Journalist Dulle, who covers the Vatican for America magazine, debuts with a potent insider’s look at some of “the most distressing stories” roiling the Catholic church. Among other issues, she unpacks women’s exclusion from key leadership roles in the Vatican, a practice that Pope Francis had begun to reform before his death, and the laborious process of canonizing saints, which can eat up decades and millions of dollars. (There’s “a strange tension,” Dulle points out, “that exists in the church between holiness, which Jesus made clear is easier for the poor to achieve,” and the great sums needed to officially recognize sainthood.) Elsewhere, she reflects on the emotional gauntlet of covering the church’s sexual abuse scandals, describing how she vacillates between numbness and anger and has come to the uneasy conclusion that “wrestling with the church’s problems [is] a key condition of my being Catholic.” Dulle buttresses her account with intriguing up-close details (including the ways in which the male-dominated Vatican culture is showing some preliminary signs of change), and delves deeply into the challenges that arise as the Vatican’s intricate traditions and labyrinthine bureaucratic processes come under the microscope of a global media, raising questions about the costs of upholding tradition and the cultural changes needed to reform calcified systems. The result is a revealing and often troubling portrait of a church in flux. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historian Turner follows up They Knew They Were Pilgrims with a thorough biography of Mormonism’s enigmatic founder, Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844). The author traces Smith’s itinerant youth bouncing between New England and New York farms, his prophecies (most notably his “First Vision,” in which Jesus supposedly revealed to Smith that contemporary churches had “turned aside from the gospel”), his doctrinal innovations, his gathering of believers into several city-building projects, and his murder by a mob while awaiting trial for inciting a riot. Steering away from hagiography, Turner details Smith’s treasure seeking, his tendency to dodge legal problems, and his initial hiding of several of his polygamous marriages from his first wife Emma—while also crediting him for holding his church together amid dissent, “enabling others” to see heavenly visions, and assimilating disparate ideas and inspirations into an “original, attractive system” of doctrine and ritual. Turner lightly contextualizes Smith’s place in American history, but readers wanting a deeper understanding of his influences and contemporaneous events outside his community will wish for more. Still, Turner’s scrupulous research vividly brings Smith to life both as a religious innovator and as a colorful, eccentric personality who was skillful at cajoling would-be defectors and advancing ambitious plans but also rushed headlong into controversies and showed flashes of anger. The result is a scholarly yet highly readable account of a key figure in American religious history. (June)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Pastor Smith (How’s Your Soul?) and psychologist Parrott (Crazy Good Sex) team up for a perceptive guide to challenging damaging beliefs. They argue that negative thoughts influence mood and quickly become so habitual that they’re ingrained in the brain, “unknowingly shaping who we become.” The types of negative thinking include thoughts of unworthiness, thoughts about wanting to please others, self-critical thoughts fueled by insecurity, thoughts rooted in entitlement that “exaggerate one’s own importance,” and thoughts that question one’s value and ability to be loved by God. Smith and Parrott provide concrete suggestions for replacing these with more useful thought patterns, including giving names to one’s “inner critic” and “inner champion” and having the latter question the former, and praying for those who might not deserve it (by extending undeserved grace to another person, the authors note, it becomes easier to understand that God’s love doesn’t need to be earned). Fluidly combining examples from scripture, science, and pop culture with actionable advice, the authors make a persuasive and upbeat case that the power to change comes from within. Christians stuck in a cycle of self-defeatism will want to pick this up. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

This smart debut guide from Bovee, a professor of information systems at California Baptist University, challenges Christians to swap the “superficial satisfaction” of a tech-obsessed life for a more fulfilling relationship with God and themselves. Unpacking the factors that fracture attention, he explains how the attention economy is dominated by platforms that utilize algorithms and addictive scroll features to maximize time spent on their sites, conditioning users to seek instant gratification and leaving them perpetually distracted and unfulfilled. To disconnect, the author writes, one should identify goals “that align with your passions and allow you to further the kingdom of God” and get into the habit of pursuing them via a deeply focused “flow state” (examples include writing, serving others, and worshiping). By practicing “monotasking,” one can cultivate a more sustained ability to focus and direct that renewed attention to practices like prayer. Drawing from research on the psychology of attention, his experience working in the tech world, and interviews with industry insiders, the author builds a lucid, evidence-based case for how technology is impacting faith, and cogently explains why willpower alone isn’t enough to cure the distracted mind. It’s a valuable resource. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Pastor Ranier (The Post-Quarantine Church) argues in this impassioned treatise that churches must reach out to unaffiliated members of Gen Z, a generation that attends church at lower rates than any other but might benefit from it most. Drawing on Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation—which argues that the rise in technology has led young people to feel increasingly disconnected, overwhelmed, and burned-out—Rainer contends that the church is an ideal resource to fill those gaps with belonging, purpose, and community. Simultaneously, the potential influx of new members can serve as a “shot in the arm” for declining churches starved of purpose and vitality. Arguing that Gen Z isn’t actively hostile to going to church but simply haven’t been given good reasons to go, he outlines how Christians can invite Gen Z and Gen Alpha members to church in intentional and personal ways. Rainer constructs an innovative case for the ways in which churches and the “disconnected” generation can be mutually beneficial but too flippantly dismisses reasons why some are hesitant to go to church. For example, he suggests responding to concerns about religious hypocrisy by acknowledging that “sometimes our actions and words don’t match our beliefs. But that doesn’t excuse our failure to be obedient through faithful church attendance.” Still, this gives church leaders plenty to consider. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Jameson and Mary Catherine Reeder debut with a hopeful, effervescent account of how their son, Jameson Reeder Jr., survived a shark attack. In 2022, the Reeder family was vacationing at the beach on Looe Key, Fla., when an aggressive bull shark attacked 10-year-old Jameson Jr., tearing nearly all the flesh from his right lower leg. A frantic race to save his life ensued, punctuated by small moments of good fortune: a faster boat waiting nearby sped Jameson Jr. to shore and into a waiting helicopter, a nurse from another boat appeared with a state-of-the-art first-aid kit, and Jameson Jr. was able to remain calm en route to the hospital and through the medical odyssey that followed. As he recovered—enduring four surgeries in the course of three weeks and adjusting to a new prosthetic leg—his positive attitude and faith inspired hospital workers and strangers alike. Without downplaying the horrors of their son’s recovery, the authors highlight how he’s become a source of strength for others, observing that the “stories God gives us may not be the stories we would choose for ourselves, but when they’re handed to us, we become God’s stewards.” Earnest and openhearted, this inspires. (July)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Husband-and-wife Youtubers Dan and Samantha Mathews invite readers to venture outside their comfort zones in their upbeat if grating debut. After marrying in 2014, the pair committed to “a life of adventure” that involved traveling across the country in an RV, sharing their exploits on social media, participating in a van renovation show, and having kids. Drawing on those experiences and examples of biblical characters who “followed God’s call to do things the rest of the world thought were... too risky”—for example, David fought “a giant who looked impossible to defeat”—they explain why readers need not wait until the perfect moment to embark on adventures. Also covered are how to try new things on a tight budget and incorporate novelty into one’s life, such as trying a new hobby or restaurant every week. While their clear enthusiasm has some appeal, sections structured as conversations between the two quickly grow tiresome (including a blow-by-blow recollection of their own love story). Skeptical readers may also take issue with the idea that they should take risks because “God will provide.” This is best suited for the couple’s most dedicated followers. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/16/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historian Fletcher (Gender and the American Temperance Movement of the Nineteenth Century) incisively explores the dark underbelly of American evangelical missionary work via the experiences of missionaries’ children. Drawing on her own childhood in Kenya and interviews with 80 others who were raised in missionary households, Fletcher depicts a bleak world in which children are subjected to extreme isolation, pressured to subordinate their emotional needs for the sake of their parents’ “divinely-ordained” calling, effectively “bubble-wrapped” from the societies in which they live, and frequently made vulnerable to abuse at the hands of missionary workers who are revered as saintlike. More broadly, the author unpacks how the myths that underlie missionary work—that missionaries are pursuing a divine calling, are saintly, and are advancing an admirable, multicultural Christianity—reinforce in the evangelical imagination a narrative of “the American church’s virtue, rightness, and importance” that distracts from its very real hypocrisies and shortcomings. Fletcher convincingly questions the need for missionary work at all, noting that locals in many now largely converted societies could provide similar services at a fraction of the cost. Robustly researched and sharply analyzed, it’s an illuminating exposé with important implications for evangelical Christianity. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/16/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historian Johnson (One in Christ) profiles in this informative account American Christians who used their faith to push for racial reform in the 20th century. Among those spotlighted are Catherine de Hueck, who immigrated to Harlem from Russia in 1938 and founded Friendship House, an organization that provided economic support and Catholic education to working-class Blacks; John Perkins, a Black minister who moved from California to segregated Mississippi to spread a gospel that prioritized both individual spiritual advancement and social action; and Clarence Jordan, a white Baptist preacher who founded the communal Koinonia farm in Georgia, where white and Black members were paid equal wages. Throughout, the author examines how her subjects cut against prevailing ideologies to effect change, noting, for example, that Catherine de Hueck rebutted prosperity gospel-inflected notions of individual advancement with the belief “that God cares for the economically and spiritually poor.” Johnson also makes intriguing points about how faith can help Christians to study history courageously, since “we serve a God who has forgiven our sins [and] need not fear the sins of the past.... Doing history can inspire us to act in the present.” Readers will be edified and inspired. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

“In the middle of the most overwhelming storms, what keeps us afloat are eyes fixed on Jesus,” according to this reassuring if sometimes stale guide to beating burnout. Addressing readers suffering from both general overwhelm and the “soul exhaustion” resulting from a frayed relationship with God, Talks with Tara podcaster Sun (Surrender Your Story) explains how trying to “do it all” is fruitless and drives believers to distractions that reassure in the short term but leave them hollow. To reset and reprioritize their faith, readers can fashion a more accepting notion of God’s expectations (it’s okay to “meet God right where we are” even if one’s life is a mess), implement daily devotional habits (reading scripture even five minutes a day is better than not at all), and battle burnout by setting boundaries. While Sun’s advice isn’t revelatory, she makes a convincing case that self-sacrifice and industriousness aren’t inherently virtuous, and that in fact God “does not ask us to wring ourselves out like a washcloth for his name.” This will be a balm for stressed-out Christians. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink