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CHRISTOPHER GEHRZ, ed. The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015, Pp. 236. $26.00 (U.S.) Is there something distinctive about an approach to Christian higher education rooted in Pietist movement and ethos? This is the central query for Christopher Gehrz...read more
HAROLD HEIE. A Future for American Evangelicalism: Commitment, Openness, and Conversation. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2015. Xvii + 156 pp. Harold Heie, a retired college administrator (Gordon College, Messiah College, Northwestern College), has embarked on a second career as the coordinator of a series of impressive conversations among evangelical...read more
STEVICK, RICHARD A. Growing Up Amish: The Rumspringa Years. 2nd edition. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. ix-371. $24.95 (U.S) According to Richard A. Stevick, rapidly-growing technology use among Amish young people compelled him to write and publish a revision to the first edition only seven years later....read more
GEORDAN HAMMOND. John Wesley in America: Restoring Primitive Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 238. $29.95 (U.S.) In this book based on his doctoral dissertation, Hammond focuses attention on the brief but formative period of Wesley’s missionary service in the nascent colony of Georgia (1735-1737). His thesis revolves...read more
ROSE ELDER. Why the Amish Sing: Songs of Solidarity & Identity. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. 193. $39.95 (US). Why the Amish Sing: Songs of Solidarity & Identity is a case study of the Amish in Wayne County, Ohio. The book demonstrates both how they use singing...read more
WENDY URBAN-MEAD. The Gender of Piety: Family, Faith, And Colonial Rule In Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2015. Pp. 324. $32.95 The Gender of Piety is a compelling biographical history of six carefully selected Ndebele personalities related to the Brethren in Christ Church (or BICC, as the church...read more
GEORGE R. BRUNK III. Galatians. Believers Church Bible Commentary. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2015. Pp. 336. $29.99 (U.S.). Brunk states in his introduction that he wrote his commentary not for New Testament specialists but with “the practical purpose of serving the church and confessional interests” (p. 15). He addresses...read more
ERVIN R. STUTZMAN. Jacob’s Choice: Return to Northkill (Book 1). Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2014. Pp. 297. $14.99 (U.S.). Jacob’s Choice: Return to Northkill is a fictional retelling of the life of Amish farmer Jacob Hochstetler caught up in the events of the colonial French and Indian war (1754-1763). Jacob...read more
Pacifists in Chains: The Persecution of Hutterites during the Great War. By Duane C. S. Stoltzfus. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2013. Pp. 268. The 1918 deaths of two Hutterite conscientious objectors (COs) after being tortured in U.S. prisons links them to ancestors who died for their faith and also...read more
ROGER E. OLSON and CHRISTIAN T. COLLINS WINN. Reclaiming Pietism: Retrieving an Evangelical Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015. Pp. 190. $18.00 (U.S.) If you know anything at all about the Brethren in Christ Church, you probably know it has been influenced theologically by Anabaptism, Pietism,...read more
John E. Sharp. My Calling To Fulfill: The Orie O. Miller Story. Harrisonburg, VA/Kitchener, ON: Herald Press, 2015. Pp. 439. $29.99 (U.S.) Orie O. Miller is described as “one of the major architects of North American Mennonite Church life in the twentieth century” (p. 7) and as one who “has...read more
RONALD J. SIDER. Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics Demands But Most Christians Have Never Really Tried. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2015. Pp. 191. $19.99 (U.S.) Ron Sider, in Nonviolent Action, addresses both Just War theorists and pacifists on the demands and effectiveness of nonviolent action. He defines nonviolent action...read more
DONALD B. KRAYBILL, STEVEN M. NOLT, DAVID L. WEAVER-ZERCHER. The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Pp. 267. $16.95 (U.S.) There is no dearth of new literature related to the Amish, and the authors of The Amish Way have contributed their fair share to the...read more
APRIL YAMASAKI. Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for Personal Renewal. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2013. Pp. 189. $16.99 (U.S.). In Sacred Pauses, April Yamasaki provides a basic overview of spiritual contemplative practices. Her intention is not to be “comprehensive, but to provide an introduction, give opportunity for practical exploration, and kindle...read more
KEITH GRABER MILLER. Living Faith: Embracing God’s Callings. Telford, PA: Cascadia, 2012. Pp. 126. $12.95 (U.S.) The notions of calling and vocation are grounded in centuries-old tradition but are also dynamic and contextual. Some may suggest that this leads only to confusion, but various theological interpretations actually add nuance and...read more