Books for the Formation of a Christian Mind:
With Special Emphasis on Understanding America Today

by Harold K. Bush, Ph.D.
Saint Louis University
bushhk@slu.edu

I. General Works on Culture, the Christian Mind, & Worldviews

Blamires, Harry. The Christian Mind. New York: Seabury, 1963.

Guinness, Os. Fit Bodies, Fat Minds. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994.

- The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998.

Hoekema, David A., and Bobby Fong. Christianity and Culture in the Crossfire. Grand Rapids: Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship, 1997.

Moreland, J. P. Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul. Colorado Springs: Napless, 1997.

Moreland, J. P. Scaling the Secular City. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Book House, 1987.

Neuhaus, Richard John. The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy In America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.

Newbigin, Leslie. Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986.

- The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989.

- Truth to Tell: The Gospel and Public Truth. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991.

Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York: Harper and Row, 1983.

Ryken, Leland. Redeeming the Time: A Christian Approach to Work and Leisure. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

Sire, James. Discipleship of the Mind: Learning to Love God in the Ways We Think. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1990.

Sire, James. The Universe Next Door: A Basic World View Catalog. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988.

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Reason Within the Bounds of Religion. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 1984.

II. * * * Specialized Studies in More Specific Disciplines

A. Theology, History, and the American Church, (i.e. Origins):

Bloch, Ruth. Visionary Republic: Millennial Themes in American Thought, 1756-1800. New York: Cambridge UP, 1985.

Boyer, Paul. When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Contemporary America. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1993.

Butler, Jonathan. Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1990.

Franchot, Jenny. "Invisible Domains: Religion and American Literary Studies." American Literature 67 (Dec. 1995): 833-842.

-Roads to Rome: The Antebellum Protestant Encounter with Catholicism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

Frey, Sylvia R., and Betty Wood. Come Shouting to Zion: African American Protestantism in the American South and British Caribbean to 1830. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity. New Haven: Yale UP, 1989.

Hunter, James Davison. American Evangelicalism: Conservative Religion and the Quandary of Modernity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1983.

Keillor, Steven J. This Rebellious House: American History & the Truth of Christianity. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Kuklick, Bruce, and D. G. Hart, eds. Religious Advocacy and American History. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925. New York: Oxford UP, 1980.

- Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

McClymond, Michael James. Encounters with God: An Approach to the Theology of Jonathan Edwards. New York: Oxford UP, 1998.

McDannell, Colleen. The Christian Home in Victorian America, 1840-1900. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1986.

- Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven; Yale UP, 1996.

McLoughlin, William G. Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform: An Essay on Religion and Social Change in America, 1607-1977. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1978.

Morgan, John. Godly Learning: Puritan Attitudes towards Reason, Learning, and Education, 1560-1640. New York: Cambridge UP, 1986.

Noll, Mark A. Between Faith and Criticism: Evangelicals, Scholarship, and the Bible in America. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986.

Noll, Mark. The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1994.

Smith, Timothy L. Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid-Nineteenth Century America. New York: Abingdon, 1957.

Tuveson, Ernest Lee. Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America's Millennial Role. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1968.

Wells, David. God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams. Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1994.

Wells, David. No Place for Truth; or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1993.

Wojcik, Daniel. The End of the World as We Know it: Faith, Fatalism, and Apocalypse in America. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

B. Christianity & Higher Education:

Colson, Charles and Richard John Neuhaus, eds. Evangelicals and Catholics Together: Toward a Common Mission. Dallas: Word Pub., 1995. (important yet controversial attempt to bridge the gap: includes materials on education)

De Jong, Arthur J. Reclaiming a Mission : New Direction for the Church-Related College. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1990.

Garber, Steven. The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior During the University Years. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997. (excellent "incarnational" approach to teaching and college life)

Geisler, Norman and Ralph E. MacKenzie. Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995. (conservative response to controversy surrounding Colson and Neuhaus volume, above)

Gill., David W., ed. Should God Get Tenure?: Essays on Religion and Higher Education. Grand Rapids, Mich. : William B. Eerdmans, 1997.

Hassel, David J. City of Wisdom : A Christian Vision of the American University. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1983.

Handy, Robert. A Christian America: Protestant Hopes and Historical Realities. London: Oxford UP, 1971.

Hill, Brian V. Faith at the Blackboard : Issues Facing the Christian Teacher. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

Holmes, Arthur. The Idea of a Christian College. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Malik, Charles Habib. A Christian Critique of the University. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982. (brief but extremely influential manifesto from a leading spokesperson)

Marsden, George. The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. (Christian research in every discipline; from a famous historian)

Marsden, George. The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief. New York: Oxford UP, 1994.

Newman, John Henry. The Idea of a University. 1899. Frank Turner, ed. New Haven: Yale UP, 1996.

Plantinga, Alvin. "On Christian Scholarship" in The Challenge and Promise of a Catholic University. Ed. Theodore Hesburgh. Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994.

Plantinga, Alvin. The Twin Pillars of Christian Scholarship. (The Stob Lectures) Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin College and Seminary, 1990.

Schwehn, Mark. Exiles from Eden. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. (Critique of Higher education from a famous Christian spokesperson)

Springsted, Eric O. Who Will Make Us Wise? : How the Churches are Failing Higher Education. Cambridge, Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1988.

C. Sociology & the American Public Sphere Today:

Bellah, Robert, et al. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1985.

Carter, Stephen. The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion. New York: Anchor, 1994.

Hunter, James Davison. Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York: Basic Books, 1991.

Rieff, Philip. The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.

Sine, Tom. Cease Fire: Searching for Sanity in America's Culture Wars. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Thompson, Damian. The End of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1996.

D. Literature, the Arts, and Christianity:

Bercovitch, Sacvan. The American Jeremiad. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1979.

- The Puritan Origins of the American Self. New Haven: Yale UP, 1975.

Buell, Lawrence. Literary Transcendentalism: Style and Vision in the American Renaissance. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1973.

- New England Literary Culture, From Revolution Through Renaissance. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986.

Bush, Harold K. American Declarations: Rebellion and Repentance in American Cultural History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.

Eliade, Mircea. The Myth of the Eternal Return; or, Cosmos and History. Trans. Willard R. Trask. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1954.

Frye, Northrop. The Critical Path: An Essay on the Social Context of Literary Criticism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 1971.

- The Great Code: The Bible and Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.

- The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1976.

Gallager, Susan and Roger Lundin. Literature Through the Eyes of Faith. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1989.

Gatta, John. American Madonna: Images of the Divine Woman in Literary Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Jeffrey, David Lyle. People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary

Culture. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans with the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, 1996.

Jenkins, Thomas E. The Character of God: Recovering the Lost Literary Power of American Protestantism. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.

Kazin, Alfred. God and the American Writer. New York: Random House, 1997.

Lewis, R. W. B. The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1955.

Lockerbie, D. Bruce. Dismissing God: Modern Writers' Struggle Against Religion. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.

Lundin, Roger. The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith and the Postmodern World. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993 (literary theory & deconstruction)

Munk, Linda. The Devil's Mousetrap: Redemption and Colonial American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Ong, Walter J., S.J. The Presence of the Word: Some Prolegomena for Cultural and Religious History. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1967.

Rookmaaker, H.R. Modern Art and the Death of a Culture. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1994.

Ryken, Leland. The Liberated Imagination : Thinking Christianly About the Arts. Chicago: Shaw,1989.

Scott, Nathan A., Jr. The New Orpheus: Essays toward a Christian Poetic. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1964.

Scott, Nathan A., Jr. Visions of Presence in Modern American Poetry. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1993.

Steiner, George. Real Presences. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991.

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Art in Action: A Christian Aesthetic. Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 1980.

E. Postmodernism & Christianity

1. General Studies of Postmodernism:

Alston, William. A Realist Conception of Truth. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996.

Anderson, Walter Truett. Reality Isn't What It Used To Be: Theatrical Politics, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1990. (postmodernism, the "social construction of reality," & contemporary culture)

Borgman, Albert. Crossing the Postmodern Divide. Chicago: U of Chicago Press,1992. (postmodernism & modern technologies: not for the faint of heart!)

Connor, Stephen. Postmodernist Culture. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989.

Grenz, Stanley. A Primer on Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1995. (as the title suggests: basic introduction to postmodernism by leading Christian critic)

Groothuis, Douglas. Truth Decay : Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

Norris, Christopher. What's Wrong with Postmodernism: Critical Theory and the Ends of Philosophy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1990.

Veith, Gene Edward, Jr. Postmodern Times : A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1994.

Walsh, Brian and J. Richard Middleton. The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian Worldview. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1984.

Walsh, Brian and J. Richard Middleton. Truth is Stranger than It Used To Be. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995.

2. Postmodernism & Theology

Allen, Diogenes. Christian Belief in a Postmodern World: The Full Wealth of Conviction. Louisville: Westminster, 1989.

Dockery, David S., ed. The Challenge of Postmodernism: An Evangelical Engagement. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

Erickson, Millard J. Postmodernizing the Faith : Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.

Ingraffia, Brian D. Postmodern Theory and Biblical Theology: Vanquishing God's Shadow. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Knight, Henry H., III. A Future for Truth : Evangelical Theology in a Postmodern World. Nashville: Abingdon, 1997.

Oden, Thomas C. After Modernity-- What?: Agenda for Theology. Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1990.

Phillips, Timothy R. and Dennis L. Okholm, eds. Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995.

3. Evangelism; or, How to Reach the Postmodern Generation X:

Downs, Tim. Finding Common Ground : How to Communicate With Those
Outside the Christian Community ... While We Still Can. Chicago: Moody, 1999.

Garber, Steven. The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior During the University Years. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997.

Keyes, Dick. Chameleon Christianity : Moving Beyond Safety and Conformity. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.

Long, Jimmy. Generating Hope: A Strategy for Reaching the Postmodern Generation. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997.

F. Postmodernism, Mass Media, Pop Culture, the Arts, & other Stuff Today

Groothuis, Douglas. The Soul in Cyber-Space. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997.
(computers & the Internet)

Hibbs, Thomas S. Shows About Nothing : Nihilism in Popular Culture from the Exorcist to Seinfeld. Dallas: Spence, 1999.

Myers, Kenneth A. All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes : Christians & Popular Culture. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1989.

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Penguin, 1986. (television and its effects on worldview)

Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Knopf, 1992. (the ideology of technology & science)

Schaeffer, Franky. Sham Pearls for Real Swine: Beyond the Cultural Dark Ages--A Quest for Renaissance. Brentwood: Wolgemuth and Hyatt, 1990. (general critique of Evangelical "Christian Culture"--and its ignorance of art)

Schultze, Quentin et al. Dancing in the Dark: Youth, Popular Culture, and the Electronic Media. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's,1993 (rock music, MTV, television, youth films, and lots more)

Stone, Ronald H. Telling the Truth: How to Revitalize Christian Journalism. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1996.

Vitz, Paul. Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994.

Appendix. Useful Bibliographies Containing Many other Resources

Gill, David W. "Study List: The Christian Mind Curriculum." Chapter in The Opening of the Christian Mind. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1989. This chapter in Gill's book (sadly out-of-print) sketches a broad scheme of study -- not specific titles -- to provide a solid base for Christian intellectuals. See also the regular bibliography for the whole book, which includes some out-of-the-way recommendations.

Marsden, George M. "Getting Specific: A Readable Appendix." In The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. At the end of his whole book explaining the ideal of Christian scholarship, Marsden mentions some of the salient names and publications that stand as exemplars of what he's talking about.

Walsh, Brian J. and J. Richard Middleton. "A Bibliography We Can't Live
Without." In Discipleship of the Mind, by James W. Sire, 219-43. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1990. Middleton and Walsh revised and updated the bibliography from
their book, The Transforming Vision, and Jim Sire appended it here in his own excellent book. This bibliography is organized by topics and by academic discipline.