I’m totally partial to the author of this book, Jon Paul (aka “JP”) Sydnor. He and his wife, Abby, are not only good friends from our time in seminary together, they performed parts of my wedding! Not only that, JP chose one of my sculptures to be on the cover of his book and others as illustrations inside.  So I’m definitely not an impartial judge, BUT, still, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I appreciate the love, care, and deep analysis contained in these pages. The Great Open Dance articulates a biblical and theological worldview that resonates within me. Reading this book even helped me let go of one bit of theology that I really liked but came around to his way of thinking about. Most folks don’t read systematic theology texts for good reason, they are not like reading a page turning novel. And yet, this one is written differently. JP stripped out a bunch of academic language (which is truly his natural way of speaking!) because he wanted to make this book approachable for everyone, not just us nerdy types who get some perverse pleasure from dropping arcane vocabulary into conversations over coffee while drilling down into some obscure text. So that's my little blurb . . . below is a more official and perhaps helpful description from the back cover: 

The Great Open Dance offers a progressive Christian theology that endorses contemporary ideals: environmental protection, economic justice, racial reconciliation, interreligious peace, gender equality, and LGBTQ+ celebration. Just as importantly, this book provides a theology of progress—an interpretation of Christian faith as ever-changing and ever-advancing into God’s imagination. Faith demands change because Jesus of Nazareth started a movement, not a tradition. He preached about a new world, the Kingdom of God, and invited his followers to work toward the divine vision of universal flourishing. This vision includes all and excludes none. Since we have not yet achieved the world that Jesus describes, we must continue to progress. The energizing impulse of this progress is the Trinity: Abba, Jesus, and Sophia, three persons united by love into one perfect community. God is fundamentally relational, and humankind, made in the image of God, is relational as a result. We are inextricably entwined with one another, sharing a common purpose and a common destiny. In this vision, we find abundant life by practicing agape, the universal, unconditional love that Abba extends, Jesus reveals, and Sophia inspires.