(My) 50 Best Theology Books of the 21st Century

The Guardian have been doing a series on the 100 best books/films/albums/etc of the 21st Century. I thought I'd look at my shelves and offer my 50 best theology books I've read, and in many cases return to a lot, published since the 21st Century. I limited myself to one book per author (apart from in one case), otherwise there would be more Freeman, Hauerwas, Wells and Williams. I recognise some of the big names/books are missing — David Bentley Hart, William Cavanaugh, Katherine Sonderegger, David Kesley, Oliver O'Donovan, Miroslav Volf, Michael Banner, John Barclay, John Milbank, and many others — I've just got round to reading them. Some on the list below will be little known, but there books have been important to me. A fair number are memoirs, and I've come to really enjoy this format. The list is in no particular order. 

1. Douglas Campbell, The Deliverance of God (2009)
2. Curtis Freeman, Contesting Catholicity (2014)
3. Willie Jennings, The Christian Imagination (2010)
4. John Webster, Holy Scripture (2003)
5. Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah’s Child (2010)
6. Samuel Wells, Improvisation (2004)
7. James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom (2009)
8. Rowan Williams, Tokens of Trust (2007)
9. Robert Jenson, A Theology in Outline (2016)
10. Brian Brock, Wondrously Wounded (2019)
11. John Flett, The Witness of God (2010)
12. John Swinton, Dementia (2014)
13. Fleming Rutledge, Crucifixion (2017)
14. Paul Fiddes, Tracks and Traces (2003)
15. David Ford, Christian Wisdom (2007)
16. Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (2008)
17. Beverly Gaventa, When in Romans (2017)
18. Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (2018)
19. Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality and the Self (2013)
20. James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree (2011)
21. John Colwell, The Rhythm of Doctrine (2007)
22. Ben Myers, The Apostles’ Creed (2018)
23. Wesley Hill, Spiritual Friendship (2015)
24. NT Wright, Surprised by Hope (2008)
25. C. Kavin Rowe, World Upside Down (2009)
26. Jean Vanier, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus in the Gospel of John (2004)
27. Luke Bretherton, Christianity and Contemporary Politics (2009)
28. Brian Walsh and Slyvia Keesematt, Colossians Remixed (2004)
29. Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith (2011)
30. Richard Lischer, Stations of the Heart (2013)
31. Eugene Peterson, The Pastor (2011)
32. Richard Middleton, The Liberating Image (2005)
33. Preston Sprinkle (ed.), Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible and the Church (2016)
34. Stephen Cottrell, Walking Backwards from Christmas (2015)
35. Lauren Winner, Girl Meets God (2002)
36. Joanna Jepson, A Lot Like Eve (2015)
37. Walter Brueggemann, The Word that Redescribes the World (2006)
38. Marica Bunge (ed.), The Child in Christian Thought (2001)
39. Susan Eastman, Paul and the Person (2017)
40. Francis Spufford, Unapologetic (2012)
41. Colin Gunton, The Christian Faith (2001)
42. Eugene Rogers, After the Spirit (2006)
43. Ann Morisy, Journeying Out (2004)
44. Kathryn Tanner, Christ the Key (2009)
45. Ellen Davies, Scripture, Culture and Agriculture (2008)
46. Fleming Rutledge, The Battle for Middle–Earth (2004)
47. Charles Campbell, The Word Before the Powers (2002)
48. Joel Marcus, Mark (2002)
49. Douglas Harink, 1 & 2 Peter (2009)
50. Marylinne Robinson, Gilead (2009)

Comments

[Terry]

I can't praise Ben Myers's The Apostles' Creed enough . . . I really think it's excellent.

I recently re-read significant chunks of Colossians Remixed. It's still good, but it didn't have the same impact on me as it did when it was first published. Not sure why . . .