Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76Plough Quarterly • Winter 2015 55 Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church Scot McKnight (Brazos Press) “Kingdom” is the most misused, misunderstood word in the Chris- tian lexicon, McKnight argues. On one hand are those who use it as shorthand for social justice, “good deeds done by good people in the public sector for the common good.” On the other side are those who have relegated it to purely religious “moments of redemption.” But the kingdom of God, McKnight reminds us, is inseparable from the reign of Jesus in his Body, the church—a united people of God through whom he can work in the world. A Farewell to Mars: An Evangelical Pastor’s Journey toward the Biblical Gospel of Peace Brian Zahnd (David C Cook) This may be a personal journey, but Zahnd’s bold and incisive message is anything but private. Individual salvation, Zahnd realizes, cannot be divorced from Jesus’ clear teachings about violence and power, vengeance and peacemaking, which have decid- edly political and social implications. From a surprising corner comes a fresh, accessible introduction to what the Bible actually has to say about the way of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. A Child Shall Lead Them: Martin Luther King Jr., Young People, and the Movement Rufus Burrow Jr. (Fortress Press) This well-researched book tells the story of the young people who helped define the Civil Rights Movement. Burrow shows how much King respected their youthful vision and passion, sometimes steer- ing them, but often following their more daring lead. Burrow dreams of inspiring a younger generation to change their world; it will take more than a history book to do that, but still, he’s contributed an enduring testimony to the power of youth. Loving Samuel: Suffering, Dependence, and the Calling of Love Aaron D. Cobb (Wipf and Stock) Grief can open our hearts to God like nothing else. Months before their son Samuel’s birth, Cobb and his wife Alisha learned that he had Trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality “incompatible with life.” They welcomed him as a gift from God anyway, and held him for five precious hours. Not a word is wasted in this slim, luminous collection of a father’s reflections while waiting and preparing for his son’s birth and death (“an unimaginably long, short stretch of time”) and during the season of grief that would follow. The Disunited States Vladimir Pozner (Seven Stories) Translated into English for the first time, this outsider’s lyrical and perceptive portrait of America in the 1930s is an unearthed treasure. Pozner, a French novelist and screenwriter, cap- tures the essence of a nation of contradictions at a moment of economic and spiritual crisis uncannily reminiscent of our times. Much of the book–including the extraordinary tour- de-force that is the first chapter–is drawn from local newspaper accounts. At times, the distance between our lives and those Pozner describes seems to dissolve, and we’re suddenly face to face with real human beings whose hopes and heartbreaks are strangely close to us. The Editors E D i t o r s ’ P i c k s “Kingdom” is the tian lexicon, McKnight argues. On one hand is anything but private. Individual salvation, who helped define the Civil Rights Movement.