Professor’s Library: Books written by Cedarville faculty members

By Chelsea McKanna

Hope for American Evangelicals

Dr. Bennett

“Hope for American Evangelicals” is a book published by B&H Publishing and written by Dr. Matthew Bennett in 2023. Perhaps most important to Bennett was the timeliness of the book’s publication. His goal was to encourage American believers to view the church rightly amidst a time when it is becoming increasingly easier to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and label the church as corrupt as a whole. 

“My proposal is that a missionary lens can breathe new life into the evangelical world, not avoiding the things that need to be critiqued [in the church], but also not throwing out the firm foundation of evangelical convictions,” Bennet said.

Throughout the book, Bennett walks through the different “rooms” of the American Church’s house, providing structural critique and encouragement. 

“The bones [of the church] are good,” Bennet said. “But let’s not turn a blind eye to places that need
some attention.” 

“Hope for American Evangelicals” has chapters that touch on politics, sexuality, celebrity among Christians and how discussions around those areas would change if missiological tools and lenses were applied to them. Bennett does not intend to discourage American believers further, but instead to encourage them toward change.

Patriotism and the Cross

Dr. Duerr

Published in 2021, “Patriotism and the Cross” is Dr. Glen M. Duerr’s endeavor to work through a framework of what patriotism is and what it looks like for Christians. Duerr’s goal through the book was to interact with this idea of national identity from a biblical worldview. This plays out over the course of seven chapters which break down biblically and historically how Christians should interact with the identity as a citizen of a nation. The book  also keeps in mind their eternal citizenship, that is in heaven with God. 

Throughout an interview with Duerr, it became clear that one of his hopes for his readers was that they would understand the importance of where God has placed them, as a citizen of a nation. 

“I want to give students tools to pray, passages to research,” he said.

Duerr made it clear, that to him, it was important that all conclusions and theology about patriotism come straight from the Bible. Citizens of heaven first, citizens of an earthly country second. Primary for Duerr was how students relate to their eternal identity. 

“As Christians we have our national identity and it’s important to be an American,” Duerr said. “We have a mission here, but at the same time we have brothers and sisters in Christ across the world … how are we connecting with them?”

In Pursuit of Moral Political Leadership

Dr. Duerr

Not yet published, “In Pursuit of Moral Political Leadership” is Glen M. Duerr’s fourth book, and second edited volume. A collection of writings by the Cedarville History and Government Department, the volume explores the lives of political leaders with the eyes of faith. With chapters on Oliver Cromwell, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, the goal for the book is to provide advice and lessons from each leader’s lives. 

“I think we are a department pretty uniquely qualified to talk about leadership in politics, from a range of different perspectives,” Duerr said.

He explained then that the different contributors all have various ties to various political backgrounds.

When talking about his hope for the book, Duerr said, “Each one of these [political leaders] is flawed, but hopefully it’s helpful for those who aspire for political office.” 

The volume of writings is inherently biblical in nature and there is a clear presentation of the Gospel, but Duerr’s hope is that universities and colleges who bought his previous secular works will pick it up and allow their students to encounter an explicit presentation of the Gospel. 

Chelsea McKanna is a Sophomore Professional Writing and Information Design major with a minor in Missions. She spends her free time with friends or sipping coffee with a new book to read. 

Photos by Ian Chan