From time to time, I get asked to recommend books on various topics for people. Of course, when I’m asked, I always draw a blank or mangle the title or author of the book I’m trying to recommend. I’ll try to do this once in a while as I find books that I think are worth a look. So here’s a brief list of books that I highly recommend …

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll (1994, Eerdmans). Anyone writing or thinking about the development of the Christian mind needs to start with this book. Noll is a first-rate historian who pulls no punches in his analysis of evangelicalism’s abandonment of any serious intellectual pursuit. Whether you’re trying to understand the relationship of the religious right to the current administration or the fight over creationism, evolution, and intelligent design, Noll covers all the critical history in this book.

Ancient Future Faith by Robert Webber (1999, Baker Books). A critical book for those trying to understand where the church is going and what it will look like in the next century and beyond. Webber believes that the church of tomorrow looks a lot like the church of yesterday — as in, the ancient church. He does an excellent job tying the post-modern and ancient together in a very helpful book that will is already pointing the way for many churches.

The Younger Evangelicals by Robert Webber (2002, Baker Books). Webber extends his previous work on worship and the post-modern church and applies it to the emerging culture he’s seeing within evangelicalism. His observations are spot-on and those currently in leadership positions would be wise to heed Webber’s warnings and to adopt his suggestions.

A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren (2001, Jossey-Bass). This book takes a lot of the ideas that had been bouncing around about postmodernism and Christianity and sets them in a narrative dialogue that finds McLaren as a main character, working out what Christianity will look like in the next millenium. For a lot of people, this book has been the opening shot in the emergent revolution. If you want to ask some of the tough questions about Christianity in this culture, start with this book.

Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren (2004, Zondervan). There probably won’t be a whole lot systematic theologies coming out of the emergent movement. It’s the kind of thing post-moderns just don’t do. This book is McLaren’s attempt at painting a picture of how the great diversity within Christianity will be its greatest strength in the next millenium.