Our friend Byron Borger over at Hearts & Minds Books in Dallastown Pennsylvania has just posted a full review of Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement, coauthored by Brian Walsh and Steven Bouma-Prediger.

Byron Writes:

In my enthusiastic announcement at the BookNotes blog this June I confidently stated that Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement by Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J. Walsh (Eerdmans; $24.00) will be the Book of the Year. Perhaps I was a bit rash, since so many truly great titles have subsequently been released (I admit I’m writing this postdating it, in the fall since I didn’t get to this review earlier.) Still, I insist that this book is one of the most important in ages, a thrilling, if demanding, read, and a great example of the wonderful kinds of books that are being written these days. This book is deeply, profoundly Christian, radically faithful, and wondrously interdisciplinary. There are a few trouble spots and a few annoying tics, but my criticism, which I will raise eventually, should not keep you from taking it seriously. I again announce that I suspect it will be named as the Hearts & Minds book of the year.

There are lots of fine books, many good ones this year, and we are grateful to be in the business of recommending many. Every now and then, though, one comes along that stands out, and although it may not be for everyone, we truly try to promote it widely. We are often told that customers appreciate this, since some of the best religious books are not sold in typical bookstores. I say this from time to time, I know, but I couldn’t be more sincere or more urgent: for serious Christians, those who care about how God’s Word impacts and shapes our thinking and living, who desire an integrated worldview that can propel us towards distinctive cultural engagement, who wants to learn more about the nature of our times—Jesus told us to read the signs, recall—Beyond Homelessness is a must. Yes, a true must-read. As Marva Dawn puts it in her very enthusiastic recommendation, “Broadly researched and splendidly written, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants truly to comprehend and mend our culture.” Amen.

For the rest of the review, please visit Byron’s Hearts & Minds site.

Brian Walsh

Brian is an activist theologian, a retired CRC campus minister, the founder of the Wine Before Breakfast community, and farms with Sylvia Keesmaat at Russet House Farm.He engages issues of theology and culture, and has written a couple of books you might want to check out. His most recent offering is cowritten with Sylvia Keesmaat and entitled Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice.