January 2025 | LISLE, IL—InterVarsity Press (IVP) is excited to announce that Credo Magazine has honored The Last Romantic and Epiphany with Credo Book Awards 2024.
“The Credo Magazine Book Awards move past general categories in Christianity at large to give attention and praise to the best works in theology today,” said the Credo editors. “But not just any theology will do. In the spirit of Credo itself, these accolades go to those authors who model and advance the retrieval of classical Christianity for the sake of renewal today, and not only renewal in the academy but in the church.”
The Credo Book Award winner in the Natural Theology category, The Last Romantic: C. S. Lewis, English Literature, and Modern Theology by Jeffrey W. Barbeau explores the influence of nineteenth-century Romanticism on the writings of C. S. Lewis.
The Credo Book Awards judges said: “We applaud Jeffrey W. Barbeau for seeing and hearing that deep magic that unites the Romantic poets, and their German Romantic and British Methodist forebears, to Lewis. In the three chapters that make up The Last Romantic: C. S. Lewis, English Literature, and Modern Theology, Barbeau, professor of theology at Wheaton, discerns carefully between those aspects of Romantic subjectivism that Lewis accepted and those he rejected. For Lewis, Christianity represents a logical, coherent, and consistent worldview that engages us on a profoundly human and emotional level. Goodness, truth, beauty, and joy can be sought in our interactions with nature, as long as we remember that the ultimate source of all four lies behind and beyond nature. Lewis never forgot that, though the Romantics sometimes did, leading them to flirt with pantheism.”
The Last Romantic is part of IVP Academic’s Hansen Lectureship Series. Based on the annual lecture series hosted at Wheaton College’s Marion E. Wade Center, volumes in the Hansen Lectureship Series reflect on the imaginative work and lasting influence of seven British authors: Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams.
The other IVP Credo Book Awards winner was Epiphany: The Season of Glory by Fleming Rutledge. This title was recognized as the best book in the Imagination, Beauty, and Liturgy category.
Many associate Epiphany with the visit of the Magi but don’t know much more about it. In this short volume, Rutledge, a priest and theologian, expounds the primary biblical texts and narrative arc of the season, inviting readers to discover in a fresh way “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
“Few Christians are familiar with the history, theology, and practices associated with the liturgical season of Epiphany,” said the Credo judges. “In Epiphany: The Season of Glory, Fleming Rutledge compellingly and lucidly reflects on the significance of the time between Advent and Lent. Classically Trinitarian, historically informed, eloquently worshipful, and replete with Scriptures, this book emphasizes the Christological significance of the Epiphany season and demonstrates how living in the liturgical calendar guides Christians to active wonder and deeper consideration of God’s glory.”
Epiphany is part of IVP’s Fullness of Time Series, which invites readers to explore the riches of the church year, guided by some of our finest church theologians.
For a complete list of IVP book honors visit ivpress.com/award-winners.
Contact: Krista Clayton | kclayton@ivpress.com
