Book Reviews
The Abolition of Man: Education, Cultural Criticism, and Christian Thought
Few authors have had as great an influence on Christian thought over the past century as C. S. Lewis. A convert to Christianity from a firm and convinced atheism, Lewis was one of the few exemplary writers who stood alone during the first half of the twentieth-century against the cresting tide of modernism and the deathly undertow of post-modernity. He taught English Literature at Oxford University, and chaired the Medieval and Renaissance English department at Cambridge University. His firm grasp on modern thought and its logical...
read moreMapping the Origins Debate: A Book Review
A quick Google search for the word evolution will yield countless atheistic and naturalistic proponents encouraging readers toward their side of the argument. Equally true, a search for creationism will navigate you to an arena where “intelligent design” and “young earth” are buzz words. The debate (or war) between these two ideas is heated to say the least. While we as conservative, evangelicals have a rooted position here, it hasn’t stopped either us or the opposition from some habitual mud-slinging. Building straw-men has never truly...
read moreBetween Two Worlds: Remembering A Modern Classic
On Monday we were reminded of the need for Christ-centered, expository preaching. Bryan Chapell’s Christ-centered Preaching helped with understanding this crucial task. However, another modern classic helps place this kind of preaching in its historic and cultural context. Though published over 30 years ago, the late John R. W. Stott’s Between Two Worlds (Eerdmans, 1982) is a relevant guide for contemporary evangelical preaching. John Stott spent the majority of his life ministering at All Souls Church, London, UK. He became rector of this...
read moreChrist-centered Preaching: Remembering A Modern Classic
Preaching is a task (and privilege) that can always be improved upon. Homiletics professors can help with this. Listening critically to audio of our sermons, as painful as this can be, is often useful. Even wives are among preachers’ most helpful critics. Yet we can also benefit by reading and reflecting on the counsel of reliable theologians and homileticians. Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Preaching and John Stott’s Between Two Worlds are among the most widely-read and influential books on Christian preaching. As both have now been in...
read moreJesus Christ and the Life of the Mind: A Review Essay
King Solomon said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7). Certainly Solomon extols the virtue of learning. Learning is then a virtue for Christians, too. However, Mark Noll has long lamented evangelicals’ unwillingness to pursue knowledge in his book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, critiquing them for their theological deficiencies and focusing on this grim problem. Seventeen years later in his book, Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind (Eerdmans 2011), he offers a...
read moreClouds of Witnesses: A Review
Historian Mark Noll is typically noted for his work in American religious history. In 2011, however, he broke pattern with Clouds of Witnesses, a book about missions. Co-written with Carolyn Nystrom, they survey seventeen, lesser-known missionaries from Africa, India, Korea, and China. In exploring these missionaries, Noll and Nystrom challenge American readers’ conceptions of what missions looks like and how it’s done. Although this book is written with missions in mind, even those who don’t feel called to vocational missions will benefit...
read moreBook Review: Killing Calvinism
Some books elicit interest due to their subject matter. Others do so because of their literary quality. For me, the title Killing Calvinism (Cruciform Press, 2012) was enough to arrest my attention. As a Baptist pastor with strong convictions about the doctrine of salvation, new books on theological systems frequently pique my interest. Regardless of our spiritual sensibilities about “systems,” we all tend to have them. Written by Greg Dutcher, this book is ironically about the problems these systems can create when they’re not anchored...
read moreFinding God (ed. John Mulder)
Many believers are moved by hearing other Christians share accounts of their conversion experiences. In fact, one of the hallmarks of evangelical identity has been what historian David Bebbington calls “conversionism.” [1] He’s right—we believe that lives should be transformed through the new birth, otherwise called regeneration. Of course, not all experiences are equal. The conversion experience that most Baptists think of has its roots in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus: “born again.” While the specifics of the Holy Spirit’s work in conversion...
read moreExistential Reasons for Belief in God (Clifford Williams)
by Jared Martin Existential Needs (chapter 1-3) The thesis of Clifford Williams’ book, Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith, is that the best way to acquire and maintain faith in God is through reason and need [1]. Faith may be based on either reason or need, but one without the other will ultimately be found lacking. As Williams puts it, “Need without reason is blind, but reason without need is sterile” [2]. He thinks this dichotomy is a mistake. Both need and reason are crucial...
read moreIs God a Moral Monster? (Paul Copan)
Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011). 252 pp. $14.99 paperback. review by Kevin Williford Among the challenges facing the church today is the attack on the Christian faith posed by what is commonly called the “New Atheists.” What distinguishes the New Atheists from those in previous generations is their militancy and efforts to popularize atheism. The primary mode of attack is to use the Old Testament (“OT”) stories to accuse God of being irrational and immoral. Paul Copan wrote...
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