There are more books written on theology and the Bible than any person could come close to reading. We all have to choose our priorities. There are plenty of good books and resources that aren’t listed here. Rather than try to name them all, we’ve tried to emphasize work by women and people of color. It is intellectually and spiritually degrading to consume all one’s theology from white men, as many of us have been trained to do. If that describes your past theological intake, read some of the theologies below from feminists, womanists, post-colonialists and liberation theologians of color. Also peruse the additional resource lists below highlighting female theologians, black theologians, and indigenous writers.
As we cover topics on the podcast, we will add to the list of topical resources. Note once again that these are highly curated lists that barely scratch the surface of all the scholarship out there. Lastly, we don’t endorse all of the ideas in any of these books, but we believe they’re all at least worthy of engagement.
Popular level books
Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
Inspired by Rachel Held Evans
A Farewell to Mars by Brian Zahnd
The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns
The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns
Finding God in the Waves by Mike McHargue
Lies We Believe About God by William Paul Young
Gender
Paul and Gender by Cynthia Long Westfall
Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey
Neither Complimentarian nor Egalitarian by Michelle Lee-Barnewall
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
Race and Racism
Can White People Be Saved? (Collection of Essays edited by Love L. Sechrest)
Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Reconstructing the Gospel by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Rethinking Incarceration by Dominique DuBois Gilliard
Disruptive Christian Ethics by Traci C. West
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Disunity in Christ by Christina Cleveland
Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah
I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
White Fragility by Robin DeAngelo
One Blood by John Perkins
Woke Church by Eric Mason
The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
The Christian Imagination: Theology And The Origins Of Race by Willie James Jennings
Others resources:
Atonement
Atonement by T.F. Torrance
A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight
The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge
Not Ashamed of the Gospel: New Testament Interpretations of the Death of Christ by Morna Hooker
Christ Died for Our Sins by Jarvis J. Williams
Saved from Sacrifice by Mark S. Heim
Monster God Debate a video debate by Brian Zahnd and Michael Brown
New Humanity Institute a blog by Mako Nagasawa
Liberation Theologies
American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty by George Tinker
A Black Theology of Liberation by James Cone
Black Theology and Black Power by James Cone
The Cross And The Lynching Tree by James Cone
Liberating Black Theology by Anthony Bradley
Jesus And The Disinherited by Howard Thurman
Womanist Theological Ethics (Collection edited by Katie Geneva Cannon, Emilie M. Townes, and Angela D. Sims)
On the Side of the Poor: The Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez and Gerhard Ludwig Muller
Christ The Liberator: A View from the Victims by Jon Sobrino
No Salvation Outside the Poor by Jon Sobrino
Sisters in the Wilderness by Delores S. Williams
The Scandal of Redemption by Oscar Romero
Hope Abundant: Third World and Indigenous Women’s Theology (Collection edited by Kwok Pui-Lan)
Mujerista Theology by Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz
Bible of the Oppressed by Elsa Tamaz
Water Buffalo Theology by Kosuke Koyama
Making Paper Cranes: Toward an Asian American and Feminist Theology by Mihee Kim-Kort and Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Old Testament Studies
Academic Books
The Pentateuch as Narrative by John Sailhamer
The Meaning of The Pentateuch by John Sailhamer
Adam as Israel by Seth Postell
The Mission of God by Christopher Wright
Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus by Michael Morales
In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers by Mary Douglas
Theology of the Old Testament by Walter Brueggemann
Popular Books
Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament by Christopher Wright
Old Testament Ethics for the People of God by Christopher Wright
Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament by Ellen Davis
Biblical Prophecy by Ellen Davis
The Prophets by Abraham Heschel
The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser
The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann
New Testament Studies
Academic Books
Jesus and the God of Israel by Richard Bauckham
The New Testament and the People of God by N.T. Wright
Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels by Richard Hayes
Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul by Richard Hayes
The Beginning of the Gospel: Probings of Mark in Context by Adela Yarbro Collins
King of the Jews: Temple Theology in John’s Gospel by Margaret Barker
The Theology of the Book of Revelation by Richard Bauckham
Popular Books
Searching for Meaning: An Introduction to Interpreting the New Testament by Paula Gooder
The Day the Revolution Began by N.T. Wright
Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael Gorman
Other Bible Resources
Bibles
The Peoples’ Bible, edited by Curtiss Paul Deyoung, Wilda C. Gafney, Leticia Guardiola-Saenz, George E. Tinker, Frank M. Yamada
The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible by Craig Keener and John Walton
Bible Commentaries
The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary ed. by Catherine Clark Kroeger and Mary J. Evans
Women’s Bible Commentary ed. By Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, Jacqueline E. Lapsley
NIV Compact Bible Commentary by John Sailhamer
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament ed. By G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig Keener
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John Walton, Victor Matthews, Mark Chavalas
True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Theology ed. by Bryan K. Blount, Cain Hope Felder, Clarice J. Martin, and Emerson B. Powery