SWJT names ‘Mere Christian Hermeneutics’ its 2024 Book of the Year
Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically by Kevin J. Vanhoozer has been chosen as the 2024 Book of the Year by the Southwestern Journal of Theology in the fifth annual edition of the honors, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President David S. Dockery announced Dec. 2.
The award recognizes a top overall Book of the Year and the top books in 12 categories related various academic disciplines. Books are nominated by the residential faculty of Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College, the seminary’s undergraduate school. Dockery and Malcolm B. Yarnell III, editor of the Southwestern Journal of Theology and research professor of theology, coordinate the process, which also identifies books that receive honorable mention commendations in each category.
“The Southwestern Seminary faculty members have made excellent choices related to the 2024 Book of the Year awards, a process coordinated by the Southwestern Journal of Theology,” Dockery said. “Faculty members from all five schools joined together to offer their insights regarding 2024 publications in various fields of study such as Biblical and theological studies, church history, apologetics and Christian worldview, worship, ministry studies, education and counseling, as well as evangelism and missions. The process reflects the wide-ranging engagement of the Southwestern faculty with the best of Christian scholarship.”
“It is our hope that the recommendations will be helpful to students, pastors, and church leaders,” he added. “We offer hearty congratulations to those recognized in each category. Particularly, we salute Kevin Vanhoozer for his brilliant, award-winning work on Mere Christian Hermeneutics.”
Dockery edited Confident Witness: Evangelism and Apologetics for the 21st Century, which took the top prize in the Evangelism/Missions/Global Church category. He and Yarnell co-wrote Special Revelation and Scripture, which was awarded an honorable mention in the Theological Studies category.
Other faculty-authored or -edited books that received honorable mention awards included Criswell: His Life and Times, by Chancellor O.S. Hawkins, which received an honorable mention in the Baptist Studies category; 1 & 2 Chronicles: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching, co-authored by Joshua E. Williams, professor of Old Testament and director of Research Doctoral Studies, and Southwestern alumnus Calvin F. Pearson, adjunct professor in pastoral ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary’s Houston campus, which received an honorable mention in the Biblical Studies category; and Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Act of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers, co-authored by Coleman M. Ford, assistant professor of humanities at Texas Baptist College, and Shawn J. Wilhite, associate professor of New Testament at California Baptist University, awarded an honorable mention in the Preaching/Ministry/Leadership category.
Ethan C. Jones, Southwestern alumnus, former faculty member, and recipient of the seminary’s 2024 Curtis Vaughan Award for Contribution to the Study of Christian Scripture, received the top prize in the Discipleship/Spiritual Formation category for Psalms in an Age of Distraction: Experiencing the Restorative Power of Biblical Poetry. Jones currently serves as assistant professor of Old Testament and Hebrew and holds the Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Old Testament at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Additionally, Dockery contributed to the Handbook of Contemporary Preaching, second edition, edited by Michael Duduit, dean of the Clamp Divinity School College of Christian Studies and Campus Worship at Anderson University, which took top honors in the Preaching/Ministry/Leadership category. Yarnell contributed to Confessing Christ: An Invitation to Baptist Dogmatics, which was edited by Steven A. McKinion, Christine E. Thornton, and Keith S. Whitfield and was named “Book of the Year” in the Baptist Studies category. McKinion, Thornton, and Whithfield each serve on the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dockery also provided endorsements for several of the award-winning books, including Systematic Theology, Volume One: From Concept to Canon, by Stephen J. Wellum, which took top honors in the Theological Studies category; Confessing Christ: An Invitation to Baptist Dogmatics, edited by Steven A. McKinion, Christine E. Thornton, and Keith S. Whitfield, “Book of the Year” in the Baptist Studies category; The Way of Christ in Culture: A Vision for All of Life, by Benjamin T. Quinn and Dennis T. Greeson, which received an honorable mention in the Applied Theology/Ethics category; By Life or Death: The Life and Legacy of John and Betty Stam, by Andrew Montonera, an honorable mention in the Evangelism/Missions/Global Church category; Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Act of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers, by TBC faculty member Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite, an honorable mention recipient in the Preaching/Ministry/Leadership category; and Cloud of Witnesses: A Treasury of Prayers and Petitions through the Ages, by Jonathan W. Arnold and Zachariah M. Carter, which was awarded an honorable mention in the Discipleship/Spiritual Formation category.
Yarnell provided an endorsement for On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God, edited by Matthew Barrett, which took top honors in the Church History//Historical Theology/Biography category.
“In a recent conversation with several academic publishers of evangelical theology, I voiced appreciation for their quality publications,” Yarnell said. “The most difficult aspect of deciding this year’s winners of the Southwestern Journal of Theology awards was narrowing the field. I only wish we could have recognized more, for global evangelicalism is currently witnessing an explosion of excellent scholarship. We have much for which to thank our Lord. Congratulations are extended to our winners and to the many others not included.”
“Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically,” by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, was named the Southwestern Journal of Theology Book of the Year.
BOOK OF THE YEAR
Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically, by Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Zondervan Academic)
BIBLICAL REFERENCE/BIBLICAL BACKGROUNDS
Behind the Scenes of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, edited by Bruce W. Longenecker, Elizabeth E. Shively, and T. J. Lang (Baker Academic)
Honorable Mentions
Jerusalem through the Ages, by Jodi Magness (Oxford University Press)
Apocryphal Prophets and Athenian Poets: Noncanonical Influences of the New Testament, by Gregory R. Lanier (B&H Academic)
BIBLICAL STUDIES
Wonders from Your Law: Nexus Passages and the Promise of an Exegetical Intertextual Old Testament Theology, by Kevin S. Chen (IVP Academic)
Honorable Mentions
The State of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research, edited by H. H. Hardy II and M. Daniel Carroll R. (Baker Academic)
1 & 2 Chronicles: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching, by Joshua E. Williams and Calvin F. Pearson (Kregel)
THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
Systematic Theology, Volume One: From Concept to Canon, by Stephen J. Wellum (B&H Academic)
Honorable Mentions
Special Revelation and Scripture, by David S. Dockery and Malcolm B. Yarnell III (B&H Academic)
Defending Sin: A Response to the Challenges of Evolution and the Natural Sciences, by Hans Madueme (Baker Academic)
CHURCH HISTORY/HISTORICAL THEOLOGY/BIOGRAPHY
On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God, edited by Matthew Barrett (IVP Academic)
Honorable Mentions
A New History of Redemption: The Work of Jesus the Messiah through the Millennia, by Gerald McDermott (Baker Academic)
The Fathers on the Future: A 2nd-Century Eschatology for the 21st-Century Church, by Michael J. Svigel (Hendrickson)
BAPTIST STUDIES
Confessing Christ: An Invitation to Baptist Dogmatics, edited by Steven A. McKinion, Christine E. Thornton, and Keith S. Whitfield (B&H Academic)
Honorable Mentions
Good News for the World: Baptist World Alliance Resolutions and Statements, 1905-2023, edited by Lee B. Spitzer (Baylor University Press)
Criswell: His Life and Times, by O. S. Hawkins (B&H)
APOLOGETICS/WORLDVIEW
On the Resurrection: Evidences, Volume One; and, On the Resurrection: Refutations, Volume Two, by Gary R. Habermas (B&H Academic)
Honorable Mentions
The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense, by Robert M. Bowman Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski (Kregel)
Faith and Science: A Primer for a Hypernatural World, by Kenneth D. Keathley (B&H Academic)
DISCIPLESHIP/SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Psalms in an Age of Distraction: Experiencing the Restorative Power of Biblical Poetry, by Ethan C. Jones (Baker Academic)
Honorable Mentions
Cloud of Witnesses: A Treasury of Prayers and Petitions through the Ages, by Jonathan W. Arnold and Zachariah M. Carter (Crossway)
Becoming by Beholding: The Power of Imagination in Spiritual Formation, by Lanta Davis (Baker Academic)
WORSHIP/CHURCH MUSIC
The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary (4-volume set), by Christopher Ash (Crossway)
Honorable Mentions
Sing Church History: Introducing the Christian Story through Hymn Texts, by Paul Rorem (Fortress Press)
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded: A Liturgy for Daily Worship from Pascha to Pentecost, by Jonathan Gibson (Crossway
APPLIED THEOLOGY/ETHICS
To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse, by Carl R. Trueman (B&H Academic)
Honorable Mentions
The Way of Christ in Culture: A Vision for All of Life, by Benjamin T. Quinn and Dennis T. Greeson (B&H Academic)
Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization, by Brad Wilcox (Broadside)
PREACHING/MINISTRY/LEADERSHIP
Handbook of Contemporary Preaching, 2nd edition, edited by Michael Duduit (B&H Academic)
Honorable Mentions
Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Act of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers, by Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite (Crossway)
Ask Pastor John: 750 Bible Answers to Life’s Most Important Questions. by Tony Reinke (Crossway)
EVANGELISM/MISSIONS/GLOBAL CHURCH
Confident Witness: Evangelism and Apologetics for the 21st Century, edited by David S. Dockery (Crossway)
Honorable Mentions
People Vision: Reimagining Mission to Least Reached People, by Leonard N. Bartlotti (William Carey)
By Life or Death: The Life and Legacy of John and Betty Stam, by Andrew Montonera (Moody)
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION/COUNSELING/YOUTH and CHILDREN
What Do I Say When . . .?: A Parent’s Guide to Navigating Cultural Chaos for Children and Teens, by Andrew T. Walker and Christian Walker (Crossway)
Honorable Mentions
Blame It on the Brain? Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience, Second edition, by Edward T. Welch (P&R)
Redeeming Sex in Marriage: How the Gospel Rescues Sex, Transforms Marriage, and Reveals the Glory of God, by Scott Mehl (P&R)
