christianity – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity

By Scott J. Pearson | April 5, 2026April 5, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Like many Protestants, I have not experienced an in-depth introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy in my life. I’ve driven by its churches, sure, I’ve met its churchgoers, and in religion classes, I’ve read about its history. However, I never have taken a deep-dive into its culture on my own, mediated only be an advocate for its faith expression. Therefore, I read Timothy Ware’s classic work, now in a third edition, on the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith…

Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss & Addiction

By Scott J. Pearson | December 25, 2025December 25, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

If you’re looking to cry in empathy with an author’s grief and hardships yet sense an undercurrent of hope, this memoir might be the book for you. Jonathan Tepper grew up as a missionary kid in Madrid, Spain. His parents tried to “save” people for heaven in a new church, but failed. Then they pivoted their ministry to help people overcome heroin addiction, and they slowly grew a church and social service. However, the HIV/AIDS…

Biography-Memoir Religion-Philosophy

A Summer with Pascal

By Scott J. Pearson | November 10, 2025November 10, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

I’m a huge fan of French polymath Blaise Pascal simply because he provokes thought. Besides his scientific and mathematical contributions, he died before forming his greatest philosophical work into a coherent defense of the plausibleness of Christianity. Instead, they were left as a series of fragments for us to ponder in the following centuries. Simply titled Pensées (or “thoughts”), they give us insight into the spiritual life of one of history’s greatest scientific geniuses. This…

Biography-Memoir Religion-Philosophy

Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard

By Scott J. Pearson | September 29, 2025September 29, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Søren Kierkegaard’s writings have long entranced me since I first ran across it as a teenager. He brought a thoughtful and philosophical approach towards the Christian life that didn’t center around being merely “churchy.” Indeed, as this biography testifies, he ran into conflicts with the institutional church throughout his life. Clare Carlisle details how Copenhagen received this eccentric bachelor before his eminence grew after his death. She particularly focuses on his love life as the…

Religion-Philosophy

A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good

By Scott J. Pearson | August 23, 2025August 23, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Our Sunday School class chose this book to discuss over the summer, and I led discussions. I found the discussion guide and videos from the Yale Center for Faith & Culture helpful. We discussed the topic of religion in the public square shortly after the 2024 US election, which made moderating conversation challenging. Christian nationalism is ascendant today, a phenomenon only alluded to in Volf’s book. In his era, Muslim nationalism was the main threat,…

Healthcare HIV/AIDS Religion-Philosophy

Women, HIV & the Church: In Search of Refuge

By Scott J. Pearson | July 19, 2025July 19, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

First, I want to acknowledge the nobility of this book’s purpose. HIV is a dehumanizing condition that only worsens with stigma. Today, both women and orphans are disproportionately affected, and both groups have traditionally been objects of the church’s compassion. However, such a compassionate orientation hasn’t been the case with HIV; instead, stigma reigns, especially in countries hardest hit by the epidemic. This book represents a direct call for the church to instead reclaim its…

Religion-Philosophy

Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

By Scott J. Pearson | May 4, 2025May 4, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Nadia Bolz-Weber co-founded a Lutheran church in downtown Denver, Colorado. Her life story itself is interesting, but this book tells the stories of her parishioners. Most of these people do not fit the traditional mold of a “Christian saint” yet have life experiences that integrate with the Christian Gospel. Yet she finds God’s touch in each one of them. Therefore, she writes openly about how they have affected her and taught her. Nadia’s central point…

Religion-Philosophy

The Virtue of Dialogue: Becoming a Thriving Church Through Conversation

By Scott J. Pearson | April 7, 2025April 7, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Increasingly, Christian churches have become echo chambers that only amplify a given leader’s viewpoint. Their messages resemble denominational perspectives or, recently, boost an interdenominational framework loosely resembling political ideologies. To many, like myself, such a framework conveniently forgets about the diverse, historic nature of Christian theology. Englewood Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, was once a megachurch but shrank in membership as decades wore on. It revived itself through becoming a conversational center where people participated…

Religion-Philosophy

The Prophetic Imagination: 40th Anniversary Edition

By Scott J. Pearson | September 4, 2024September 4, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

The Hebrew religion has an interesting role of a “prophet” (navi). Along with the Law and the Writings, it serves as one of the big three sections of the Hebrew Bible. Only a couple of other religions, usually Canaanite, have a similar personality type of ecstatic truth-tellers. Presbyterian theologian Walter Brueggemann, borrowing from Jewish rabbi Abraham Heschel, describes the essential prophetic feature as an imagination of an alternative reality. Prophets apply that imagination against a…

Biography-Memoir

John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg

By Scott J. Pearson | August 10, 2024August 10, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Like many Americans, John Lewis’ casket coming across the Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 2020 evoked tears in me. He was one of the last great leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement to die. With the Black Lives Matter movement in the streets, the baton had been passed to a new generation. I grew up a white Republican in conservative South Carolina and did not knew who John Lewis was until much later…