100 books like Mighty Be Our Powers

By Leymah Gbowee, Carol Mithers,

Here are 100 books that Mighty Be Our Powers fans have personally recommended if you like Mighty Be Our Powers. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Freedom of a Christian, 1520: The Annotated Luther

Martin J. Lohrmann Author Of Stories from Global Lutheranism

From my list on Lutherans and social change.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was going to church as a kid, I noticed there were a lot of things about faith that were really important to people but that they rarely talked about. In my work as a pastor, professor, and church historian, I’ve tried to identify and name those core values, so that we can learn from one another, share our beliefs in meaningful and respectful ways, and grow together as we explore life’s big questions and practice living out our beliefs in the here and now.

Martin's book list on Lutherans and social change

Martin J. Lohrmann Why did Martin love this book?

This little book is among the best pieces of Christian literature ever written. Here the church reformer Martin Luther pondered the “both/and” reality of Christians: that believers are entirely set free by Jesus and that believers are totally bound to serve others because Jesus is the one they follow. This book perfectly describes the Lutheran Reformation’s conviction that faith is a living and active experience that transforms people and communities through trust in God and love of neighbors.

By Martin Luther, Tim Wengert (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Freedom of a Christian, 1520 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Timothy J. Wengert skillfully provides a clear understanding of the historical context from which the treatise The Freedom of a Christian and his accompanying Letter to Pope Leo X arose. As controversy concerning his writings grew, Luther was instructed to write a reconciliation-minded letter to Pope Leo X (14751521). To this letter he appended a nonpolemical tract describing the heart of his beliefs, The Freedom of a Christian. Luthers Latin version added an introduction and a lengthy appendix not found in the German edition. The two editions arose out of the different audiences for them: the one addressed to theologians,…


Book cover of Luther and Liberation: A Latin American Perspective

Martin J. Lohrmann Author Of Stories from Global Lutheranism

From my list on Lutherans and social change.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was going to church as a kid, I noticed there were a lot of things about faith that were really important to people but that they rarely talked about. In my work as a pastor, professor, and church historian, I’ve tried to identify and name those core values, so that we can learn from one another, share our beliefs in meaningful and respectful ways, and grow together as we explore life’s big questions and practice living out our beliefs in the here and now.

Martin's book list on Lutherans and social change

Martin J. Lohrmann Why did Martin love this book?

Because the Reformation took place in 16th century Germany, it’s common to wonder how ideas that were popular 500 years ago in Central Europe might have anything to say to today’s global realities. In this book, Brazilian Lutheran professor Walter Altmann explores the ways that Martin Luther’s teachings resonate with the contemporary concerns of Latin American theologies of liberation. Altmann’s approach sets a great model for how people today can apply the spiritual riches of the past to the practical needs of the present.

By Walter Altmann, Thia Cooper (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Luther and Liberation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With the approach of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's inauguration of the Protestant Reformation and the burgeoning dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans opened under Pope Francis, this new edition of Walter Altmann's Luther and Liberation is timely and relevant. Luther and Liberation recovers the liberating and revolutionary impact of Luthers theology, read afresh from the perspective of the Latin American context. Altmann provides a much-needed reassessment of Luther's significance today through a direct engagement of Luther's historical situation with an eye keenly situated on the deeply contextual situation of the contemporary reader, giving a localized reading from the author's…


Book cover of Life Together

Martin J. Lohrmann Author Of Stories from Global Lutheranism

From my list on Lutherans and social change.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was going to church as a kid, I noticed there were a lot of things about faith that were really important to people but that they rarely talked about. In my work as a pastor, professor, and church historian, I’ve tried to identify and name those core values, so that we can learn from one another, share our beliefs in meaningful and respectful ways, and grow together as we explore life’s big questions and practice living out our beliefs in the here and now.

Martin's book list on Lutherans and social change

Martin J. Lohrmann Why did Martin love this book?

German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the lamentably few church leaders who took a clear stand against the Nazification of Christianity under the Third Reich. He wrote this wonderful little book about communal life in light of his experiences leading an unauthorized seminary, which the Nazi regime closed in 1937. Bonhoeffer, who was executed in 1945 for his resistance, wisely observed in Life Together that blessings abound when we deal with people as they are, not as we wish they would be.

By Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Daniel W. Bloesch,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life Together as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most influential Christian martyrs in history, bequeathed to humanity a legacy of theological creativity and spirituality that continues to intrigue people from a variety of backgrounds. Life Together gathers Bonhoeffer’s 1938 reflections on the character of Christian community, based on the common life that he and his seminarians experienced at the Finkenwalde Seminary and in the “Brother’s House” there. The stimulus for the writing of Life Together was the closing of the preacher's seminary at Finkenwalde by the Nazis.

While Bonhoeffer wrote with his own seminary community in mind, he intended Life Together to have…


Book cover of Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

Martin J. Lohrmann Author Of Stories from Global Lutheranism

From my list on Lutherans and social change.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was going to church as a kid, I noticed there were a lot of things about faith that were really important to people but that they rarely talked about. In my work as a pastor, professor, and church historian, I’ve tried to identify and name those core values, so that we can learn from one another, share our beliefs in meaningful and respectful ways, and grow together as we explore life’s big questions and practice living out our beliefs in the here and now.

Martin's book list on Lutherans and social change

Martin J. Lohrmann Why did Martin love this book?

Founder of a church called House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado, Nadia Bolz-Weber describes her path from a Fundamentalist upbringing to agnostic comedian to Lutheran pastor. Walking with people who had long been forgotten, dismissed, or condemned by mainstream American Christianity, Bolz-Weber has brought the traditional Reformation message of God’s unconditional love to life in new ways. With stories that range from vulnerable to hilarious, this book is fun to read and full of refreshing insights about God, church, hospitality, and grace.

By Nadia Bolz-Weber,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pastrix as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Seven years on from its original publication, Pastrix remains bracing and beautiful. Nadia's bold vulnerability and tender heart are timeless gifts. And the words she has added to this edition remind me: We need her call to tender grace and a loving, forgiving God now more than ever."
-- Jeff Chu, Author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?

Pastrix: a derogatory term used by Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors.

Heavily tattooed and foul-mouthed, Nadia Bolz-Weber, a former stand-up comic, sure as hell didn't consider herself to be religious-leader material-until the day she ended up leading a friend's funeral…


Book cover of The Darling

Sid Garza-Hillman Author Of Six Truths: Live by These Truths and Be Happy. Don't, and You Won't.

From my list on fiction books that are secretly philosophy books.

Why am I passionate about this?

This list is specifically “secret” philosophy books. There were plenty of novels (Victor Hugo, Milan Kundera, Robert Pirsig) that I love, but they don’t hide the fact that they’re significantly philosophy books. My degree is in philosophy (BA, UCLA), with a special interest in ethics, ethical questions. I still really love the marriage of fiction and philosophy especially when it’s done subtly and beautifully. I am the author of three books: Approaching the Natural, Raising Healthy Parents. and Six Truths. I hold a BA in Philosophy from UCLA, am a public speaker, podcaster (What Sid Thinks Podcast), certified nutritionist & running coach, Oxygen Advantage breathing instructor, and founder of Small Steppers

Sid's book list on fiction books that are secretly philosophy books

Sid Garza-Hillman Why did Sid love this book?

At times a difficult (but great) read, The Darling tackles some big ethical and political subjects. Banks addresses the power of speech (and silence), the separation of emotions from choice, and the sometimes necessity of compartmentalizing traumatic experiences in order to survive. I found the protagonist’s voice compellingly detached with just the right amount of compassion and engagement (similar, in fact to Frank’s voice in The Sportswriter).

(Side note, Banks’ Rule of the Bone almost made this list as well…)

By Russell Banks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Darling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hannah Musgrave has always been on the run: from her adoring parents, her many lovers, even from herself. As a young woman, she dropped out of her privileged Boston world to work for the terrorist group the Weathermen. Her activities put Hannah on the FBI's most wanted list forcing her to flee to Liberia in West Africa. There she marries an ambitious, young politician and settles down to being a wife and mother. Liberia, in the meantime, is a country waiting to explode. A century of American exploitation has created a corrupt elite and a fragile military state where the…


Book cover of Historical Dictionary of Liberia

Faith and Martin Sternstein Author Of Ten African-American Presidents

From my list on the history of Liberia, America’s stepchild.

Why are we passionate about this?

Faith “Zanweah” Sternstein grew up in Tappita, Nimba County, Liberia. Her heritage and cultural background is that of the Dan (Gio) ethnic group, where her lineage comes directly through Chiefs Tarpeh, Snagon, and Vonleh. She met her future husband, Martin Sternstein, when he served as Fulbright Professor at the University of Liberia. While much has been written about Liberia, there has been little serious research into the lives of the early presidents, and we much enjoyed filling in this gap. We subscribe to the African proverb: Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

Faith's book list on the history of Liberia, America’s stepchild

Faith and Martin Sternstein Why did Faith love this book?

In writing our own book on early Liberian history, Dr. Elwood Dunn provided much encouragement as well as bibliographic suggestions.

His own book has everything from detailed maps of ethnic groupings and a chronology of significant events, to insightful biographies of the personalities who have shaped Liberian history. It is an incomparable archive of knowledge of Liberia’s past.

The prose is lucid and engaging with a resulting colorful mosaic which holds interest wherever one opens a page.

By Elwood D. Dunn, Amos J. Beyan, Carl Patrick Burrowes

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Historical Dictionary of Liberia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Originally formed to harbor freed slaves and Americans returning to Africa, Liberia once was a land of hope. That was shattered by a long Civil War that shook its very foundation. Today's Liberia is glimpsed in this second edition. Building on the first edition, this updated volume focuses on the personalities, from the founders of Liberia, to the soldiers who are responsible simultaneously for destruction and the hope of stability. Along with these people, various social and ethnic groups, political parties and labor movements, economic entities and natural resources are profiled in this updated work. A new chronology of Liberia…


Book cover of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Ohio Short Histories of Africa)

Anaïs Angelo Author Of Power and the Presidency in Kenya: The Jomo Kenyatta Years

From my list on African presidents and their history.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a university student, I wanted to know how African presidencies function, not only how African presidents acquire and keep power, but also how they imagine it, how they anticipate political battles, who they trust, and who they fear. All too often, the literature focuses on colonial legacy and neo-colonization and describes African presidents with too little agency. As a doctoral researcher, I stumbled on a biography of Jomo Kenyatta and got caught by the intricacies of his political career. Since then, Kenyan political history has become my area of specialization, and while my background in political science keeps inspiring me, I have a passion for historical writing.

Anaïs' book list on African presidents and their history

Anaïs Angelo Why did Anaïs love this book?

When one hears “African president”, one tends to imagine a man in power. What about women in power? This is one of the rare biographies dedicated to an African female president, and one that is easily accessible to a broad readership. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female president of independent Liberia, is a fascinating figure. She is a shrewd politician who understands the gendered dynamics of African politics, but also of the international economic scene (she worked for the World Bank and the United Nations before becoming president). Still too little is known about African women in or around the Office of the President. 

By Pamela Scully,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Ohio Short Histories of Africa) as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this timely addition to the Ohio Short Histories of Africa series, Pamela Scully takes us from the 1938 birth of Nobel Peace Prize winner and two-time Liberian president Ellen Johnson through the Ebola epidemic of 2014-15. Charting her childhood and adolescence, the book covers Sirleaf's relationship with her indigenous grandmother and urban parents, her early marriage, her years studying in the United States, and her career in international development and finance, where she developed her skill as a technocrat. The later chapters cover her years in and out of formal Liberian politics, her support for women's rights, and the…


Book cover of The Political and Legislative History of Liberia

Faith and Martin Sternstein Author Of Ten African-American Presidents

From my list on the history of Liberia, America’s stepchild.

Why are we passionate about this?

Faith “Zanweah” Sternstein grew up in Tappita, Nimba County, Liberia. Her heritage and cultural background is that of the Dan (Gio) ethnic group, where her lineage comes directly through Chiefs Tarpeh, Snagon, and Vonleh. She met her future husband, Martin Sternstein, when he served as Fulbright Professor at the University of Liberia. While much has been written about Liberia, there has been little serious research into the lives of the early presidents, and we much enjoyed filling in this gap. We subscribe to the African proverb: Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

Faith's book list on the history of Liberia, America’s stepchild

Faith and Martin Sternstein Why did Faith love this book?

This scholarly two-volume treatise covers the history of Liberia from 1820 to 1944.

We often referred to this comprehensive study to point us to sources relating to our own research. The author carefully documents political, legal, and constitutional changes over a 125-year period. There is extensive quoting from primary sources.

This is not an easy read, but should be used as a reference for specific topics of interest. There is no comparative authoritative contribution to Liberia’s legal record.

By Charles Henry Huberich,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Political and Legislative History of Liberia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Documentary History of the Constitutions, Laws and Treaties of Liberia from the Earliest Settlements to the Establishment of the Republic, a Sketch of the Activities of the
American Colonization Societies, a Commentary on the Constitution of the Republic and a Survey of the Political and Social Legislation from 1847 to 1944. With Appendices Containing the Laws of the Colony of Liberia, 1820-1839, and Acts of the Governor and Council, 1839-1847. With Maps and Illustrations. Foreword by Roscoe Pound. With a new introduction by Nakomo Duche.

"Interesting questions of public law and of international law are raised by the history…


Book cover of Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City

Eluned Summers-Bremner Author Of Astray: A History of Wandering

From my list on being a stranger.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a stranger in the land I grew up in, I’ve always considered myself a world citizen and have never sought a settled life. My first book, Insomnia: A Cultural History, detailed the often enriching experience of being estranged from those sleeping in the night-time. I researched and wrote Astray out of a sense of frustration. Creative estrangement or the unfamiliar typically precedes—and sometimes helps create—norms, yet it is often judged by them, and humans, too, judge other humans this way. Yet, historically, wandering or being a stranger is the human norm, and in the warming world we have made it will be key to all our futures.

Eluned's book list on being a stranger

Eluned Summers-Bremner Why did Eluned love this book?

I’ll read anything Steinberg writes for his stellar reporting and subtle reflections on transmitting outsiders’ stories.

Nineteenth-century Americans dreamed up Liberia in West Africa and sent freed and free-born African Americans there, only to receive many back in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as a result of civil wars.

In Staten Island, many settled in Park Hill Avenue. Tracking two men who fled Liberia’s wars or diminished prospects, the book finds they brought Liberia with them. Rufus Arkoi had to leave secretly, while Jacob Massaquoi had to fake identity to survive.

The men’s American experience heartbreakingly replays their Liberian pasts which vitalize yet drive them into conflict.

As revealing about America as it is about Liberia, this book compels and troubles the reader in thought-provoking ways.

By Jonny Steinberg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Little Liberia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On Park Hill Avenue in New York City, almost everyone is Liberian. Most people know one another; if not by name, then by face. And yet neighbours do not ask one another what they did in Liberia, for the question is considered an accusation. Many people here fled Liberia's brutal civil war, a conflict that claimed the lives of one in fourteen Liberians. The question of who is responsible is a bitter one.

Jacob Massaquoi arrived on Park Hill Avenue in 2002 limping heavily. Before he had been there a week, a hundred stories abounded about his injury. By this…


Book cover of The Emergence of Autocracy in Liberia: Tragedy and Challenge

Faith and Martin Sternstein Author Of Ten African-American Presidents

From my list on the history of Liberia, America’s stepchild.

Why are we passionate about this?

Faith “Zanweah” Sternstein grew up in Tappita, Nimba County, Liberia. Her heritage and cultural background is that of the Dan (Gio) ethnic group, where her lineage comes directly through Chiefs Tarpeh, Snagon, and Vonleh. She met her future husband, Martin Sternstein, when he served as Fulbright Professor at the University of Liberia. While much has been written about Liberia, there has been little serious research into the lives of the early presidents, and we much enjoyed filling in this gap. We subscribe to the African proverb: Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

Faith's book list on the history of Liberia, America’s stepchild

Faith and Martin Sternstein Why did Faith love this book?

We met and befriended the author when he was a political science professor at the University of Liberia.

At a later date he became president of the country! Before his untimely death, he wrote with a true insider understanding and perspective. In this book, beginning with nineteenth-century colonization, he analyzes social changes, struggles, and exploitations, and gives insights into the political process over six generations of history.

He concludes with thoughts about the future of self-governance in Liberia and throughout Africa.

By Amos Sawyer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Emergence of Autocracy in Liberia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Liberia is a West African country whose history is intricately tied to America's past and Africa's future. Unique in its origins as a colony for resettling free blacks from the United States, the nation nevertheless experienced a progressive centralization of state power closely resembling the typical postcolonial political order in Africa.
Amos Sawyer is himself a part of Liberian history. As president, and before that as a political scientist and a citizen active in academic and civic affairs in his country, he has seen events there from an extraordinary perspective. In this deeply engrossing book, he describes how autocratic control…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Liberia, violence, and women?

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