Posts tagged with Book Reviews

Recommended Reading or Meditations of a Bibliophile... Keep Reading

Books released in conjunction with the 300th Anniversary of the birth of Jonathan Edwards... Keep Reading

by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason (New York: The Dial Press, 2004). I don't typically read novels. Fiction has never been one of my favorite genres. But in recent months I made a two-fold exception to this rule. Yes, I did read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. Yes, I... Keep Reading

On The Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel's Best Friend (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 336pp. By Timothy P. Weber... Keep Reading

Sequels usually don't fare well with the American public. There are exceptions, of course. One thinks of The Godfather II and the seemingly endless installments in the Harry Potter series of books. But John Piper has produced a "sequel" of sorts that is sure to becom... Keep Reading

I finally did it. After nearly four years, countless reviews, and over one million copies in print, I picked up and read John Eldredge’s best-selling book, Wild at Heart. I don’t know why it took me so long to do so. After all, I had read with great deligh... Keep Reading

Faith, Health and Prosperity: A Report on "Word of Faith" and "Positive Confession" Theologies by ACUTE (the Evangelical Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals) (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2003), 316 pp. Edited by Andrew Perriman... Keep Reading

I never planned on writing a review of this book until I read an article on the web (1-2-05) indicating that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has once again emerged as a serious candidate to become the next Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. This isn’t a book that wil... Keep Reading

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 302pp. Edited by J. Matthew Pinson Here we find yet another installment in the Counterpoints Series from Zondervan. There are now fifteen volumes, ranging in subject matter from miraculous gifts (to which I contributed) to women in ... Keep Reading

(Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 338 pp.  Edited by Chad Owen Brand Books articulating multiple perspectives on a particular subject have become fashionable in the evangelical world. Zondervan’s Counterpoint series is now up to sevente... Keep Reading

(Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster Press, 2004), 291pp. Ian Stackhouse This is an exceptionally good book. It is also exceptionally painful to read. Not because Stackhouse writes poorly. Far from it. He is a superb writer and makes his points with the utmost clarity. That... Keep Reading

(Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster Press, 2004), 291pp. Ian Stackhouse This is a continuation of the first half of my review. Stackhouse summarizes his thesis in this way: “A return to classical ministry and the wider tradition is part of the overall progress of r... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp.  I can’t count the number of times over the past six months that people have asked me: “When are you ... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp. Chapter three of Carson’s book consists of a rather long evaluation of how the Emerging Church analyzes contempo... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp. Postmodernism [I decided that it might be helpful to insert this brief introductory survey of postmodernism for th... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp.   Carson describes the fourth chapter of his book as “a simplification and updating of a couple chapters... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp.   It is with chapter five, entitled “Emerging Church Critique of Postmodernism,” that Carson begin... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp.   Here is Carson at his best, or his worst, if you are a fan of McLaren and Emergent. In chapter six he direct... Keep Reading

A Review of Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp.   My extensive summation of Carson’s book will conclude with this seventh installment. We’ll look ... Keep Reading

(Nashville: Nelson Current, 2005), 307pp. by Jack Cashill I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun reading a book. At the same time, it was incredibly infuriating. Not because it was poorly written. Far from it. This is a superbly written volume. Th... Keep Reading

(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 272pp. by Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom One of the highlights of having taught in the department of Bible, Theology, Archaeology and World Religions at Wheaton College was the annual Theology Conference, typically held in Ap... Keep Reading

(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 814 pp. by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday The twentieth century was undoubtedly the bloodiest and most lethal known to man. One need only think of the two world wars, the Holocaust, the atrocities of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, just... Keep Reading

by John Piper (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005), 190pp. John Piper’s most recent book was provoked by the realization of how quickly and pervasively this current generation has abandoned God as the “all-satisfying gift of God’s love” (11). Pip... Keep Reading

By Lyle Dorsett (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004), 182pp.  Few people noticed when C. S. Lewis died on November 22, 1963. Their attention was focused on the death of another, more famous figure: U. S. President, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas... Keep Reading

(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 144pp. by George Barna Most Christians are familiar with George Barna and his relentless efforts to discern trends within the body of Christ and society at large. According to the dust jacket of this volume he has written ... Keep Reading

(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 144pp. by George Barna We’ve come to Chapter Five in Barna’s account of the Revolution he so loudly applauds. Here he identifies seven trends “that will facilitate the moral and spiritual revolution that ... Keep Reading

I've been amazed at the response to my two-part review of George Barna's book, Revolution. It isn't the quantity of response that has surprised me (although it's been huge), but the nature of the objections that have been raised. So I thought it might be helpful to wr... Keep Reading

(Zondervan, 2005), 267 pp. By Rick M. Nanez Can one recommend a book too highly, too enthusiastically? I suppose so, especially if the book in question is merely another in a long line of volumes that addresses a well-worn theme and does so in mediocre fashion. Ric... Keep Reading

The past few months have witnessed a flood of new book releases, many of which are deserving of our attention. I hope to provide a more extensive review of several of these listed, but for now a brief notice will have to suffice. The following list is a mix of everyt... Keep Reading

Christianity Today magazine just released its 50-Year Anniversary Issue. CT was founded in 1956 and has served the evangelical world as something of a spiritual counterpart to Time and Newsweek. In this issue they listed the fifty books published within the last fifty... Keep Reading

The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2000), 204 pp. Author O. Palmer Robertson I first read this book in 2000 when it was originally published and decided to give it another look. I'm glad I did. Robertson's treatmen... Keep Reading

(Downers Grove: IVP, 2002), 263 pp. by D. Brent Sandy Brent Sandy is professor and chair of the department of religious studies at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. He has undertaken a monumental task in this book, perhaps an impossible one according to some. ... Keep Reading

Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the glory of penal substitution   By   Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, Andrew Sach (Nottingham, England: IVP, 2007, 373pp.)   Part One   On my recent ministry trip to Scotland I was determined to... Keep Reading

Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the glory of penal substitution   By   Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, Andrew Sach (Nottingham, England: IVP, 2007, 373pp.)   Part Two In Part Two of their book, the authors of Pierced go to remarkable... Keep Reading

(London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2006; 152 pp.)   by   Mark Cartledge   This volume is the twenty-second installment in an extended series that explores the variety of ways in which people pursue and express their hunger for spirituality. Additi... Keep Reading

(Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2007, 202pp.)   by   Mark D. Roberts   When I attended Dallas Theological Seminary in the 1970’s, the required text in defense of the reliability of the New Testament was F. F. Bruce’s widely acclaimed The New... Keep Reading

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck   (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp.)   Part One   I start to get really nervous when I hear others speak in unqualified, glowing and glorious terms about a book or speaker. Nothing can be that good, I say to mys... Keep Reading

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp.) Part Two A consistent refrain heard among the emergent is that the Christian life is primarily about the journey and our experience along the way, and less about the destination. The result, at ... Keep Reading

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp.) Part Three I want to go on record that I love doctrine! When I explore the theological complexities of the Incarnation of the Son of God, my heart is strangely warmed. When I think deeply about ... Keep Reading

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp.) Part Four In Chapter Seven, DeYoung sets his aim on the emergent perspective on modernism and postmodernism. I suspect that many of you will find that a bit tedious, and I can understand why. Yo... Keep Reading

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp.) Part Five In Chapter Nine, DeYoung and Kluck turn their attention to a number of emphases within emergent Christianity that they believe are deviations from biblical orthodoxy (a focus, by the w... Keep Reading

I’m following the lead of several others who are posting their Top 10 books of 2009. I’ll start with number 10 and work down the list. Happy reading! (10) Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional, by Jim Belcher (IVP). I didn’t alway... Keep Reading