Best Books of 2025 (in saying 2025, I should point out that some of these books were released earlier; it is only in 2025 that I finally read them). I will start with number ten and work my way to number one.

(10) I will start my list with a shameless act of self-promotion. I published four books in 2025 that I hope you don’t mind my listing them here. They are:

The Steadfast Love of the Lord: Experiencing the Life-Changing Power of God’s Unchanging Affection (Wheaton: Crossway, February of 2025).

Understanding Prayer: Biblical Foundations and Practical Guidance for Seeking God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, May of 2025).

2 Timothy and Titus: A 40-Day Bible Study (Bellingham: Lexham Press, May of 2025).

Understanding Worship: Biblical Foundations for Delighting in and Feasting on God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, September of 2025).

(9) Noah’s Flood Revisited: New Depths of Insight from Science and Scripture, Hugh Ross (Covina, CA: Reasons to Believe, 2025), 280 pp.

While attending the annual meeting in Boston of the Evangelical Theological Society, I attended a lecture by Hugh Ross in which he introduced his new book. I’m a bit hesitant to recommend it, and that for two reasons.

First, it is deeply technical. I am not a trained scientist or geologist or astrophysicist (as is Hugh Ross), and thus I must admit that there were several portions of this book that I had to quickly skip over. But don’t let its technical nature prevent you from reading it. Ross addresses every argument for and objection to the notion of a regional flood, as over against the theory of a global flood. So, yes, he argues (persuasively, in my opinion) for a regional rather than a global flood of Noah.

Second, it is terribly sad that anyone who affirms belief in a regional flood will be accused of denying the Bible or of subjecting the Bible to the superior authority of science. Ross does neither, nor do I.

So, let me say this with all sincerity, read this book at your own risk. I strongly suspect that it will lead you to embrace a view of Noah’s flood that will incur the ridicule of many (most?) in the evangelical world.

(8) The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, Expanded Edition, Michael S. Heiser (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2025), 548 pp.

Heiser released his first edition of this book in 2015. That is when I read it, and he convinced me of his understanding of what he calls, The Divine Council Worldview of the Bible. In this newly released and expanded edition, he includes an additional 140 pages of material. The first edition of The Unseen Realm, sold over 400,000 copies! I suspect that this new edition will eclipse the first.

Just a quick comment up front, before you start reading. Yes, Heiser holds to an old earth view of the age of the universe and also affirms a regional flood of Noah. But he, like myself, is an advocate of biblical inerrancy and authority. You don’t need to be an OT scholar or an expert in Hebrew to follow his argumentation. But after you finish it, you’ll feel like one!

(7) Why I’m Still a Christian: After Two Decades of Conversations with Skeptics and Atheists – the Reason to Believe, Justin Brierley (Carol Stream: Elevate, 2025), 207 pp.

This excellent book is a slightly revised and expanded reprint of his book, Unbelievable?: Why After Ten Years of Talking with Atheists – The Reason I Believe. I loved this book. Unlike the huge volumes mentioned above, this one is a manageable 207 pages. Until 2023, Brierley was the host of the podcast, Unbelievable? which each year registered over 4,000,000 downloads!

Brierley covers most of the more important apologetic issues that people wrestle with. It is written at a level that anyone can manage, and it would be a great gift for your unbelieving friends.

There is one issue that is somewhat tangential to the issues covered in the book, an issue that may cause some of you to refuse to read it. Brierley is an annihilationist. He writes:

“My best present understanding of hell from Scripture (which would take a whole book to defend properly) is one that theologians sometimes label ‘annihilationism.’ In a nutshell, it’s a view in which hell constitutes a final end to the existence of those who refuse God’s offer of salvation. . . Like [John] Stott, I’ve personally found annihilationism both more biblically defensible and more ethically satisfying than the ECT [Eternal Conscious Torment] view” (159).

I disagree with Brierley on this point, but don’t let it keep you from reading and enjoying his otherwise excellent book.

(6) Colossians, Second Edition, Word Biblical Commentary, Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2025), 860 pp.

Arnold’s massive commentary on Colossians replaces the one on Colossians/Philemon by Peter O’Brien. I don’t know how to describe this book other than to say it is MASSIVE! And I don’t mean that simply in terms of page numbers, but primarily because of the incredible depth of detail that Clint provides for us. I’ve gotten to know Clint these past few years (we first connected when we participated in a panel discussion on eschatology in Kansas City, together with Craig Keener and Michael Brown), and there are few if any NT scholars that I trust as much as I do Clint.

It may seem strange to include a commentary in this list of best books, but this is more than a commentary. It includes virtually everything you would want to know about the world of the NT, the theology of Paul, background issues, and especially the world of demons and spiritual warfare. Clint is the leading expert on issues related to magic and supernatural phenomena both in Ephesus and Colossae.

I dare say that if you can make it through all 860 pages you will have learned virtually everything you need to know about the theology of Paul, the circumstances of the ancient world, and the realm of interaction between the Holy Spirit and the unholy spirits that populated Colossae, Ephesus, and surrounding regions.

(5) Buckley: The Life and the Revolution that Changed America, Sam Tanenhaus (New York: Random House, 2025), 1018 pp.

Yes, you read that correctly: 1018 pages! I’ve read other biographies of William F. Buckley, but nothing that can compare with this one in terms of details of the man’s life and work. I have always admired and respected Buckley, ever since I faithfully watched his Firing Line show on Sunday afternoons.

Tanenhaus is no conservative, and his perspective on Buckley is at times a reflection of his own political views. But this shouldn’t be a reason not to read it, even though it may take you until December of 2026 to finish it! I was especially intrigued by his portrayal of Buckley’s years as a student at Yale and his first book, God and Man at Yale. I’m not quite to the end of the book, but I’ve read enough to justify including it in my list of the best books of 2025.

(4) The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation, 2 volumes, Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (Acworth, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2024), 1,873 pp.

Since I’ve already offended some of you with the controversial nature of books on this list, I thought I’d go ahead and seal the deal. This two-volume work by Kenneth Gentry is the most exhaustive treatment of Revelation from the preterist perspective that I have come across.

You should understand that I do not agree with Gentry’s preterist reading of Revelation, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy his work, and it doesn’t mean that you should refrain from making use of it. If you are not familiar with preterism, Gentry argues that all of Revelation was written prior to and inclusive of the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 a.d. The title to his commentary reflects his opinion that God truly divorced Israel due to her idolatry and especially her rejection of Jesus. The seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments describe God’s defeat of Israel that was carried out by the armies of Rome in AD 66-70.

Gentry is not the sort of preterist who denies that Jesus will return again personally and physically to consummate his kingdom. He most assuredly does affirm the future of Christ’s second coming. As much as I may differ with Gentry on Revelation, his is a fascinating and exceedingly in-depth treatment of the book.

(3) The Holy Spirit, Robert Letham (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 2023), 343 pp.

I should explain why this book is on my list as well as the next one. I have just completed a manuscript that will be published late in 2026 by Kregel under the title, 40 Questions About the Holy Spirit. So, as you might expect, I’ve been reading everything I could find on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. One such book is this one by Letham.

Letham’s treatment is quite good, especially his discussion of the developments in the history of the church on the person of the Spirit. My one primary objection is his inadequate and unconvincing defense of cessationism. I address this issue as one of the 40 questions in my forthcoming book, but if you want a more recent response to cessationism and my defense of continuationism, see my book, Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Comprehensive Guide (Zondervan).

Aside from this one objection to Letham’s book, this is an excellent treatment of the Spirit.

I should also mention Mark J. Keown’s book, Pneumaformity: Transformation by the Spirit in Paul (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2024), 440 pp.

This is yet another book that helped me tremendously in the writing of my book, 40 Questions. It is slightly more technical than Letham’s book and focuses entirely on how the Holy Spirit works in our lives in the writings of Paul. Keown is deeply dependent on Gordon Fee’s magisterial treatment of the Holy Spirit in Paul: God’s Empowering Presence (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers).

(2) ESV Expository Commentary, 12 volumes (Wheaton: Crossway). When people ask me for a good commentary on the entire Bible, I tell them there isn’t one. But here is the best set of commentaries on every book of the Bible. Yes, it is 12 volumes, and yes, it is somewhat expensive. But it is well worth the cost.

I was greatly honored when Crossway asked me to write the commentary on 1 Peter. It is contained in the 12^th and final volume.

(1) Complementarity: Dignity, Difference, and Interdependence, Gregg R. Allison (Brentwood: B & H Academic, 2025), 541 pp.

While it is true that my good friend, Gregg Allison, is a complementarian, that is not what this book is about. However, I must say that if you read it closely, you will likely end up in that camp.

“Complementarity is God’s design for his male and female image bearers to fill out and mutually support one another relationally, familially, vocationally, and ecclesially for their individual and corporate flourishing” (xiii).

By “fill out”, Gregg means “that when image bearers collaborate” in the ways just listed, “a synergy occurs that fosters maturation, expansion, fruitfulness, productivity, ministry, and the like” (8). One of the features of this book is a careful analysis and discussion of virtually every biblical text that refers to females. When I first read it, I knew instantly it would be number one on my list of the best books in 2025. My opinion hasn’t changed.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

Sam