This issue’s book review section contains two review essays, each of which examines multiple books on a common theme, and four reviews of individual books.
The first review essay, “Rest and Sabbath: A Review Essay,” is written by Amy Davis Abdallah, who teaches practical theology at Ashland Theological Seminary. Abdallah’s essay examines three recent books dealing with themes of Sabbath and rest: Sabbath Gospel: A New Narrative of Time, Rest, and the Work of the Church (IVP Academic, 2026), by G. P. Wagenfuhr and Amy Joy Erickson; Rest: A Theological Account (Baylor University Press, 2024), by Euntaek David Shin; and The Sabbath Way: Making Room In Your Life for Rest, Connection and Delight (Tyndale Refresh, 2025), by Travis West.
Abdallah notes how, despite differing emphases and tendencies among the three books, they each desire to provide a robust theological paradigm for patterns of rest rooted in the biblical gift of Sabbath. She notes that all three books naturally address key texts in Genesis, give significant attention to the theme of community, and explore how rhythms of work and rest shape how we inhabit time. Attentive to each book’s distinctive offerings—the dense philosophical and theological paths of Rest, the highly practical nature of The Sabbath Way, and the innovative theological moves of Sabbath Gospel—Abdallah commends the three books as complementary of one another, each drawing our attention in unique ways to something that matters more deeply for our lives than we often recognize. She writes: “For all the authors, Sabbath and rest are not simply another entry to check off on our to-do list. On the contrary, they offer radical life reorientation theologically and practically. The books are not meant to be read, pondered, and placed on a shelf, but enacted in community, step by step, over the long journey of life.”
This issue’s second review essay is written by Anthony Rose from the psychology department at Calvin University: “Christian Enchantment in Clinical and Counseling Psychology.” Rose takes up three recent books that ask, each in their own way, what a distinctively Christian and theologically-informed approach to clinical and counseling psychology might look like, including the sometimes-controversial question of how closely a Christian approach should resemble and draw from mainstream secular practices.
The three books that Rose explores are Joshua Knabb’s Worship and Awe in Christian Psychology: How Centering God Transforms Mental and Spiritual Health (Baker Academic, 2026); Brad Strawn and Earl Bland’s The Integrative Mindset: Pathways to Practicing as a Christian Clinician (IVP Academic, 2025); and Kristen Kansiewicz and Paul Loosemore’s Engaging in Counseling Research with Curiosity and Wisdom: A Christian Integrative Approach (IVP Academic, 2026).
In weaving together his accounts and critiques of the books—which he regards as helpful contributions to the literature—Rose takes up what he calls the “specter of biblical counseling,” an approach to counseling that rejects mainstream psychotherapeutic practices and aims to draw only upon the Bible for counseling and mental health. In dialogue with the authors of all three books, Rose makes a case for the implicitly Christian nature of many practices of secular therapy. As he writes, “Christian psychologists do not necessarily need to do something radically different than secular clinicians . . . but simply need to recognize the Christian significance of what we already do.” Thus he concludes: “Christians do not need to retreat from counseling and psychotherapy research and practice, but, as exemplified by the authors of these books, instead should engage it wholeheartedly.”
In addition to these two longer review essays, this issue features four standard book reviews on topics of interdisciplinary interest. Two of the reviews address the topic of disability in relation to aspects of Christian belief. Lindsay Roman from Baylor University reviews Disability Theology and Eschatology: Hope, Justice, and Flourishing (Lexington Books, 2026), edited by Preston McDaniel Hill and Aaron Brian Davis. And Kyle Rice from Biola University reviews Disability and Evangelism: The Good News of the Fullness of God’s Kingdom (IVP Academic, 2026), by Rochelle Scheuermann. Both books and reviews challenge the Christian church, Christian institutions, and Christian scholarship to think and act in ways that recognize the fullness of what those in our communities with disabilities offer us.
Jeffrey Barbeau from Wheaton College reviews Kate Ward’s recent Making a Life: Catholic Social Teaching and the Meaning of Work (T&T Clark, 2026), which Barbeau suggests could—among other things—provide a helpful broader contextualization of the tradition that stands behind Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical dealing with artificial intelligence.
Finally, capping off this issue, is Josiah Peterson from Taylor University, who reviews Undeclared: A Philosophy of Formative Higher Education (MIT Press, 2025), by Chris Higgins. Peterson observes that, if there is any sector of higher education that should be uniquely situated to offer a genuinely formative education, it is the Christian liberal arts tradition. He writes: “What better place is there than a Christian educational community for students and teachers alike to wrestle with questions of truth, beauty, justice, and right living? . . . May we pay attention to what is occurring in our lives and the lives of our students, offering them a vision of Christian education that is demanding, painful at times, life-giving, and soul-forming.”
