Reading List
Reading is one of the best things you can do to grow in your faith. Below is a list of books that might help orient you to some of the perspectives and ideas that shape the core of our teaching ministry here at WCC. The list has been divided into general topics and are ordered from top to bottom in terms of their theological accessibility. This list has been kept intentionally small. Think of it like a "primer" list. If you'd like a more extensive bibliography please contact the office and we'd be happy to add to your pile.
Jesus
Ortberg, John. Who is This Man?: The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012).
Zhand, Brian. Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News (New York, NY: Waterbrook, 2017).
Kasper, Walter. Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 2013).
The Bible
Enns, Peter. The Bible Tells Me So: How Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It (London, UK: Harper One, 2014).
O'Shea, Mike. All the Way Down: Rebuilding Christian Faith from the Rubble of Evangelicalism (Amazon KDP, 2024).
Flood, Derek. Disarming Scripture: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives, and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus (London, UK: Metanoia Books, 2014).
Graves, Michael. The Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture: What the Early Church Can Teach Us (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2014).
Smith, Christian. The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2012).
Sparks, Kenton L. God's Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008).
Atonement
Jones, Tony. Did God Kill Jesus?: Searching for Love in History's Most Famous Execution (New York, NY: Harper One, 2015).
Jersak, Brad. A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel (Pasadena, CA: Plain Truth Ministries, 2015).
Talbot, Tom. The Inescapable Love of God; 2nd ed. (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2014).
Girard, Rene. The Scapegoat (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986).
Heim. S. Mark. Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2006).
Weaver, Denny. The Nonviolent Atonement, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2011).
Stricken by God: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ; Ed. by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2007).
Miscellaneous
