I don't have the guts to do a real top ten list, because I feel like I'm surely leaving something out. But here are the new theology books that really got my attention this year and seem likely to stay with me.
Daniel Treier @teedan, Introducing Evangelical Theology. Not a monograph for scholars but a textbook for students. I really admire the consistent catechetical framing, the evenhandedness, and the decisiveness of Treier's good judgment.
Phil Cary, The Meaning of Protestant Theology. Of the books on my 2019 list, maybe the book I have the greatest running argument with. But Cary really puts his finger on it with the notion of a message that gives us Christ. Important work.
Oliver Crisp, Analyzing Doctrine. Crisp writes like a guy w/a complete systematics in the back of his mind that he hasn't gotten around to writing out yet. This volume covers a lot of doctrinal ground & declares its principles w/out getting all methodologically distracted.
.@mattwilcoxen, Divine Humility. Wilcoxen not only notices an important question (is God humble?) and explores it well (esp. in Barth & Sonderegger); he also sets it up with helpful analysis of what theological concepts are for.
Steve Duby, God in Himself. I'm only half done with this, but so far it's a serious and weighty account of why thinking about God in himself is not uselessly abstract, but actually works in service of pastoral and spiritual ends.
.@M_Y_Emerson, He Descended to the Dead. There aren't many books on this subject, and there are none as clear and helpful. A book on the descent would have been enough, but Emerson goes the extra mile and situates it in the entire structure of biblical, creedal theology.
.@mattjenson, Theology in the Democracy of the Dead. The book works as a cover-to-cover reading experience, but each substantive chapter can also stand alone as a deep dive into a major theologian. A book that will hop on & off of my shelf as needed.
Ian McFarland, The Word Made Flesh. Here's the full "Chalcedonianism without reserve" we've been waiting for from McFarland, very helpfully poised with respect to the creator/Creature distinction & the doctrine of the Trinity. Densely packed but w/out obfuscation.
John Webster, The Culture of Theology. An old/new Webster book. A little dated in that careful readers will see how Webster moved on & said things differently (mostly better) later, but still great. The key word is culture, a theme to which he never returned in quite this way.
Petrus van Mastricht, Theoretical-Practical Theology, vol. 2: Faith in the Triune God. This may be the Reformed Orthodox theo that makes people quit saying stupid stuff about RO theology. Strong, sharp, deep, edifying, & even, if you have ears to hear, imaginative.
Let me cheat in an 11th book, from very late 2018: @tylerwittman's God & Creation in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth. Important, high-level account of divine actuality in dialogue w/the two main authors you'd want to consult about it, & others along the way.
Okay, a good year. Left out several multi-author things & didn't do biblical studies on purpose. What are the other great theology books I failed to mention here?
