8. Resource Reviews Index
This index lists all the resources found on this website in alphabetical order by author.
Borg, Marcus (2003) The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith. New York: HarperSanFrancisco. 4.1
I consider this to be one of the best postmodern, center-left interpretations of the Christian faith for the general
public by one of its major populist spokespersons.
__________ (2011) Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power--And How They Can Be Restored. New York: Harper One. 4.6
Borg defines for the general public many of the key words in the Christian faith from his postmodern, center-left
position, especially for those who have dropped out of traditionalist Christianity thinking there's no other kind.
Brooks, David and Dionne, E.J. (8/13/09) "Obama’s Theologian: David Brooks and E.J. Dionne on Reinhold Niebuhr and the American Present,” a dialogue mediated by Krista Tippett at the Berkley Center, Georgetown University on August 13, 2009. 6.5
This dialogue demonstrates how 20th-century public theologian Reinhold Niebuhr is a major influence on Obama's
realistic idealism, as he also is on Brooks and Dionne themselves--two of our most important American
commentators, one center-right and one center-left.
Brown, Delwin (2008) What Does a Progressive Christian Believe?: A Guide for the Searching, the Open, and the Curious. New York: Seabury Books. 4.15
This is the best non-scholarly book for distinguishing Progressive Christianity from both conservative and modern
liberal interpretations. It covers all the major theological topics. The epilogue--"Rightly Mixing Religion with
Politics"--with its critique of the modern liberal position is especially useful.
Cahoone, Lawrence (2014) The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, Virginia: The Teaching Company. 5.11
Cahoone's is an expert on the historical precedents of the ideas that shaped the original experiment of American
republicanism and the struggles between its two main elements--liberal and civic republicanism--that still define
the current political situation today. Along with 5.7 this resource provides the historical grounding for this
website's view of American politics.
Crossan, John Dominic (2007) God & Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now. New York: HarperSanFrancisco. 6.3
Crossan provides a Christian utopian grounding for healthy politics, a major paradigm shift in how to view the
healthy and unhealthy aspect of the Bible and a Christian critique of the American Empire.
__________ (2010) The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer. New York: HarperOne. 6.8
Many Christians who basically see the Lord's Prayer only in a conventional, devotional sense, will be challenged by
Crossan to experience it in an even more transformative way--as an important means of being empowered to
collaborate with God in bringing greater distributive justice for all--the core of the biblical tradition for Crossan.
__________ (2011) The Challenge of Jesus (DVD Set and Resource Guide). Jackson, MS: The D. L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation. 4.14
This video course is an excellent summary of a good part of Crossan's lifetime of work on the historical Jesus,
especially the social/economic/political matrix without which he cannot be properly understood as well as the
essence of his teaching/actions and a definitive challenge to the conventional understanding of his death and
resurrection by most Christians today.
__________ (2012) The Power of Parable: How Fiction By Jesus Became Fiction About Jesus. New York: Harper One. 4.12
Many consider Crossan the premier historical Jesus scholar of our generation. I consider this to be the best resource
for helping us grasp Jesus' use of parables as well as the ways it's misrepresented in each of the four N.T. gospels,
and an important perspective on how each of the four different New Testament gospels distorts the historical
Jesus.
__________ (2015) How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling With Divine Violence From Genesis Through Revelation. New York: Harper One. 4.18
Crossan felt compelled to expand his lifetime study of parables, the historical Jesus and Paul, and Christian origins
to include an examination of the nature and meaning of the Christian Bible as a whole. The result is a new,
groundbreaking progressive understanding of the Bible. It gives progressive Christians--who are usually at a loss
for anything very specific and positive to say about how they see the Bible--a compelling viewpoint to share. It
cannot be overestimated how important this is for our nation, which is super-saturated with the unhealthy
conservative view that the whole Bible is "God's Word."
Crossan, John Dominic & Reed, Jonathan L. (2001, 2nd edition 2003) Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts. New York: HarperSanFrancisco. 4.2
I think this is one of the best books on the historical Jesus; it's written by an unusual, but very fruitful,
pairing of co-authors--a renowned biblical scholar and an accomplished archeologist of the Holy Land. While very
scholarly in a number of places, my review is designed to capture it's primary points for the general public.
Dorrien, Gary (2012) The Obama Question: A Progressive Perspective. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 5.1
The author explains why progressives should still strongly support Obama, even if they are disappointed with some
of his positions. He also skewers the key far-right hate-mongers for their disinformation campaigns.
Epstein, Greg M. (2009) Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York & London & Toronto & Sydney: HarperCollins Publishers. 4.7
The humanist chaplain at Harvard argues that non-religious humanism should also be honored as a legitimate faith.
Freeland, Chrystia & Matt Taibbi (10/19/2012) "A Discussion of Plutocracy and Growing Inequality." A Moyers and Company PBS interview. 5.5
Freeland and Taibbi team up to illuminate the extent of plutocracy worldwide, and issue a challenge for everyone to
get involved in helping diminish the damage this super-class is causing by creating such massive inequality.
Gushee, David P. (2008) The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press. 6.7
Many are unaware that, since 2004, evangelical Christianity has developed a strong center-right challenging its
own far-right that had turned off so many Americans, especially the younger generations.
Haight, Roger (1999) Jesus: Symbol of God. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. 4.4
This is what I consider to be the best detailed, postmodern Christology--an interpretation of what it means for
Christians to call Jesus of Nazareth "the Christ" today--within the context of its reinterpretation of the 2,000-year
Christian tradition using the crucial concept of "symbols."
Holder, R. Ward and Josephson, Peter B (2012) The Irony of Barack Obama: Barack Obama, Reinhold Niebuhr and the Problem of Christian Statecraft. Ashgate Publishing Company: Burlington, VT. 6.9
The authors provide a detailed examination of exactly how Reinhold Niebuhr--who President Obama's has called his
favorite theologian--has shaped the President's understanding of faith and politics, and why it's crucial to grasp the
difference between the conflicting roles of prophet, evangelist and statesman when evaluating his presidency.
Jones, Robert P. (2008) Progressive & Religious: How Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist Leaders Are Moving Beyond the Culture Wars and Transforming American Public Life. Lanham & Boulder & New York & Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 6.6
Jones provides ample evidence that the commonly accepted idea that religious America is basically limited to far-
right, exclusionist Christianity is far from the truth.
Kloppenberg, James T. (2012) Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope and the American Tradition [paperback edition with new preface; hardback (2011)]. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. 5.2
I think this book provides the best explanation of why Obama governs in the unconventional way he does, and
why it has worked better than most people believe it has even in the midst of unprecedented obstructionism.
Lewis, Michael (10/12) "Obama's Way." Vanity Fair, October 2012. 5.4
This bestselling author got unparalleled access to the president, and gives a revealing look at the pace, values and
focus of his daily routine.
Mansfield, Stephen (2008 & 2011 Revised and Updated) The Faith of Barack Obama. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 4.5
The author shows how Obama's faith journey has led him to a non-exclusionist form of Christianity that grounds his
political commitment to social justice for all.
Marsh, Charles (2014) Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. New York: Alfred A Knopf. 4.13
This is by far the best biography of perhaps the most significant Christian theologian/pastor of the 20th century.
Marsh helps us understand the continuing importance of Bonhoeffer's development of the idea of "worldly
Christianity" for all the center-left/center-right theologies of our time.
Obama, Barack (6/26/06) "Call to Renewal, Keynote Address." Sojourners/Call to Renewal "Building a Covenant for a New America" conference in Washington, D.C., June 26, 2006. 6.4
In this speech our center-left president makes an very important contribution to the postmodern understanding of
healthy interrelationships between faith and politics in America.
Pasewark, Kyle A. and Paul, Garrett E. (1999) The Emphatic Christian Center: Reforming Christian Political Practice. Nashville: Abingdon Press. 6.2
This is an excellent resource for showing how the public square playing field is leveled now for both religious and
secular witnesses, since in our postmodern world there is no such thing as a universal reason that grounds the
latter, making it more reasonable.
Ricoeur, Paul (1986) Lectures on Ideology and Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press. 5.12
In this book Ricoeur spells out the philosophical concepts of "utopia" and "ideology," which lead to crucial
distinctions between the dialectical relationship of healthy forms of each in contrast to the unhealthy forms of
each. Unlike the common misunderstanding of both (they are usually used only with negative meanings) this
provides a much needed way of using both in positive ways in philosophy and theology.
Stiver, Dan R. (2001) Theology after Ricoeur: New Directions in Hermeneutical Theology. Louisville, London & Leiden: Westminster John Knox Press. 4.3
For me, this is the best secondary source on the postmodern philosopher who can most adequately ground the
many different forms of healthy (center-left and center-right) theological interpretations of the Christian faith.
Sullivan, Andrew (10/1/2012) The Democrats' Reagan: What Obama Will Achieve in His Second Term. Newsweek, Oct. 1 & 8, 2012. 5.3
Here's a conservative who wanted to help recreate a strong center-right in the Republican Party by urging
Republicans to vote for Obama in 2012; and a detailed prediction that, if he gets a second term, Obama will be a
transformation president like Reagan.
Thompson, Keith (2004) "Using Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ to Explore the Heart of Your Faith--A Discussion Starter 4.8
I used this controversial film as a way of helping various kinds of Christians better understand each other, and
it provides a window into my own theological position.
Thompson, Keith (2015) Experiencing God in the Bible: Bible Basics for Progressive Christians, a 2015 Lenten Class at First United Methodist Church, Boulder, CO. 4.16
(This resource is being created by the author of the website for a Lenten class in a local congregation.) It is
attempting to fill the void in the information available to progressive Christian about the nature of the Bible from a
postmodern progressive perspective, as distinct from both conservative and modern liberal views. It encourages
laity (both as individuals and congregations) both to witness publicly and take action for the common good.
Toulouse, Mark G. (2006) God in Public: Four Ways American Christianity and Public Life Relate. Louisville & London: Westminster John Knox Press. 6.1
The author provides a helpful typology of four ways that religion related to politics during the last half of the 20th
century in America, judging two to be healthy and two to be unhealthy.
Wasserman Schultz, Debbie (with Julie M. Fenster) (2013) For the Next Generation:A Wake-Up Call to Solving Our Nation's Problems. New York: St. Martin's Press. 5.14
This progressive Democrat is a working woman with three full-time jobs: she is the mother of three who has held
elective office since she was 26-years old and is currently serving as the the Chair of the Democratic National
Committee. In this book she shows how her political life is primarily devoted to the wellbeing of all American
children--that generation which does not have a political voice of their own. It is also a powerful witness to how
her life and politics are grounded in the secular-Jewish values of her family upbringing.
West, Cornel (2004) Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. New York: The Penguin Press. 5.13
This liberal philosopher and public intellectual illumines the lethal threat of the current form of the American Empire
to our unique experiment in democracy and the possible responses drawing on our strong traditional resources.
Wink, Walter (1973, 2nd edition 2010) The Bible in Human Transformation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press
This is one of the first books by a progressive Christian to challenge the modern liberal method of historical
criticism. By pointing out its weakness as well as strengths, it was a major contributor to the creation of a new
postmodern perspective on the nature of the Bible.
I consider this to be one of the best postmodern, center-left interpretations of the Christian faith for the general
public by one of its major populist spokespersons.
__________ (2011) Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power--And How They Can Be Restored. New York: Harper One. 4.6
Borg defines for the general public many of the key words in the Christian faith from his postmodern, center-left
position, especially for those who have dropped out of traditionalist Christianity thinking there's no other kind.
Brooks, David and Dionne, E.J. (8/13/09) "Obama’s Theologian: David Brooks and E.J. Dionne on Reinhold Niebuhr and the American Present,” a dialogue mediated by Krista Tippett at the Berkley Center, Georgetown University on August 13, 2009. 6.5
This dialogue demonstrates how 20th-century public theologian Reinhold Niebuhr is a major influence on Obama's
realistic idealism, as he also is on Brooks and Dionne themselves--two of our most important American
commentators, one center-right and one center-left.
Brown, Delwin (2008) What Does a Progressive Christian Believe?: A Guide for the Searching, the Open, and the Curious. New York: Seabury Books. 4.15
This is the best non-scholarly book for distinguishing Progressive Christianity from both conservative and modern
liberal interpretations. It covers all the major theological topics. The epilogue--"Rightly Mixing Religion with
Politics"--with its critique of the modern liberal position is especially useful.
Cahoone, Lawrence (2014) The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, Virginia: The Teaching Company. 5.11
Cahoone's is an expert on the historical precedents of the ideas that shaped the original experiment of American
republicanism and the struggles between its two main elements--liberal and civic republicanism--that still define
the current political situation today. Along with 5.7 this resource provides the historical grounding for this
website's view of American politics.
Crossan, John Dominic (2007) God & Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now. New York: HarperSanFrancisco. 6.3
Crossan provides a Christian utopian grounding for healthy politics, a major paradigm shift in how to view the
healthy and unhealthy aspect of the Bible and a Christian critique of the American Empire.
__________ (2010) The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer. New York: HarperOne. 6.8
Many Christians who basically see the Lord's Prayer only in a conventional, devotional sense, will be challenged by
Crossan to experience it in an even more transformative way--as an important means of being empowered to
collaborate with God in bringing greater distributive justice for all--the core of the biblical tradition for Crossan.
__________ (2011) The Challenge of Jesus (DVD Set and Resource Guide). Jackson, MS: The D. L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation. 4.14
This video course is an excellent summary of a good part of Crossan's lifetime of work on the historical Jesus,
especially the social/economic/political matrix without which he cannot be properly understood as well as the
essence of his teaching/actions and a definitive challenge to the conventional understanding of his death and
resurrection by most Christians today.
__________ (2012) The Power of Parable: How Fiction By Jesus Became Fiction About Jesus. New York: Harper One. 4.12
Many consider Crossan the premier historical Jesus scholar of our generation. I consider this to be the best resource
for helping us grasp Jesus' use of parables as well as the ways it's misrepresented in each of the four N.T. gospels,
and an important perspective on how each of the four different New Testament gospels distorts the historical
Jesus.
__________ (2015) How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling With Divine Violence From Genesis Through Revelation. New York: Harper One. 4.18
Crossan felt compelled to expand his lifetime study of parables, the historical Jesus and Paul, and Christian origins
to include an examination of the nature and meaning of the Christian Bible as a whole. The result is a new,
groundbreaking progressive understanding of the Bible. It gives progressive Christians--who are usually at a loss
for anything very specific and positive to say about how they see the Bible--a compelling viewpoint to share. It
cannot be overestimated how important this is for our nation, which is super-saturated with the unhealthy
conservative view that the whole Bible is "God's Word."
Crossan, John Dominic & Reed, Jonathan L. (2001, 2nd edition 2003) Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts. New York: HarperSanFrancisco. 4.2
I think this is one of the best books on the historical Jesus; it's written by an unusual, but very fruitful,
pairing of co-authors--a renowned biblical scholar and an accomplished archeologist of the Holy Land. While very
scholarly in a number of places, my review is designed to capture it's primary points for the general public.
Dorrien, Gary (2012) The Obama Question: A Progressive Perspective. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 5.1
The author explains why progressives should still strongly support Obama, even if they are disappointed with some
of his positions. He also skewers the key far-right hate-mongers for their disinformation campaigns.
Epstein, Greg M. (2009) Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York & London & Toronto & Sydney: HarperCollins Publishers. 4.7
The humanist chaplain at Harvard argues that non-religious humanism should also be honored as a legitimate faith.
Freeland, Chrystia & Matt Taibbi (10/19/2012) "A Discussion of Plutocracy and Growing Inequality." A Moyers and Company PBS interview. 5.5
Freeland and Taibbi team up to illuminate the extent of plutocracy worldwide, and issue a challenge for everyone to
get involved in helping diminish the damage this super-class is causing by creating such massive inequality.
Gushee, David P. (2008) The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press. 6.7
Many are unaware that, since 2004, evangelical Christianity has developed a strong center-right challenging its
own far-right that had turned off so many Americans, especially the younger generations.
Haight, Roger (1999) Jesus: Symbol of God. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. 4.4
This is what I consider to be the best detailed, postmodern Christology--an interpretation of what it means for
Christians to call Jesus of Nazareth "the Christ" today--within the context of its reinterpretation of the 2,000-year
Christian tradition using the crucial concept of "symbols."
Holder, R. Ward and Josephson, Peter B (2012) The Irony of Barack Obama: Barack Obama, Reinhold Niebuhr and the Problem of Christian Statecraft. Ashgate Publishing Company: Burlington, VT. 6.9
The authors provide a detailed examination of exactly how Reinhold Niebuhr--who President Obama's has called his
favorite theologian--has shaped the President's understanding of faith and politics, and why it's crucial to grasp the
difference between the conflicting roles of prophet, evangelist and statesman when evaluating his presidency.
Jones, Robert P. (2008) Progressive & Religious: How Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist Leaders Are Moving Beyond the Culture Wars and Transforming American Public Life. Lanham & Boulder & New York & Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 6.6
Jones provides ample evidence that the commonly accepted idea that religious America is basically limited to far-
right, exclusionist Christianity is far from the truth.
Kloppenberg, James T. (2012) Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope and the American Tradition [paperback edition with new preface; hardback (2011)]. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. 5.2
I think this book provides the best explanation of why Obama governs in the unconventional way he does, and
why it has worked better than most people believe it has even in the midst of unprecedented obstructionism.
Lewis, Michael (10/12) "Obama's Way." Vanity Fair, October 2012. 5.4
This bestselling author got unparalleled access to the president, and gives a revealing look at the pace, values and
focus of his daily routine.
Mansfield, Stephen (2008 & 2011 Revised and Updated) The Faith of Barack Obama. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 4.5
The author shows how Obama's faith journey has led him to a non-exclusionist form of Christianity that grounds his
political commitment to social justice for all.
Marsh, Charles (2014) Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. New York: Alfred A Knopf. 4.13
This is by far the best biography of perhaps the most significant Christian theologian/pastor of the 20th century.
Marsh helps us understand the continuing importance of Bonhoeffer's development of the idea of "worldly
Christianity" for all the center-left/center-right theologies of our time.
Obama, Barack (6/26/06) "Call to Renewal, Keynote Address." Sojourners/Call to Renewal "Building a Covenant for a New America" conference in Washington, D.C., June 26, 2006. 6.4
In this speech our center-left president makes an very important contribution to the postmodern understanding of
healthy interrelationships between faith and politics in America.
Pasewark, Kyle A. and Paul, Garrett E. (1999) The Emphatic Christian Center: Reforming Christian Political Practice. Nashville: Abingdon Press. 6.2
This is an excellent resource for showing how the public square playing field is leveled now for both religious and
secular witnesses, since in our postmodern world there is no such thing as a universal reason that grounds the
latter, making it more reasonable.
Ricoeur, Paul (1986) Lectures on Ideology and Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press. 5.12
In this book Ricoeur spells out the philosophical concepts of "utopia" and "ideology," which lead to crucial
distinctions between the dialectical relationship of healthy forms of each in contrast to the unhealthy forms of
each. Unlike the common misunderstanding of both (they are usually used only with negative meanings) this
provides a much needed way of using both in positive ways in philosophy and theology.
Stiver, Dan R. (2001) Theology after Ricoeur: New Directions in Hermeneutical Theology. Louisville, London & Leiden: Westminster John Knox Press. 4.3
For me, this is the best secondary source on the postmodern philosopher who can most adequately ground the
many different forms of healthy (center-left and center-right) theological interpretations of the Christian faith.
Sullivan, Andrew (10/1/2012) The Democrats' Reagan: What Obama Will Achieve in His Second Term. Newsweek, Oct. 1 & 8, 2012. 5.3
Here's a conservative who wanted to help recreate a strong center-right in the Republican Party by urging
Republicans to vote for Obama in 2012; and a detailed prediction that, if he gets a second term, Obama will be a
transformation president like Reagan.
Thompson, Keith (2004) "Using Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ to Explore the Heart of Your Faith--A Discussion Starter 4.8
I used this controversial film as a way of helping various kinds of Christians better understand each other, and
it provides a window into my own theological position.
Thompson, Keith (2015) Experiencing God in the Bible: Bible Basics for Progressive Christians, a 2015 Lenten Class at First United Methodist Church, Boulder, CO. 4.16
(This resource is being created by the author of the website for a Lenten class in a local congregation.) It is
attempting to fill the void in the information available to progressive Christian about the nature of the Bible from a
postmodern progressive perspective, as distinct from both conservative and modern liberal views. It encourages
laity (both as individuals and congregations) both to witness publicly and take action for the common good.
Toulouse, Mark G. (2006) God in Public: Four Ways American Christianity and Public Life Relate. Louisville & London: Westminster John Knox Press. 6.1
The author provides a helpful typology of four ways that religion related to politics during the last half of the 20th
century in America, judging two to be healthy and two to be unhealthy.
Wasserman Schultz, Debbie (with Julie M. Fenster) (2013) For the Next Generation:A Wake-Up Call to Solving Our Nation's Problems. New York: St. Martin's Press. 5.14
This progressive Democrat is a working woman with three full-time jobs: she is the mother of three who has held
elective office since she was 26-years old and is currently serving as the the Chair of the Democratic National
Committee. In this book she shows how her political life is primarily devoted to the wellbeing of all American
children--that generation which does not have a political voice of their own. It is also a powerful witness to how
her life and politics are grounded in the secular-Jewish values of her family upbringing.
West, Cornel (2004) Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. New York: The Penguin Press. 5.13
This liberal philosopher and public intellectual illumines the lethal threat of the current form of the American Empire
to our unique experiment in democracy and the possible responses drawing on our strong traditional resources.
Wink, Walter (1973, 2nd edition 2010) The Bible in Human Transformation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press
This is one of the first books by a progressive Christian to challenge the modern liberal method of historical
criticism. By pointing out its weakness as well as strengths, it was a major contributor to the creation of a new
postmodern perspective on the nature of the Bible.