‘Cultural Sanctification’ by Stephen O. Presley. In this excellent book of cultural apologetics, Presley argues that the church today must look back to the doctrine, practices, and priorities of the early church to properly navigate life in a culture hostile to Christ and Christians.

Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung 

This is my pick for the Book of the Year. DeYoung has taken a rather unique and refreshing approach to a volume of systematic theology. It is composed as a year of daily readings (5 per week). And in terms of categories he does not skimp. There is everything here from matters of prolegomena such as the proper divisions in theology, faith and reason, natural theology, and the inspiration of Scripture. He addresses such doctrines as God’s aseity, simplicity, and impassibility. Covenant, miracles, demons, the Imago Dei, heaven and hell, propitiation, miracles, predestination, the end times, and pretty much everything else typically addressed in systematic theology are taken on in a clear and readable style.

In recent years I have developed a renewed appreciation of daily devotional readings. This book should be numbered among the best of the daily reading genre. Obviously, there are many good introductory books on systematic theology. But I do not know of any other that encompasses so much content and does so in such concise ways. And no matter how challenging the subject, such as God’s impassibility, liberty of conscience, or the final judgment DeYoung never wavers from the goal of enriching the heart of the reader.

I hope Daily Doctrine will receive a wide reading among Christians who desire to have a robust life of devotion and doxology. Read it on your own or with a small group. 

On Classical Trinitarianism, ed. Matthew Barrett

Once again Matthew Barrett has assembled a group of excellent theologians to bring us an expansive explanation and defense of Nicene Trinitarianism. This is not a book to be read over a weekend. This is a true reference work that, I’m sure, will still be widely used many years from now.

Every Valley: The Desperate lives and Troubled Times that Made Handel’s Messiah by Charles King

King has already distinguished himself as an historian worth reading. But his latest volume will be especially interesting to those who love Handel’s classic or are simply interested in the post-Enlightenment history of Europe. The Messiah is an unlikely masterpiece considering all that was going against its composer.

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