Fourteen Christian Writers Worth Your Time

Putting together my list of the worst Christian hacks in media (here and here), I naturally spent a bit of time thinking about who I’d rather people think of as Christianity’s writerly representatives. Quite a few of you  felt I owed you a positive follow-up to that pretty harsh attack on the Christian writers I deemed a waste of time. I completely agree.

I jotted down this collection of people who I a) read regularly; b) feel are doing positive work either reporting on, explaining, or arguing through Christianity’s relationship with the modern world. They’re not all people you’re likely to find in a church on Sunday morning, though I’m quite sure they all have some degree of religious background and, in either their past or present, have seriously wrestled with belief. I’m not dissecting them at length or ranking them from good to best, but you should give each of them a look and visit their respective sites and blogs regularly.

Note: Of course, this is hardly an exhaustive list. There are so many authors and academics I could list, but I tried to stick with people who blog and pontificate regularly and people who, if not journalists, operate to a significant degree in the journalistic realm. My apologies to anyone I’ve accidentally overlooked.

Ross Douthat, New York Times

A Times columnist for nearly a year now, Douthat is easily the most careful, nuanced, thoughtful political/theological conservative writing in the United States. His cultural arguments are informed by traditional Catholic morality, but he openly struggles with the right way to apply those values to politics in a humane, inclusive way. I don’t always agree with him, but I rarely read his work without finding my assumptions challenged. His columns appear on Tuesdays, and he mans a stimulating blog in between.

David Gibson, Politics Daily

A former colleague of mine, David Gibson is in my opinion one of the most thorough, learned, and sensitive religion reporters working in the mainstream media. Not only does he tirelessly cover nearly every Christianity-related story that hits the news cycle, but he does it with an understanding and sympathy that is rare in religion coverage.

Matthew Lee Anderson, Mere Orthodoxy

Matt and I disagree on a lot, but I have always found his critiques of my writing charitable, insightful and challenging. He’s a passionate and nuanced defender of traditional Christian values, and his longer essays, in particular, always necessitate serious thinking. I know for a fact that Matt takes the human implications of doctrine far more seriously than most. I’m very much looking forward, as you should be, to his forthcoming book, Earthen Vessels: Breathing New Life into a Broken Faith.

James K.A. Smith, Calvin College

James is a professor of philosophy at Calvin College and the author of several books you should read. This year, I particularly enjoyed his fantastic book reviews in The Other Journal. You can read his blog here, and he did an interview with Patrol here.

Molly Worthen, Yale University

Molly has written about the inner workings of Christianity with unusual insight. She profiled New St. Andrews College and Mark Driscoll for the New York Times Magazine, wrote great pieces on L’Abri and Al Mohler for Christianity Today, and occasionally contributes to The New Republic. She also wrote the piece we’ve been talking about lately on evangelicals and feminism.

Carlene Bauer

Carlene Bauer, who we profiled not too long ago, wrote about her faith crisis in her memoir, Not That Kind of Girl. You can also find her review of two controversial books about women and sex in the latest issue of n+1.

Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish

I’ve been privileged to know Andrew a little in person, and some of our most stimulating discussions have been on the heart of Christianity—a subject he is deeply passionate about. That feeling comes through on his blog constantly, from his pained criticism of his church to his moving Sunday posts on faith, philosophy and poetry.

Robert Wright, Bloggingheads.tv

Robert Wright grew up Southern Baptist, like me, and went on to become one of the most impressive writers on morality, science and faith in the current public discourse. His excellent 2009 book The Evolution of God is a doorstop, but it’s a crucial, challenging read for intellectually serious followers of the Abrahamic faiths. You’ll often find Wright expounding on the big questions in the New York Times and setting up stimulating debates on his genius creations, Bloggingheads and meaningoflife.tv.

David Bentley Hart

I’m less familiar with David B. Hart’s writing than I’d like to be, but I once recommended his powerful First Things piece on the New Atheists. It was harsh because it was so learned and considered their best arguments so deeply, which is more than I can say of virtually any other Christian intellectual I’ve seen interact with them. Hart’s book on the subject, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies, has been on my list for a while. (Read Patrol‘s Kenneth Sheppard’s review of it here.)

Damon Linker, The New Republic

The former First Things editor doesn’t post regularly at TNR, but when he does, it’s brilliant. From crushing takedowns of your average right-wing hackery to deep thoughts on the differences between believers and nonbelievers, it’s worth reading through his archives. I’m currently reading Linker’s new book, The Religious Test: Why We Must Question the Beliefs of Our Leaders, which lays out a vision for a thoroughly secular, religion-tolerant society. I agree with virtually every word of it.

Mark Mitchell, Patrick Henry College

A former professor of mine who vastly expanded my grasp of philosophy, Mitchell is an ever-thoughtful voice on the inevitable corruption and tyranny that results from institutions (public or private) becoming too big and too powerful. He co-founded Front Porch Republic, an organ of communitarian/localist conservatism, and has written a couple of great pieces we re-published on Patrol. He blogs regularly on politics, philosophy, and family here.

Stephen Colbert

You might not have known Colbert was a practicing Catholic, but his religious upbringing and Christian faith consistently inform his satire of the religious right and his often lead him to preach bold comedy-sermons on The Colbert Report. Not only is his exposure of conservative hypocrisy hilarious and disarming, but his articulation of what Christians should stand for is often surprisingly sharp and only barely under the surface.

William Brafford

William is a UNC graduate and an acquaintance of mine. Check out his blog and his posts on The League of Ordinary Gentlemen for smart thoughts on a dizzying array of topics.

Nathan Schneider, Killing the Buddha

The most recent acquaintance on this list, I’m still catching up on Nathan’s great writing that I’ve been missing (though I did catch his investigation of the Templeton Foundation in The Nation earlier this year.) He’s the editor of Killing the Buddha, the greatest faith-oriented online magazine you’ve never heard of. He’s also an occasional columnist for The Guardian and has a blog or two.