For two decades, the annual Christianity Today Book Awards have recognized outstanding volumes that shed light on people, events, and ideas that shape evangelical life, thought, and mission. This year, our judging process began with 472 titles submitted by 72 publishers. CT editors selected finalists in each category, and then our expert judges sorted out the best of the bunch from 2009. Here are the 12 winners (including two ties) and 11 notables that best shed light on the people, events, and ideas that shape evangelical life, thought, and mission.

The 2010 Christianity Today Book Awards

Apologetics/Evangelism
GOD IS GREAT, GOD IS GOOD: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable and Responsible
William Lane Craig and Chad Meister, Editors (InterVarsity)

Biblical Studies
SIN: A History
Gary A. Anderson (Yale University Press)

Christianity and Culture
SOULS IN TRANSITION: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults
Christian Smith with Patricia Snell (Oxford University Press)

Christian Living
I TOLD ME SO: Self-Deception and the Christian Life
Gregg A. Ten Elshof (Eerdmans)

The Church/Pastoral Leadership (tie)
DEEP CHURCH: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional
Jim Belcher (InterVarsity)

WHY WE LOVE THE CHURCH: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion
Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Moody)

Fiction
NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND
Fyodor Dostoevsky; Boris Jakim, translator (Eerdmans)

History/Biography
PREDESTINATION: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine
Peter J. Thuesen (Oxford University Press)

Missions/Global Affairs
THE NEW SHAPE OF WORLD CHRISTIANITY: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith
Mark A. Noll (InterVarsity Academic)

Spirituality
LONGING FOR GOD: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion
Richard J. Foster and Gayle D. Beebe (InterVarsity)

Theology/Ethics (tie)
DESIRING THE KINGDOM: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation
James K. A. Smith (Baker Academic)

THE GOD I DON’T UNDERSTAND: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith
Christopher J. H. Wright (Zondervan)

The 2010 CT Awards of Merit

Apologetics/Evangelism
FAITH AT THE EDGE: A Book for Doubters
Robert N. Wennberg (Eerdmans)

Biblical Studies
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT: The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians
Gordon D. Fee (Eerdmans)

Christianity and Culture
AMERICAN BABYLON: Notes of a Christian Exile
Richard John Neuhaus (Basic)

Christian Living
SINGLED OUT: Why Celibacy Must Be Reinvented in Today’s Church
Christine A. Colón and Bonnie E. Field (Brazos)

The Church/Pastoral Leadership
THE MONKEY AND THE FISH: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church
Dave Gibbons (Zondervan)

Fiction
ANGEL TIME
Anne Rice (Knopf)

History/Biography
THE SISTERS OF SINAI: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels
Janet Soskice (Knopf)

Missions/Global Affairs (tie)
THE HOLE IN OUR GOSPEL: What Does God Expect of Us?
Richard Stearns (Thomas Nelson)

THE WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE, EDINBURGH 1910
Brian Stanley (Eerdmans)

Spirituality
THE END OF SUFFERING: Finding Purpose in Pain
Scott Cairns (Paraclete)

Theology/Ethics
KNOWING CHRIST TODAY: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge
Dallas Willard (HarperOne)