As the end of the year winds down, iAt likes to take a look at our favorite books from 2020. Compiled by iAt’s Editorial Board, this diverse list of books gives a variety of topics and genres to consider as you discern what to read in 2021. We want to hear from you: what books should iAt consider reviewing this next year? Leave your ideas in the comments below.
A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing 
by Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer
“Tragically, in recent years, Christians have gotten used to revelations of abuses of many kinds in our most respected churches―from Willow Creek to Harvest, from Southern Baptist pastors to Sovereign Grace churches. Respected author and theologian Scot McKnight and former Willow Creek member Laura Barringer wrote this book to paint a pathway forward for the church.”
After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity
by David Gushee
“David Gushee offers a new way forward for disillusioned post-evangelicals by first analyzing what went wrong with U.S. white evangelicalism in areas such as evangelical identity, biblical interpretation, church life, sexuality, politics, and race. Gushee then proposes new ways of Christian believing, belonging, and behaving, helping post-evangelicals from where they are to a living relationship with Christ and an intellectually cogent and morally robust post-evangelical faith.”
After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging
by Willie James Jennings
“In this inaugural volume of the Theological Education between the Times series, Willie James Jennings shares the insights gained from his extensive experience in theological education, most notably as the dean of a major university’s divinity school—where he remains one of the only African Americans to have ever served in that role.”
All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living
by Morgan Harper Nichols
“All Along You Were Blooming is a striking collection of illustrated poetry and prose, inviting you to “stumble into the sunlight” and delight in the wild and boundless grace you’ve been given.”
Bavinck: A Critical Biography
by James Eglinton
“James Eglinton is widely considered to be at the forefront of contemporary interest in Bavinck’s life and thought. After spending considerable time in the Netherlands researching Bavinck, Eglinton brings to light a wealth of new insights and previously unpublished documents to offer a definitive biography of this renowned Reformed thinker.”
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West (Read iAt’s Review here)
Jack: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson (Read iAt’s Review here)
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez (Read iAt’s Review here)
Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley’s (Read iAt’s Review here)
Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World
by Tara Isabella Burton
“In Strange Rites, religious scholar and commentator Tara Isabella Burton visits with the techno-utopians of Silicon Valley; Satanists and polyamorous communities, witches from Bushwick, wellness junkies and social justice activists and devotees of Jordan Peterson, proving Americans are not abandoning religion but remixing it.”
The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir by Samantha Power (Read iAt’s Review here)
The Logic of the Body: Retrieving Theological Psychology
by Matthew Lapine
“In The Logic of the Body, Matthew LaPine argues that Protestants must retrieve theological psychology in order to properly understand the emotional life of the human person. With classical and modern resources in tow, LaPine argues that one must not choose between viewing emotions exclusively as either cognitive and volitional on the one hand, or simply a feeling of bodily change on the other. The two ‘stories’ can be reconciled through a robustly theological analysis.”
The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety and Power by D.L. Mayfield (Read iAt’s Review here)
When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse by Chuck De Groat (Read iAt’s Review here)
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