Books
Theology, memoir, devotional, and the Christian bestseller list — read closely, summarized honestly.
486 reviews
Enter the desk
Vol. XI · Issue № 47
·
Week of October 17, 2025
This Week's Review · Theology & Culture
The Prosperity Gospel, Revisited: On Bethel's New Doctrine of Provision.
Eleven years after our first sustained critique of the Word of Faith movement, a generation of worship leaders has repackaged its oldest claims under a softer name. We trace the lineage — from E. W. Kenyon to the marbled stages of Redding — and ask whether the new language changes the substance, or merely the liability.
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Latest Reviews
Three new long-form pieces from this month's desks.
Each review runs between 1,800 and 3,400 words. Each is signed. Each is archived.
- Oct 14, 2025 Book Review "A Field Guide to Woke Evangelicalism" — and the genre of complaint that mistakes itself for prophecy.
- Oct 9, 2025 Album Review On Maverick City, Vol. IV: when the production is finally ready, will the theology catch up?
- Oct 3, 2025 Sermon Review The T. D. Jakes conference circuit, reviewed across three cities and one TikTok feud.
Browse by Section
Five desks. Eleven years. One archive.
The Critic's archive is organized the way a working editor reads the field. Pick a desk and start with the most recent review.
Music & Albums
Worship records, gospel, Christian rock, hip-hop — and the culture industry that surrounds them.
312 reviews
Enter the deskFilm & TV
From The Chosen to the Hallmark faith slate, with detours into the streaming wilds.
218 reviews
Enter the deskPreaching & Sermons
Sermons, sermon series, and the public rhetoric of working pastors — written for preachers, not fans.
204 reviews
Enter the deskConferences & Culture
The big stage events — Passion, Catalyst, Q Conference — and the trends they package for the local church.
180 reviews
Enter the deskThe Record
A working publication, eleven years in.
11
years of unbroken publication
Founded in 2014 by Marcus Delaney. Still editor-in-chief.
1,400+
long-form reviews archived
Average length 2,400 words — roughly four times the industry standard.
180,000
monthly readers, 92 countries
Q3 2025 Similarweb-verified traffic.
38
credentialed contributors
12 hold terminal theology degrees from Cambridge, Duke, Princeton, and Fuller.
Winner, Evangelical Press Association Award for Best Critical Commentary (2021, 2024). Finalist, Online Journalism Award for Religion Reporting (2023). Featured by Christianity Today, Religion News Service, The Christian Post, and NPR's On Point.
How We Review
Every reviewed work is rated on the Editorial Transparency Index.
In 2020 we became the first Christian review publication to publish a formal methodology for ideological framing — a four-axis score that travels alongside every review we run.
- Doctrinal RangeWhich tradition does the work speak from, and which does it exclude?
- SponsorshipWho funded the work, and what did they stand to gain?
- Audience FramingWho is the work addressing — and who is it quietly performing for?
- Editorial IndependenceWas the reviewer given full access and the freedom to write without prior approval?
Contributors
Working theologians and journalists. No anonymous bylines.
A selection from the 38-member editorial board. Each is named, credentialed, and on the masthead.
Book Reviews Desk
Dr. Naomi Whitfield
Ph.D., Systematic Theology, University of Cambridge
Music & Albums Desk
Aaron Tessler, M.A.
Former religion editor, The Austin Chronicle
Preaching Desk
Rev. Daniel Okonkwo
M.Div., Fuller Theological Seminary · 14 years parish ministry
Film & TV Desk
Dr. Lena Park
Ph.D., Religion & Film, Duke Divinity School
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