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Perhaps too much has been written about "spirituality," obscuring the meaning of the word. One help in recovering the meaning for Christians is Living the Story: Biblical Spirituality for Everyday Christians by R. Paul Stevens and Michael Green (published jointly by Eerdmans, Lime Grove House, and Regent College Publishing, 2003, $18).

This pleasure-to-read book helps the reader explore the meaning of biblical spirituality, a spirituality rooted in Scripture. In his introduction to the book, Eugene H. Peterson writes:

"This present book is the lively product of two professors who teamed up to teach Christian spirituality to classrooms of graduate students from all over the world, using the Bible as their text...[They] are committed both personally and vocationally to an evangelical integration of church and world, prayer and discipleship, learning and marketplace. It is quite wonderful to be taught by professors who not only pray what they read in Holy Scripture but also live what they teach from it" (p. viii).

If you question the need for biblical spirituality, one answer is in The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith by Alan Wolfe (Free Press, 2003, $26).

The author, a social scientist, argues that American religion has been transformed beyond recognition. God has met and struggled against American culture — and the culture has won. We have domesticated what was once a matter of spiritual life and death. According to the author, "The message of this book is that religion in the United States is being transformed in radically new directions" (p. 3).

This is why we should revisit the life and thoughts of Luther. For example, read Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought by Stephen J. Nichols (P & R Publishing, 2002, $13.99).

According to the author, "While Luther is very well known, beyond some significant moments, much of his life remains a mystery to most Christians. And while his writings form the bedrock of Protestantism and articulate the essential principles of Reformation theology, they largely go unread by many today. This current lack of familiarity with Luther's work is precisely the reason for this book. It is an attempt to put his long-lost descendants in touch with their legacy, an invitation to spend some time at Luther's table" (pp. 13-14).

The author is faithful to his reason for the book and provides a readable mixture of theology, history, biography, and story.

And, do not overlook Martin Luther: A Life by James Nestingen (Augsburg, 2003, $9.99). If you are looking for an excellent resource for a study group, here it is, and at a price most everyone can afford. If you saw the movie Luther, the eight pages of colorful scenes taken from the film will help keep memories alive and help us remember that "Luther's deep insights into the problems and potential of human freedom still echo today, clearly conveying the place of law and God's promise in Christ to forgive sins, to raise the dead, and bind the powers of desolation" (p. 111).

This is also a good time to consider The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World by Douglas John Hall (Fortress, 2003, $17). This is a compelling theological reflection supporting the relevance of our most fundamental confession for the post 9/11 world.

Walter Brueggemann has it right when he comments, "Subtle, passionate, and knowing... a coherent case for discipleship of an intentional and daring kind. This book gives ready access to the thinking and faith of one of our finest thinkers, a welcome addition to a remarkable corpus of evangelical faith."

To add energy to our practice and confession of faith, read The Prophets: Who They Were, What They Are by Norman Podhoretz, (The Free Press, 2002, $30). The author puts it this way: "In writing this book, then, my deepest purpose and my most fervent prayer is that reading it will help others as writing it has helped me, to recapture some idea of what we are losing when we turn our backs on the prophets. They spoke words of fire that could set the evils of their own times ablaze, and those words can do the same for the times we ourselves live in" (p. 15).

For another theological insight for our times, read Light from the East: Theology, Science and the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Alexei V. Nesteruk (Fortress, 2003, $22).

What caught my attention and drew me into the book was the author's comment in his preface: "The split between theology and science can be overcome if both are reinstated to their proper relationship to the eucharist, understood in cosmic terms as the offering of creation back to God through art, science, and technology. Scientific activity can be treated as a cosmic eucharistic work (a 'cosmic liturgy')" (p. 2).

Then there is Bridging Science and Religion edited by Ted Peters and Gaymon Bennett (Augsburg, 2003, $17). This remarkable book brings together contributors in the sciences, comparative philosophies, and religious studies to address important current questions in the conversation between the sciences and world religions.

Published under the auspices of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at the Graduate Theological Union, the book "provides a basic resource for use in classrooms in Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas."

And don't forget the children. Read Let the Children Come: Reimagining Childhood from a Christian Perspective by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, (Jossey-Bass, 2003, $24.95).

This book is about the struggle to raise children with integrity and faithfulness in our complex world. The author faces questions such as: What are the dominant cultural perceptions of children? What are their religious perceptions? How should Christians define children and parenting today?

Finally, as we Lutherans struggle to have the right institution at the right time, perhaps we should read A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America by Peter Steinfels (Simon & Schuster, 2003, $26).

Steinfels, a well-known religion reporter and writer of the Beliefs column for the New York Times as well as a Roman Catholic himself, states bluntly that the Catholic Church in the United States must transform itself or suffer irreversible decline. He deals with the powerful forces working below the surface of an institution. He warns that entrenched liberals and conservatives are trapped in a "theological gridlock" that often ignores what in fact goes on in families, parishes, classrooms, voting booths, and Catholic organizations of all types.

As the author states on page 14, "This book focuses on that institutional, practical dimension of Catholicism's life. It does not deny that an institution's vitality may begin in hidden wellsprings of prayer, insight, and mysticism, and that Catholicism's vitality must issue in lives of love, sacrifice, and worship. But every great church renewal has had an institutional expression and every great church failure has institutional sources. Mystical, intellectual, and charitable energies operate within institutional frameworks, indeed sometimes spring from the frustrations of institutional shortcomings. The Catholic Church can succeed as an institution while failing as a church. But it cannot succeed as a church while failing as an institution. That, at least, is the working premise of this book."

Carl E. Linder is Lutheran Partners' interim book review editor. He was the magazine's editor from 1987-2002.