The Gospel Coalition 2020 Best Book Awards Are a Hot Mess
The Gospel Coalition continues to bear rotting and putrid fruit, this time in the form of their 2020 best book awards. According to the site:
Each year our editors, along with dozens of key contributors, review the nominations from Christian publishers using the following fourfold criteria:
-offers gospel-centered argument and application;
-includes faithful and foundational use of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament.
-fosters spiritual discernment of contemporary trials and trends; _encourages efforts to unite and renew the church.
To be fair, we haven’t read half the books we’re sharing, and so far from being a commentary on the contents (with a few exceptions) we’re more interested in what and who the super sketchy Gospel Coalition is promoting when they’re not doing all these bad things. Some of the winners and runner ups may be fine books and authors, but our purpose is to point out a few winners and runner ups and ask “what were they thinking?’ and whether or not the theology being promoted is being faithful to scripture and fosters spiritual discernment.
Public Theology & Current Events.
Winner:
Carl Trueman. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution
Runner Up:
Russell Moore, The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear without Losing Your Soul (B&H)
Rachel Gilson, Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next (The Good Book Co.)
We’ve never read Truemans’ book, but the fact that the cowardly and dishonest Russell Moore almost won, or the SSA theologanette gets a nod is hilarious, given that it certainly violates all 4 of that critera. See why here and here.
Popular Theology
Runner up:
Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope (InterVarsity Press)
Jared Wilson, The Gospel According to Satan: Eight Lies about God that Sound Like the Truth (Thomas Nelson)
Esau McCalley is a progressive, race-baiting proponent of Black Liberation Theology and Critical Race Theory. See why here. Jared Wilson is a member of the evangelical Intelligensia who has a wretched theology and doesn’t even know if George Whitfield was a Christian. His theological chops leave much to be desired. See why here and here.
Ministry
Winner:
Paul David Tripp, Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church (Crossway)
Trip, whose full-time job was helping hucksters like Mark Driscoll and Tullian Tchivdijian prove they were fit for ministry amidst various controversies (he’s virtually the Grim Reaper for pastoral integrity) took a side-gig with the Gospel Coalition as a professional personality. Maybe his book is good, but his leadership chops are not. See why here and here.
True to form, the list is the bad fruit of the cursed tree- quintessential Gospel Coalition claptrap which amounts to a purifying, liquidated, flies-buzzing-around fermented mass.
Go dump that sludge into the composter or somewhere in the back forty.
It’s stinking to high heaven.
About Author
Why anyone would read anything recommended by TGC is beyond me. They lost their way years ago.
I don’t understand the use of the word “progressive” when describing actual Marxists since their ideology is actually quite regressive when you examine it and see how it plays out. But then we’re also in an age described in “1984” where words are assigned the opposite meaning to what they really are. Winston knows what I mean, and I ain’t talking about cigarettes.
In addition, isn’t Tripp also a member of Derek Mason’s church? That should tell you some thing about him is I have no interest in listening to him anymore. I can’t understand why someone, anyone, even his wife, hasn’t told him how stupid he looks wearing shirts buttoned up all the way to the collar without a tie on. Is it me, or doesn’t that make him look, shall we say, mentally challenged? Not that he is, it’s just that it’s usually the way you see boys with down syndrome dressed.