Announcing Our New Devotional: Faith and History!

Most readers of this blog are aware that I’m in the middle of working on a new book: a “spiritual, but not religious” biography of Charles A. Lindbergh. I’m happy to report that I finished the first draft yesterday and should have the manuscript to the publisher next month. It’s scheduled to come out sometime next year.

But almost no one knows that I’ve got a different book coming out this December. In fact, as of yesterday it’s available for pre-order!

Published by Baylor University Press as part of its 1845 Books imprint, Faith and History is a 200-page devotional ($14.95) written by members of the Conference on Faith and History (CFH) and edited by Beth Allison Barr and me. Here’s part of the publisher’s description:

Join over forty Christian historians as they journey through the biblical and historical past, reading God’s word in light of the experiences of those made in God’s image….

With Faith and History, you will read the Gospels in light of the Civil Rights Movement and the Holocaust and pray the psalms alongside Frederick Douglass and Isaac Watts. Learn more about well-known Christians such as Billy Graham, C. S. Lewis, Aimee Semple McPherson, John Perkins, and St. Patrick, and meet historical figures who are less known but no less significant, such as faith healer Kathryn Kuhlman, Anabaptist martyr Felix Manz, and medieval mystic Margery Kempe. Each scriptural passage pairs with a historical reflection, suggests questions for further consideration and discussion, recommends resources for historical study, and closes with a short prayer.

As Kate Bowler puts it in her generous endorsement: “If you ever wanted your smartest friend to lead you in spiritual reflection, this is it.”

I’ll tell the full story of this book as we get closer to its December publication. Today I just want to thank Beth, who not only co-edited the book but helped champion this project as part of her term as president of CFH, and all of our contributors. They represent only a fraction of the CFH membership, but as a cross-section of that larger group, their collective work in Faith and History testifies (as endorser Jay Green puts it) “to the power of historical reflection for supporting the vital work of calling Christian believers to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.”

The full table of contents and list of contributors is below. Look for more as we get closer to December, or if you’ve heard enough already, go ahead and pre-order now!

Introduction | Beth Allison Barr & Christopher Gehrz

Genesis 1-2 | Christopher Gehrz

Genesis 16 | Amy L. Poppinga

Exodus 1:15-22 | Lisa Weaver-Swartz

Exodus 28:31-43 | Elesha Coffman

Leviticus 19:9-13 | Janine Giordano Drake

Leviticus 19:33-34 | Lisa Clark Diller

Joshua 4 | Darin D. Lenz

Ruth 2 | Brenda Thompson Schoolfield

1 Kings 3:1-12 | Joel Carpenter

Nehemiah 6:1-15 | Andrea L. Turpin

Psalm 90 | Shirley A. Mullen