Book Reviews
Book Review: Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250
Small-church pastors often set out to read practical ministry books only to find that most of them are geared toward larger churches. The ideas they promote would not work in a smaller congregation, so the small-church pastor must take the general principle of what the book teaches and adapt them for his own setting. Of course, pastors of larger churches must also discern how to apply the principles set out in a book, since so much depends on each individual church. Even so, smaller congregations receive less attention than larger ones. Karl...
read moreRecommended Books (Summer 2021)
As the summer winds to an end, the oppressive heat and humidity are likely to drive us inside as much as possible. Use that nice air-conditioned time wisely, though. We can fill this time with many good books. Below, you will find some of our most recent reads that we think are important. We offer a wide range of subjects that readers from all walks of life will find interesting. If you have a good recommendation, please leave us a comment. ____________________ Kevin Bales, Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving...
read moreChristianity, Philosophy, and Natural Theology
While some may associate the subject of philosophy with eggheads who talk about old, dead Greeks and Romans, the truth is much more layered and exciting than that: Fundamentally, philosophy concerns our views of life, truth, the world, ethics, and other topics that form our basic worldviews. Consequently, it is relevant to our Christian confession. Yes, it includes discussion about history, but it is not limited to that by any means. In last week’s post, I introduced readers to the book, Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy, which...
read moreChristianity, Philosophy, and Presuppositions
Approximately one year ago, in the spring of 2020, I was invited to begin teaching Welch College’s offering of Christian Philosophy, which occupies a place in the general education curriculum. Since that time, I have taught four iterations of the course and have loved every minute of it. The subject of philosophy is not simply about philosophers and their ideas. It is also about what and how we think; to that extent, it is relevant to everyone, contrary to the opining of some students. How we think about the state of the world, the life of...
read moreBook Review: Retrieving Augustine’s Doctrine of Creation: Ancient Wisdom for Current Controversy
Two seemingly distinct areas in theological studies have enjoyed renewed interest in recent years. A variety of authors have emphasized both the doctrine of creation and the method of theological retrieval. Each area is rich for theological discovery and construction. While some have recently sought to apply theological retrieval specifically to the doctrine of creation, fewer have looked to the early church fathers.[1] Thankfully, Gavin Ortlund has undertaken that task by mining the writings of the most influential theologian of Western...
read moreRecommended Books (Spring 2021)
Christians are most in need of building strong communities of faith and practice during times of cultural strife and alienation. Rod Dreher’s recent publication, Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, builds on his earlier work to argue this point well. Specifically, he reports that persecuted Christians in the Soviet Union clung desperately to good literature and historic theological works as they labored to remain faithful in the face of horrifying oppression. Perhaps even more important, reading as a family was essential for...
read moreRod Dreher’s Live Not By Lies: A Review
Christianity Today’s Samuel James says that it presents a “surprisingly weak case.”[1] Southern Seminary’s Al Mohler offers a more favorable review: “I think it’s, if anything, an even more important book than The Benedict Option.”[2] Undoubtedly, these men put forward contrasting analyses of Rod Dreher’s newest book, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents.[3] I first encountered Dreherupon reading his book, Crunchy Cons, a delightful invitation to the classical conservative worldview.[4] Dreher is known also as an editor and...
read moreRecommended Books (Winter 2021)
What societies read, or do not read, has a significant effect on the nature of political discourse in modern democratic countries. Historian Paul Johnson argues that the press, as we now know it, first set “the pace of political change in all the advanced societies” during the 1820s with the invention of the steam press.[1] In the intervening two centuries, the printing industry has gone through massive changes that have surely continued to have similar effects. Perhaps part of the reason that our current political dialogue is so strained and...
read moreRecommended Books (Autumn 2020)
Explorers have fallen on hard times in our culture. Perhaps we were so dazzled by the extent of our nineteenth- and twentieth-century feats that our capacity to wonder at the challenge of adventure has been short-circuited. More likely, though, most Americans, who are soaked in luxury and decadence, have lost the will to shed their cushy lifestyles and embrace the sacrifice of exploration. For, to survive perilous journey, we must jettison our excess accoutrements. The more extreme the trek, the more we must leave behind. Reading allows us to...
read moreRecommended Books (Summer 2020)
Words are powerful. In the beginning, God spoke the universe into existence and ordered it according to its kind. At the crux of history, the “Word became flesh” (Jn. 1:14), and through His Spirit all of our disordered desires are being refashioned into a new harmony that will be consummated when His name will be on our foreheads (Rev. 22:4) and all creation will have been reconciled to the Word (Col. 1:20). As image-bearers of God, our words are also powerful and serve as an important aspect of subduing all of creation. As Christians, we...
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