James K. Beilby & Paul R. Eddy, eds. The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views. IVP, 2006. 208 pp.
A long history of biblical exegesis and theological reflection has shaped our understanding of the atonement today. The more prominent highlights of this history have acquired familiar names for the household of faith: Christus Victor, penal substitutionary, subjective, and governmental.
Recently the penal substitutionary view, and particularly its misappropriations, has been critiqued, and a lively debate has taken hold within evangelicalism. This book offers a “panel” discussion of four views of atonement maintained by four evangelical scholars.
Continue reading ‘The Nature of the Atonement | James Beilby & Paul Eddy, eds.’
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Mark Labberton. The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice. IVP, 2007. 198 pp.
What’s at stake in our worship? Everything.
Worship is the dangerous act of waking up to God and God’s purposes in the world. But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward—it should turn us outward as well.
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John Stott. Basic Christian Leadership: Biblical Models of Church, Gospel, and Ministry. IVP, 2002. 120 pp.
Leadership today is no easy task. Christian leaders called to shepherd others get caught in power struggles and are tempted to abuse their pastoral authority. Pastors feel that they must project strength and certainty in order to preach and minister credibly. Too often our models of leadership are shaped more by culture than by Christ.
John Stott offers an alternative vision in this biblical approach to servant leadership, exemplified by the apostle Paul in his ministry to the church in Corinth. Above all, Stott reassures us that God is at work even in the midst of our human weakness.
“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
A clear articulation of the nature of leadership as well as the thoughtful study of Scripture we have come to expect from John Stott, this exposition of 1 Corinthians 1–4 offers us a model of ministry surprisingly relevant twenty centuries later: leadership rooted in humility and grace, serving the church with the love of Christ.
Author: IVP Bio | Langham Partnership Bio | Wikipedia | Theopedia
Overview: Amazon | CBD | IVP | Google Books
Excerpts: TOC | Intro | Ch. 1 | Browse in Amazon
Reviews: Amazon | LibraryThing
Pastors/Church Leaders
- Adam Faughn at Faugn Family of Four (06/07) Review
- Steve London at Our Hearts Are Restless (03/07) Review
Laymen/Unknown
- Andy at The Last Homely House (01/07) Review
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Kevin Blue. Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World. IVP, 2006. 143 pp.
I know the world is full of injustice. I know that God calls Christians to work for God on the earth. But what can I do?
Many of us have questions like these. We are well-intended, but stuck in the rut of the everyday. We want to make our lives matter. But we don’t know where to start. We wonder about everything from whether to give a dollar to a beggar to how to participate in the political process; from whether to shop at Wal-Mart to how much to spend on a car.
Kevin Blue has spent his adult life answering these questions for himself and for others. He lives in the heart of Los Angeles, where these questions can’t be set aside. And he has led college students through experiences in urban ministry as well as international treks to the poorest parts of the world. In Practical Justice he combines what he has learned with the experiences of others to answer your questions.
Right thinking. Right action. Just living. God calls us to step up and get involved. This book will help you get started.
Author: IVP Bio | Servant Partners Bio
Overview: Amazon | CBD | IVP | Google Books
Excerpts: TOC | Intro | Ch. 1 | Browse in Amazon
Reviews: Amazon | Endorsements
Laymen/Unknown
- Beth Winton at RememberAndAdjustAccordingly (03/07) Review
- Carrie at It’sNotAboutMe (01/07) Review
- Chris Fann at ThePreface (12/06) Review
Extras: Book Info PDF
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Mike King. Presence-Centered Youth Ministry: Guiding Students into Spiritual Formation. IVP, 2006. 192 pp.
How many programs does it take to change a youth group?
That question has bothered youth workers for decades, and the cracks in its logic are beginning to show. In place of the contrived, artificial mechanisms employed so widely in modern youth outreach and discipleship, Mike King proposes a ministry centered in the presence of God.
Young people encounter Christ not in the flash and pop of arena ministry, but in the sacred shadow of his presence. They learn what it is to love and follow Christ by observing others loving and following Christ–letting Christ shape their worldviews, their habits, their virtues. Presence-Centered Youth Ministry gives shape to such ministry through the classic disciplines and potent symbols and practices that have sustained the church over the centuries.
The sound and fury that has characterized youth ministry for so long has left too many youth workers tired and too many young people disillusioned. Come explore the deeper terrain; your students are sure to follow.
Author: IVP Bio | YouthFront Bio | Blog Bio
Overview: Amazon | IVP | CBD | GoogleBooks
Excerpts: TOC | Intro | pp. 15-18 | Ch. 2 | Browse in Amazon
Reviews: Amazon | IVP | CBD
Pastors/Church Leaders
Seminary/Ministerial Students
Laymen/Unknown
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Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, & Andrew Sach. Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution. IVP, 2007. 368 pp.
The doctrine of penal substitution states that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin. The belief that Jesus died for us, suffering the wrath of his own Father in our place, has been the wellspring of the hope of countless Christians through the ages.
However, an increasing number of theologians and church leaders are questioning this doctrine, claiming, for example, that it misunderstands the nature of God’s judgment; that it divides the Trinity; or that it misreads crucial texts such as Isaiah 53 or Mark 10:45. The doctrine has been pro-vocatively described as ‘a form of cosmic child abuse.’ In recent years, the criticisms—including some from within the evangelical constituency—have intensified. Furthermore, the debate is no longer confined to the academy, and has now found its way into popular Christian books and magazines.
In response, Jeffery, Ovey and Sach offer a fresh articulation and affirmation of penal substitution. In Part 1 they make the case that the doctrine is clearly taught in Scripture; that it has a central place in Christian theology; that its neglect has serious pastoral consequences; and that it has an impeccable pedigree in the history of the Christian church.
In Part 2, the authors then engage systematically with over twenty specific objections that have been brought against penal substitution. Their clear exposition and analysis, and charitable but firm responses, are accessible to all with a serious concern for the issues.
Authors:
Overview: PiercedforOurTransgressions.com | IVPBooks | Amazon (also UK)
Excerpts: TOC | Foreword by John Piper
Reviews: Amazon | Amazon (UK) | Endorsements (PDF)
Pastors/Church Leaders
- N. T. Wright at Fulcrum (04/07) Review (PDF)
- Sam Storms at EnjoyingGodMinsitries (06/07) Review: 1 | 2
Laymen/Unknown
- Tim Challies at DiscerningReader (ND) Review
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James Emery White. The Prayer God Longs For. IVP, 2005. 124 pp.
“What does God want from me?”
You might ask it in frustration or in devotion, but, whatever your approach, it’s a question that has crossed the lips of men and women from every generation throughout human history.
What if God gave you an answer?
James Emery White guides you through the Lord’s Prayer in search of what God longs for in his relationship with you. As profound as it is simple, this prayer of Jesus is what God longs for: a divine-human dialogue that transforms you on earth and prepares you for heaven.
Author: IVP Bio | Mecklenburg Community Church | Wikipedia
Overview: IVP | Amazon | Google Books
Excerpts: TOC | Intro | Ch 1 | Intro & Ch 5 | Browse in Amazon
Reviews: Amazon | Endorsements | LibraryThing
Pastors/Church Leaders
- Christopher Dew at his blog (02/06) Review
Laymen/Unknown
- Ceryn Oakes at her blog (12/06) Review
- Joyce Handzo at ChristianBookPreviews (ND) Review
Extras:
- Interview with James Emery White about the book
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John Stott. The Cross of Christ. 20th Anniversary Edition. IVP, 2006. 380 pp.
From one of the foremost preachers and Christian leaders of our day comes theology at its readable best, a contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed.
More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission.
Destined to be a classic study of the center of our faith, Stott’s work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar and Christian statesman. His penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.
Author: IVP Bio | JohnStott.org | Wikipedia | Theopedia
Overview: IVP | Amazon | Google Books
Excerpts: TOC | Forward | Ch 1 | Ch 12 | Browse in Amazon
Reviews: Amazon | IVP | Endorsements | LibraryThing
Professors
- I. Hull in Irish Biblical Studies (02/87): 86.
Pastors/Church Leaders
- Eric Kuykendall (03/07) Review: 1, 2, 3
Seminary/Ministerial Students
- Scott Mackay at Deep(ish) Thoughts (08/06) Review
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Trevor J. Burke. Adopted into God’s Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. IVP, 2006. 233 pp.
The relationship between God and his people is understood in various ways by the biblical writers, and it is arguably the apostle Paul who uses the richest vocabulary.
Unique to Paul’s writings is the term huiothesia, the process or act of being “adopted as son(s).” It occurs five times in three of his letters, where it functions as a key theological metaphor.
Trevor Burke argues that huiothesia has been misunderstood, misrepresented or neglected through scholarly preoccupation with its cultural background. He redresses the balance in this comprehensive study, which discusses metaphor theory; explores the background to huiothesia; considers the roles of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; examines the moral implications of adoption, and its relationship with honor; and concludes with the consequences for Christian believers as they live in the tension between the “now” and the “not yet” of their adoption into God’s new family.
Author: IVP Bio
Overview: IVP | Amazon | Google Books
Excerpts: TOC
Reviews: Amazon | IVP
Seminary/Ministerial Students
- Mike Aubrey at εν εφέσω (04/07) Review
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Craig A. Evans. Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels. IVP, 2006. 290 pp.
Modern historical study of the Gospels seems to give us a new portrait of Jesus every spring—just in time for Easter. The more unusual the portrait, the more it departs from the traditional view of Jesus, the more attention it gets in the popular media.
Why are scholars so prone to fabricate a new Jesus? Why is the public so eager to accept such claims without question? What methods and assumptions predispose scholars to distort the record? Is there a more sober approach to finding the real Jesus?
Commenting on such recent releases as Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus, James Tabor’s The Jesus Dynasty, Michael Baigent’s The Jesus Papers and The Gospel of Judas, for which he served as an advisory board member to the National Geographic Society, Craig Evans offers a sane approach to examining the sources for understanding the historical Jesus.
Author: IVP Bio (PDF) | CraigAEvans.com
Overview: Amazon | IVP
Excerpts: TOC | Preface | Intro | Ch 1 | Endnotes | Amazon
Reviews: Amazon | IVP | LibraryThing
Pastors/Church Leaders
- Scott Lam, Wisdom of the Pages (02/07) Review
Laymen/Unknown
- J. P. Holding, Tekton Apologetics Ministries (ND) Review
- Noah Tutac, (01/07) Review
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(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
