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HOW TO READ THE BIBLE, by Harvey Cox

A quick search online reveals dozens of books with some variation of the phrase “how to read the Bible” in the title.  By writing a book with this title, Harvey Cox joins a crowded field, but his take on the…

CAN THESE BONES LIVE? A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CHURCH REVITALIZATION, by William Henard

Reviewed by Brian Croft There exists an unprecedented need to help dying and struggling churches. Churches are closing their doors at an alarming rate, particularly in the Southern Baptist Convention. This is why I am grateful for the growing efforts…

Review of A HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY, by John Frame

Reviewed by Steve West When I received this book I was just finishing reading Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. I was refining my lectures for a History of Western Thought course that I teach at Toronto Baptist Seminary. Kant—as…

AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL ETHICS: WALKING IN THE WAY OF WISDOM, 3rd edition, by Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan

Reviewed by Greg Cochran The first thing a reader may notice about this updated textbook from IVP Academic is its thickness. This volume is larger than the next two biblical ethics books combined. The size makes one think that the…

ON GUARD: PREVENTING AND RESPONDING TO CHILD ABUSE AT CHURCH, by Deepak Reju

Reviewed by Bobbette Hatteberg Despite the difficult and serious topic of the book, On Guard is a wealth of information and it was very easy to assimilate the content into my local church’s Children’s Ministry. I am thankful that our…

THE MESSAGE OF LAMENTATIONS, by Christopher J. H. Wright

Reviewed by May Young The Message of Lamentations by Christopher J. H. Wright provides insightful contemplation on the themes, imagery, as well as theology in this complex poetic book of the Old Testament. This volume is part of the “Bible…

Review of KINGDOM CONSPIRACY: RETURNING TO THE RADICAL MISSION OF THE LOCAL CHURCH, by Scot McKnight

Reviewed by Todd Wilson Forty years ago, the doyen of North American New Testament scholarship, George Eldon Ladd of Fuller Seminary, published his big book on the kingdom of God, The Presence of the Future (1974). In it he had…

Review of CHRISTIAN BIOETHICS: A GUIDE FOR PASTORS, HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS, AND FAMILIES, by C. Ben Mitchell and D. Joy Riley

Reviewed by Greg Cochran Years ago, I found myself at a ministry crossroad. I knew I wanted to pursue a Ph.D., but I was unsure of which area of further study was right for me. My desire was to make…

THE PASTOR AS THEOLOGIAN: RECLAIMING A LOST VISION, by Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan

Reviewed by Andrew J. Spencer The contemporary age is one of information and ideas. Fragments of philosophy and theology are tossed about on the internet like so much flotsam waiting to wash up on the nearest shore to be viewed,…

KARL BARTH AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS: LIVING IN TRUTH, by William Werpehowski

Reviewed by Carsten Card-Hyatt Since the first edition of his Romans commentary, Karl Barth’s theology has been dogged by the charge that the absolute priority of divine action in his thought renders meaningful talk of ethics impossible. In more recent years, the…

AMERICAN APOCALYPSE: A HISTORY OF MODERN EVANGELICALISM, by Matthew Avery Sutton

Reviewed by Paul A. Sanchez Matthew Avery Sutton, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of History at Washington State University, argues that American premillennialist Christians bought and sold the narrative of an imminent apocalypse. Their urgent call for apocalyptic readiness drove…

THE TRUTH ABOUT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: SIX THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT WHAT'S REALLY AT STAKE, by Erwin Lutzer

Though written before the infamous 2015 SCOTUS decision on gay marriage this little book (that I came across only just recently) could scarcely be more up to date. There are doubtless more recent stats and such, but Lutzer’s The Truth…

ALVIN PLANTINGA AND CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS, by Keith A. Mascord

Reviewed by Todd Scacewater The point of Mascord’s book is to assess the contribution of Alvin Plantinga’s work in the realm of apologetics and to make some slight adjustments to his epistemology to improve it for use in positive apologetics.…

GATHERING GOD'S PEOPLE: UNDERSTAND, PLAN, AND LEAD WORSHIP IN YOUR LOCAL CHURCH, by Brian Croft and Jason Adkin

Reviewed by Kirk Wellum Gather God’s People is part of the excellent Practical Shepherding series either written or co-written by Brian Croft. This time Croft teams up with Jason Adkins, who, according to the introduction was the primary author of the…

READING KOINE GREEK: AN INTRODUCTION AND INTEGRATED WORKBOOK, by Rodney Decker

Reviewed by Patrick Schreiner Introduction Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook is a unique Greek textbook because it takes into account most of the advances in the study of linguistics and Greek in the past few decades. While…

A VISUAL DEFENSE: THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST CHRISTIANITY, by Robert Velarde

Have you ever encountered an objection to the Christian faith for which you knew there was a solid rebuttal, but you could not think of it at the moment. This is one of the main challenges of apologetics — to…