Books of the Year 2023
It’s that time when newspapers and magazines share a list of books of the year, writes Andy Goodliff. I thought I might curate one for The Baptist Times, so I asked some friends to give me two books they’ve read this year they would want to recommend to others
The book of Ecclesiastes says ‘of making many books there is no end’ and that is very much true. A good book is a great gift, so perhaps some of those listed here might be something that can be gifted to you, or something you can gift to another.
Some books I really enjoyed this year are: The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England by Jonathan Healy (Bloomsbury, 2023) which is a history of the turbulent 17th century in England, bringing some wider context to the beginnings of Baptists.
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder, 2022) and Chaokia Jazz by Francis Spufford (Faber, 2023) were two wonderful historical novels, the former set in 16th century Italy, the latter in an alternative 20th century America.
One theological book I’ve appreciated this year is Pilgrim Journey by Curtis Freeman (Fortress, 2023).
Freeman, a Baptist, offers a short treatment of the Christian faith looking at Jesus, the Bible, the triune God, the church year and the sacraments (It’s a sequel to his equally impressive Pilgrim Letters).
As December begins, I’ve also got my hands on A Primer in Christian Ethics by Luke Bretherton (Cambridge University Press, 2023), which is already proving to be a book I will come back to again and again.
The key argument is that to live well requires the humility to listen — to creation, to Scripture, to strangers, to cries of for liberation, to ancestors. Something I hope us Baptists do more of in 2024 as we wrestle with questions of money, sex and power.
I’ve already named too many books, so here are some others.
Craig Gardiner - Tutor in Christian Doctrine, Cardiff Baptist College
My first choice would be Cole Arthur Riley, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation and the Stories that Make Us (Convergent, 2022). This is a book you won’t want to put down and yet paradoxically it is one that demands that you must leave aside the turning of the pages to attend the urgent task of reflecting on the spiritual provocations held within.
It is a deeply personal and yet universally authentic journey into living life with wonder for as the author notes, 'Awe is not a lens through which to see the world but our sole path to seeing. Any other lens is not a lens but a veil. And I’ve come to believe that our beholding – seeing the veils of this world peeled back again and again, if only for a moment – is no small form of salvation.’
There is so much more, but for me it was worth the reading for those few lines alone.
My second choice would be John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces (Louisiana State University Press, 1980). I have come late to the party on Toole’s cult American classic and have only done so after a friend recommended it to my daughter.
Of course I was tempted to it further once I learned the story behind the story: the author's suicide aged 31, supposedly because of his inability to have the novel published and his mother’s subsequent campaign to ensure it was released some 11 years later. I have not laughed as much as other readers may have done at the grotesquely misanthropic and yet comedic antics of the novel's main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, but have been mesmerised at how this slobbish and snobbish egotist can be so well versed in literature, philosophy and theology and yet remain so absent from their gifts of wisdom grace and generosity.
On almost every page it reaffirmed to me that what matters is not only what we read, but how we choose to read it.
Helen Paynter - founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV), and a tutor at Bristol Baptist College
The Great Divorce by CS Lewis (Collins, 2012).
Should have read this classic years ago. It’s not about divorce; nor – though its narrative setting might suggest so – a theological exploration of heaven and hell.
It’s a rich exploration of the sins and failings that make us less truly human.
My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking refuge on the world’s migration routes by Sally Hayden (HarperCollins, 2022).
Did you know that many, many people who flee war and conscription in North Africa end up trapped in the most inhumane prisons and bonded servitude without ever leaving the continent?
Neither did I. I listened to this book on Audible and it made a lasting impression on me.
If I can have a bonus third, it would be Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture by Christopher Watkin (Zondervan, 2022). If, like me, you despair of the seemingly irreconcilable claims of Christians on both sides of the ‘culture wars’ then this book might help you navigate some of the tensions. Written by a philosopher who is an evangelical Christian. It’s a fat book but not unduly hard to get your head around.
Helen is the author of Blessed are the Peacemakers: A Biblical Theology of Human Violence (2023).
Simon Woodman - minister of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London
Ted Grimsrud, To Follow the Lamb: A Peaceable Reading of the Book of Revelation (Cascade, 2022). What are we to make of biblical violence, particularly those places where it seems as if God is either commanding or committing the violence?
This book offers a 'peaceable' reading of the often-violent Book of Revelation, suggesting that genuine change in our 'broken world' needs to be anchored in nonviolent convictions and practices.
Ian K. Boxall, Christ in the Book of Revelation (Paulist Press, 2021).
If you've ever wondered what on earth (and in heaven) Christ is actually doing in the Book of Revelation, this is the book for you. It is an accessible way into this often confusing biblical book, and will be of great interest to those who are looking to preach or lead studies on Revelation.
Simon is the author of Faith in Doubt: Prayers and Poems (2023)
Ruth Gouldbourne, minister of Grove Lane Baptist Church in Cheadle Hulme
Holy Anarchy: Dismantling Domination, Embodying Community, Loving Strangeness by Graham Adams (SCM, 2022). By exploring old ideas in new ways with new language, Adams offers challenging and stimulating approaches (and deepens it so helpfully with added hymns and liturgies)
It is not an easy read, but I have found myself returning to it over and over this year, exploring notions of being shaken, of seeking to understand the colonisation of the mind, and — for me two things above all — do I worship the God of the crucifiers or the crucified, and the importance of being a Good Friday people in a (falsely) Easter world.
Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD by Peter Brown (Princeton University Press, 2013).
A long read, with great details, exploring attitudes to wealth in the early church, and how they changed, how they were shaped by and shaped attitudes in the Empire, and the impact of each on the other. A new reading of Pelagius, of Augustine and of Jerome; really helpful in understanding (and challenging assumptions about) early debates that still shape our theology.
Trevor Neill - lead pastor of Selsdon Baptist Church, London
The Secret Place of Thunder: Trading our Need to be Noticed for a Hidden Life in Christ by John Starke (Zondervan, 2023) is an eloquent reflection on how, in a world where so much activity is performative, the most important work God has to do in our lives is that which is unseen to others.
King: The Life of Martin Luther King by Jonathan Eig (Simon & Schuster, 2023) is an insightful new biography of Martin Luther King which is unstintingly honest about King’s individual struggles and shortcomings, but made me think deeply about the importance of personal courage, and how vital it is for those God calls into leadership.
Sally Nelson - Dean of Baptist Formation at St Hild College, Yorkshire
Becoming the Baptized Body: Disability and the Practice of Christian Community by Sarah Jean Barton (Baylor University Press, 2022).
I love the way this book explores (from field research) the meaning of baptism for people with learning disabilities. It compares paedobaptism and believer's baptism by exploring the meaning of the baptized community rather than working with the concept of individual agency. Really helpful!
The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care by Kirk A Bingaman (Lexington, 2014).
I've been meaning to read this for a while. Humans acquire neurological damage from stress, trauma and negative input, and in the modern world anxiety is a common pressure. This book advocates for the power of pastoral care, meditation and prayer to bring physical healing to the human brain.
Richard Shorter, minister Upminster Baptist Church
Testament by Micheal O'Siadhail (Baylor University Press, 2022). Micheal is a sage in the use of words, combining them to sooth or rip you open as he shares his personal collection of Psalms.
On second thought by William R Miller (Guildford Press, 2022).
What do you do with mixed feelings and conflicting ideas in our own minds or when listening to others? From trying to lose weight to balancing difficult relationships and challenging church discussions. This book is one I will revisit, it is a deep, practical well for those who wish to understand how to better support decision making.
Carol Murray, former tutor at Regent's Park College, and former minister at Haddenham-cum-Dinton Baptist Church
God is not a White Man by Chine Macdonald (Hodder, 2021).
The book, shortlisted for the 2023 Michael Ramsey Prize, takes you into the world of being black and female in Church and a culture that values male whiteness. It’s a reflection and memoir that challenges you on many levels including theologically and socially.
Small pleasures by Clare Chambers (Orion, 2020) It begins with the end or does it?
Set in the ordinary life of the 1950s with a journalist seeking out a story of Virgin birth which leads to remembering how things were for women, plus challenging us on our beliefs, credulity, intrigue and love.
Tim Judson, tutor at Regent's Park College and pastor of Honiton Family Church, Devon
The Body That Keeps the Score by Bessell van der Kolk (Penguin, 2015) because it is really informative for understanding the way in which experiences are processed within the body, physiologically and neurologically, which is helpful for pastoral care amongst other others.
The Nazi Conscience by Claudia Koonz (Harvard University Press, 2003) as it shows how the ideology of Hitler’s Third Reich harnessed and conscripted the moral imaginations of German people. It’s a chilling appraisal of modern Western ethics.
Tim is the author of Awake in Gethsemane: Bonhoeffer and the Witness of Christian Lament (Baylor University Press, 2023)
Leigh Greenwood, minister Stoneygate Baptist Church, Leicester
One of the joys of parenting is rediscovering picture books, so both of my choices come from my kids' bookshelves. Maybe God Is Like That Too by Jennifer Grant (Fortress, 2016) finds God in everyday moments, and asks if we might be like that too.
The Boy With Flowers In His Hair by Jarvis (Walker, 2022) is a stunning exploration of what it might look like to care for one another at our most vulnerable.
Jane Day, Centenary Development Enabler and tutor, Regent's Park College
Lessons on Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Penguin, 2023). This novel is funny, thought-provoking, hopeful, and empowering.
It is well-researched and tackles themes of sexism and sexual harassment in the 1950s and 60s. The main character Elizabeth Zott shows us how to challenge the status quo.
Radical Presence: Teaching as Contemplative Practice by Mary Rose O’Reilley (Boynton/Cook, 1998). I love this book because it reminds me of the value of contemplative practices in theological education.
While the idea of offering resources and books to students is well-meaning, this book challenges me to listen more keenly and to make space for silence and stillness in the educational environment.
Ivan King, former minister at Church from Scratch, Essex
The outstanding book for me this year was Educated by Tara Westover (Windmill Books, 2018). It is a really amazing story of grace and how someone raised by ‘Christian’ fundamentalist/white supremacist parents can blossom when delivered from such.
Tara never went to school. She was only registered for a birth certificate when she was nine years old, so she was unknown to the wider community. Her family were white supremacists and there was much cruelty in her family. But then Tara began to teach herself, with amazing results.
Geoff Colmer, former Baptist Union President and Regional Minister Team Leader Central Baptist Association
Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell (Faber, 2022). This is essentially a biography which shows us the many sides of Donne’s extraordinary life and the times in which he lived. It’s a serious read but an enthralling one.
Just to add, serendipitously this took me into Katherine Rundell’s ‘children’s’ books. I have already read two and look forward to the rest - she is a wonderful story-teller whose books might be described as being subterraneanly Christian.
David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms by Malcolm Guite (Canterbury, 2021).
This is a collection of 150 poems corresponding to the 150 Psalms and composed as a response. It is a crown in so far as the last line of each psalm-poem becomes the first line of the next. And come Psalm 150 the last line becomes the first line of Psalm 1, thus weaving a crown.
The idea came from seven poems by John Donne. Just as the psalms are searingly honest expressions of emotion, so too are Malcolm Guite’s answering psalms. I use them each day along with the Psalms.
Stephen Copson, former CBA Regional Minister
Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion by Nicholas Spencer (One World, 2023). A fascinating exploration of the mutual relationship through the millennia of the Abrahamic faiths and emerging scientific disciplines.
Prompts reflection of whether in the light of emerging developments in areas of ethics, AI, technology, human identity, and cosmology, will people of faith be flat-earthers or partners in dialogue?
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers (1934). Where else can you find a detective mystery solved to the cadence of campanology?
Keith Jones, President Baptist Historical Society, Shipley Baptist Church Leadership Team member
Singleness and Marriage After Christendom: Being and Doing Family by Lina Toth (Cascade, 2021).
Belonging to an inclusive church in a youthful city we are challenged in our desire to include all sorts of people in a variety of relationships in our church community.
The church recognises it has moved beyond the "family church" concepts of the 1970s and 1980s and
Lina presents us with excellent reflections on how to be truly inclusive in a very changing climate.
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek (Penguin, 1974)
This is a classic Czech book I return to every few years to help me laugh at the futility of war and the incompetence of politicians and the military. It is especially valued as having lived in the Czech Republic and travelled in eastern Europe for 20 years it offers reminders of the lovely, ordinary people I met and the glorious scenery of the lands from Bohemia to the Urals.
Andy Goodliff is the minister of Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend. He is a lecturer in Baptist History at Regent's Park College, Oxford
Baptist Times, 06/12/2023