There are a few non-fiction writers and thinkers whose works I always read. Carl Trueman is one of those. Why? Several things set Trueman apart:

• His grasp of the history of thought
• His grasp of alternatives: “If not that, then this.”
• His pattern recognition. He’s gifted at seeing and explaining the consequences of ideas. What begins in the academy ends up as a t-shirt slogan. And many people advertise a worldview whose underpinnings they’re often unaware of. They don’t see the connections. Trueman does.
• His fidelity to Christianity as man’s only hope for redemption and restoration
• His intellectual depth but his humble spirit

I know of very few people who are readers. And of those who do read, depth of content is often absent in their choices. Most folks doomscroll and entertain themselves into further imbecility and distraction. On the other hand, I do know of those who read deep, important books. And for those few, here’s another volume from which you will profit. It will likely sharpen your thinking and enrich your soul. Because like in all of Trueman’s books, he shows the genesis of good ideas and bad ones, and then traces the history of those ideas in how they play out in actual history. And as always, he calls the wisest among us to Scripture, to Christ, and to life.