Philosophy

Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling James Sire (IVP) A wonderful call to the life of the mind, nicely written by one of our best Christian thinkers. A book to enjoy and savor.
Reason Within the Bounds of Religion Nicholas Woltersdorf (Eerdmans) A brief, important essay on the relationship of presupposition, reason and faith. Very good.
Philosophy and the Christian Faith Colin Brown (IVP) A helpful study of the key thinkers in the history of philosophy from a clear Christian viewpoint.
The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belief in Theories Roy Clouser (University of Notre Dame) A serious work which is absolutely essential for Christian philosophers, or any serious scholars.
Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be Brian Walsh & Richard Middleton (IVP) The best Biblically-informed discussion of postmodernism available. Rather scholarly, although not overly academic. Insists that the deconstruction of Enlightenment faith in progress and Reason is a helpful shift and that the understanding of the suffering of God in the Biblical meta-narrative is the only adequate response to the profound concerns of post-modern philosophy. Even if one does not fully agree with the authors’ approach, this is a book which must be read. Essential.
Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenge of Postmodernism Douglas Groothuis (IVP) Less appreciative of postmodernity than than the Walsh & Middleton book (above) it is a hefty and impressive discussion against relativism. Has garnered truly rave reviews from serious thinkers.
The Fall of Interpretation: Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic James K.A. Smith (IVP) Smith seriously surveys various traditions about hermeneutics and concludes that the assumption in some traditions, that subjective bias is necessarily bad and part of the human fallen condition, is unBiblical. Subjectivity in hermeneutics is a creational given to be affirmed. A brilliant, foundational work for advanced students in either philosophy or Biblical studies.
Knowing Other-Wise: Philosophy at the Threshold of Spirituality edited by James Olthius (Fordham University Press) Recent discussions in the various circles of postmodernism and feminism have insisted that ontology and epistemology without ethics is deadly, and that standard Western rationalism is reductionistic. What might a way of “knowing” that is more than rational and which is attentive to the “other” look like? How might Christians work from our deepest traditions to respond to these concerns? Strong Christians reflect in very scholarly ways about some of the key issues in contemporary philosophy, exploring the contributions made by the likes of Derrida, Rorty, Levinas. To be read with discernment by advanced students.