What am I here for? How should I behave? Tom Wright tackles this fundamental challenge for Christians with characteristic clarity and verve. Following on from his popular best-selling books Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope he sees the goal in terms of the whole new creation, with humans renewed to look after it. He explores the way to become fully human - and to discover an authenticity, and a conformity with God's purposes, which is available no other way.

Tom Wright is one of today's best know and respected New Testament scholars. Born in 1948, he studied for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and was ordained as Junior Research Fellow and Junior Chaplain at Merton College, Oxford.

From 1978 to 1981 he was Fellow and Chaplain at Downing College, Cambridge, and then moved to Montreal as Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at McGill University. He returned in 1986 to Oxford as University Lecturer in New Testament, and Fellow and Chaplain of Worcester College, Oxford. He became Dean of Lichfield in 1994, and Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey in 2000.

Tom has written over thirty books, both at the scholarly level and for a popular audience. A good friend of Regent Professor Emeritus Gordon Fee, he has been a past teacher at the College.

Book recommended by Juliet Barber

 In "Punk Monk", authors Andy Freeman and Pete Greig chronicle what happened next as the 24/7 prayer movement gathered pace. 

Punk Monk decsribes how those places that began 24/7 prayer centres found that new forms of community began to emerge almost organically around these centres, a process that was finally formalised in the creation of Boiler Rooms, modern communities of faith based on the wisdom of ancient monastic traditions. 

This book sets out their vision for the creation of Christ-centered communities, a vision built in equal parts out of personal experience and wide-ranging research and reading of the experiences and reflections of others. 

The book will prove an invaluable resource and source of inspiration for anyone who seeks to integrate faith and daily life, and who yearns to see communities of faith make a greater impact on the world around them.

Book recommended by Erik Peeters

Noll (Christian thought and church history, Wheaton Coll.) has taken the broad topic of the history of Christianity and given it a structure of turning points, focusing on individuals and events at key points in Christian history. The "turning points" put history into perspective and provide opportunity to add a human quality by often focusing on individuals while looking over particular events. Noll adds intimacy by opening each chapter with a hymn of the times and closing with a prayer of the period. 

When the hymn is familiar, it is particularly poignant. The book looks both at the historical roots and at the different paths the Christian church has taken, enabling readers of different backgrounds to appreciate the context for differences within the churches. This highly recommended work provides a thoughtful yet comprehensive framework for the history of Christianity.

Organized around thirteen key moments in the history of Christianity, this popular introduction to church history provides contemporary Christians with a fuller understanding of God as he has revealed his purpose through the centuries. A study section has been added that includes questions and application challenges for today makes Turning Points, 2d ed. all the more useful for church study groups and students of church history.

In this popular introduction to church history, Mark Noll isolates twelve key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity.

Book recommended by Kris Miller

The talks brought together in a very clear and accessible way some of Tom Wright's thinking on Kingdom Theology and its encounter with contemporary western culture. A particular highlight was his insistence that Chriatians are called not to judge or oppose contemporary culture but to redeem it through suffering, as Jesus redeemed us. His last talk is a practical demonstration of this by setting out a way to redeem modern conceptions of virtue.

Tom Wright is one of today's best know and respected New Testament scholars. Born in 1948, he studied for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and was ordained as Junior Research Fellow and Junior Chaplain at Merton College, Oxford.

From 1978 to 1981 he was Fellow and Chaplain at Downing College, Cambridge, and then moved to Montreal as Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at McGill University. He returned in 1986 to Oxford as University Lecturer in New Testament, and Fellow and Chaplain of Worcester College, Oxford. He became Dean of Lichfield in 1994, and Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey in 2000.

Tom has written over thirty books, both at the scholarly level and for a popular audience. A good friend of Regent Professor Emeritus Gordon Fee, he has been a past teacher at the College.

This book is really helpful for anyone seeking to get a better understanding of a broad range of issues within evangelical theology. The authors present the full range of views on any given topic (for example, the inerrancy of the Bible, creation or evolution, the atonement, baptism, eternal security, etc) and shed light on the different positions taken. 

Surprisingly, they manage to do this without making their own opinions obvious.

Whatever the topic under consideration they present one view after the other, showing how each is based on a particular reading of the biblical material, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of any given standpoint, and responding to objections. I have found it an invaluable reference tool.

Book recommended by Neal Swettenham

Pretty much anything by Peterson is worth a look but this book is a great introduction to many of the central themes of his writings. Peterson seeks to redefine the role of a pastor in terms of three core tasks: prayer, preaching and listening. His insights are always helpful and often refreshingly subversive – in fact, one of his chapters is entitled "The Subversive Pastor". Highly recommended.

Book recommended by Neal Swettenham

At a time when people are becoming increasingly interested in angels again, Quinton's short study of angels in the Bible offers a welcome corrective to some of the more overblown beliefs regarding them. 

Quinton takes us on a tour of all the relevant biblical material on angels, who they are, what role they play in God's plan of redemption, and how they relate to us. In the process, Quinton constructs a portrait of beings of great power, but whose sole purpose is to serve and worship our Creator. 

The book will be useful to anyone who would like to work out a biblically sound understanding and appreciation of angels, or who is looking for ways to explain a Christian understanding of angels to non-Christians.

Book recommended by Erik Peeters