Scot McKnight. A Community Called Atonement. Abingdon, 2007. 177 pp.
Scot McKnight has just published a book called A Community Called Atonement. McKnight is a first rate biblical scholar at North Park University and the man behind the curtain at the always engaging Jesus Creed blog. Using his exceptional writing skills, McKnight takes what can be a very tedious idea and brings it alive.
McKnight does a wonderful job of rescuing the debate from a narrow abstract battle to make this or that model prevail and relocates the discussion in the larger picture of God’s mission in the world. Atonement is not an end in itself. Atonement is a means toward accomplishing a mission; the mission of restoring of that which has been lost. McKnight locates the central themes of this restoration in the concepts of justice (mishpat), righteousness (tesedeq) and shalom. (128)
Reviewed by Michael Kruse.
Read the entire review.
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed 
.
Craig A. Evans. Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels. IVP, 2006. 290 pp.
This book is offered as an exposé of sorts, revealing how certain scholars—among them, James M. Robinson, Robert Funk, Bart Ehrman, Karen King, Morton Smith, Elaine Pagels, John Dominic Crossan, and collectively the Jesus Seminar—“distort the gospels” and thus mislead the public to historical conclusions at odds with traditional Christian claims. Evans also takes aim at various popular authors, such as Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) and Michael Baigent (The Jesus Papers), for creating what he calls “hokum history” (204). Finally, it is an apologia for the New Testament Gospels: “this book is written to defend the original witnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When put to the test, the original documents hold up quite well. Despite their having been maligned, even ridiculed, and pushed to the background, it is time to give them a fresh hearing” (17).
Reviewed by Stephen J. Patterson.
Read the entire review.
For more information, see our PastorBookshelf Overview.
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
Dave Hunt & James White. Debating Calvinism: Five Points, Two Views. Multnomah, 2004. 432 pp.
One of the purposes of a debate in the formal sense of the word is to persuade. The object is to persuade the audience that your position is the appropriate view to adopt. Over several generations the debate over the theological views developed by John Calvin has become more and more heated. In response, James White (the champion of Reformed Theology) and Dave Hunt (the Opponent of Calvinism) have participated in a lengthy formal debate. The debate has been removed from the classical oral format and collected in the volume Debating Calvinism.
Continue reading ‘Debating Calvinism | Dave Hunt & James White’
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
J. Daniel Hays. From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race. IVP, 2003. 240 pp.
Race as a theological category has not had much play in the history of theology. That’s what J. Daniel Hays says at the beginning of his book From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race. This is of particular note given the fact that race has been such a major issue of discussion and contention in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Even though some contemporary systematic theologies have significant chapters on anthropology, few deal directly with the subject of race. Consequently, to write a book on a theology of race sounds foreign to our evangelical ears. But isn’t this kind of title and this kind of biblical theological discussion long overdue?
Reviewed by Anthony J. Carter.
Read the entire review .
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
Max Lucado. 3:16: The Numbers of Hope. Thomas Nelson, 2007. 240 pp.
It’s a match made in heaven (or that’s what Thomas Nelson Publishers must believe). In 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, one of the world’s best-known and best-loved Christian authors takes on the world’s best-known and best-loved Bible verse. Max Lucado has authored over 50 books, with sales exceeding an incredible 50 million copies in print. His books are regularly on the New York Times list of bestsellers and continually dominate the Christian charts (where he has had up to eleven books present at one time). 3:16 is as close as we could expect for a sure-thing bestseller. An unparalleled marketing campaign will all but guarantee it. It is no coincidence that the book will release on 9/11, allowing people to contrast numbers of despair with numbers of hope. The book will also stand as the centerpiece of a major global ministry initiative launching on Palm Sunday, 3/16/08. This book is going to make a splash.
Reviewed by Tim Challies.
Read the entire review here.
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
J. I. Packer. Knowing God. IVP, 1993. 286 pp.
More than one of the books we have offered in the first year of our Book of the Month program have been treatments of the most basic issue of theology—the nature and character of the God we worship. To conclude the year, we are returning to the same theme again. Knowing God is a new classic of Christian literature, a book dedicated to the principle that intimate knowledge of the Creator is the lynch pin of true religion, and that salvation consists in knowing Him.
Packer has become one of the more controversial theologians of our day. Actions taken at the end of his career have rightly led the orthodox to read him with great caution, but while caution is warranted, it would be unwise to categorically disregard a book which has been of great value to the cause of evangelicalism, and particularly to the Reformed understanding of God’s majesty and glory. . . .
Reviewed by Tom Chantry.
Read the entire review here.
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan, 1994. 1290 pp.
This book is available in two formats, the traditional hardback book and also in electronic form; Libronix has a particularly good (searchable) form of the electronic version. I personally have both editions. Do not think that you will get it cheaper by getting the electronic version! I was first introduced to this work when Dr. Kevin Giles (Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Re-invent the Doctrine of the Trinity) called Dr. Grudem a heretic for his doctrine of a hierarchical Trinity.
Continue reading ‘Systematic Theology | Wayne Grudem’
___________________
Notes:
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
J. Sidlow Baxter. The Master Theme of the Bible: A Comprehensive Study of the Lamb of God. Part One, pp. 15-157. Kregel, 1997. 204 pp.
Baxter presents a volume on Jesus as the Lamb of God, a theme he believes to be The Master Theme of the Bible. This work is not technical, and most laymen will find its contents straightforward and understandable. These essays are simple Bible studies rather than academic or professionally theological treatises. Based on a collection of messages preached at Bible conferences, the contents of this book are “meant for the general public and average reader” (11). As such, the original languages occur only rarely, always accompanied by translation and explanation. Baxter’s style is often conversational, but this is intentional. Permeating the pages is a definite devotional demeanor. These reflections on the glories of the Lamb are sure to warm the heart of any reader.
The book divides into two parts. The first section explores the doctrine of the Lamb while the second peruses the dimensions of the cross. This review will cover only the first section, dealing with the person of Christ. The chapters are as follows: (1) The Revelation of the Lamb; (2) The Centrality of the Lamb; (3-5) The Sovereignty of the Lamb: Pre-incarnate, Post-resurrection, and Never-ending; and (6-7) The Finalities of the Lamb: Lord and Savior, and Judge and King.
Continue reading ‘The Master Theme of the Bible | J. Sidlow Baxter’
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .
