Author’s Corner: Baker Academic

Each week on Credo we welcome you to join us in the Author’s Corner where we will meet a set of authors whose recent books deserve your attention and might even help you grow in your knowledge of theology, history, philosophy, and the scriptures. We hope the Author’s Corner can keep you up-to-date on the most important books published today and where you can find them.

On today’s Author’s Corner, we present you with a selection of titles from Baker Academic.

---

The Essential Karl Barth: A Reader and Commentary (Baker, 2021) by Keith L. Johnson

Karl Barth is one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. His work is considered essential reading for nearly every student of theology. Reading Barth’s theology poses a challenge, however, because of the sheer size of his corpus, the complexity of his claims, and the distance between his context and the context of his readers. In this accessible introduction, a respected scholar in Barthian studies offers a one-stop resource on Barth’s thought, providing a selection of his most important writings, critical commentary, and detailed introductory and concluding chapters.

The Hope of Israel: The Resurrection of Christ in the Acts of the Apostles (Baker, 2020) by Brandon D. Crowe

The Hope of Israel highlights the sustained focus in Acts on the resurrection of Christ, bringing clarity to the theology of Acts and its purpose. Brandon Crowe explores the historical, theological, and canonical implications of Jesus’s resurrection in early Christianity and helps readers more clearly understand the purpose of Acts in the context of the New Testament canon. He also shows how the resurrection is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures.

The first half of the book demonstrates the centrality of the resurrection in Acts. The second half teases out its implications in more detail, including how the resurrection is the turning point of redemptive history, how it relates to early Christian readings of the Old Testament, and how the resurrection emphasis of Acts coheres in the New Testament canon. This first major book-length study on the theological significance of Jesus’s resurrection in Acts will appeal to professors, students, and scholars of the New Testament.

Why Did Jesus Live a Perfect Life? The Necessity of Christ’s Obedience for Our Salvation (Baker, 2021) by Brandon D. Crowe

How does Christ’s obedience relate to our salvation?

Speaking into current conversations about the nature of salvation, New Testament scholar Brandon Crowe sets out a new, comprehensive account of the nature of the atonement, exploring how this doctrine affects our participation in the life of God and in the shared life of the Christian community. Crowe builds on key insights from other historic substitutionary views, especially those associated with penal substitution, while clearing up persistent misunderstandings regarding those models.

Crowe argues that we are saved by Christ’s perfect obedience, which has implications for understanding the gospel message, Christian hope, and discipleship. Not only is Jesus the quintessential model of faithfulness in a fallen world, but his unique work frees us from the burden of perfect obedience. This book will appeal to professors and students of the New Testament, pastors, and laypeople.

“Many Christians today understand that Christ had to suffer on our behalf and bear the penalty for our sin, but they have no idea why Jesus also had to live a perfect life. Yet without the active obedience of Christ, how can we be justified before God? With profound biblical and theological insight, Brandon Crowe teaches us that we not only need our sins forgiven but also need the spotless righteousness of our Savior. Apart from the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, our salvation is incomplete! Here is a book that is not only accessible but timely: in a day when imputation is often rejected, Crowe reveals just how critical Christ’s entire life is to our union with Christ. There is no hope without it.”

Matthew Barrett, associate professor of Christian theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; host of the Credo Podcast