By 1517 Staff

12/29/25

17mins

1517's Favorite Books from 2025

Below is a list of our favorite theological books - across all categories - from 2025. A special thanks to our contributors who submitted titles, wrote summaries and full reviews for these books and more throughout the year.

The Scandal and Splendor of the Savior’s Birth

Bradley Gray

12/26/25

The Scandal and Splendor of the Savior’s Birth

Every sinner can trace their salvation back to this moment when the Savior was born in accordance with the Word of God so that all of God’s words would be realized.

What to Preach and Not to Preach at Christmas

Steven Paulson

12/25/25

What to Preach and Not to Preach at Christmas

Christmas is not for remembering, thinking, pondering, trying to make sure you are really celebrating it properly, or for wondering whether you truly have faith.

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Joel Hess

04/25/25

The Resurrection Should be Terrifying

It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.

Chad Bird

04/22/25

A Review of The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World

Dave weaves together music, movies, and documentaries to illustrate all the ways we seek relief—and then, full and free, he connects our need to Christ’s gift.

Zack James Cole

04/04/25

A Georgia Boy’s Lament: Val Kilmer, Doc Holliday, and the Friend of Sinners

News of Kilmer's death hit me like a freight train because his Doc Holliday stirred something in me about friendship—both the earthly kind and the divine.

Bradley Gray

03/25/25

The Wounds We Run From: Severance and the Healing Found in Suffering

Devoid of the gospel of Jesus’s death and resurrection, sufferers are left to frantically run the halls of self-salvation, turning this way and that but never getting anywhere.

Joey Goodall

02/28/25

You Can't Sever the Saint from the Sinner

You cannot sever the saint from the sinner. Christians remain both simultaneously.

Bradley Gray

02/20/25

Where Death Becomes Life

In the upside-down wisdom of God, the place of the cross becomes the place of life, absolution, and triumph.

Bradley Gray

01/30/25

The Gospel for All

There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.

Adam Francisco

01/17/25

Thank God for Wesley Huff: Defending the Historicity of the Gospel

Huff did not stop there, though. Towards the end of the interview, he asked Rogan, "What do you think of Jesus?"

Ryan Couch

01/03/25

New Year, Same You

It's a new year, and you are still the same you: a sinner who is simultaneously perfect in every way because Christ declares it to be so.

Sam P. Schuldheisz

12/19/24

Scripture’s Forest of Storytellers

The grain of God’s goodness and grace is made known by many trees throughout the Bible.

Amy Mantravadi

12/16/24

Life in the Bleak Midwinter

The love of God is creative, always giving, always reviving.

1517 Staff

12/13/24

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?

While Christmas may or may not have pagan roots, it will certainly have a pagan future if Christians lose sight of what it is all about.

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