Life has been incredibly busy lately, so I have not had much time for the blog—or writing in general—but today’s post is something that’s been on my mind for a while. It’s a list of books I would encourage every Christian to read, as they speak into many cultural issues we are facing as a society and how to approach them from a Biblically-rooted perspective.

I have several reasons for wanting to write this entry. Part of it is motivated by observing the consequences of our echo-chamber silos and how it’s radicalizing and dividing us as a society. It makes sense that we tend to engage most with those we agree with, but we certainly need to be more challenged by our ideas, or at the very least need to recognize those we disagree with as fellow human beings worthy of compassion and respect. Critical thinking seems like a lost art, and that partially stems from our collective unwillingness to hear out other opinions. I’ve been privileged to have a foot in both sides of the political aisle: I work in higher education, which is extremely Leftist, but I regularly seek out content that leans more towards the Right or strongly advocates for a conservative position. Most of my family and closest friends are conservative, too. Living in both worlds has allowed me to thoughtfully engage with a wide range of politicized topics and has strengthened my own convictions. It’s also given me a lot of compassion for those I disagree with, as I’ve come to understand how and why they think about a particular topic, even if I don’t agree with their premises or conclusions.

The other major reason I’m writing this is more personal. In my life, I am upfront about being a Christian, but something I tend to not talk about as much are my politics, or more specifically how my faith informs my politics. Part of this is wisdom: I do not want to put up walls of division with others or create a stumbling block for the Gospel, as ultimately I believe Jesus is the only hope for the world, not America, not a political party, not democracy, etc. But part of my silence has been, admittedly, fear. As I’ve already mentioned, I walk and work in a lot of spaces that lean or are explicitly liberal / Leftist, and I am very much a conservative, in spite of my professors’ and classmates’ efforts. It has felt risky (and still does feel risky) to openly oppose ideologies my professors and most of my classmates uphold as truth. There’s a lot more I could say about my experiences in the university setting as a conservative, but that’s not the point of what I want to write today. I wanted to simply provide some context from where I’m coming from with this list.

Instead, what I want to do in this post is share a list of 7 books, most of which I have been too nervous to share publicly in the past. These books have been among the most instrumental for me over the past five years and provided counterarguments for many of the ideologies I’ve encountered in my graduate education. If you are a Christian, no matter your political orientation, I strongly encourage you to read these books, all of which speak into how to engage with our current cultural moment as faithful Christians. If you lean more progressive in theology and/or politics, I all the more implore you to challenge your own thinking and move out of echo-chambers with these books. I don’t ask that you agree with the authors or with me, but I do hope that you will engage with good faith in their arguments and ideas. Use them to sharpen your thinking, whether you shift on a particular topic, or end up strengthening your own convictions.

Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin

Rebecca McLaughlin’s book and the following recommendation by Alisa Childers are great starting points, as both are broader in their subject matter and focus largely on the Church and theological issues as the primary focus. What I appreciate about McLaughlin’s book is that she addresses several of the most pressing questions non-Christians tend to have about the Christian Church today, some of which are related to cultural issues, and some of which are address concerns with religion in general. McLaughlin does a great job thoroughly dissecting tensions, misconceptions, and oversimplifications about Christianity. It’s a mix of apologetics and engaging with culture that I find to be an accessible resource for all Christians, equipping us to respond to a wide range of concerns or confusions that individuals have about our faith.

Another Gospel? A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers

I’m a huge fan of Alisa Childers. She has two other books which I also recommend. As with McLaughlin’s book, Childers’s Another Gospel? is a good book to start with from this list. In her book, Childers breaks down the progressive approach to Christianity and how relativism has infiltrated the Church. Childers also argues against some of those progressive ideas, such as questioning the Bible’s reliability, and does a great job explaining how progressive ideologies are anti-Biblical or lead to a watered-down, powerless faith in Christ. Even if progressive thought is not something you are particularly struggling with, I find this book a good check for Christians and great encouragement in reinforcing what we know is true. It can also be a good resource for dialoguing with friends and family who may be walking down a progressive theology path.

Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion by Allie Beth Stuckey

In some ways, Allie Beth Stuckey’s book may be the most important book on this list because it touches upon a crucial argument for progressive Christianity. Most Christians who are liberal or on the Left make the case that progressive ideologies should be adopted because they are the most loving, and we are called to love others as Christians. That argument stumped me for years, as it is a convincing one. However, Stuckey challenges the idea that loving others is equivalent to adopting Leftist values by showing how our call to love others is often manipulated to push Christians to encourage, support, or engage in a variety of cultural issues, including abortion, LGBTQ issues, and immigration. Stuckey’s whole argument is that enabling sinful or objectively harmful ideas and practices is not true love, because it enables brokenness instead of meeting people and helping them through difficult issues. I especially recommend this book for my Christian friends who feel torn over this specific argument that loving others means affirming certain political stances, as I think Stuckey poses a good challenge for all of us to make sure we are actually loving well and are not simply being pulled by the doctrines of the world.

Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts by Jennie Allen

While not strictly as culturally or ideologically focused like the majority of recommendations on this list, in reading and discussing this book with a friend of mine, we both agreed that Jennie Allen’s Christ-rooted approach is the best response to the “mental health crisis” of our day. While not minimizing true clinical anxiety and depression, Allen does well at calling out how we as a culture (including within the Church!) have far too often used anxiety or depression as an excuse for victimizing ourselves or viewing ourselves as passive prisoners to our own thoughts and emotions. Allen reminds us that those in Christ have a choice to take our thoughts captive and not be beholden to our own emotions. Many Christians today need to hear this reminder so that we can all be healthier people and not give into the lie that we need to be slaves to our emotions or fears.

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield

I admire Rosaria Butterfield for her bluntness, and this book makes no exceptions as she addresses the dominant progressive ideologies in our culture with unsugarcoated Biblical truth. As a former lesbian and academic, Butterfield also speaks from a place of direct experience with a lot of the progressive ideologies and lifestyles. In some ways, this a mildly fierier version of both Childers and Stuckey’s books, as there is a lot of overlap in what topics Butterfield addresses. Butterfield takes the discussion a little deeper, so this is one to read after the previous recommendations.

Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham

I’ll start off this recommendation by first saying I am sad about Voddie’s recent passing; I found him a much-needed pastoral voice in today’s age, but I know he is very happy with Jesus presently. I specifically am incredibly grateful for Baucham’s impact on my life, as this book in particular was the start of a realignment for me. Without going too much into backstory, I had just come out of a season of engaging with critical race theory and attempting to reconcile it with Christianity, but didn’t feel settled by the idea that critical race theory was a necessary ideology for Christians to adopt. Baucham’s book helped me find a more Biblically-grounded, wise position on the topic. So, if you’re looking for a book focused particularly on race and social justice, this is an excellent deep dive on the topic.

The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory by Abigail Favale

Like Baucham’s book, Abigail Favale’s is focused on a single topic: gender. Specifically, Favale addresses feminism and transgenderism. Her writing and arguments reflect her background as an academic, including citing many of the “foundational” theorists of feminist theory, which is part of why I like it, as I have had to engage with or read many of the sources she cites as she breaks down feminism’s roots and evolution across time. Favale’s whole book proposes a Biblical approach to gender and presenting that as a countertheory to mainstream feminism. I’m inspired by her work and often think about what it would look like as a fellow academic to build off of it. The book can be dense in places, but I think it’s worth the effort of attempting to read.

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To close, I do want to emphasize: politics aren’t the end-all, be-all, but lately I’ve noticed a trend of letting politics inform our faith instead of faith informing our politics. Though I have to check myself on that balance from time to time, I find that making sure I’m not just listening to one person about everything is essential to get me to think about the issues of our nation and bring the tensions I encounter before the Lord. I would encourage everyone to do the same, too. Thanks for reading, and I hope this is a helpful resource for challenging your own thinking about how to engage as Christians in our culture. If you have any recommendations for me, reach out and let me know.