As a seminarian and in the years leading up to this journey, I have been exposed to a variety of books, resources, and concepts related to religion and justice that I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise that have reshaped my theology and how I understand others as well. As I recognize that not everyone will attend seminary, it is important to me that I share some of the resources that I have found informative and resources that I hope to read soon that have been recommended by those I admire and respect. I owe so much of who I am now to this experience, and I want to ensure that others are exposed to what I have been exposed to and work to integrate the Christian circles as it relates to those who are formally trained and educated in theology and those who aren’t. Note that this list is not comprehensible and is a work in progress. (Also note that this list in some ways reflects my own area of research as it relates to faith/religion, race, justice, and politics.)
On Biblical Interpretation and Context
- HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated
- HarperCollins Bible Dictionary – Revised & Updated
- The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures by Michael Coogan and Cynthia Chapman
- The Writings of the New Testament by Luke Timothy Johnson
- Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation by Cheryl Anderson
On Cultural Biblical Interpretations
- Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation by Cain Hope Felder
- African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation by Lisa M. Bowens
- An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation by Nyasha Junior
- Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda C. Gafney
- Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse edited by Gay L. Byron and Vanessa Lovelace
On Jesus, Justice, and Politics
- The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’ Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted by Obery Hendricks
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
- Christ in Crisis?: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus by Jim Wallis
- The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
- The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham
- The Universe Bends toward Justice: Radical Reflections on the Bible, the Church, and the Body Politic by Obery Hendricks
- Who Will Be A Witness: Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love, and Deliverance by Drew G. I. Hart
- Radical Reconciliation: Beyond Political Pietism and Christian Quietism by Curtiss Paul DeYoung and Allan Aubrey Boesak
Liberation Theologies and Experience
- A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation by Gustavo Gutierrez
- A Black Theology of Liberation: 50th Anniversary Edition by James H. Cone
- Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody: The Making of a Black Theologian by James H. Cone
- The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible by Allen Dwight Callahan
- Faith and Feminism: Ecumenical Essays edited by Phyllis Trible and B. Diane Lipsett
- Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Queer Theology by Pamela R. Lightsey
- Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth-Honoring Faiths (Ecology and Justice) by Melanie Harris
- Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk by Delores S. Williams
- I Found God in Me: A Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader by Mitzi J. Smith
- Womanist Theological Ethics: A Reader edited by Katie Geneva Cannon, Emilie M. Townes, and Angela D. Sims
- If It Wasn’t for the Women. . .: Black Women’s Experience And Womanist Culture In Church And Community by Cheryl Townsend Gilkes
- Unfinished Business: Black Women, the Black Church, and the Struggle to Thrive in America by Keri Day
On the Black Church
- Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post-Civil Rights America edited by R. Drew Smith
- Reviving the Black Church: A Call to Reclaim A Sacred Institution by Thabiti Anyabwile
- The Black Church in the Post-Civil Rights Era by Anthony Pinn
- Understanding and Transforming the Black Church by Anthony Pinn
On Immigrants
- The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen González
On Sexuality
- “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality, Same-Sex Attraction, & Being Transgender?” by St. Hugh of Lincoln Episcopal Church
- Battered Love (Overtures to Biblical Theology): Marriage, Sex and Violence in the Hebrew Prophets by Renita Weems
- Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire by Jennifer Wright Knust
- Sex and the Single Savior by Dale B. Martin
- Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein
- Passionate and Pious: Religious Media and Black Women’s Sexuality by Monique Moultrie
- Jezebel Unhinged: Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion and Culture by Tamura Lomax
- Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective by Kelly Brown Douglas
- Homoeroticism in the Biblical World: A Historical Perspective by Martti Nissinen
- Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches by Horace L. Griffin
On Race
- America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America by Rev. Jim Wallis
- The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
- Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew G. I. Hart
- Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice by Eric Mason
- I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation by Chanequa Walker-Barnes
- Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion by Barbara Dianne Savage
- Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Christian Smith and Michael Emerson
- Unreconciled: From Racial Reconciliation to Racial Justice in Christian Evangelicalism by Andrea Smith
On Black Bodies, Violence and Justice
- Toward a Womanist Ethic of Incarnation: Black Bodies, the Black Church, and the Council of Chalcedon by Eboni Marshall Turman
- Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas
On Justice, Harm, Incarceration, and Abolition
- Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment by Christopher D. Marshall
- Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores by Dominque DuBois Gilliard
- Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons by Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd
- The Fall of the Prison: Biblical Perspectives on Prison Abolition by Lee Griffith
On Healing and Care
- Making SPACE at the Well: Mental Health and the Church by Jessica Young Brown
- Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood by Patrick B. Reyes
- Hagar’s Daughters: Womanist Ways of Being in the World by Diana Hayes
- Pastoral Care: Telling the Stories of Our Lives by Karen D. Scheib
- Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature by Peter Scazzero
Deirdre Jonese Austin 