Best Books 2017 Publishers Weekly

Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby

Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden (Princeton Univ.)

Moss, professor of the New Testament and early Christianity at Notre Dame, and Baden, professor of the Hebrew Bible at Yale, pull the curtain back on the Green family, billionaire owners of Hobby Lobby and creators of the Museum of the Bible opening November 17th in Washington, D.C., in this penetrating and often shocking account of how a powerful few are influencing American Christianity.

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The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America

Frances FitzGerald (Simon & Schuster)

FitzGerald, historian and journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for Fire in the Lake, turns her attention to the origins of American evangelicalism in this comprehensive study. In acessible prose, FitzGerald elegantly untangles the many movements and personalities (particularly Billy Graham, Karl Barth, Jerry Falwell, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Pat Robertson) that have created the modern evangelical movement.

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The Meaning of Belief: Religion from an Atheist’s Point of View

Tim Crane (Harvard Univ.)

In this convincing exploration, Crane, a British philosopher and professor at Central European University who focuses on philosophy of the mind and metaphysics, tries to bridge the gap between atheists and religious communities by explaining the human “religious impulse.” He argues persuasively that religious belief is complexly human, rather than something that should die in the face of science.

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The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege

Ken Wytsma (Intervarsity)

Wytsma, president of Kilns College and lead pastor of Antioch Church in Bend, Ore., explains the insidious ways white dominance shapes American culture and conversations about race from the perspective of a passionately committed evangelical Christian. His measured explanations combined with deep research elucidate the damaging “white normative standard” in order to inspire conversations around a difficult topic.

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Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment

Robert Wright (Simon & Schuster)

Religious scholar Wright uses evolutionary psychology cleverly to assess whether Buddhism’s diagnosis of the human condition makes sense. Opting for the modular model of mind, he argues that there are ultimately many versions of the self (or “no-self”). His absorbing thesis champions placing emotions on par with reason as influencers of our perceptions and interpretations.

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