“Have you ever learn all these books?”
I usually discipline this query from visitors who see my library. I by no means know fairly what to say. For me, to learn is to dwell—I can’t think about life aside from books. Books have formed me in numerous methods; take any e book off my shelf and I can let you know the methods through which my pondering has been challenged, my creativeness sparked, or my non secular life revived. I’ve marked the passing of the years with books acquired and skim, marked up and sticky-noted, cataloged and organized. Serving as TGC’s e book evaluation editor for seven years solely elevated my love for books even because it multiplied the volumes on my shelf. At this level in my life, I’ve stopped apologizing for my ever-growing library and embraced what Umberto Eco calls the “antilibrary.” As Nassim Taleb explains,
The library ought to comprise as a lot of what you have no idea as your monetary means . . . assist you to put there. You’ll accumulate extra data and extra books as you get older, and the rising variety of unread books on the cabinets will have a look at you menacingly. Certainly, the extra you realize, the bigger the rows of unread books.
The antilibrary reminds us of all that we don’t know as we discuss to the residing and, within the phrases of W. H. Auden, break bread with the lifeless.
Annually our editors, together with dozens of outdoor judges, evaluation nominations from publishers utilizing 4 standards:
- affords gospel-centered argument and software;
- consists of trustworthy and foundational use of Scripture, each Previous Testomony and New Testomony;
- fosters non secular discernment of up to date trials and traits; and
- encourages efforts to unite and renew the church.
With so many titles revealed annually, it’s an thrilling problem for us at The Gospel Coalition to take inventory of the most effective Christian books throughout 12 classes. We’ve modified issues up a bit this 12 months: we’ve achieved away with honorable mentions and as an alternative added the “Award of Distinction” along with the winner for every class. Utilizing this checklist as a instrument equipment, we encourage you to choose up a e book or two (or 24!)—and make the most of steep reductions from our on-line bookstore. Even should you’re like me, with an ever-growing pile of unread books, don’t be embarrassed. Embrace the antilibrary life.
Congratulations to the winners of TGC’s 2022 E book Awards!
Ivan Mesa, Editorial Director
Public Theology & Present Occasions
Christopher Watkin, Biblical Important Concept: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Fashionable Life and Tradition (Zondervan Educational)
Half biblical theology, half cultural exegesis, Biblical Important Concept is an excellent work that traces the biblical story and exhibits the way it speaks to challenges posed by modern narratives. Whereas many current books have tried one thing comparable, Christopher Watkin’s e book is commonly extra approachable (it’s written for educated laypeople reasonably than lecturers) and doesn’t supply up reductive worldview methods—akin to easy atheism and even Marxism—because the foil to his Christian cultural principle. As a substitute, Watkin supplies his readers with a map of the assorted strains of thought which have formed the late-modern world, exhibits the place these strains intersect with the biblical narrative, and explains how God’s Phrase redirects them from sacrilege to his sacred order for all times.
The e book reads like a set of partaking exegetical sermons delivered to a carnival crowd of late modernity, with every message providing an altar name to repent from some explicit idolatry of the town of man and to hitch oneself to the town of God. On this we discover what’s so “vital” in Watkin’s vital principle. The Bible at all times undermines the commitments, values, and social buildings that inform how we inhabit the world, calling us to rebuild them in alignment with the methods of Christ. Biblical Important Concept supplies the information we have to perceive how our patterns of life are literally on the unsuitable observe and the way the Bible supplies a wanted course correction.
Award of Distinction
Jen Oshman, Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Guarantees of Our Age and How We Had been Made for So A lot Extra (Crossway)
In Cultural Counterfeits, Jen Oshman tackles among the most urgent problems with our day with gospel-centered reality, grace, and readability. By rooting her dialogue of those points with a agency basis in God’s Phrase, she aids us in critically pondering by way of 5 empty guarantees of our age. She boldly helps readers navigate the problems of low-cost intercourse, abortion, physique idolatry, LGBT+ points, and marriage and motherhood. Oshman casts a gorgeous imaginative and prescient for biblical womanhood and divulges tips on how to honor God’s calling for ladies. The excellent news she factors us to is that each girl—no matter age or season of life—can love God, love her neighbor, and advance human flourishing.
Judges: Samuel Bierig, Joe Carter, Dennis Greeson, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik
Standard Theology
Timothy Keller, Forgive: Why Ought to I and How Can I? (Viking)
In a cultural local weather of division and cancellation, Tim Keller affords a path ahead—the trail of forgiveness. With attribute perception, he gently dismantles our unsuitable conceptions of forgiveness in favor of a gospel-fueled strategy that may carry private restoration and communal transformation. He additionally addresses fears about whether or not forgiveness impedes the pursuit of justice—and whether or not forgiveness is even attainable with out true repentance.
Forgive brims with illustrations from pastoral ministry and popular culture, reminding us how deeply our world longs for the therapeutic that solely God’s pricey forgiveness can present. Stylistically, that is maybe Keller’s most direct, hard-hitting e book—and in an age when “every thing is permitted however nothing is forgiven,” the stakes are certainly excessive. However believers and church buildings have a singular alternative to shine as we mirror the center of our Grasp, who died forgiving his enemies (Luke 23:34). Forgive belongs on the shelf of each Christian house so it may be referenced and utilized for years to return.
Award of Distinction
Trevin Wax, The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Journey of Christian Religion (IVP)
With trenchant perception and memorable turns of phrase, Trevin Wax beckons us to cling to Scripture’s never-changing truths amid an ever-changing world. As a substitute of bowing to the spirit of the age, Christians humbly stand for reality. This e book explains what’s at stake, each now and for eternity, to not scare however to sober. In any case, we’re not the primary era of Christians to face vexing opposition from a surrounding tradition—and even from professing believers. It’s by no means boring to face on the shoulders of those that have gone earlier than us and to alternate the straitjacket of heresy for the liberty of gospel grace. The Thrill of Orthodoxy will fireplace you up for all the precise causes.
Judges: Joshua Chatman, Clarissa Moll, Juan Sánchez, Matt Smethurst
Educational Theology
R. B. Jamieson and Tyler R. Wittman, Biblical Reasoning: Christological and Trinitarian Guidelines for Exegesis (Baker Educational)
What’s the connection between the Bible and theology? Ought to we perceive dogma because the vacation spot towards which exegetical work factors us? Or is it a place to begin, a launchpad from which the work of interpretation begins? To those questions, Robert (Bobby) Jamieson and Tyler Wittman reply, Why not have it each methods? In Biblical Reasoning, they offer us a dogmatic instrument equipment “to allow higher exegesis . . . [and] finally, to [help us] see God.”
The e book delivers relevant rules and guidelines that may information readers in private and company Bible research. In contrast to different works that may be categorized as theological interpretation of Scripture (TIS), this useful resource isn’t simply principle; it’s additionally sensible. It outlines clear classes and supplies examples that join the work of historical-grammatical exegesis to dogmatic reasoning. Furthermore, it combines educational rigor with a coronary heart of worship and can lead readers to marvel at God’s Phrase. It’s this high quality that may give the e book lasting affect.
Award of Distinction
James M. Hamilton Jr., Typology: Understanding the Bible’s Promise-Formed Patterns (Zondervan Educational)
If we’re sincere, typically studying the New Testomony references to the Previous Testomony can really feel a bit like overhearing some locals discussing whether or not Pizza by Alfredo or Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe serves the most effective hole-in-the-wall pizza on the town. We perceive the idea at a excessive degree, however we don’t perceive the layers of which means baked into the dialogue. James Hamilton’s Typology introduces Christians to the embedded individuals and occasions of the Bible that culminate in Christ. Maybe extra critically, Hamilton supplies a technique to discern authorial intent by way of repetition, parallels, and thematic equivalency, serving to trendy readers see meant sorts and keep away from invented sorts. Typology is a blessing for college students of the Bible who wish to interact the textual content with the richness of significance skilled solely by the locals.
Judges: David Croteau, Donny Mathis II, Phil Thompson, Christine Thornton, Eric Tully
Ministry
Michael J. Kruger, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Drawback of Non secular Abuse within the Church (Zondervan Reflective)
Current years have introduced patterns of non secular abuse in church buildings, denominations, and parachurch entities into the sunshine. Michael Kruger’s Bully Pulpit confronts this widespread downside with the wonder and remodeling energy of the gospel. Like an knowledgeable medical physician, Kruger rigorously diagnoses the illness of non secular abuse, defining lord-it-over management (Mark 10:42–43) and distinguishing it from different types of abuse. He acknowledges the wreckage non secular abuse has precipitated in particular person lives and church buildings, supplies each delicate and overt eventualities for a way we see one of these management play out, and offers church buildings devastated by abuse a ruthlessly biblical prescription for therapeutic.
Kruger’s e book is exclusive in that he roots his counsel in each the biblical textual content and church historical past, demonstrating how church fathers like Chrysostom and Gregory of Nazianzus confronted “heavy shepherding” of their days. Bully Pulpit can also be eminently sensible. Kruger ends on two encouraging notes, offering biblical frameworks for figuring out gracious and humble shepherds and for creating church cultures that resist non secular abuse altogether. He succeeds in creating a piece that might be a change agent in our time and will dwell effectively past it.
Award of Distinction
David Mathis, Staff for Your Pleasure: The Name of Christ on Christian Leaders (Crossway)
In Staff for Your Pleasure, David Mathis demonstrates how the {qualifications} for eldership could be a approach of bolstering pastoral perspective and cultivating pleasure in our church buildings. The e book handles the biblical textual content with care, applies the gospel faithfully, and affords our cynical world a much-needed reminder of God’s stunning design for management. In days when pastoring could be significantly discouraging, this e book is a supply of steering and a therapeutic balm. We hope it finds its approach into the fingers of many church management groups.
Judges: Matt Hodges, Jared Kennedy, Ronnie Martin, Jeff Robinson
Evangelism & Apologetics
Glen Scrivener, The Air We Breathe: How We All Got here to Consider in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality (The Good E book Firm)
Christianity within the West is falling on arduous instances. However the irony is that the church’s strongest opponents are likely to weaponize Christian values to deconstruct its claims. In The Air We Breathe, Glen Scrivener exhibits how values inherited from Christianity usually are embedded and assumed inside Western tradition.
In any case, why can we esteem freedom, kindness, and equality? Seems it’s due to Christ. The Jesus revolution formed the West so pervasively that it’s merely the air we breathe. In different phrases, the oxygen fueling non secular doubt and suspicion in our day is indirectly the by-product of the Christian ecosystem of the final two millennia within the West. A dedication to science, progress, and enlightenment hasn’t been the consensus of historical past throughout cultures. These values uniquely flourish inside a Christian worldview. So, in The Air We Breathe, Scrivener asks if the cultural items of our society may nonetheless lead us to the supply of all that’s good. His e book is pithy and a pleasure to learn, and it helps us learn the instances by pointing to Christ.
Award of Distinction
A. S. Ibrahim, Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel (Crossway)
This e book straightforwardly seeks to assist Christians attain Muslims with the gospel. With practically 2 billion Muslims worldwide, together with an growing quantity within the West, it’s important we’re ready to evangelize our Muslim mates, neighbors, and coworkers. The primary half of the e book is a primer for these in search of to grasp Islam on the worldview degree, together with a stunning part on the expansion of the faith. The second half supplies Christians with primary instruments for partaking Muslims in on a regular basis dialog, with tips about frequent misunderstandings alongside examples of particular Bible passages to share. Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor is concurrently daring, useful, and instantly relevant.
Judges: Paul Akin, Elliot Clark, Daniel DeWitt, Jen Oshman, Mack Stiles
Historical past & Biography
Geoffrey Chang, Spurgeon the Pastor: Recovering a Biblical and Theological Imaginative and prescient for Ministry (B&H)
Charles Spurgeon has an evergreen enchantment amongst evangelical pastors and ministry leaders. In Spurgeon the Pastor, Geoff Chang demonstrates how Spurgeon was motivated by a pastoral theology rooted in Scripture and refracted by way of his dedication to Reformed theology, Puritan spirituality, and Baptist ecclesiology. Every chapter appears at a side of Spurgeon’s pastoral theology, placing his thought and follow into dialogue with modern evangelical traits. The portrait that emerges is Spurgeon as a pastor forward of his time—an early mannequin of three essential actions inside modern evangelicalism: (1) a wealthy gospel-centered theology, (2) a dedication to biblically trustworthy church well being, and (3) sturdy management as a pastor-theologian.
Chang is a confessional evangelical and a severe historian who writes with pastoral sensibility. Spurgeon the Pastor is a superb instance of tips on how to apply church historical past for the sake of non secular formation and management growth.
Award of Distinction
Nathan P. Feldmeth, S. Donald Fortson III, Garth M. Rosell, Kenneth J. Stewart, Reformed and Evangelical Throughout 4 Centuries: The Presbyterian Story in America (Eerdmans)
No theological or ecclesial custom is monolithic or static. On this outstanding work of synthesis, the authors knit collectively the tales of varied strands in American Presbyterianism. In so doing, they provide readers a wealthy image that explains how this transatlantic church reform motion birthed a various and eclectic assortment of church buildings and establishments. The result’s an accessible but completely researched e book that introduces readers to the important thing developments and themes within the Presbyterian story.
Whereas the authors keep away from the entice of anachronistic presentism, a considerate reader gained’t have the ability to assist noting the numerous relevance of those tales for modern life. If you wish to suppose extra rigorously in regards to the necessity of theological literacy within the church, the legacy of Christian increased schooling, and the fixed want for reform and renewal inside the church, you’d do effectively to spend time with this e book. This is a crucial quantity providing a sober, concise, truthful historical past of Presbyterianism in America.
Judges: Nathan Finn, Matthew J. Corridor, Ivan Mesa, Ansley Quiros
Christian Residing
Esther Smith, A Nonetheless and Quiet Thoughts: Twelve Methods for Altering Undesirable Ideas (P&R Publishing)
Whether or not it’s the noise of reports and social media or a recurring loop of anxious ideas, few of us would describe our minds as nonetheless and quiet. However attempting to show off undesirable ideas or will them away not often brings peace. In A Nonetheless and Quiet Thoughts, biblical counselor Esther Smith offers readers a sturdy understanding of what the God who made our minds has to say about how they work—and about how he plans to make use of them for his glory.
It’s clear Smith’s knowledge is hard-won and road-tested. Her examples—each from her personal life and from the lives of her counseling purchasers—have been some of the valuable components of the e book. As weird as our personal ideas might typically appear, it’s encouraging to know others have them too. With stable theology and sensible methods, Smith’s e book is a present to each Christian who has ideas she or he doesn’t need. In different phrases, it’s a present to all of us.
Award of Distinction
Jay Y. Kim, Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Knowledge within the Digital Age (IVP)
Although we perceive in a common sense that the digital age is negatively affecting our tradition and particular person lives, we might battle to pinpoint precisely the way it’s altering us and what we will do about it. In Analog Christian, Jay Kim insightfully identifies expertise’s rotten fruit of discontentment, fragility, and foolishness and explains how the fruit of the Spirit is the antidote we want. By pairing particular issues of the digital age with contrasting fruit of the Spirit, Kim fashions Paul’s put-off, put-on framework—pleasure as an alternative of comparability, kindness as an alternative of hostility, faithfulness as an alternative of forgetfulness. Slightly than calling us to unplug and stop our scrolling and swiping, Kim exhibits readers tips on how to thoughtfully interact the challenges of the digital age and—by the facility of the Spirit—domesticate contentment, resilience, and knowledge.
Judges: Matt Boga, Winfree Brisley, Megan Hill, Courtney Reissig
Youngsters’s
Amy Gannett Does God Sleep? A E book About God’s Energy (B&H Children)
Does God Sleep? introduces younger youngsters to fantastic truths about God’s omnipotence. Gannett’s playful rhymes make an summary theological idea comprehensible and relatable to babies. That isn’t a straightforward factor to do! Does God Sleep? would make a wonderful child bathe reward and deserves a spot of prominence within the church nursery. The playful illustrations are becoming and invite the reader to linger on every web page. Each soothing and enjoyable, this can be a fantastic e book for bedtime studying and dialogue. Youngsters will ask to learn the e book once more, and adults—irrespective of how drained they might really feel by bedtime—might be moved to marvel and worship the God who doesn’t must sleep.
Award of Distinction
Andrew Wilson, The Boy from the Home of Bread (B&H Children)
The very best books for kids enchantment to the senses by way of sight and sound whereas partaking minds with inventive storytelling and intriguing concepts. The Boy from the Home of Bread has mild illustrations in a palette impressed by nature. It tells the story of Jesus’s life in an enticing and lyrical approach by way of the sons of Simon of Cyrene, the person who was compelled to hold the cross of Christ at his crucifixion. This e book brings the story to the reader from a baby’s perspective and—because the title suggests—locations a particular emphasis on Jesus’s teachings and actions that concerned bread. The Boy from the Home of Bread reminds us that tales that enchantment to youngsters’s bodily senses in addition to to their hearts and minds might help dad and mom nurture religion.
Judges: Ginger Blomberg, Jason Duesing, Betsy Childs Howard, Shar Walker
First-Time Creator
Isaac Adams, Speaking About Race: Gospel Hope for Laborious Conversations (Zondervan Reflective)
In tackling some of the delicate and tough subjects within the American church, Isaac Adams exhibits himself to be a multifaceted trainer. He writes with compassion, kindness, knowledge, and understanding as he tackles the complexities surrounding our conversations about race. Utilizing narratives that illuminate reasonably than stereotype, he affords pastoral counsel to navigate tough conversations with humility. This e book supplies sensible steering and recommendation for church buildings and people who wish to develop of their love for each other and finally of their love for God. His precision in serving to all of the completely different viewpoints give voice to their deeply held emotions and beliefs permits him to pinpoint the wanted software of the gospel in its multifaceted magnificence.
Adams writes with the depth and understanding of a novelist as he handles with care the private narratives of his case research characters. And he demonstrates the readability and precision of a theologian as he handles how God’s Phrase speaks to us on this present second. Speaking About Race is a blessing to the church and a much-needed useful resource for each Christian in America, irrespective of how she or he talks about race. Whilst Adams challenges the reader, grace permeates each web page. This e book will proceed to equip church buildings for years to return.
Award of Distinction
Clarissa Moll, Past the Darkness: A Mild Information for Residing with Grief and Thriving After Loss (Tyndale Momentum)
Clarissa Moll’s e book stands out in a crowded discipline of private reflections on grief. Each loss is completely different, and but Moll brings timeless, transcendent knowledge to bear on our worst nightmares. Few can match Moll’s mixture of theological depth and literary magnificence. Readers are wanting to see the place she turns subsequent with these noteworthy writing presents.
Judges: Skyler Flowers, Collin Hansen, Anna Meade Harris, Melissa Kruger
Bible Research & Devotional Literature
Joni Eareckson Tada, Songs of Struggling: 25 Hymns and Devotions for Weary Souls (Crossway)
Struggling is a common expertise of all people, and Christians and non-Christians alike are weary from combating, fearing, and discovering that their coping mechanisms for the pains of life are inadequate. In Songs of Struggling, Joni Eareckson Tada directs our gaze to the regular consolation of the cross. With therapeutic Scripture, timeless hymns, and knowledge gleaned from years of ache, Tada on this transferring devotional invitations readers to search out hope and solidarity within the Savior who suffers and sings.
The devotions are refreshingly wealthy but warmly accessible, providing profound hope within the darkest of instances. The e book’s aesthetic and literary magnificence is surpassed solely by that of the magnificent reality present in its pages. Songs of Struggling is a significant reward for victims of every kind, in addition to an edifying addition to your individual nightstand or espresso desk. Tada has a tangible love for Christ that leaps off the pages and attracts us right into a deeper and extra dependent relationship with our Savior, particularly as we sing.
Award of Distinction
Kevin DeYoung, The Largest Story Bible Storybook (Crossway)
Once we perceive how the large story of the Bible matches collectively, our lives and relationships discover which means round a biblical framework. Is there any extra vital purpose for households? In The Largest Story Bible Storybook, Kevin DeYoung invitations households to interact the metanarrative of Scripture by way of gospel-saturated texts and fascinating illustrations. From Genesis to Revelation, DeYoung shares simply accessible retellings of key scriptural tales that join the reader to the overarching storyline of the Bible. With over 100 gospel deposits, there’s one thing for fogeys and youngsters alike to study on every web page. Rooting households across the gospel story strengthens not solely its particular person members but additionally God’s church. This work will change into a treasured household quantity and a priceless useful resource for discipleship of kids within the church.
Judges: Missie Department, Karen Hodge, Emily Jensen, Joanna Kimbrel
Arts & Tradition
Russ Ramsey, Rembrandt Is within the Wind: Studying to Love Artwork By way of the Eyes of Religion (Zondervan Reflective)
In Rembrandt Is within the Wind, Russ Ramsey helps Christian readers study to like visible artwork by way of the eyes of religion. Love is vital right here. Ramsey writes from a spot of deep ardour for artwork, past mere mental curiosity about it. His love for the artwork and artists profiled within the e book comes by way of within the writing, and it’s contagious. Readers will study a ton of fascinating historical past about artists like Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and Van Gogh. However readers will even discover their hearts infected with love for the Artist whose picture each artist bears.
Few current books have proven so powerfully how magnificence can stir our affections for God and enrich our devotional lives. Half artwork historical past narrative, half theological devotional, half philosophical musing, Ramsey’s e book is completely unique and thrilling to learn. Works of visible artwork are formidable to many, partially as a result of one single canvas comprises layers of labor and intention. The artist behind the paintbrush is commonly the deepest layer of all. Because of this a visit to the artwork museum could be overwhelming. Ramsey helps us break off bite-size items and savor their complexity, exhibiting us that artwork appreciation isn’t solely doable for the on a regular basis Christian but additionally deeply fruitful for his or her religion.
Award of Distinction
William Edgar, A Supreme Love: The Music of Jazz and the Hope of the Gospel (IVP Educational)
What hath jazz to do with Jesus? In A Supreme Love, William Edgar explains how jazz music connects with the hope of the gospel. Clearly written and effectively researched, this e book situates the jazz style within the historic context of black expertise in america in addition to suggesting jazz follows the arc of the gospel message—from the darkness and sorrow brought on by sin to the supreme gentle and pleasure of Christ’s salvation. Alongside the way in which, Edgar affords fascinating examples and anecdotes from all the repertoire of jazz. His love for this music is obvious and infectious.
Judges: Terry Glaspey, Aaron Lee, Brett McCracken, Rachel Wilhelm
Missions & the International Church
Matt Rhodes, No Shortcut to Success: A Manifesto for Fashionable Missions (Crossway)
The message of No Shortcut to Success is well timed and uncommon. In an age the place velocity and rapidity have change into priorities for a lot of within the discipline of missions, Matt Rhodes requires endurance and a long-term perspective. As a missionary in North Africa, Rhodes grasps the panorama of missiological debates, and his sharp epidemiologist thoughts and clear understanding of missions historical past assist him consider the dominant methodologies of our day. The e book doesn’t draw back from calling out errors, however Rhodes seeks to take action with charity and an irenic spirit.
Nevertheless, he does greater than critique. This e book additionally supplies a optimistic imaginative and prescient for professionalism in missions—striving for adequate preparation and vocational competence like our missionary luminaries of the previous. All through, Rhodes builds the case that missionaries ought to know the gospel effectively, know the church effectively, and know the language of the individuals effectively. These may look like the fundamentals of any missionary job. In the event that they’re debated in our day, it might reveal how muddled the present state of missions is. Fortunately, Rhodes’s gracious problem supplies a path ahead to pursue endurance and professionalism within the missionary job, making this e book worthy of a large readership.
Award of Distinction
J. D. Payne, Apostolic Creativeness: Recovering a Biblical Imaginative and prescient for the Church’s Mission In the present day (Baker Educational)
In Apostolic Creativeness, J. D. Payne seeks to resume the church’s understanding of mission by drawing on the apostolic imaginative and prescient of the first-century church. His purpose is to recapture the most effective of what’s gone earlier than, critique efforts that stray, and root all of it in New Testomony fashions. In a piece that’s concurrently educational and accessible, Payne seeks to carry readability to our understanding of what missions is. By calling the church to resume its apostolic creativeness, he envisions a future when native church buildings will manifest sensible stewardship and perform the worldwide work of Christ. To that finish, he affords sensible strategies that encourage pastors to develop and ship groups into their group, throughout the nation, and all through the world to unfold the gospel of Christ.
Judges: Mindy Belz, Brooks Buser, Conrad Mbewe, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra