be turned off by the dearth of concrete examples and her penchant for bizarre, sometimes judgmental tangents, as when she recounts drawing on “God’s spirit” to ward off the “curses” of an agitated plane seatmate who she assumed was a “witch.” Readers seeking spiritual self-help would be better served elsewhere. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

Wenger (We Have a Religion), a history professor at Yale Divinity School, unpacks in this comprehensive account the complex relationship between Indigenous resistance, secular governance, and American Christianity in the 18th and 19th centuries. She explains that the U.S. government used religion as a tool to secure power, by morally justifying its conquest of Indigenous lands and setting up networks of churches to support settlers. Yet she overturns ideas of Indigenous peoples as passive subjects, explaining how Native leaders “actively reshaped both Christianity and their own Indigenous traditions” within the “imperial frame” by, for example, reciting Catholic chants in tribal anguages and forming relationships with missionaries. Such activities helped Indigenous peoples cultivate a “respectable” image in the eyes of political elites, benefit from bonds with missionaries, and sometimes actively resist colonial power (some tribal leaders “educat[ed] missionaries in the realities of settler colonial violence and the values of Indigenous life”). Drawing on extensive research, the author convincingly overturns the fiction of American religion as divorced from secular governance, framing it instead as a central part of the country’s structural and moral foundations and a site where power and resistance were negotiated. The result is a scrupulous look at the entanglement of empire, sovereignty, and belief in early America. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Strobel and Coe (Where Prayer Becomes Real), theology professors at Biola University, outline in this resolute guide how readers can strengthen their faith when they feel isolated from God. They argue that life is divided into joyous, abundant seasons of “consolation” in which believers feel connected to God and confident in their faith, and periods of desertion and desolation from which God appears to be absent. While painful, the periods of desolation allow believers to assess their flaws and brokenness, fostering an appreciation of God’s mercy and a deeper spiritual development. To tackle these seasons, readers must abandon notions that spiritual “progress” is linear, predictable, or subject to human control, and instead focus on bringing their pain, guilt, and despair to Christ “for love and forgiveness.” Strobel and Coe eloquently give voice to the doubts that arise when one’s faith flags, even if the solutions on offer—bringing one’s pain to God and resisting expectations of straightforward spiritual development—are easier said than done. Still, Christians who feel spiritually stuck will get plenty out of this. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Bible teacher LaValley (Even If He Doesn’t) recounts in this spirited memoir how she rebuilt her faith in the wake of “church hurt.” The author grew up in a toxic New Jersey Pentecostal church that unceremoniously pushed out her pastor father when she was a kid, eroding her faith and forcing the family to move. They settled in Tennessee, where LaValley, eager not to be seen as a “screw-up,” “recommitted herself to Christ” at age 15. Still, she remained dogged by feelings of insufficiency, which were amplified by later betrayals like being denied a ministry position at a church because of critiques of her mothering choices. After being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, she realized her inability to conform was rooted in traits designed “by a God who knows what he’s doing” and set about shaping an individual faith centered on God’s unconditional love. LaValley wisely never pretends to have all the answers, acknowledging that she remains committed to the church in spite of its institutional flaws because believers must exist in communities to “grow in righteousness and be the hands and feet of Christ.” It’s a brave look at what it means to find a faith of one’s own. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Pastor Groeschel (Winning the War in Your Mind) teams up with psychologist Chappelle for an optimistic, faith-based guide to tackling mental health issues. He debunks myths that prevent Christians from seeking help, including that depression and anxiety stem from inadequate faith or repressed sin, arguing instead that God intimately understands believers’ pain and can serve as a source of stability amid personal crisis. Drawing from his own recovery from a burnout-induced breakdown and interspersing advice from Chappelle, the psychologist who helped him get better, Groeschel unpacks how readers can handle anger, trauma, and anxiety with a mix of faith-based and therapeutic interventions. These include praying, keeping a gratitude journal, and reframing negative feelings as “signals... to make adjustments” to ineffective habits and thought patterns. Groeschel’s at his most enlightening when drawing links between faith and psychology. He explains, for example, how consistently focusing on Bible verses can create new neural pathways that override negative thought patterns, citing research suggesting that praying for 12 minutes a day over an eight-week period creates neural changes profound enough to be measured on a brain scan. The result is both a down-to-earth guide and a welcome corrective to a church culture that’s often silent on psychological health. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Influencer Mariah chronicles in her intimate debut guide how she found her way to a faith that embraces doubt. As a young girl, Mariah studiously followed the rigid rules of her Southern Christian culture, but doubts set in as she began noticing the contradictions inherent in religious life. She recalls, as a third grader, sitting in on a church budget meeting in which the amount of money spent on decorations caused her to publicly question the church’s values. Speaking up in the meeting, she writes, “sparked something in me” that fueled a life of “challeng[ing] the status quo” in ways that have enriched her faith and carried her through such personal trials as handling her infant daughter’s medical emergency when her husband was deployed in Iraq. With a series of probing questions, she aims to help readers uncover their own faith values—rather than the ones modeled for them—to guide their spiritual growth. Drawing candidly from her life, Mariah convincingly frames “friction” points as uncomfortable but fruitful opportunities to push beyond old beliefs as God “reestablishes us for something even better.” The result is an impassioned challenge to a church culture rooted in compliance. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Peterman, a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School, debuts with an optimistic call for readers to build more cohesive communities. Faith, he argues, should spur believers to connect with their neighbors and is, in turn, strengthened as communities work together to enact a “vision of the common good” reflecting God’s love. Readers can create stronger communities by showing compassion toward friends, enemies, and strangers alike; acknowledging how community members of all backgrounds are interconnected; and communicating across cultural divides in ways that make “God’s presence” known without evangelizing. Peterman also advocates for building physical spaces, like community centers or gardens, that foster a sense of mutual belonging. Such practical suggestions are crowded out by abstract theological musings and the occasional strained metaphor (readers are encouraged to recognize possibilities for renewal in the world that mirror how a compost pile transforms food scraps into “new life”). Still, Peterman’s passionate vision for a more connected and harmonious society inspires. Christian do-gooders will find this worth a look. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink