October 19, 2010

Before his untimely death in Novem­ber of 2008, William Placher was a celebrated teacher who exercised his gifts of exceptional insight and clarity of expression not only in the classroom but also in his many books, book chapters and edited works. One project in progress at the time of his passing was a biblical commentary series authored by well-respected theologians and published by Westminster John Knox.

Students of American religious history have long been aware that, at least until re­cently, the field has been riddled with four yawning gaps—eras that cried out for solid synthetic treatments. Those gaps are (in reverse chronological order) religion during the Great Depression, religion and the Civil War, religion during the Revolutionary era and religion during the Great Awakening.

For Eric Metaxas, polarization is a structural motif: his mission is to reclaim the true Bonhoeffer from liberals.

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?