What we’re reading this month: May 2025

Citizenship Without Illusions

By David T. Koyzis (InterVarsity Press, 2025)

How should one engage with the polis as a Christian? In his newest book, Citizenship Without Illusions, David T. Koyzis offers a well-explained primer on navigating the responsibilities of being a citizen. Pulling deeply from his career as a professor of political science and his experience with various Christian denominations, Koyzis breaks down the ideals and behaviors required to participate in a nation. While some observations may feel dated due to current events, the book offers seminal advice on civic engagement and what a person can do in their community.

Citizenship is not at odds with being a Christian. For Koyzis, the reverse is the case: To be a good Christian, one must also be a good citizen. He references the parable of the Good Samaritan and other examples from scripture on taking care of your neighbor and, by extension, your community. This message is important and bears repeating in the months to come, so Koyzis’ encouragement is welcome.

While the book thoroughly covers the idea and issues of citizenship, it is not exhaustive. Koyzis stops short of going into the weeds of political culture and the nation-state superstructure. He focuses on defining conservative and progressive movements, not just in the United States but in Canadian politics as well.

Ending on a note that one can see coming, Koyzis affirms that Christians are God’s children first, despite any allegiance or feeling of loyalty to a nation. Such feelings come second to our identity in Christ. At a time of rising Christian nationalism and even Christofascism, this is a reminder that Christians must do better for our neighbors, both local and global.
Koyzis makes the case that this is the only way we can truly fulfill our mission as Christians.

—Alexander Pyles

Read the Bible Like a Mystic

By Carl McColman (Broadleaf Books, 2024)

Reading the Bible can be a daunting task. Bible verses are sometimes used in a way that is unhelpful, even harmful, to the point where reading scripture may feel pointless. However, there is another way: reading the Bible like a mystic. In Read the Bible Like a Mystic, contemplative writer Carl McColman lays out a practical guide that is accessible to anyone on any spiritual journey, Christian or not.

With his down-to-earth approach and use of examples, McColman calls the reader to engage the Bible in a new way. He points to the mystics, who approach the Bible in a multifaceted way, as an example for us today. This approach is a middle ground between treating the Bible as myth or reading it literally, and it encourages open dialogue with the transcendent, no matter what one’s journey is. Such dialogue has the goal of achieving a world free of oppression and injustice. It is the goal, McColman says, that the mystics have always sought.

McColman points to such ancient figures as St. Paul and St. Augustine and recent ones such as Pauli Murray and Desmond Tutu, demonstrating that they all approached the sacred Christian text in a mystical way, as part of a search for a more just and peaceful world. Their readings can be examples in our everyday lives.

This book was an encouraging tool for my spiritual journey, as my interests parallel many of its themes. It is a work both beneficial and insightful. Whatever one’s stance on Christianity or the Bible, discourse on how to approach the text is fruitful. McColman cuts through our assumptions about this sacred text and introduces an approach that anyone can access. It’s a valuable read for anyone interested in approaching the Bible in a new and transformative way.

—Rana Irby

Briefly noted:

The Transformative Power of Small Groups

By Michael White and Tom Corcoran (Ave Maria Press, 2025)

White and Corcoran offer a practical guide to help revitalize readers’ parishes through small group conversations and community building.

Portraits of a Mother

By Shūsaku Endō, translated by Van C. Gessel (Yale University Press)

Written by a prominent Japanese Catholic writer, this novella tells the semiautobiographical story of a man endeavoring to learn more about his mother.