What James Reads

P. D. James, Death Comes to Pemberley

2012-01-14T21:17:00.001-06:00

I think this book is an absolute literary triumph. In her latest novel, the venerable P. D. James weds her immense skill in crafting character-driven mysteries with her own passion for Jane Austen. She picks up six years after Pride and Prejudice leaves off (spoiler alert for those of you who haven't yet gotten to that classic--which you should, by the way; you will here learn how some of the relationships resolve in that earlier work), focusing on the home of Elizabeth and Darcy. But tragedy strikes on the eve of Pemberley's grand ball, and Elizabeth's brother-in-law Wickham is the suspect. By many twists and turns, we are brought back into the somewhat twisted world of these characters that Jane Austen formed, this time in search of a killer.

I was amazed at how well James is able to pick up the story from Pride and Prejudice. She deftly works her story in a way that seems so natural it was often hard to recall as I was reading whether events she referred to were in her work or in Austen's original. And I think she picked up on the perfect "seam" from P&P, with the tenuous entrance of Wickham into the Bennet family with all of the past baggage and conflict that he brought to that first story but which was left unresolved at the end. After reading Death Comes to Pemberley, it almost feels as if P&P is incomplete without James's masterful extension. This homage fit seamlessly with the original for me, and I loved it.

John Sanford, Wicked Prey

2011-12-23T11:55:00.003-06:00

Lucas Davenport is a complex hero. And Wicked Prey is another in Sanford's series centered around this Minnesota detective. Also figuring prominently in this book is Lucas's soon-to-be adopted child Letty, whom he came upon in an earlier novel (Naked Prey) in her own tragic situation, and who proves to be a strong, or at least interesting, though maybe somewhat implausible, protagonist as well. The two of them find themselves (mostly without the other's knowledge) caught up in a complex plot surrounding some brutal attacks during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in 2008. Letty has been targeted for retribution by one of Davenport's old foes. But she improbably befriends the hooker who is caught up with the small-time criminal, and thereby weaves herself into an interesting situation. Lucas, meanwhile, is tasked to investigate brutal attacks on two big-time money men who are making off-the-books cash contributions to various political players on behalf of interested parties. This makes for an action-packed adventure for Davenport and his crew, as they chase down the leads and all the while try to figure out why the attackers seem to be hanging around. Is some bigger job in the offing?

This book moves at an almost frantic pace that carries the reader along into a world of violence, dirty politics (on both sides of the aisle), and jigsaw-like detective work. It is a solid detective novel with a colorful and imperfect hero. Sandford certainly conveys the roughness of his character, and of the underworld he investigates, and while this does lend some verisimilitude to the book, it is at least worth noting.

Tony Reinke, Lit!

2011-12-07T12:15:00.001-06:00

"A wide gap separates a reader who simply consumes books from a reader who diligently seeks wisdom" (178). In this thoughtful and practical book, Tony Reinke argues for the value of reading as a Christian discipline, and helps encourage readers to develop wise reading habits. It is a book in two parts, the first being a "theology of reading," the second being a collection of practical advice for becoming better readers.

The foundation of Lit! is the contention that God's illumination can come to us through books, and that truth and beauty are gifts of God that can be reflected in Christian and non-Christian books alike. But equally as foundational is that God's truth is most fully embodied in Scripture, and all other reading that we do must be filtered through the truth of Scripture. "We must be determined to read the imperfect in light of the perfect, the deficient in light of the sufficient, the temporary in light of the eternal, the groveling in light of the transcendent" (28). This means we must always be on the lookout for an author's worldview and the truths she or he is implicitly or explicitly conveying, even as we also seek out the beauty of God's truth, which can be expressed in unexpected places or ways. This means that, once we've developed a foundational knowledge of Scripture and the worldview it builds, we should be eager but discerning as we seek out the illumination of truth wherever it may be found, even in non-Christian works which may have important insights or perspectives to lend.

The second major section of Lit! is a practical guide to reading, both for those who are not already readers and for those who are. Reinke gives advice on what to read, as well as on how. The advice tends to be very practical, and really emphasizes that reading should be intentional. We should be thoughtful in the books we choose, and deliberate in the way we read. One of the nuggets I helpfully gleaned from him is that we shouldn't hesitate to drop a book part way through, or only read selectively, if that best suits our purpose or if we are finding that it isn't worthwhile. So many of his other suggestions comport well with my own discoveries and habits as I have developed as a reader, such as marking in your books (I highly recommend marking in your books, and Reinke makes a good argument for why, as well as describing how he chooses to do it), reading multiple books at once, and reading reviews, for instance. He also helpfully discusses how the internet is effecting our reading habits and our ability to concentrate, something I worry about with myself and even more for my children, calling us back to the development of sustained concentration.

I loved this book. As a passionate reader, this book resonates with my reading heart. For those of you who already share this passion for reading, this book can help provide both practical advice for honing your skills as well as helpful theological context in which to place your reading. And it is just simply a pleasure to read a book that extols the virtues of something you love. But this book is also for those who don't read, and who don't really want to. He makes good, simple arguments for why and how people who don't have interest, time, or enough perceived ability can and should begin to develop this most important and nourishing habit. There may have been one or two places where I didn't particularly agree with his advice (one specific instance comes when he encourages readers to write questions you want answered in the front cover before reading it, which is fine, but he then asserts that one way to find holes in the authors arguments is by seeing if he answers your questions; while I agree that we should read critically and curiously, and that we should look for holes in the author's arguments or logic, the fact that the author doesn't answer the questions we asked at the outset may reflect more the author's purpose than a failure of argument). In all, I warmly commend this outstanding little book. It is well written, thoughtful, and readily applicable. It will ignite or deepen a love of reading.

John Grisham, The Confession

2011-12-01T13:05:00.001-06:00

Grisham spins great tales with believable characters and gripping legal plots. He's done it again in this book. Keith Schroeder is a Lutheran pastor in a small Kansas town. One day, a haggard character comes to his office with a load on his mind, a confession to make. It involves information that could exonerate a young man who is only 3 days away from execution in Texas. The clock is running, and Keith is catapulted into a rush to save an innocent man. This great read is in the mold of Grisham's earlier book, The Chamber, and he again brings readers face to face with the death penalty and its perils (see also his great non-fiction book, The Innocent Man, if you want to see that he's not sensationalizing). Another Grisham success; I enjoyed reading it and was left thinking. Don't miss it.

J. Mark Bertrand, Pattern of Wounds

2011-11-16T13:13:00.001-06:00

I love to read fiction, as well as non-fiction (and Tony Reinke's Lit! gives some good reasons for Christians to do just that, though for me, one key reason is simply that I love to read a good story). And I love to read fiction that engages with Christian themes, which sometimes means reading "Christian fiction," though that's a difficult category to nail down for sure. When offered a review copy of Mark Bertrand's second book, I thought it looked intriguing and decided to take it on, and I'm glad I did.

Pattern of Wounds is the second "Roland March Mystery" from Bertrand. I haven't yet read the first, but my interest is certainly piqued. In this relatively classic who-done-it, a girl is found brutally murdered and grotesquely positioned near her landlord's swimming pool. The pursuit for the killer starts out routine enough, but quickly intertwines with one of March's earlier cases which is now being challenged on appeal, and is soon intertwined with a possible serial killer case connecting dozens of deaths around Texas. Suspects come and go, and the case heats up when March's wife is brutally attacked in his house. The action builds to a series of discoveries that break open the case.

Pattern of Wounds is published by Bethany House, putting it squarely in the traditional "Christian fiction" world, but it breaks out of the mold in a number of ways. The most prevalent way is that its main character, Roland March, isn't a Christian but is instead a skeptic, sometimes ignoring and sometimes wrestling with his wife's faith. And while Christian themes are present, in sometimes powerful ways, it's not preachy, and there are no facile or obvious conclusions drawn. March comes off as an honest character, and an authentic one. And the book is better for it.

I greatly enjoyed Pattern of Wounds, a thoughtful, plausible, and authentic murder mystery with much to offer. I'm glad to recommend it.

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy.

John Dickson, Humilitas

2011-11-15T15:28:00.001-06:00

John Dickson's Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadershipis a historical survey of the virtue of humility, along with a frank appraisal of its value and benefits. His subtitle is apt: a lost key to life, love, and leadership. The book is self-consciously styled as a leadership book, though Dickson is clear up front that his expertise in the topic is largely as a historian, as opposed to a leadership expert. And I would say it is very successful in that mold, demonstrating the (counter-intuitive) thesis that humility is a key leadership virtue. But I think the book's benefits extend far beyond the world of leadership. They apply to everyday life, to our closest relationships, and to everything we say and do.

Dickson defines humility as "the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself." He continues by summarizing humility as "a willingness to hold power in service of others" (24, emphasis original). He builds off this definition first by making a historical argument that the ancients didn't value humility as a value, but that a decisive change took place with Jesus Christ, who lived a life typified by humility and called his followers to do likewise. It is worth noting, at this point, though, that while Dickson himself is a Christian, and while Jesus proves a crucial turning point in this history of humility, his arguments are self-consciously not "Christian" in the sense that he doesn't argue from the Bible, instead elevating the virtue based on largely pragmatic and aesthetic grounds, though I think that serves the book well, especially as he envisions a wider audience in leadership circles. But that argument is successful, I think, as he demonstrates the beauty we perceive in humility, the growth and development that can come with humility, and the persuasiveness and inspiration that can come from a leader (or anyone) who exhibits humility.

Dickson's book is an enjoyable read, peppered with stories and anecdotes that illustrate and persuade at the same time. It works as a leadership book, showing the unexpected and counter-intuitive value that comes from humility. But I think it also works for anyone, and especially any Christian, who wants to develop this essential virtue. His clear and persuasive writing make this powerful argument easily readable but also winsome, and I am glad to recommend it.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine program and the publisher for the review copy.

Wade Davis, Into the Silence

2011-11-01T16:36:00.002-05:00

Into the Silence is an insightful chronicle of the early British expeditions to Mount Everest, climaxing in the fated and famed 1924 expedition in which George Mallory and Sandy Irvine met their death near the summit of the fabled mountain. It begins in the trenches of the Great War, chronicling the unimaginable horror that met British soldiers as they were slaughtered by the thousands at the hands of German artillery and machine guns. The war experience was not glorious, but instead horrifying and life altering, exposing soldiers to wanton death and destruction mere hours from their home shores but seemingly continents away from the perceptions back home (or even from the perceptions of commanding generals). Returning soldiers, those who made it home, were often irreversibly changed, and it is this change, along with the horrors many had faced, that sets the stage for the quest for Everest. The British colonial illusions and national psyche were altered in a decisive way by the first world war, in a way that makes the push for Everest both a quest for meaning in a seemingly meaningless quest and also a dying convulsion of colonial imperialism in the far-flung Raj. "In reality, the war left the nation bitterly divided, spiritually exhausted, and financially ruined . . . 'We have been moved already beyond endurance, and need rest'" (198-99; the latter half of the quote is a quotation from John Maynard Keynes). It was almost as if the country needed a new quest in which to be caught up.

Davis does a great job of chronicling the formative experiences of a number of key players in the years leading up to the Everest treks, and he allows their myriad motivations and aspirations to drive them toward the mountain. It is this element of the book that really gives it life, and take it beyond a simple historical chronicle of logistics, altitudes, and accomplishments, or even a mere adventure story, and into the hearts and minds of the Mallory and the other key figures in the push for the summit of the world.

The expanse of the narrative is truly epic, as it follows a group of men who literally trek off of the map into the harsh and uncharted wilds of the high Tibetan and Nepalese plateaus and mountains of the great Himalayas. Each of the three Everest journeys is followed in detail, with its challenges, discoveries, tragedies, and triumphs. Striking throughout the narrative is the almost casual approach to the mountain that pervades the first two approaches to the mountain, and even persists into the final push in 1924, in the selection of men who were not either young or fit enough for the rigors ahead, the lack of the necessary cold weather gear, and the stubborn refusal by most to even consider the merits of oxygen (or of down coats, introduced to the expedition by oxygen-advocate and climber George Finch on the 1922 attempt), though Mallory seems to have come around to the merits of the supplemental air as critical to any hope of success.

There is much to commend this wonderful book. It contains a great story of human endeavor in the pursuit of what is still considered a gargantuan feat (though countless deaths in the years since testify both to the harshness of the mountain and to attitudes that can sometimes become too casual with regard to the risks inherent in the attempt). The narrative is warm with personal detail, and captures and conveys a rich portrayal of British culture in the period between the wars, still replete with imperialist ideals and the flickering shadows of waning humanist optimism. It also serves as a vivid portrayal of the human cost of the British victory in WWI. It includes a number of maps, which decorate the endsheets, and which prove essential as you follow the various treks through the Himalaya. It also has a wonderful sixteen-page gallery of photos from the expeditions that help the reader envision the people and landscapes, though I was disappointed by the very curious and seemingly random arrangement of the photos, with pictures intermixed from the three expeditions, making it hard to find people or events without simply paging through the gallery.

The gallery arrangement isn't the only weakness, however. I greatly enjoyed the book, but found it too long. Especially in the first half of the book, detailing the run-up to Everest and the first exploratory expedition, I thought there was too much laborious detail. We are treated to a mini-biography of nearly every person we encounter, most of which include a review of the horrors of the WWI battlefields and each character's involvement therein. We also learn about every contour of the trail on the whole months-long march toward Everest in 1921, a journey that is essential to the story but should have been more abbreviated in my humble opinion. But once the 1922 expedition gets underway, the writing seems to streamline and the action begins to take over, leaving the last two hundred pages of this nearly six-hundred-page journey as the page-turning adventure writing I had hoped to encounter. It was the laboriousness of the heart of the book that kept this from being a truly great book, but it is still worth reading and has much to commend it. It is thoughtful, colorful, and insightful, and will certainly prove a definitive historical account of these landmark journeys and of these early chapters in the quest for Everest.

Thank you to Amazon Vine and the publisher, Knopf, for the review copy.

Dictionary of Christian Spirituality

2011-10-20T14:04:00.001-05:00

Zondervan has released Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, a new textbook and reference book on Christian Spirituality designed to be an academic resource from a broadly evangelical perspective that consciously takes into account the history and contributions of the wider Christian community throughout time. The book as two major parts, "Integrative Perspectives" and "Dictionary Entries." The first is a series of 34 topical essays dealing with introductory issues, major topics, and historical overviews. Most essays are five or six pages, and they seem to be good introductions to their respective areas. This first part is more or less what you might expect to find in an intro textbook, and their quality and breadth would make for a quite solid one. The second part of the book consists of about six hundred pages of dictionary articles, ranging in length from about a quarter page to around two pages, though most are around half a page. Their topics range widely, covering topics in spirituality like discipleship, nature mysticism, retreats, lament, and so on; historical figures, such as John Wesley, Vincent de Paul, Oscar Romero; and movements, such as Franciscan spirituality, Pentecostal spirituality, etc. As with any dictionary, I'm sure there is some unevenness in the entries, but the ones I read were good introductions to their respective areas.

I am certain of the value of this new hybrid book. First, the quality of the integrative essays seems very good, and I especially enjoyed editor Glen Scorgie's overview chapter, which provides a very solid introduction to the rationale and scope of a study of spirituality. He describes authentic Christian spirituality as "a Spirit-enabled relationship with the triune God that results in openness to others, healing progress toward Christ-likeness, and willing participation in God's purposes in the world" (30). The other essays I have sampled seem likewise informative and well-reasoned. One aspect of this project that does come through is that it is deliberately interdisciplinary, both in the sense of incorporating various aspects of the study of the Bible and of theology (OT, NT, systematics, history, as well as the more practical) but also beyond the world of theology to other areas, particularly psychology. There is also a very deliberate attempt in the essays and the dictionary articles to include both distinctively evangelical perspectives and personalities and a very broad scope of other Christian contributions. There is also an obvious geographical diversity reflected in the contributors and the articles themselves that lends a global perspective.

Thinking about the book as containing two principal parts, I see it being of great value as a textbook. I would envision a professor assigning certain of the introductory essays and pointing to a list of relevant articles for weekly assigned readings. There is also the possibility of setting the students loose in the dictionary portion in search of personalities and paper topics that resonate with them or pique their interest, a benefit of the wide variety of introductions close at hand. With those two types of uses in mind, I think this hybrid introduction and dictionary would make an effective textbook as well as a reference tool, though probably best suited to the former.

This brings me to a couple weaknesses, which might be easily rectified in future printings and editions. First, and most notably, there is no list of dictionary entries. As I have noted, there is an immense variety of topics covered in the dictionary portion, which is a strength. But without knowing that there is an entry on "Motherhood of God," "Leisure and Play," or "Jarena Lee," one likely wouldn't go looking. So I envision a lot of trial and error in the use of the dictionary. This is mitigated a bit by the fact that each dictionary article ends with a short "see also" list of other suggested readings, but it is still a glaring omission that will hamper the usefulness quite a bit. The second shortcoming is that, while the dictionary articles have a list of "see also" suggestions, the main integrative essays do not, though it seems like these would have been especially useful here. As I've mentioned, I can see a student being assigned a few of the major essays and then a selection of the smaller dictionary entries to suit the instructor's desires, but with no article suggestions, the instructors or students are left to page through the 600 pages of dictionary entries in search of the relevant topics. It would have been useful, for instance to have a list after the "Jesus" article (by Dallas Willard, which was quite worthwhile, by the way) that included suggestions like cross; humility; imitation of Christ; Jesus Prayer; Jesus, name of; Lord's Prayer; Lord's Supper; Johannine Spirituality; Luke's Spirituality; and so on. This would also be of great value in the historical essays, as it would help the reader know which historical figures or relevant groups have individual entries.

These weaknesses aside, there's a valuable resource here. I look forward to continuing to learn from it.

Thanks to Zondervan for a review copy and a place on their blog tour.

New P. D. James novel forthcoming

2011-10-20T10:46:00.001-05:00

Knopf has announced on their website a new P. D. James novel that will be coming out December 6, 2011: Death Comes to Pemberly. It is a novel taking up the setting and characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and involving them in a murder mystery five years after Austen's novel leaves off. I have enjoyed P. D> James's novels immensely (especially Death in Holy Orders). Her writing is wonderful, her characters, and especially her main characters, have great depth, and theological themes often intertwine with the mysteries at hand. So I look forward to this one.

Robert Whitlow, Water's Edge

2011-10-04T13:15:00.000-05:00

In Water's Edge, we encounter Tom Crane, a young and successful Atlanta attourney who travels home to a small Georgia town to close down his late father's legal practice. But Tom encounters some unexpected loose ends and finds himself surrounded by questions and doubts, about his father's death, about some of his father's past cases, and also about his own future.

I think Water's Edge is Whitlow at his best. Having read a number of his other books, this one ranks as my favorite so far, I think. It is evocative of John Grisham's Summons, dealing as it does with family and identity issues, interweaving the character development with some interesting legal mystery. It also has a prominent faith component, and this integrates well into the narrative without seeming forced. In fact, I found that Tom Crane's wrestling with faith and doubt and his encounter with God all served the plot and the development of his character. Though maybe a bit predictable, this book was wholly enjoyable. So whether you've read any Whitlow before or not, read this one.

Thanks to Amazon Vine and the publisher for the review copy.

Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

2011-10-04T12:36:00.003-05:00

In Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Metaxas has given us a very readable biography of one of the most remarkable characters of the twentieth century. Bonhoeffer's theological impact is large and continues to be felt widely, his ecumenical connections and his role in the church struggle in Germany propelled him to prominence in the fight against Nazism, and his role in the plots to remove Hitler gave him a place in the military and political history of the Second World War. So he is certainly a man to be reckoned with.

Where Metaxas's biography shines is as he seeks to convey the deep conviction and faith that animated Bonhoeffer's thinking and living. A deeply academic man, with a broad education, he also took very seriously the living and practice of his faith. And Metaxas's biography is careful to trace this stream as he moves smoothly through the various important periods in Bonhoeffer's life.

Bonhoeffer biography, in fact Bonhoeffer scholarship as a whole, is contested ground these days. Stephen Haynes wrote a book in 2004, The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon, that sought to show the various ways Bonhoeffer has been interpreted (or even co-opted) by various and diverse groups, how his remembrance goes from technical theological interaction to something approaching hagiography. Simply the presence of his popular Cost of Discipleship as a frequent must-read book among young evangelicals and the popularity of his idea of "religionless Christianity" among liberal scholars shows the breadth of interest in him. On the whole, I think Metaxas has navigated the rough waters well. He doesn't seem to excessively elevate Bonhoeffer, noting for instance that his family rarely if ever went to church while he was growing up or that his father was mostly opposed to religion, but he also doesn't shy away from Bonhoeffer's evident and deep faith that drove his thinking and acting. Instead he presents Bonhoeffer as a vibrant and scholarly Christian dedicated to living a life devoted to God but also willing to wade into complex waters without seeking simplistic answers but instead seeking to faithfully live as a disciple of Jesus.

I greatly enjoyed this book, and was deeply inspired again by Bonhoeffer's life and his writings, which are liberally but not overwhelmingly excerpted and quoted throughout the narrative. Metaxas tells the story of Bonhoeffer's education and travels, details his involvement with the Confessing Church and its seminary, highlights his major theological writings without focusing on them in detail, and chronicles his involvement in the plots to kill HItler. It is compelling reading, and I highly recommend it.

Robert Kurson, Shadow Divers

2011-09-02T16:51:00.000-05:00

Shadow Divers was exactly what I was hoping for. It is a fascinating tale of adventure and exploration that details the discovery of a mystery U-boat off the coast of New Jersey. The book works great as an adventure book, with lots of descriptive details regarding the craft of wreck diving and the tales of the people who risked and sometimes lost their lives on this wreck and others. And the risky deep-water dives in pursuit of this mystery ship certainly proved hazardous, with three divers losing their lives in the 200 feet plus depths. But the book weaves this adventure in with a mystery surrounding the identity of the newly-discovered ship. No U-boat were known to have gone missing anywhere in the vicinity. And the ship was reluctant to give up her secret, as years of diving produced no clear indication of just which ship she was. So John Chatterton and Rickie Kohler, two of the wreck divers, set off on a years-long quest to research U-boats in general, and dig through reams of primary documents detailing U-boat communication intercepts (the famed Enigma intercepts that were publicized in the movie U-571) and other documents from WWII, at times questioning the received wisdom or even consensus history when it didn't check out under further scrutiny. And the mystery drove these men years of research both in American archives and in trips to Germany to meet U-boat historians and even a former captain.

But the book has a third layer as well, the story of the three men who were principally involved in the discovery of the ship and its identity, as well as the story of the fated German U-boat. Especially the stories of the three divers, Bill Nagle, Chatterton, and Kohler, are what drive the story, as we get to know them and what drives them, and see how this mystery gets intertwined with their lives and their understanding of who they are.

In the end, this book was highly satisfying. It was fun to read, tied together by a mystery that needed solving, and driven by interesting and carefully reported characters. And I'm happy to recommend it.

Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

2011-08-29T15:27:00.000-05:00

The Wise Man's Fear is the second volume ("Day Two") of the Kingkiller Chronicles, an epic trilogy of books by Patrick Rothfuss. Like the first volume, The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1), this second book follows a young red-haired archanist named Kvothe. It begins with him studying at the University, in subjects like artificery, sympathy, and naming. But at the close of the term, he sets out to see the world, and to hopefully get a patron. A friend has set up an opportunity on the other end of the known world, with a wealthy Maer Alveron. So Kvothe sets out, and his journeys occupy much of the rest of the book, first as he learns to navigate the courtly culture in Vintas, then hunting bandits in the untamed Eld. He has a remarkable encounter with the mythic Felurian and spends a few months in the lands of the Fae, and also spends a few months learning the advanced mercenary culture and the way of the Lethani among the Adem, before rescuing two young girls from bandits on his way back home. That's all to say it is a relatively action-packed book with some interesting changes of scene.

This second book continues fascinating trajectory begun in the first volume, developing the main characters and the world they inhabit. Kvothe continues to become an engaging, complex, slightly dark protagonist, and he makes for a sympathetic yet also mythic "hero." The book suffers a bit from the oft-noted "middle-book slump," but not too much. The change of setting often makes for an interesting variety of scenery and plot, but it occasionally bogs down a little. And the main "mystery" that seems to be driving the books, a tandem of the questions of how Kvothe ends up as a rather hum-drum inn keeper in a backwards town and of how the major conflict with the Seven will resolve, are both moved forward some, but often seem to get lost in what almost seem like asides, or at least interesting facets too fully explored (case in point is the sheer amount of time spent in the world of the Fae with Feulrian, which adds some important detail as well as some mythic depth to the world and to Kvothe's character, but which goes on for maybe a few too many pages). As with the first volume, I enjoyed this one and look forward to the series' conclusion in the final book. Rothfuss has constructed an expansive story-world, and I look forward to entering it again.

Karl Marlantes, What It Is Like to Go to War

2011-08-24T15:26:00.002-05:00

In this reflective memoir, Karl Marlantes, writer of the widely acclaimed Vietnam War book Matterhorn, takes a probing look at his own experiences of going to war, and of coming home again. Because it is more of a series of reflections than a continuous narrative, I will review it in kind, with some impressions and appreciations. First, Marlantes' book is honest, sometimes brutally so. And I think this is one of the keys that makes it work. The reader gets the distinct impression that he has carefully worked and reworked his memories until they come out as honestly and completely as possible. Even though at times this means recounting memories of his own brutalities in war. But along with these sometimes tortured memories come candid memories of his own emotions, impressions, and motivations that help bring the experience of war to life. They also guarantee that war isn't glorified, and neither is the warrior. Instead, we meet the brutality along with the valor.

A second impression one gets is that these are carefully analysed reflections. He has quite obviously held his own experiences, indeed his own person, under the light of careful scrutiny. This means the narratives and accounts he relates are thick descriptions of events, filled out with his own psychological analysis about not only what he and those around him experienced but why. And this also means he often extends his reflections beyond his own experiences, through an analysis of why, to a discussion of what we might constructively draw from them. One key example that comes up repeatedly in the book is the experience of coming home. He recounts many of the difficulties of going from a life-or-death struggle in the jungles of Vietnam, where you are dealing death in a god-like fashion, to being rapidly transported via helicopter and airplane, back to your family and friends in everyday society in a matter of hours. And that jarring transition is made without reflection, significant preparation, or guidance. He recommends greatly increasing the debriefing and processing time for returning veterans, both before and after they come home. At one point he recommends returning to the WWII practice of returning home by ship, to give the decompression process time to happen. And he says so much more about this key issue of reintegration. It alone makes the book a compelling and worthwhile read, and has given me renewed respect and concern for our current crop of returning vets.

Last, in my unsystematic collection of reflections, I would say this book is vivid. It takes you not only into the battles but into the very experiences of being there and the psyches of the soldiers involved. The horrors of war are unavoidable, and an honest account like his helps keep us from sugar coating the experience and practice of war. He also raises interesting questions regarding the modern practice of war, with drone pilots dropping death by day and having dinner with the family "after work" in the evening. The psychological effects are hard to fathom.

Marlantes writes well, with carefully crafted words and deeply reflective ideas. I hope this book gains a wide readership, as it has brought home to me a fuller understanding of the exercise of war and also a much deeper appreciation for the men and women we commission to carry out war on our society's behalf. Thanks to the Amazon Vine program and the publisher for the advanced review copy.

Laurie R. King, Pirate King

2011-08-24T15:20:00.002-05:00

Pirate King is the eleventh Mary Russell novel from Laurie King (and they all, I believe, feature Sherlock Holmes, as this latest volume does). In this latest installment, there is plenty of action, as Mary gets swept up in a pirate adventure while involved in the making of a movie about a pirate adventure within a pirate adventure (there are many layers, and they aren't quite as confusing as it might seem). Mary signs on, at Holmes's urging, for an undercover assignment for Scotland Yard posing as an assistant to a well-known British filmmaker. The film crew and English portion of the cast set off by boat for Lisbon, where they will recruit some authentic-looking Pirates before moving on to North Africa to film their pirate tale. They are met by translator Fernando Pessoa, who will be their guide through Lisbon and who proves to be a colorful and complex host. They hire on a mysterious man, Mr. La Rocha, who will serve as the "Pirate King" in their film, and through him they fill out the ranks of the pirates. The cast and crew finally all set out aboard a two-masted boat that will serve both as their transportation to Morocco and as a primary set for the movie. The voyage proves adventurous, and takes some odd turns that keep Mary Russell on her toes, one of which is Holmes's appearance as a last-minute addition. And the tension builds as their fictional pirate adventure looks like it might just turn into a real one.

Pirate King really is a swashbuckling pirate-filled adventure, wrapped up together with a series of mysteries. Mary Russell especially proves a solid protagonist and interesting character. And though Holmes doesn't figure real prominently in the story, his appearances do cohere nicely with the Holmes I so fondly remember from Doyle's stories. This book proved an enjoyable read, but I wasn't entirely satisfied at its conclusion. I felt like the principal mystery, the one for which Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes were initially engaged, didn't figure very prominently in the major action of the novel, and was solved more as an afterthought once the major action had resolved, and didn't prove to be really integral to the major plotline. That criticism aside, I do look forward to reading other books in King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. While not perfect, it was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher and the Amazon.com Vine program for the review copy.

Sam Skolnik, High Stakes

2011-07-20T13:36:00.000-05:00

Gambling is big business in the United States. And it's not only on Reservations; many states are in the business too, with the proliferation of lotteries and other government-sponsored venues. But at what cost. In High Stakes: The Rising Cost of America's Gambling Addiction, journalist Sam Skolnik investigates the growth of gambling and the growth of its aftermath. Skolnik's study is a systematic look at gambling and addiction from a number of perspectives. He looks at the growing state dependence on gambling, as more and more state governments rely on lottery revenue to fund their budgets (but at what cost?). He also looks carefully at the rise of problem gambling that has inevitably followed on the heels of the increased legalization and availability of gambling. With both stories of people who have been affected, and large scale investigation into the character and scope of problem gambling especially in the United States, Skolnik has written an important book. Especially as many states look at budget shortfalls and grab at the chance for quick revenue, it is essential that we come to grips with the true cost of gambling. Among the important problems he cites are the conflicted role that government plays, with both the desire to protect its citizens but also to profit from the revenues, and the need for independent research into the causes and extent of gambling addiction, as much current research is funded directly or indirectly by the gambling industry itself. In all, this is an informative read on an important and timely topic, and I hope it gains a wide readership. Thanks to Amazon.come Vine program and the publisher for the review copy.

Rick McKinley, A Kingdom Called Desire

2011-07-19T16:54:00.000-05:00

In A Kingdom Called Desire, pastor Rick McKinley takes a look at the life of discipleship to Jesus through the lens of desire.In a culture keyed in on finding the thing that will make us the most happy, McKinley calls us to carefully search out our desires, first because God in fact created them, and second, so we can honestly face up to the question of whether we do in fact desire God the most. And it is in the latter, the deep and true desire for God, that McKinley develops his picture of kingdom living. And part of this involves recognizing honestly the desires God has placed within us and recognizing and developing the God-given desire for him that rests beneath them. In a key chapter, "Life and Death," McKinley gets to the heart of what this transformation of desire entails, as he reflects on the need to face our own mortality, and as we do this, to learn to cling to the cross. "I wanted to cling to one part of the gospel: his death for me. I don't want to grapple with the implications of my death in him" (53). Instead of making our own lives into idols, we must come to grips with our own death in Christ, and our new life as Christ lives in us. It is then that we learn to focus on Jesus and desire him and the coming of his kingdom. And key to this new life is that we no longer act out of duty, of a need to produce the life God can appreciate or that can make us worthy before God, we are no longer seeking to do the right thing to avoid negative consequences, but are instead living into the life God has for us, and sin begins to loose its attraction for us. This transformation of life then begins to work itself out in our lives as we begin to recognize the God-given desires that are unique to us, and we see the way God has made us to be, allowing us to seek out things that are God-glorifying and are at the same time fitting to the way God has made us to be, a deep freedom to become who God made us to be in him.

McKinley's book has a nice conversational quality that keeps it from becoming either too academic or to preachy. He also takes an honest tone that gives credibility to his discussion. And I found his discussion of the concept of desire to be overall a helpful one, as I think finding our fulfillment through the realization of our own personal desires is a key idea in our culture today, but also has some potential as an entry point for reimagining our relationship to God. The danger, of course, is of making the gospel a self-help program or a path to personal fulfillment, though I think McKinley is aware of these dangers and steers mostly clear of them. I may quibble with a few points, but overall found his approach to have some merit. I especially appreciated his call to honestly investigate our desires, to see if we truly are desiring God or if we are merely paying lip service to our faith. IN all, this book has some good things to say to those who want to desire God and live for him.

Thanks to the publisher and Amazon.com Vine program for the review copy.

Ben Witherington III and Ann Witherington, Papias and the Mysterious Menorah

2011-07-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

Ben and Ann Witherington have done it again in this third installment of the Art West series of mysteries. Paipas and the Mysterious Menorah is a fast-moving archaeological thriller filled with tantalizing discoveries of "biblical" proportions. Biblical scholar and archaeologist Art West finds himself consulting on a new cache of scrolls in Turkey that seem to be from the second Christian century. And as he gets involved with the dig and the newly discovered documents, it quickly becomes evident they have unearthed something of grand significance: the home, church, and writings of the famous second-century bishop, Papias. But the plot quickly thickens as Art is trapped and nearly killed in a tunnel connected to the home. As he recovers from his near miss, Art and fellow archaeologist Marissa Okur, the supervisor of the dig and a person of growing "interest" to Art, find themselves on a whirlwind journey to both understand the significance of the Paipas house and scrolls and to understand the forces that seem to be nefariously aligning against them. Meanwhile, West's friend Kahlil el Said and his daughter Hannah have chosen a wedding gift from their antiquities shop for their mutual friend Grace Levine's upcoming wedding, but the provenance and mysterious contents of their fortuitously chosen menorah come to light, even more mystery and discovery ensue.

I greatly enjoyed the first two installments of the Witheringtons' Art West Adventures, and this third volume is certainly no different. The writing is solid, the settings are uniformly enjoyable, as are the characters. Especially valuable is the obvious familiarity with both the ancient and modern intricacies of the middle east, as well as the thorough knowledge of biblical studies and archaeology that they bring. And unlike Dan Brown's imaginative fiction concerning Christian origins, the Witheringtons' imaginings are informed and plausible, even if they occasionally indulge some of Ben's minority opinions (such as the fictional confirmation of Lazarus's identity as the "Beloved Disciple" in the fourth gospel), but none of these judgments can be argued to be misleading or distorting. And for me one of the greatest values of these great mysteries, beyond their obvious intrinsic worth as fun reads, is that they bring to life the investigation of the ancient world and its documents and dramatize the revelations that can come from the pursuit and interpretation of ancient sites and documents. So I highly recommend all of three of the extant Art West Adventures, and look forward to the unveiling of future volumes.

Special thanks to Bob Todd and Pickwick Publications for the review copy.

William Kent Krueger, Northwest Angle

2011-07-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Amazon Vine and the publisher for the review copy.

In this mystery filled with wonderful texture, Cork O'Connor and his family encounter mysterious evil forces in the aftermath of an epic storm that sweeps across the Lake of the Woods. While vacationing near the Northwest Angle in northern Minnesota, the O'Connors are caught in a fierce and destructive storm which scatters them across the lake. Jenny, Cork's daughter, washes up on a small island and discovers, in the storm's aftermath, a murdered woman and her hidden infant. This sets in motion a great chase, as unknown forces seem to be after the child. The O'Connors are eventually reuinted, but the plot only thickens as they begin to put the pieces together. The murdered woman, Lily Smalldog, worked for a reclusive band of fundamentalist Christians driven by apocalyptic visions of the End Times, and though they seemed to care for her, something doesn't seem right. Meanwhile, Lily's fugitive brother is on the loose, and Cork needs to figure out how he fits into the puzzle before more people get killed.

Krueger writes like a Tony Hillerman of the North, as Cork's Ojibwe heritage and the Native American background of the mother and baby come to play a key role in the story. He also develops a number of the characters, as each wrestles with the past, as well as trying to forge a way into the future. Jenny agonizes over her relationship with her boyfriend, Aaron, with the question of children at the center of the conflict. Cork is tring to move forward after the death of his wife, and is reluctant to be caught up in more violence. And in numerous characters, as well as in the main plotline of the book, the nature and identity of God/The Great Mystery become a key element, with the certainty of the fundamentalists and their End Times vision of God occupying one extreme, Henry Meloux and Amos Powassin, two Objiwe wise men and their vision of The Great Mystery on the other end, with Mal and Rose, Cork's brother- and sister-in law, and their Catholicism occupying a more moderate voice. Cork embodies this larger theme, with his spirituality coming "as much from the teaching of men like Henry Meloux, the old Ojibwe Mide, as it did from the text of the New Testament" (181). This honest wrestling with God's nature and purposes lends an agreeable depth and reflectiveness to the mystery genre and serves to make this a great read, both as a compelling mystery and as a work of thoughtful fiction. Though I personally may not agree with the way Cork chooses to resolve some of these themes (in what appears to be an easy syncretism between Ojibwe spirituality and Christianity), I do appreciate the authenticity of the questions and the perspectives that are being portrayed, and hope the dialogue continues in his future books.

In capturing the texture of the Lake of the Woods (I had the pleasure of reading the first half of the book while on a fishing trip there), and the people who live there, as well as building deep and interesting characters, Krueger has written a great book. I look forward to reading some of his others.

Stephen Lawhead, The Skin Map

2011-06-24T08:57:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy. This book is the first in a new series by the prolific author Stephen Lawhead. The concept is a relatively intriguing one: London-resident Kit Livingstone sumbles on a "Ley line," an invisible portal between different universes of our multiverse. He is apparently possessive of some faculty that allows him to do this. And things get immediately stranger when he meets his great-grandfather, who helps him understand this new ability and this trans-universe travel. Soon he, and separately his casual girlfriend Wihlehmina, are off on adventures in other times and places. Wilhelmina ends up in 17th century Prague, and her storyline is a fun one, as she develops as a character and learns to navigate life in a different time and culture. Kit, meanwhile, is thrust on his own adventures in London and elsewhere. And as the story develops, we learn that there are forces for good and evil competing to track down the pieces of a mysterious map that holds important keys for navigating the ley lines.

There are the bones of a good story here, as well as some fun parts to this book. But overall it was really lacking in compelling characters and action to drive it. I was hoping for more from Lawhead, but he hasn't yet delivered. I hold out some hope for future volumes in the series, to see where he takes the action and how he develops the characters, but I'm not in a big hurry to get to them. If you read this one, know that it's only the beginning of the story.

Don Hoesel, The Alarmists

2011-05-15T15:24:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy. Brent Michaels is a professor of sociology brought in by a special Pentagon unit to consult on a series of seemingly random yet troubling escalations of violence across the globe. Colonel James Richards wants his advice on whether there is any sense that can be made of the scattered events that can point to either a cause or purpose behind them. The team is led all over the country and the world, investigating an oil rig explosion in Texas, political unrest in Afghanistan, and mysterious digging in Antarctica. Brent and the team seem always a step behind, but a picture does seem to be emerging that points beyond merely random occurrences of violence to a coordinated attempt to raise panic. But why? And who could manipulate events the world over? As they race to figure it out, Brent begins to wonder if these events are leading up to some great polarizing event meant to cause global panic, and sees the fast approaching mythic doomsday of December 21, 2012, as a likely time. So with only days to go, the team must figure out who is behind the plan and stop the world from careening out of control.

Hoesel's story is interesting, and Brent Michaels is a relatively strong main character. This book takes you to myriad locations and drives you on to its ending. It is pretty solid adventure fiction. The villain is a little implausible and stereotyped, as are some of the characters. And the main plot line likewise lacks some plausibility. But this is countered by relatively solid writing and a handful of stronger characters, along with some good action at exotic locations. My largest complaint about the book is probably its cover: it pictures a young-looking man with darked-out eyes holding his hand in front of his face. The problem is that this image seems to have absolutely no connection with anything in the book, at all. It doesn't fit the description of any of the characters, and certainly not the main characters. I don't want to belabor the point, but you do judge a book by its cover, and this one just doesn't work. An image of an oil derrick exploding or of an older professor-type character would have been plenty compelling, but it seems the art department didn't bother reading the book. That doesn't directly detract from what is otherwise a pretty good book, but it does warrant a mention. In all, I'd give the book 3.5 stars (though because Amazon doesn't do half stars, I bumped it up to four).

Margaret McLean, Under Fire

2011-05-15T14:52:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Amazon Vine program for the advanced review copy.

I loved this book. It was truly a pleasure to read and is a powerful debut from an attorney-turned-novelist who has obviously taken care to hone her writing craft. The story centers around a fire that breaks out in a Senagalese Market in Boston. During the rescue of the two occupants from the apartment above the store, one of the firefighters is shot and killed. The fire appears to be arson, and the store owner, Amina Dialla, a Senagalese immigrant, is arrested and charged. The story unfolds in the courtroom as this emotionally charged case plays out. Amina is represented by Sarah Lynch and her uncle Buddy Lynch, who believe in their client's innocence, but at the same time realize that there is more to her story than she is willing to let on. And the trial gets off to a bang when Sarah is shot by an gunman who appears to be attempting to kill Amina during the arraignment proceedings. From there the pressure mounts as the firefighters and politicians are calling for justice, while Sarah and Uncle Buddy are racing to find evidence that can clear their client and show who really started the fire. As shady mortgage deals, political intrigue, and possible connections to another arson case from a few years before all come to light, along with a homeless man's story about seeing an angel emerge on the roof during the fire, there are a lot of pieces that need to be put together.

McLean's book is a riveting piece of legal fiction, with great courtroom scenes, lots of action, and building tension, as the reader pulls for Amina Dialla but also knows that they don't know the whole story yet. She uses the perspectives of various jurors throughout to both develop their characters and give nice texture to the courtroom arguments. This book is well built, with a great story, interesting characters, and a case that just needs to be solved. The ending is a worthy payoff without being to facile or predictable. In all, this was one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a while, and I look forward to more.

Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau (short story)

2011-04-28T11:40:00.000-05:00

I listened to this audio book as part of the Amazon Vine program, so thanks to Amazon and the publishers for the review copy.

This is a great story, and the recording is well done. In this one-hour short story, Philip Dick builds a great little tale investigating the very fabric of reality. Ed and his wife Ruth are normal, everyday people with normal, everyday jobs. But one morning, Ed shows up late to work. And it turns out to be the day that his work segment is being "adjusted." So he stumbles unaware into a piece of reality that is deactivated for tweaking. He manages to escape, but has to try cope with this glimpse behind the curtain, as he comes to realize that reality is being manipulated by someone from the outside, and he even comes to learn why, when he meets the man "behind the curtain." Dick's story is a fun and also meaningful exploration of themes of providence, determinism, and fate, and I look forward to discussing it with others. This short story is very evocative of Farenheit 451 in the way it takes a look at reality that is at once fantastic and plausible, and he gives the reader or listener great food for thought. And the story is just plain fun. It is a riveting hour of listening, well narrated by Phil Gigante. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

Jeff Shaara, The Final Storm

2011-04-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

I read this book as part of the Amazon Vine program, so thanks to Amazon and the publishers for a review copy.

This novel, The Final Storm, is a follow-up volume to Shaara's very good trilogy focusing on World War 2 as it developed in Africa and in Europe. Once the victory occurred there, the Allies shifted their full attention to the Pacific, and Shaara does likewise. He doesn't tell the whole story of the Pacific, but instead picks up the story in mid-stream, focusing on the final months of the conflict and the lead-up to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Like the earlier trilogy, this book is full of quality writing and thick characters, from President Harry Truman to Marine private Clay Adams to Chester Nimitz to Japanese General Ushijima (though the Japanese side of the narrative was weaker than I would have liked). He also uses vivid portrayals of the sights, smells, sounds, and experiences of battle, with all its brutality and horror. The middle section of the book (pages 70-330) focuses pretty tightly on the battle for Okinawa, a brutal battle that was more-or-less last in a chain of island battles fought by the Allies as they made their way toward Japan. And here is one of the weaknesses of this book that sets it apart from the earlier trilogy that I loved so much: in those books, it really felt like you got the story, from both sides, of how the war was developing, the big picture interspersed with on-the-ground experiences about what it was like to live through the various developments. But in this book, the battle for Okinawa seemed to overwhelm the larger narrative, and the book bogged down in the brutality of the slow advance around the island. The lead-up to Okinawa and the final part of the book focused on the decisions and preparation to drop the atomic bomb both picked up the tempo and broadened the perspective, and I enjoyed both of them immensely. And I grant that the battle for Okinawa helps put the decision to drop the horrific bomb on Japan in perspective of what a battle on Japanese soil might have been like for both sides, but it still bogged down the book. In all, I'd say this was a good book that could have been great.

Ben Witherington, Roman Numerals

2011-03-19T13:48:00.002-05:00

Roman numerals is the second Art West adventure from Ben and Ann Witherington. Ben is a prolific and widely respected biblical scholar who has written widely in new testament history, exegesis and theology. Ann is his biology-professor wife. And together they have crafted this series of adventure mysteries. In this second installment, Art West finds himself investigating a major antiquities heist, and he is later abducted by an Islamic group that wants to silence his christian witness. The books are relatively well written, and have lots of action as well as some interesting characters. Much of the action takes place in Jerusalem and in archaeological sites in its surrounding hills, and the Witheringtons show sensativity to the complex historical, cultural, and theological situation there. Also a major theme in this book was Art's ficticious investigations into the presence and extent of the emperor cult in the first century, and especially in Palestine. this theme especially is helped by a brief author's note at the end of the book that details which archeological finds and ancient artifacts were real and which were ficticuous. I won't ruin the plot by outlining it here, but there is enough action woven together with thoughtful and authentic historical detail to make these great books, especially for people with interest in Biblical history and archaeology, and not to mention an ability to explore the content and implications of Christian faith. I look forward to reading the third installment.

William Golding, Lord of the Flies

2011-03-12T15:33:00.000-06:00

William Golding won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most of us probably read this classic in school. I know I did, but it had been probably close to twenty years. So I picked it up again, and I'm glad I did. This well-told story is quite a study of human nature, as a group of stranded kids develop their own "society" and struggle to form and maintain some semblance of structure and norms as things devolve into something between tyranny and anarchy. It is certainly a fleshing out of a Christian understanding of humanity's tainted nature, "the darkness of man's heart" (286), whether he intended it so or not. I was also intrigued that just as the violence was reaching it's crecendo on the island, the boys were rescued by a military cruiser. So even as "civilization" comes to the rescue, we see that the picture on the island isn't so different from the civilized world of today. Certainly a thought-provoking book. Highly recommended.

David Zucchino, Thunder Run

2011-02-06T14:34:00.000-06:00

Thunder Run is an account of a pivotal armor incursion into the heart of Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The book was written in 2004, and doesn't really step back and judge the overall merits of the war, but that isn't his purpose. Zucchino was an embedded reporter with the Spartan Brigade of tanks and personnel carriers. They were (much to their surprise) tasked with a bold charge straight up the central highway into the heart of Baghdad, and two days later, were then sent right into the heart of the city to capture and then hold the central government palace. The book, much in the mold of Black Hawk Down, is an account of the battles and the men who were involved. It deals with command decisions and the overall flow of the battles, as well as recounting in vivid detail the experiences of the soldiers tasked with these challenging duties.

The book is well written, and the story well told. It brings to life a key moment in this first stage in what we now understand to be a long and ongoing conflict in Iraq. The books strengths are its immediacy and the vividness with which it captures the ebb and flow, the confusion and planning, that are involved in an urban battle. And Zucchino also doesn't shy away from either the carnage of battle or the mindsets of the soldiers taking part. His insight into why soldiers fight and how they feel about killing is itself one of the most worthwhile elements in his reporting.

Michael Crichton, Pirate Latitudes

2010-12-05T20:15:00.000-06:00

Pirate Latitudes is a fun little tale, but not Crichton's best. The writing is vintage Crichton, with fun locales and cinematic action. The characters are a little flatter than usual, but overall it is certainly readable, even enjoyable. But don't expect too much. It lack's Crichton's trademark twist of innovative or imaginative science that usually brings his books to life. But there's no doubt he had a writer's touch, even with this different genre.

Andy Andrews, The Boy Who Changes the World

2010-11-25T14:39:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

In The Boy Who Changes the World, Andy Andrews tells the stories of four boys, whose lives touched one another, and who each made a difference in the life of another, bringing about meaningful change in the world (in the end, Norman Borlaug creates superplants that helps feed billions of people; that's a pretty big change). Each little story encourages kids to realize that the choices they make matter, and even though their choices may seem small, they can have a great impact. He calls this the butterfly effect. The book is well written, the illustrations are both fun and beautiful, and the message is a great one for kids to hear. I look forward to reading this book over and over with my own boys, in hopes that each of them can be the boy who changes the world.

Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel

2010-11-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

I loved this book! And I hope you read it. That's the only way I can start this review. Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, has written a powerful apologetic for that important Christian ministry, but more than that, he has challenged evangelicalism to espouse a fully orbed gospel of the kingdom.

The book is part testimony and autobiography, with Stearns recounting his own journey from new Christian to successful corporate executive to president of World Vision. And it is a great story, easy to relate to, and well told. I found it easy to relate to Stearns' journey, his excitement for the gospel but also his reluctance to step out of his comfort zone into new territories. His story is written with obvious honesty and candor, and I thin it lays important groundwork for and integrates well with the book's overall message about broadening the way we understand the gospel and our role to spread the gospel to the world.

The core vision of the book is about getting beyond a traditional view of the gospel as an "otherworldly" message of hope for the hereafter to a Jesus-centered kingdom vision about changed lives, spiritually and physically. We are called not only to preach but to also embody the gospel. "This gospel that we have been given—the whole gospel—is God's vision for a new way of living. It inaugurates the reality of God dwelling within us, His followers, no longer in a temple in Jerusalem. . . . God's kingdom was going to begin on earth through the changed lives of His followers, and its hall markes would be forgiveness, love, compassion, justice, and mercy" (276).

Stearns is well aware of the dangers of preaching a "works" righteousness, and he addresses that concern a couple of times in his writing. He is also aware that some may want to read his message as a call away from traditional evangelistic preaching to a social gospel, a charge he anticipates and subverts a number of times as well. In all, I think Stearns has done the church a great service in writing this call to follow Jesus in his kingdom ministry. For if God truly loves the world, aren't we going to do everything in our power to overcome disparity, disease, poverty, and oppression as we do everything we can to overcome spiritual blindness, poverty, and oppression. And, in fact, the two can't and shouldn't be separated. For each side of the gospel fits with the other: a preaching without works of love is only words, and a life of compassionate action is one of the best apologias for the gospel we preach. Highly recommended.

Phillip Margolin, Lost Lake

2010-09-14T19:33:00.000-05:00

In this mystery thriller, a young Portland attorney finds herself in the middle of a strange case after a man she had recently befriended violently attacks two men at her son's little league game. He claims he is part of a super-secret government group called the Unit. As events unfold, it turns out Morelli, is really Carl Rice, and he is wanted in connection with a number of brutal murders. But he tells a different tale, of killings that were part of his work with the unit. Margolin's book turns out to be a fun interweaving of plot lines, and he even makes what could be a rather tired plot about a supersecret government agency work, as doubt is case right up to the end about who is really telling the truth, and whether Morelli is really a secret government agent or just a delusional and psychopathic killer.

Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol

2010-09-14T19:21:00.000-05:00

A classic cold-war espionage tale. Very much in the mold of Tom Clancy, this great spy tale by Frederick Forsyth certainly belongs in the same class as Clancy's best. It is an entertaining tale of nuclear threats, a terrorist plot engineered by a faction in the Soviet government, and some great police work by an enterprising British agent who finds himself up against an unknown foe in a game with high stakes. This book is a great read, with a good plot and solid characters. Well done.

Stephen Lawhead, Patrick

2010-09-14T19:16:00.001-05:00

In this work of imaginative historical fiction, Lawhead follows the exploits and exploitation of a young saint Patrick. This story, set mostly in Britain and Ireland, along with Gaul, Germania, and Rome, is an expansive and well-told tale. Lawhead does a great job of recreating the medieval world. And likewise the story of Patrick is a compelling one, as he emerges from a life of privilege and embarks on a journey of self-discovery, a journey which he sets upon unwillingly, as a captured slave at the hands of Irish raiders.

Patrick is my first Stephen Lawhead book, but it won't be my last. His writing is thoughtful, as well as entertaining. His characters are authentic, and they wrestle with real and timeless issues in a genuine way. And there is an epic feel to his writing, with the great places and characters that are encountered along the way. I found this book to be readable and interesting, as well as thought-provoking.

Max Lucado, Outlive Your Life

2010-09-10T21:30:00.002-05:00

Though it's not my usual academic fare, I offer below a review I just finished for Max Lucado's newest book. In brief, great book. Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

Outlive Your Life is a compelling call to shake our complacency and rediscover our world through God's eyes. In these fifteen lessons shaped by the book of Acts, Max Lucado challenges his readers to look at their lives, their surroundings, and especially the people who surround them with a fresh and God-shaped perspective. Taking a cue from the way the gospel revolutionized the disciples and their ministry, even in uncomfortable and counter-cultural or even counter-intuitive ways, we too are to take up the kingdom life.

With his characteristic talent for pastoral insight, but in a way that surpasses other books of his that I have read, Lucado makes a clear and impassioned plea for so much more than cultural Christianity. He thinks of our complacent life like living in a clamshell: "Most of us have learned to insulate ourselves against the hurt of the hurting. Haven't we?" (23) Instead, God calls us "to unshell [ourselves] and partner with [Him] in [His] mission of love" (29). And that is what this book is all about, a new perspective, that looks beyond ourselves and our own interests to the interests of others, to the very interests of God. One great but uncomfortable point that typifies his challenge to readers is his assertion that "Poverty is not the lack of charity but the lack of justice" (106). We can't truly be Christ-followers and live life blind to those around us, blind to suffering, indifferent to injustice. Instead, we need to "outlive our lives," with a broader view and a renewed call to action.

I am happy to pass along that I enjoyed this book. It makes a great point (similar to Richard Stearns' The Hole in Our Gospel), is easily readable, and contains some great stories and illustrations for his points. And it serves as a clarion call to a broader vision, renewed commitment to prayer, and imperative for action. I hope this is his most-read book ever.

M. Daniel Carroll R., Christians at the Border

2010-08-08T15:04:00.000-05:00

Christians at the Border is a thorough and timely study of the issue of immigration in America. Written by an Old Testament scholar who is a Guatemalan-American, and who lives and teaches on both sides of our Southern border, the perspectives Carroll R. brings are essential. He carefully looks at the situation today, showing the great complexity which must be comprehended as we look at immigration (including things like where people come from and why the come, the economic pressures on both sides of the borders, and the broader history of immigration in America). He then looks back into the Old and New Testaments to see how their witness can be brought to bear. In both of these areas, carefully looking at today's context and exploring the biblical context and teaching, the book shines.

The fundamental insight that Carroll R. uses to reframe the debate, and one that I think is essential as we move forward, is to recognize that the debate today must be shifted from one about "immigration" as a concept to a debate and discussion about immigrants, human beings made in God's image who deserve our respect, care, and concern. Especially as Christians, we must come to grips with the sojourners among us (who are often, incidentally, fellow Christians), and must seek both temporary and long-term solutions that create and maintain justice as well as express and embody our identity as God's agents on earth.

The discussion in America today about immigration is a great opportunity for the body of Christ to exemplify what it means to love God and neighbor. There is no doubt that we must get beyond entrenched political positions and party alignments, as well as beyond oversimplifications and false dichotomies and seek new ways of of living and acting as Christians in the world. As Carrol R. concludes, "The decisions that are made and courses of action that are recommended [in a Christian approach to immigration] should be commensurate with the life of Jesus—his actions, his teaching, his cross."

I highly and unreservedly recommend this book. It is very readable, just as it is also thorough and careful. First-hand experience is melded nicely with research, and careful biblical reasoning is brought to bear with wisdom on a divisive issue with an always irenic yet prophetic tone. Read this book and be challenged!

Anthony Swofford, Jarhead

2010-08-08T14:48:00.000-05:00

This is not an easy book to read. That doesn't mean it isn't well-written, which it is, or that it lacks action, because it doesn't. Instead, it is an often uncomfortable book. It dispels the illusion we all harbor to one degree or another that war is noble and that warriors are likewise noble. Instead, Swofford recounts his own experience in the Marine Corps, first as a line grunt in training and then as a member of the elite Surveillance and Target Acquisition Platoon (that is, a member of the sniper squad). He tells with stark honesty of life in the corps, the hard men living a hard life. The brutality and futility are almost palpable. Gone, or at least greatly altered, are pictures of the upright and driven soldier, fighting selflessly for the greater good. The portrait Swofford builds, of himself and his fellow platoonmates, is one of great skill coupled with often senseless violence: violence itself becomes a rush, an addiction. Soldiers fight because they have no choice, because even though they wish they had never joined they're stuck there now, and because that is where the outlet for their addiction is provided.

Along with his colorful portrait of life in the Marine Corps, Swofford recounts his own participation in and understanding of the first Gulf War, an interesting inside portrait of a quick victory to reclaim valuable oil fields.

Both as a piece of first-hand history, and as an insider tale of life at war, this is an important book. Especially for the myths it dispels, it is important reading. Because as long as we glamorize war, we don't really comprehend it, and as long as we valorize the experiences of our soldiers, we won't really be able to even begin to both honor their service and enfold them again into society. And, maybe most important of all, if we don't come face to face with the yawing void that is war, with all of its tragedy, violence, and futility, we will be too quick to go down that path again and again.

Norman Ollestad, Crazy for the Storm

2010-08-08T14:34:00.000-05:00

In this well-written account, Norman Ollestad tells the compelling tale of his own survival of a small plane crash high in the San Gabriel Mountains of California. As an 11-year-old boy, he was the lone survivor of the crash, and had to make his way down the steep face of the mountain alone in order to escape the deadly cold. Interwoven with this narrative is the larger tale of his relationship with his dad.

Normand Ollestad Sr. was a driven man, who loved to push the envelope in skiing, in surfing, and in life, and who took his son along with him, willing or not. These experiences of being forced to push his own endurance, to learn things that didn't interest him, caused a lot of resentment in young Norman Jr. But as he recounts the tale of his survival, he comes to realize that though his dad was "crazy for the storm," for the rush of survival and the thrill of the perfect ride, it was his dad's drivenness and the extremes that he too experienced under his dad's compulsion that got him through. "I knew that what he had put me through saved my life" (210).

The memoir is an entertaining read. The harrowing fight for survival high in the mountains drives the story, but the interwoven tales of Norm's upbringing in the surfing and skiing world are no less interesting, and the two halves of the tale come together nicely to paint a fascinating though tragic picture of this complicated relationship of father and son. It raises, without answering, some interesting and important questions about fathers and sons, parents and children, especially with regard to how to mold and shape a future generation and ensure they learn and experience things that will be important building blocks for life without removing freedom. The epilogue in which Norman talks about his relationship with his own son and the setting in which he wrote the book provides a nice tie up for these questions. In all, it is a very worthwhile book.

Ronald C. White, Jr., A. Lincoln

2010-07-30T17:06:00.000-05:00

In this full-scale biography of Abraham Lincoln, Ronald White does a great job of conveying both the brilliance and the humanity of this great president. As you would expect, White chronicles Lincoln's upbringing, his education (or lack thereof), and his entry into the law profession. It is clear that these years set the stage for what is to come, as you can see the character that will become so essential to his success being formed. White chronicles Lincoln's early forays into politics, his time in the state legislature, and his early involvement with the nascent Republican party. He carefully reports on the famous debates with Stephen Douglas, as well as Lincoln's meteoric rise to the presidency. Lincoln's time in office is then reported with great care, showing not only Lincoln's important stances on slavery (though those are carefully discussed), but also how Lincoln operated as a politician and as a commander-in-chief (a role he felt mostly unprepared for, so he took up a reading program to educate himself, in true Lincoln fashion).

I loved this book, and am happy to recommend it. I think one of the components that intrigued me most about Lincoln the man was how he balanced his strong principles with political pragmatism or realism, knowing for instance how hard to push various abolition laws while at the same time being sure to not alienate border states that were on the fence about sessession and thereby imperiling the union further. A second element that intrigued me was how the political campaign system operated differently. Candidates for president didn't "campaign" for office: instead, others spoke on their behalf, and their record, speeches, and writings spoke for the candidates. It is intriguing to think how our political scene might be different if politicians were judged by what they've actually accomplished or the principles they have articulated over time instead of the promises they make and the persona they portray (not that these things were unimportant in Lincoln's day; it's naive to think of his era as an idyllic one, as White points out at various points).

Ted Bell, Spy

2010-07-30T16:56:00.000-05:00

In this action-adventure thriller, Ted Bell features his hero, Alex Hawke, a wealthy independent spy and paramilitary operator with ties to the British intelligence service. We find Hawke a prisoner in a work camp deep in the Amazon rain forest.

A short time after a narrow escape from the Amazonian camp, and the tyrant, Syrian Muhammad Top, Hawke finds himself enlisted by the British intelligence agency to both discuss his perspective on the threat posed by Top and his organization and also to head up a mission to disrupt Top's plans. Top is the leader of a secret military organization, supported by Islamic militants, whose intent is to combine with Latin American rebels to both incite violence against and war with the United States, as well as to strike fatal blows at strategic locations in the US. An important component of the strategy, especially of the Mexican government, is requonquista, retaking the lands lost to the United States in previous centuries through recolonizing them, with both legal and illegal border crossings. This silent army will rise up and join with Mexican forces when the time is right to reclaim territory for Mexico.

It is up to Hawke to travel up the Amazon, in his heavily armed and custom-built cruise ship, to take out Top's jungle fortress before the attack can occur. Along with Stokley, his trusted side-kick and deputy, and his friend Inspector Congreve, as well as a group of international mercenaries, Thunder and Lightning, Hawke heads right into enemy territory, encountering UAV drones as well as unmanned tanks that defend Top's headquarters. They must hurry to cut the head off of the snake before the plans come to fruition, in a huge remotely controlled attack centered on Washington DC at the time of the inauguration of the President.

Bell stirs up quite a brew, playing off a number of issues current in the news, especially immigration and Islamic terrorism, and striving to combine them into one super plot. It makes for a novel with a lot of bad guys, but it certainly strains the realm of plausibility. And not only that, it certainly implants nefarious motives and plays off fears with regard to immigration.

Paul Copan, "True for You but Not for Me"

2010-05-03T16:45:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy. In this second edition of "True For You But Not For Me," philosopher Paul Copan lays out a very clear and readable exposition of the philosophical foundations for Christian belief. The book is oriented around responses to common objections, with each chapter focusing on a particular slogan or objection, such as "It's all a matter of perspective," or "Christianity is arrogant and imperialistic." The chapters are divided up into five parts, which move in progression from the general concept of truth (looking at relativism and moral relativism in parts one and two), to the basic truth of a God-centered worldview (religions relativism, part three), to the centrality of Christ (parts four and five). This organization mirrors Copan's overarching method for apologetics, what he calls "Truth-God-Jesus," asserting that an understanding of the existence and importance of truth will provide the foundation for a genuine belief in God, which will in turn provide the necessary framework for recognition of Jesus Christ as the only way to be saved.

A few notes about the content, which I won't otherwise attempt to summarize here because of the breadth of the treatment. First, he emphasizes over and over (to good effect) the exclusivity of supposed "relativist" philosophies, whether in regard to truth, morality, or religion. He also engages John Hick in extended dialogue in part three regarding religious pluralism. Also worthy of note is that part five consists of an extended discussion of the fate of the unevangelized, with a number of live evangelical options presented and considered (he seems to lean toward a middle-knowledge view, which he ends with).

Copan argues very clearly, and lays out complex issues in a helpful and accessible way. Each chapter is concluded with a bullet-point summary of the important arguments made in the chapter, making the book a ready reference. Copan also demonstrates broad familiarity with the biblical text and up-to-date knowledge of a good range of contemporary biblical studies (with well-placed references to, for example, Richard Bauckham, N. T. Wright, Douglas Moo, Ben Witherington, etc.).

In all, I would say Copan's book achieves its aims admirably. It will serve Christians well who want to better understand their faith and who want to know how to respond to or how to maintain their faith in the face of many common and often vexing objections.

Rob Stennett, The Almost True Story of Ryan Fischer

2010-04-08T13:48:00.004-05:00

This entertaining book has been sitting on my to-be-reviewed shelf for months, so I'm going to satisfy myself with only this short notice. The book was entertaining, a thoughtful and surprising journey into what it means to be a Christian. It also serves as a fictional exploration of what it means to be a church. Stennett entertains (the story smacked of Fletch at points, with some nice humor) but also shows insight into today's evangelical culture. I look forward to reading more of his work.

Don Hoesel, Hunter's Moon

2010-04-07T17:34:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy. Hunter's Moon is a tale of buried secrets and wounded lives. Novelist CJ Baxter is put back in touch with his family after years of separation by the death of his grandfather. Being back in the midst of the Baxter clan puts him face to face with the past he has tried to avoid. Coming back to New York and the Baxter family is at the same time a flight from marital troubles back in Tennessee, so CJ's life is in shambles. But in the weeks following his grandfather's funeral, the clouded issues of the past start to become clear. CJ's brother is running for the Senate and CJ, a bestselling novelist, is tapped by a magazine to write an article about his brother and his candidacy. This gives CJ a chance to delve more deeply into his brothers current dealings, as well as an occasion to work through their past. The fraternal conflict heightens as the novel advances, culminating in a hunt through the woods of New York where the hunted becomes the hunter.

Hoesel has written an interesting story of family conflict and estrangement. The prose carries the plot well, and the development of the main character carries the readers interest. CJ explores his recently found Christian faith in a way that works with the story, and while these themes come across clearly the book isn't preachy, which is definitely a strength. Overall, a good second offering from Hoesel.

John Grisham, Ford County

2010-04-06T14:51:00.004-05:00

In this fascinating collection of short stories, Grisham shows his characteristic flare for interesting characters and situations, as well as his ability to turn a plot on a legal storyline. The seven stories in this collection demonstrate a nice variety of characters and plot, some having tinges of a more traditional Grisham legal thriller and some having no legal theme at all. They are all held together, though, by their setting in Ford County, Mississippi, which readers will recall from books like A Time to Kill, The Last Juror, and The Summons. In all, I greatly enjoyed these seven tales. For me they evoked the feeling of Flannery O'Connor's grotesque southern fiction, especially evident in Grisham's colorful characters and sometimes nearly ridiculous encounters, though they always stay true enough to life to stay in the realm of the plausible. A few of these stories could easily have been the seeds of full-length novels, but all stood well as short stories. Though a departure from his usual format, these stories may be some of his best writing yet.

Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

2010-04-05T14:47:00.003-05:00

I needed some beach/boat reading over our vacation to Florida and the Caribbean, and this classic Caribbean tale was one of my choices. And it didn't disappoint. I was surprised yet again by the power of Hemingway's prose and the texture of his characters. This tale of an epic battle between man and fish, or maybe, between man and life, rewards repeated readings. This book is truly a classic of American literature and provides a great opportunity to ponder the questions of our identity: Who am I? How do I know it? How do I become who I am?

David Murrow, The Map: The Way of All Great Men

2010-03-17T14:08:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy. In The Map, David Murrow, the author of Why Men Hate Going to Church, uses the metaphor of a map, along with a creatively told fictional tale of its discovery, to describe the spiritual journey of a man. He begins with a ten-chapter tale of the map's discovery in an ancient manuscript in a Grecian monastery by the monk Gerasimos, and of his own involvement in the project as a journalist and writer who could popularize the discovery. But things aren't so simple when he discovers he is being pursued by a mysterious group with unclear motives. Someone must want the map for personal gain. David goes to the monastery to meet with Gerasimos, and he is taught by the monk about the journey the map describes. He is then finally introduced to the map.

The map itself, described in an ancient document entitled "The Three Journeys of Jesus," is actually a key to understanding Jesus own life as depicted in the Gospel of Matthew as three journeys, submission, strength, and sacrifice—three journeys that all men are to emulate in a life of discipleship.

In the second half of the book, following on this interesting fictional account, Murrow fleshes out these three journeys he finds in Matthew's gospel. The first, submission, is found in the early part of the Gospel (chs 1–7). It entails a journey toward the feminine, and is characterized by submission to God. The second is strength, and is found in Matthew 8–25. It is a journey of assertion and strength, a journey toward the masculine. The final journey is sacrifice (Matt 26–28), a journey back in the feminine direction, focused on handing over control, passing on responsibility, training up the next generation.

I found much of value in Murrow's creatively shaped handbook on male discipleship. I think he has indeed picked up three important themes of discipleship and described them well. His assertion that he has found a hidden map in the Gospel of Matthew is more tenuous, I would think, though that doesn't totally undermine the key insights. I also found his description of these stages or journeys in terms of masculine and feminine as a mixed bag. In some senses, it is helpful to see how these stages relate to typical tendencies or traits aligned with one gender, and to warn of the pitfalls that might be typical of especially men, means it has its use. Though in a more absolute way I don't think they were necessary for the book's key insight. In terms of a book directed toward men, and the vision of male discipleship it forms, I think Murrow's book has much value. It is a helpful corrective to some male-directed books that seem to glorify masculine traits and tendencies at the expense of important biblical themes like submission and sacrifice. So there is no doubt the book has great value for that alone.

In all, I found a few points on which to quibble, but I clearly think Murrow has identified three important themes in the life of the disciple, packaged them creatively with a fictional tale and a helpful map, and directed them well to a male audience. I hope this book is read widely and that it engenders a dialogue about the shape and purpose of the Christian life, especially the Christian life of a man.

Stephen Mansfield, The Search for God and Guinness

2010-02-19T14:25:00.006-06:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy. This book is, as its subtitle proclaims, "a biography" of a beer. But, it is obviously more than that. In short, it is the biography of a family and a company whose history is seasoned with devotion to Jesus Christ and to the conviction that faith can be lived out beyond the walls of a church. In this interesting and readable journey through 250 years of history, Mansfield writes an engaging chronicle of how this family's faith shaped the ethos of a company and led it to be a leader both in the quality of the product it produced and in the way it formed a corporate culture. I can't say I'd ever thought of beer as a particularly healthy drink (probably due to a lot of baggage that often comes with the beverage in its American context), but its value as a safe and wholesome alternative to either unsafe water or to harder liquor in the early years of the company was part of the motivation behind its beginnings.

I was fascinated by the way this company continually chose to be a leader in the way it treated its workers, from the way company doctors aggressively sought to improve the living conditions of turn-of-the-twentieth-century workers, to the preservation of jobs for people in military service during the second world war, to the high wages it paid. I was also intrigued by the pattern of heirs apparent sidestepping their path to the company for full-time Christian ministry.

In all, this was both an entertaining and informative study on how one family and company have lived out their faith. It certainly gives food for thought on how our corporate culture today often falls short.

John Grisham, The Summons

2010-02-06T13:06:00.003-06:00

In this 2002 return to Clanton, Mississippi, Grisham takes a bit of a departure from his more typical legal-thriller style. Ray Atlee, a law professor from Virginia, gets a rather cryptic "summons" from his ailing retired-judge father regarding the disposition of his estate. Ray arrives to find his father dead on the couch, and he soon discovers boxes and boxes of cash in the study cabinets. So Ray is set on a mission to figure out where all this cash came from (some shady dealings by his father?), and what to do with it (divide it with his in-and-out-of-rehab brother, declare it to the government?). The action picks up as Ray discovers that someone else must know about the cash too, as they stalk around the house, and later break into his Virginia apartment. Though not Grisham's best work (that's a pretty high standard), I still really enjoyed this book. The writing is good, the characters and setting interesting, and the mystery agreeably opaque.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

2010-02-05T13:38:00.000-06:00

I highly recommend this classic work on the importance of Christian community. Coming out of his experiences in the Confessing Church seminary in the years leading up to WWII, Bonhoeffer's spectacular book both outlines the theological foundation for a robust and intentional communal life, but also gives practical advice on how to bring it about. While we certainly won't all be participating in the daily type of community that Bonhoeffer envisions (though it is very different from a cloister life, in that it is intentionally pointed toward and among the world in service), his vision is filled with great wisdom and insight for appreciating and reinvigorating our participation in our churches and smaller fellowship groups today. Teaching about Bible reading, prayer, service, and confession, Bonhoeffer paints a picture of the Christian life that preserves one from self-absorption and brings one into the support and fellowship of the communion of saints as we encounter Christ in one another. Truly a must-read.

W. Dale Cramer, Levi's Will

2010-02-05T12:06:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for the review copy. In Levi's Will, Cramer brings the modern-day Amish community to life. He crafts a powerful story of a son, Will, who leaves the Amish community of his birth under a cloud of disgrace to find his way in the world. Eventually he reestablishes contact with his family, but his reception is mostly cold, especially from his father, Levi, who considers Will to be under the ban imposed on him for his youthful waywardness. As the years go by, and he is embroiled in a complicated relationship with his own son, does he begin to see his father's actions mirrored in his own. Over many years, Will is brought back into the fellowship of the family, and receives absolution of sorts from his father. A forgiveness that likewise brings him back to God as well.

This is a well-written book that explores the imperfections in a father's relationship with his son, and how those can sometimes be unwittingly passed on to subsequent generations. But it is also a story of forgiveness, both withheld and granted. And it becomes even more powerful when you read the author's 2009 Afterword to the book (originally published in 2005), which tells of how the book is a relatively close parallel to the experience of the author's own father. Or, at least, it was except for the ending. He hadn't experienced the the same reconciliation, and was still under a ban and outside the fellowship of his sister's Old Order Amish family. But after the publication of the book, he was encouraged by his sister's children to write an appeal to the bishop asking forgiveness for the sins of his youth, a forgiveness which he eventually received. So the (real) story ends with a happy reunion of long-estranged family. As Cramer summarizes it, "Only God can get away with an ending like that" (396).

I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God

2010-02-03T14:48:00.001-06:00

In this classic study (published originally in 1969 and republished with a new substantive epilogue in 1995), Marshall looks at a key theological issue in the New Testament, the perseverance of believers. In a setting of persecution, the question of perseverance is one that arises often in the NT texts, and it is an important pastoral issue still today. But it is also extremely useful as a lens through which to view the NT understanding of salvation, election, judgment, and many other interconnected ideas. In short, it is a vital test case, or maybe better put, it is essential data for a robust NT doctrine of God and of salvation.

Marshall digs in to the relevant NT texts by first investigating the OT and Jewish background concerning perseverance. He then moves through the various corpora in the NT: the Synoptics, Acts, Paul, Pastorals (may or may not be by Paul, but treated separately from though with an eye toward the undisputed Pauline corpus), Hebrews, the Catholics, and the Johannine literature. This systematic study is largely exegetical, as Marshall works carefully with the individual texts on their own before summing up each author's perspective.

Marshall then brings all of this data to bear on a conclusion: "We can say firmly that, while it is possible for a Christian to fail to persevere after a genuine experience of salvation, yet, with all the promises of a faithful God to sustain those who trust in Him, the main emphasis of the New Testament is on confidence and assurance of final salvation" (210). In short, while we can't explain away the possibility of falling away, believers may be "confident of persevering through the power of God" (199).

I am greatly appreciative of Marshall's study. I think it is a wonderful exegetical survey of this important area. And I think it provides an important testimony to the work of God in salvation. It obviously has much bearing on the Calvinist-Arminian debate (though Marshall prefers the designation "non-Calvinist" in this context because the second position isn't necessarily in conformity with Arminius). He has many insightful discussions of election, calling, monergism vs synergism, and some of the other relevant theological areas that are touched on by this topic. I greatly benefited from this book, and think Marshall has taken a robust, biblical line on the question of perseverance and, more broadly, on God's working in salvation.

Sahah Palin, Going Rogue: An American Life

2010-01-20T15:59:00.002-06:00

I departed a bit from my usual routine to read the much-publicized autobiography of Sarah Palin. She was an interesting character, to say the least, in the 2008 elections, and this book gave her own interesting perspective on those events.

I usually enjoy biographies, and this one was no different. She details her own upbringing in Alaska, her experiences as a wife and mother, Todd's job on the North Slope, and her own political development. There were a number of fun stories that give a window on life in the great frontier of Alaska. But the book really hits its step when it gets into her political career, from her somewhat surprise foray into politics as a councilwoman to her election as mayor, and on to the Governor's office, bucking the party the whole way. She certainly paints herself as a maverick, and her record would seem to fit the bill. She stood up to corruption in both parties in Alaska and sought common-sense solutions to problems. Her straight-talking political style and her advocacy of a common-sense convservatism make her an interesting character, and she certainly comes off as something other than your usual politician.

Her account of the 2008 presidential campaing was the centerpoint of the book, and it gave an interesting perspective to her role. The McCain campaign came off, in her characterization, as being poorly managed, as as often mismanaging Palin, especially when it comes to her own responses to her critics. So this book was a chance for her to say what she wanted to say at the time. And in that vain, it seemed to fit some of the pieces of her involvement in that campaign and her characterization in the media together. In all, it seems she might have proved to be a better candidate than she did if she'd been allowed to speak more freely. But that's all in hindsight, of course.

In all, this was an interesting, and well-written book, and Palin certainly comes off as a legitimate political force giving voice to a clear current within American political thinking. Maybe she isn't presidential material (that jury is still out, I'm sure), but there is no doubt that she brings an interesting and worthwhile perspective and voice to the political scene.

John Grisham, The Associate

2009-12-05T15:27:00.003-06:00

John Grisham hits again with another satisfying legal thriller. This new tale has the decided flavor of his early hit, The Firm, though it is certainly no worse for this—if you liked that tale of big-firm politics and heavy-handed tactics, this one will be a hit as well. Kyle McAvoy, a promising young law student, gets caught up in a blackmail scheme and is being forced to steal corporate secrets from his new employer. Caught between the unknown implications of some past trouble and the morally dubious choice to steal from his employer and their client, McAvoy is forced to make some tough decisions. It's a real page turner, and I finished it in only a couple of sittings. Vintage Grisham.

Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City

2009-12-05T15:05:00.003-06:00

In this fascinating piece of "popular history," Larson makes the past come alive. The city of Chicago in all of its turn-of-the-century glory, with its vistas and its smells, as well as its aspirations, takes center stage. Larson tells the intertwining tales of two men: one, Daniel Burnham, the primary architect behind the planning and construction of the worlds fair; and, two, H. H. Holmes, the psychopathic mastermind behind innumerable disappearances of women from around the time of the fair.

Larson's tale is well worth reading. It is full of historical detail and gives a fascinating sense of what it would have been like to live in the Midwest near the turn of the century. It also sheds light on the aspirations, in this case specifically of Chicago and Burnham, for cosmopolitan prominence. As the two stories unfold, there are innumerable defeats and victories, that catch up the reader in the sense of doom that shrouds the whole affair.

E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism

2009-11-21T14:16:00.001-06:00

Few books have impacted biblical studies in the past decades more than E. P. Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism. This groundbreaking book has been instrumental in a reevaluation of many long-held presuppositions about Judaism at the time of Paul and Jesus, and about how Paul related to that heritage. I've long heard it referred to, cited, and criticized, so I thought it was finally time that I read it for myself. And I'm extremely glad I did.

First, a word about my reading, which was a bit selective. I chose to read the conclusions he draws at the close of the first two thirds of the book, dealing with his reevaluation of Judaism and his assertion of "covenantal nomism" as the overriding framework at the turn of the era. I then read the remainder of the book, dealing specifically with Paul and his relation to the Judaism of his day as reconstructed by Sanders. I'm not competent to comment on the foundational aspect of his thesis that Judaism is typified in Paul's day by covenantal nomism, that entry into the covenant was by God's grace and that works served to maintain that relationship as a way of staying in, other than to say it is obvious that Sanders was instrumental in awakening a reappraisal of the sources and a questioning of some long-held assumptions. I have found it to be a compelling argument, even if not completely convincing on all counts.

His chapters on Paul are uniformly well written and well argued. His foundational claim is that Paul reasoned from solution to plight, and not the other way around, so that the driving force in Paul's thinking was not what was wrong with Judaism or the Law or with humanity in general, but instead by his conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord and is the only way for salvation. This basic premise causes a reevaluation of Paul's thought process and illuminates Paul's thinking in a fresh way. Instead of focusing on justification by faith as the peak of Paul's theological reasoning (his "pattern" of religion in Sanders' terminology), participation with Christ moves more toward center stage. It is the need of Jesus Christ as Lord that is the decisive factor in his distancing himself from Law observance: not that it is futile or wrong-headed or unable to attain righteousness, even if these are also his conclusions, but first and foremost that it isn't focused on Jesus Christ as Lord. His focus on the participationist stream of Paul's thinking is especially enlightening, as he shows how important the theme of dying with Christ is to Paul's understanding of salvation. In his discussion of works, Sanders asserts that "Salvation by grace is not incompatible with punishment and reward for deeds," (517) and that is the position he asserts as Paul's. With regard to covenantal nomism, he says that Paul's view of works is in perfect agreement (518) with the Judaism of his day, but (and this is an important qualifier) Paul's pattern of religion is fundamentally different than covenantal nomism. He stresses this a number of times, asserting that while there is substantial agreement, there is a basic difference (548). That difference is Christ. Paul's pattern of religion, described as "participationist eschatology," is typified by participation in Christ, a change in lordship from the lordship of the flesh or sin to Christ, and being under grace instead of under the law. It is a transfer that takes place, and that is decisive. Even though Paul does spend a good bit of time talking about the role of works, and is rightly concerned with justification by faith, which Sanders includes in his scheme, it is Christ that takes center stage, and union with Christ that is the driving force of his thought. Anything that is pointing toward a different goal is entirely useless, and thus the observance of the Law in order to obtain righteousness is not so much destructive or in need of reformation as it is working in a totally different order than union with Christ.

Even though his discussion of Paul isn't much more than a hundred pages, this short review can only scratch the surface of this seminal work. I came to it with a pretty good acquaintance with many critiques of Sanders' work, and I look forward to continuing to sift this great piece of reasoning and argument. At the very least, it is abundantly clear that he has brought to light a number of themes in Paul that are too often underplayed or subordinated (such as participation or lordship), or at least, that were until after he published this study. I look forward to continuing to study Paul's theology and soteriology, and this important work is clearly one of the indispensable stopping points along that way.

Ted Dekker, Green

2009-11-21T13:21:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and their BRB program for the review copy. Ted Dekker's Green is the fourth book in his Circle series. It takes place a few decades after the earlier three books, but is mean to serve both as end to the four-book series and as a starting point. I come at it without having read the other books in the series, though they have come highly recommended to me by a number of friends. So my review is specifically on how this book introduces the action and plot, and does not deal with how it fits with and completes the remaining books.

Dekker's overall scheme is an interesting one, in which Thomas Hunter finds himself straddling two worlds, or more properly two distant time periods in the same world. One is current-day Earth, the other is two millenia later. And although the two periods are distant, they are intimately related, with events in one seemingly connected with events in the other. The key contrast is a spiritual one: in the current-day setting, spiritual realities are mostly hidden from view, as we experience them, where as in the distant future, these realities are evident in a more visible and tangible way. In Green Thomas is propelled back into the past in a quest to save his son and try stop a rising tide of war. Teeleh, the great evil monster, is making a play for power and is striving to unravel the Circle (Thomas's band of regenerates, known as Albinos) from within by driving them to war. The end is looming, an end of destruction or deliverance, and Thomas cries out for Elyon's help as he leaps back and forth between worlds in a fight against time and evil.

Dekker's imaginative world is an interesting one, and his action certainly takes place on a grand scheme. But this book, at least as an introduction to the Circle series, suffers from too much complication. It is difficult to grasp the premise and follow the complex action. There are too many characters and the premise is just too complex to be introduced in this way, where the basic story is almost presumed and only slowly revealed along the way as Thomas proceeds on his frantic quest. It may be a more fitting climax to the series, but I leave that to other reviwers to decide. There are some interesting sequences, some meaningful reflection on questions of violence and nonviolence and on the relation of the physical to the spiritual realm, but these all buckle under the weight of too much premise in this book.

Michael Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God

2009-11-01T13:20:00.001-06:00

In this study of Pauline soteriology, Gorman focuses on Paul's "grand narrative" of kenosis, justification, and theosis as key themes for understanding Paul's view of salvation in Christ. The key text for explicating the narrative is Phil 2:5-11, where the kenosis and exaltation of Christ form the key movements in the description of Christ's incarnation. For Gorman, this narrative is key to understanding Christ, and salvation, and even more, it is key to understanding God. He sets as one of the book's key agendas the claim that "cruciformity is theoformity, or theosis," built on the foundational claim that "kenosis (self-emptying) reveals the character of God" (2). This key element of the thesis is worked out in the first chapter of the book, with a careful study of Philippians 2 and it's implications for Paul's master story. He then turns to an extended study of justification as co-crucifixion, a participation in the life and death of Christ, and specifically in Christ's covenant fulfillment. (Thus, the pistis christou debate features prominently in the chapter, as the subjective genitive reading there is an important element in the argument, though it doesn't stand or fall solely on that point.) He then turns to holiness as the actualization of justification (not some subsequent and separate movement) and closes with an argument for nonviolence as an essential part of Paul's entire viewpoint.

I greatly enjoyed Gorman's important work. It is well written and clearly argued throughout, and he demonstrates a thorough familiarity with Paul and his letters. I am extremely sympathetic to the core theological argument of the book, that kenosis not only pertains to Christ but also reveals something of the character and manner of working of God the Father as well. His chapter on justification is likewise illuminating, and I think he is convincing that theosis (as he carefully defines it) is an element in Paul's soteriology, one that is often neglected in the Western tradition. Whether "justification by co-crucifixion leading to theosis" is the one soteriological model for Paul is most certainly a more difficult argument to pull off, but at the least Gorman has demonstrated how the "crucified with Christ" language and thought patter in an important one for Paul. His chapters on holiness and nonviolence are similarly thought-provoking and challenging, and I have no doubt that this work overall provides an argument to be reckoned with. Gorman constantly brought me back to the text of Paul's letters to notice details I had previously missed while at the same time making a synthetic argument for an overarching framework that is helpful in thinking like Paul thought. So while I may not agree with him in all particulars, this is clearly a great work, and I am glad to recommend it.

Tom Clancy, Without Remorse

2009-10-21T16:00:00.003-05:00

I remember not really enjoying this book the first time I read it, but I found a very different experience this second time through it. Though it is not what you might expect of Clancy, without the trademark espionage, international political intrigue, and covert ops, it is great story of a different type. In Without Remorse, Clancy looks back to the development of John Kelly (later known as John Clark, or just Clark), the black ops expert who appears in many of Clancy's other books. Kelly has a sordid past, and this book takes us on a ride of love and loss. I think the most enjoyable and fascinating facet of this book for me was the ongoing struggle within Kelly about right and wrong, the nature of justice, and the allure of expedience. This book still has Clancy's trademark style, but with some different twists. And it shows his breadth as a writer. It may in some ways be one of his best.

Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October

2009-10-21T15:57:00.003-05:00

This debut novel is still without a doubt one of Clancy's best. He takes you into the world of submarine warfare and weaves technical jargon with a great story. Jack Ryan, who begins to take shape in this book, emerges as an unwilling hero with a great dose of humanity. I loved this book as much as the first time.

Gordon Fee, God's Empowering Presence

2009-10-20T20:11:00.001-05:00

I have no intention of doing this important work justice in this short review, so instead, let me give a few words of appreciation. This nearly encyclopedic book encapsulates what must have been years of research and months of careful exegesis. The first three-fourths of the book consists of a passage-by-passage look at every mention and allusion to the Holy Spirit in Paul's letters. Each passage is exegeted with care, always with an eye to its context and its place in the larger argument of the letter. I had intended to only skim these chapters of exegesis, dipping in at what seemed to be important points, but kept finding myself absorbed in Fee's writing, and though I didn't read it in its entirety, I have no doubt it would repay careful study. The book then closes with a section of synthesis in which Fee brings together the fruits of his research.

The conclusions, like the exegesis they follow, are too extensive to summarize here, other than to say that Fee makes a very convincing case for the importance of the Holy Spirit to Paul's thinking, as well as to Paul's very life. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who is interested in Paul's life and letters or in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Fee also has, by nature of his own Pentecostal background, a keen eye to how this doctrine has been understood or misunderstood in contemporary formulations and church practices, and this book provides a well-grounded corrective to many distortions. If you're even considering this book, don't think twice. It is not to be missed.

Frank Thielman, The Law and the New Testament

2009-10-20T19:47:00.001-05:00

Frank Thielman is a Pauline scholar at Beeson Divinity School. In addition to his very readable commentary on Philippians in the NIVAC series, which I enjoyed studying through, he has written a number of books focusing on Paul's understanding of the law. This book broadens that focus out to include a survey of the relationship between the law and the New Testament, especially as it is envisioned in the five major streams of the NT that directly take up the question: Paul, Matthew, John, Hebrews, and Luke-Acts. Thielman deals with each author in turn, looking at their distinctive approaches to the law, with a focus on areas of both continuity and discontinuity. In the final chapter, he draws these streams together by both looking at how they differ in emphasis but also how they hold essential elements in common. He summarizes his comparison of the five authors by placing them in three categories:

1. Paul and Matthew stand together in their interest in the ethical use of the Mosaic Law.
2. John and the author of Hebrews stand together in their symbolic use of the law.
3. Luke stands by himself in his use of the law not only in ethical and symbolic ways but also to construct the story of Gods saving purposes. (168)

He also highlights three basic issues that are common ground among the five authors:

1. The Mosaic law no longer regulates the lives of God's people.
2. A new "law" has taken its place.
3. the Mosaic law remains valid, but in a new way. (176)

His final sentence sums up his study well, "Continuity is present, but the gospel is something new" (182).

Thielman's study of the law is well written, and provides a very clear introduction to this area. He is careful to look at each author in his own right, looking at the major arguments of the various letters and then highlighting how the issues surrounding the law fit into this larger picture. His chapter on Paul was especially well done, and is a very helpful study that illuminates these major components of the letters to the Romans and Galatians. This was a worthwile read, and I'm glad to have it on my shelf for future reference. It is clearly a textbook, but is no worse for that fact.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible

2009-09-13T20:51:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible and accompanying DVD is a nice toddler-focused resource. It includes 40 stories from both the Old and New Testament, along with a 60-minutes DVD with a number of computer-animated Bible stories. Each story in the book is nicely retold in toddler-friendly language and illustrated with simple, fun illustrations that hold my kids attention, and the stories are short enough that we can get through them. Each story also ends with a short lesson that parents may use to either illustrate the principle or reinforce a lesson, meaning it is both a good resource for parents and could potentially serve as a good classroom addition for toddler Sunday school. One could of course quibble about which stories were chosen or what lessons were applied, but the overall quality of the book is quite good. The DVD likewise is fun for the kids to watch. It's no Veggie Tales, but it is a good accompaniment to the book.

Robin Parrish, Offworld

2009-09-13T15:37:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy through their blogger reviewer program.

An elite team of four astronauts returns to earth from a three-year mission to Mars to discover the planet deserted. No people, no animals. They are all alone. An eerie start to this intriguing sci-fi drama. Chris Burke and his team, puzzled by their situation, set out to find some answers. They discover that everyone on the planet appears to have vanished at the same precise moment about two months before their return. And there is a huge beacon of light emanating from near Houston, Texas. Something strange is going on. Their journey to Houston to discover the nature of their plight proves to be treacherous, first as they discover one lone survivor, Mae, wandering along the road. But the journey becomes dangerous as they begin to experience disasters that are both natural and that seem orchestrated to slow them down. Finally, as they head through Louisiana, they are cornered by what appears to be a group of elite military troopers, who are set on preventing Chris and his group from reaching Houston or interfering with whatever is happening. But Chris, Trish, Terry, and Owen are able to narrowly escape, driven by the knowledge that they may be humanity's only chance of survival. They finally discover the source of the light, a monstrous and experimental computer powered by a mysterious box. This cutting edge machine appears to have developed the capability of not only knowing the future but of manipulating it, allowing Colonel Roston and his team to program in a future where all of humanity is absent from the planet, allowing them ostensibly to force the world into a situation where peace is possible, as they try to dismantle the instruments of war around the globe. But this seeminly altruistic motive has with it some huge dangers, the biggest being that the machine may fall apart before a new future that includes all of humanity back on Earth is programmed in. And Chris and his team hurry to prevent that disastrous future from coming about, with the knowledge that even despite Roston's designs, some force has kept them in the game.

Parrish's Offworld brings the reader into an interesting mystery, with good action and believable characters. In some ways it is a playful and fun challenge to think beyond the bounds of the everyday to a world where greater powers are at work. A fun read.

Patricia Cornwell, Book of the Dead

2009-08-17T13:51:00.002-05:00

Book of the Dead is a pretty good mystery. Cornwell's characters take on depth that makes the book interesting, and her mystery has the requisite haunting details and medical mystery. Though it's a bit too graphic at points, it still makes for a good read.

Tom Morrisey, Pirate Hunter

2009-08-17T13:22:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for the review copy. Pirate Hunter is the tale of two young men, separated by hundreds of years but connected by a ship lying beneath the waters of the coast of Florida. One young man, Bold Ted, is the apprentice to a pirate who patrols the waters for loot with the unofficial sanction of the British government. Jumping ahead from the 18th to the 21st century, the other man is Greg Rhode, a marine archaeologist working for a treasure-hunting firm in the Florida Keys. Both men struggle to come to terms with their past, Ted with his apparent sale to slave traders by his adopted father in Africa and Greg with the role his alcoholic father played in the deaths of his mother and brother in a car accident. For both of them, these events from the past color their present, and as they each come in contact with these men from their past, they must come to grips with the truth if they are to move on. For Ted, this story is wrapped around the adventures of piracy and the pursuit of Sally, the daughter of the local inn keeper at home port. As the Atlantic is being increasingly civilized, the danger of being a irate is increasing, and Ted and pirate Henry Thatch are racing ahead of Spanish government forces who are out to get them for their past crimes. As they head toward the Carolina coast and clemency from the hand of King George, they must rescue Sally from a Spanish warship and must race ahead of the Spanish into an oncoming storm. For Greg, his past catches up with him first as the shadow that looms over his present as he gets to know Sheila, a beautiful archaeologist who steals his heart. But he then comes face to face with his father and is forced to come to grips with the tragedy that haunts his past.

Pirate Hunter is a well-written tale, somewhat in the mold of Clive Cussler. Morrisey weaves stories of the past and present together with exotic locales and interesting action. Morrisey's overall quality as a writer carries the book, even though the action lags a bit at points and the portrait of pirate life seems a bit too honorable and romantic. But I still enjoyed the book and its characters and look forward to reading some of his other books.

N. T. Wright, Justification

2009-07-15T20:20:00.001-05:00

Justification is one of the core doctrines of the Christian faith, and in both evangelical and more mainline circles, it has been contested territory for a generation or more. N. T. Wright's Justification is truty a book to be reckoned with. It is a comprehensive (though, as the author admits, not exhaustive) statement of the place of justification in Paul's thought. Much has been written about this highly anticipated contribution from one of today's most noted scholars, both in appreciation and in protest. I find myself far more appreciative than anything for this carefully reasoned book.

Wright begins by laying out some important groundwork for the present book by locating it especially within the evangelical conversation concerning the classical "Reformed" view of justification, especially as espoused by John Piper, and the new perspective on Paul, of which Wright could be considered one of its primary contemporary proponents, though he seeks to provide "fresh" perspectives that move beyond what is often termed the "new" perspective. Others have carefully laid out the specifics of Wright's argument, and I won't do that here. Instead, I'd like to extend some words of appreciation and interest toward some of Wright's major themes.

Clearly, the largest idea that Wright advocates for is the locating of the doctrine of justification, and the understanding of the "righteousness of God," firmly within the context of covenant. He describes God's righteousness as God's covenant faithfulness, and, more specifically, God's faithfulness to the one-plan-through-Israel-to-the-world. The problem that God addresses in the Messiah is that Israel has failed in its part of the plan, to be God's instrument in and to the world, so the plan becomes one-plan-through-the-faithful-Israelite-to-the-world, as Jesus the Messiah becomes the instrument of God's work in and to the world, fulfilling God's covenant plans, demonstrating God's faithfulness to the covenant with Abraham even though it seemed to be foiled by sin.

Wright seeks not to upend the traditional Reformation emphases of justification by faith, God's grace, forgiveness of sins, but instead to locate them in the broader, deeper, and what he asserts to be more truly Pauline story of God's covenant and God's covenant people. He writes,

"Justification by faith—God's declaration in the present time that all those who believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, all those who confess him as Lord, are true members in the renewed covenant, and are assured thereby of final salvation—belongs inextricably . . . within the framework of Paul's vision of God's single plan of salvation, through Israel and hence through Israel's Messiah, for the sake of all the nations and ultimately for the whole cosmos." (247)

I think there can be no doubt that Wright has illumined some of the questions that were clearly on Paul's mind, and has demonstrated a certain logic, especially about Israel, that helps to fill out much that is right but incomplete in traditional thinking. He also stresses repeatedly that much of the "old perspective" is right and true, just as he often distances himself from or modifies the "new perspective" take, seeking to move beyond both to a more complete theology of Paul that incorporates both the sin-salvation and one-people-of-God facets into a more robust way of thinking.

Another interesting facet to Wright's argument concerns present justification and future judgment. He asserts, very clearly, that justification entails a present verdict that someone (or, maybe more properly, some people) are in the right with God, have achieved the status of righteous/righteousness. The second thing he discusses, at some length, is how this relates to the final judgment. Wright proposes that present justification corresponds to the future verdict of righteousness, but that the two aren't the same. The final verdict, as Romans 2 makes clear, is based on being "doers" of the law. But, and here is the pivotal move for Wright, this doesn't mean a return to the merit theology of the Medieval era, or a works righteousness, but it does mean living a new live enslaved not to the law and sin but to righteousness. This obviously raises some important questions, both about how we in fact live a life that attains this final verdict and how we know it, in short, the question of assurance. This is the topic Paul takes up in Romans 5 to 8, in explaining how the "verdict already announced is indeed a true anticipation of the verdict yet to be announced" (225). The answer for Paul, according to Wright, is the Spirit. It is the Spirit "who makes that victory [of Jesus Christ and of the Father's love triumphing in his Son's death] operative in our moral lives and who enables us to love God in return" (239).

So much more could be said, on the topic of works, or on justification more broadly. Wright has clearly taken the arguments back to Paul and sought to show how fresh readings of the original texts of Scripture can bring fresh light. It certainly remains to be seen which of his readings will win the day, but there is without doubt much of value in the overall framework he proposes, especially of setting the gospel in the larger framework of God's work in the world. I am convinced that, at the least, the covenant-framework of Jesus' life and death, their part in God's larger plan, is a fruitful avenue of study. I look forward to seeing where this conversation goes in the future, as we continue to strive to appreciate the depths of the riches of God's love in Christ Jesus.

Alicia Britt Chole, Finding an Unseen God

2009-07-09T21:25:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for a review copy. This is a delightful, honest story about finding, or better, being found by, God. In two converging threads, Chole narrates her own journey through Atheism to faith in God while also reflecting on the nature of God and belief. Chole's own story highlights her father, a man who she deeply respected and loved, and who didn't believe in God. Before reaching junior high, Chole had embraced her father's Atheism, and into high school she grew to be outspoken in her disdain for faith of every kind. But in the summer after high school, wholly unlooked-for, God met her.

Woven together with her own journey to faith is Chole's thoughtful reflections on Atheism and its adherents, for whom she has the utmost respect, and her description of the nature of belief in God, complete with four "filters" (consistent, livable, sustainable, transferable) through which various belief systems can be sifted, all in search of truth. Last, through five things that she likes about God (God delights in sincere questions; walking with God sharpens the mind; God is not a fool; God is the ultimate realist; God is knowable), she paints a beautiful portrait of what God is like; one especially suited to those seeking or being sought by God.

While some might be put off by the interwoven story lines, I think Chole pulls off the two threads to good effect. Her writing is very clear, with many finely turned phrases elegantly communicating the depth of her reflection. This book is not an argument for God's existence, a handbook of apologetics, but is instead a thoughtful and honest story of being found by God. I would not hesitate to put this book into the hands of an Athiest or an agnostic, or even any Christian who may need to meet God afresh, because Chole's compassion and respect for others comes through clearly in her writing and earns her a hearing.

Kevin Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine

2009-07-01T17:45:00.001-05:00

My blogging has been erratic of late, and I've had Vanhoozer's The Drama of Doctrine sitting on my desk to review for a couple months now, waiting for the time and the ambition to take on such a substantial task. I'd just skip it and move on, except it was such a spectacular book I have to at least make note of it.

I have to start by saying that I loved this book. Though it was over my head at points (he enters into many important theological discussions about theological method which I have but only a surface familiarity with, not to mention the philosophical theology and hermeneutics that continually arise in his discussions), its value is obvious even without grasping or appreciating all of the finer points.

Vanhoozer gives, in essence, an apologia for the importance of doctrine, asserting that it fills the essential role of guiding the church to "demonstrate faith's understanding by living truthfully with others before God" (xii). Throughout the entire work, one of the themes that continually arises is the importance of doctrine for life, in that doctrine is not an esoteric or abstract exercise but a concrete, lived reality with the utmost practicality. I think this point, made repeatedly, is one of the most energizing in the book, as it brings an excitement to doctrine when its horizon is broadened to include the way we live.

I will not attempt here a summary of this substantive proposal about the method of doing doctrine Christianly, but will simply say that it is clearly a tour de force, anchoring Christian wisdom firmly and faithfully to Scripture all the while using a robust hermeutic to reinvigorate the Scripture principle. This all deserves a careful unpacking, but suffice it to say that he sets for the Bible as the "script" that provides the authoritative direction, the "drama" in which we find ourselves players. This brings up another important dimension of this book, the sustained metaphor of drama that provides the framework for Vanhoozer's thought. The pervasive use of such a metaphor could be a distraction, but Vanhoozer uses it to good effect, carefully building may points and relationship off of this central idea. And once you've developed an ear for the way he uses and applies the various dramatic dimensions, with actors, script, drama, dramaturge, and so on, the metaphor serves to enlighten, instead of obscure, his points. In fact, it would seem that maybe "metaphor" isn't quite the right term for the role "drama" plays, because the correlation between doctrine as "drama" and the fact to which it referrs, that doctrine involves description and prescription concerning a narrative-infused world in which we live under God means that doctrine truly is dramatic.

I have only but scratched the surface of this programmatic proposal concerning doctrine, but I hope that doesn't obscure my excited endorsement. I look forward to working through this book again in the future and digesting further its deep insights and catching again its passion for the dramatic truth of the gospel. If you have any interest in theology and the role of scripture in it, do not miss this book.

Mark Reasoner, Romans in Full Circle

2009-06-26T20:03:00.002-05:00

Mark Reasoner's Romans in Full Circle (Westminster John Knox, 2005) is a brief but very helpful survey of historical approaches to Paul's most theological letter. He chooses twelve loci from the letter (heavily weighted to the first eleven chapters, since that is where most of the attention has historically been paid). For each locus, he sets up briefly the issues at hand, and then proceeds to lay out a selective but informative history of interpretation focusing on some of the major interpreters throughout history. He always starts with Origen, and then proceeds through major developments, usually hitting on Augustine, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Barth, and Post-Barthian and Narrative approaches (and occasionally mentioning Pelagius and Erasmus, among others, as they are pertinent). This survey usually shows how major interpretations developed, where they changed, and what bearing they have on other loci.

Reasoner's premise is that Romans interpretation is moving in a "full circle" from Origen, who focused especially on the relation of Jew and Gentile in the letter, through Augustine and the focus on the individual, through Luther and a focus on Justification, through Barth and a focus on God and his righteousness, and back through the new perspective and narrative approaches to the relation of Romans to Israel's story and the role that the relation of Jew and Gentile plays in the structure of Paul's argument.

This attention to the original setting, he asserts, is leading readers back toward Origen. He concludes, "These approaches include reading both Christ's faithfulness and faithfulness in Christ as in view in Romans 3, a willingness to discus the universal scope of Christ's obedience at the end of Romans 5, reading the ego of Romans 7 as someone who is not fully in Christ, insisting on a human will whose free choices have real consequences in the order of salvation . . ., viewing ethnic Israel as God's chosen people (Romans 9-11), and reading 13:1-7 with deconstructive strategies that emphasize how believers must not always be subject to the government" (145).

Though he doesn't explicitly set out to evaluate or contextualize the "new perspective," I think Reasoner's survey shows how many parts of the "new" perspective are in fact quite old, giving pause to the oft-leveled criticism that the new perspective is taken with "novelty." Like I mentioned, this book doesn't set out to advocate or criticize the new perspective, but it does provide some important material for the debate.

Michael Bird, Introducing Paul

2009-06-26T18:59:00.001-05:00

Michael Bird's Introducing Paul (IVP in England used the whimsical title A Bird's Eye View of Paul for this same volume there) is a great little introduction to Paul's life and thought. In this short book, obviously intended as a college or seminary text, Bird cover's the necessary ground for an intro, dealing with matters of upbringing and training, Paul's conversion, his literary legacy, the important components of his thought, and his ethics and spirituality. Bird's coverage of these areas is uniformly well written and up to date, reflecting the latest issues and advances in scholarship without giving over to a faddish interpretation of the apostle. One leaves the pages understanding the contested ground but at the same time having a well-grounded understanding of Paul's theology that reflects both the best of the historic interpretations of Paul and some important modifications and improvements from the "new perspective."

Bird does a great job of situating Paul in his second-temple Jewish contect, and notes how the Old Testament and Judaism provide the important seedbed and framework for his thought, while also noting the role of Rome in his thinking.

Bird's book is my favorite introduction to Paul that I have so far encountered. He straightforwardly deals with the important issues, he gives solid background and well-reasoned and balanced conclusions, all the while inviting the reader into Paul's rich and gospel-focused world. An extremely good book; thanks Mike. I look forward to digging into his more substantive Saving Righteousness of God at some point in the future to see how some of this plays out in more detail.

Sam Childers, Another Man's War

2009-06-17T15:10:00.003-05:00

Another Man's War is pastor Sam Childers's account of his ministry in the battle-scarred regions of Southern Sudan. Childers, a former drug-dealer and criminal, recounts his own journey from his violent past to his current ministry with abused and orphaned children in Sudan. He and a group of Sudanese soldiers rescue children who have been caught in the battles between rebel and government forces, often in very dangerous conditions. I enjoyed and was challenged by Childers's story, but I must admit I was also dismayed by it. It's appalling to hear of the conditions faced by the people of Southern Sudan, with rebel militias murdering villagers and kidnapping children, and it is heartening to hear that people are stepping in to side with the abused and oppressed, but at the same time, it is also distressing to hear the comfort and confidence Childers has in guns and force. He and his group go in fully armed and guns blazing, proud of the impact they are making and of the fight they are bringing to the rebels. I am sure this is at least in some ways fitting to the context of his ministry, but it is distressing none the less to hear his bravado come through in the pages of the book. I am greatful for the children he saves, but hope and pray that there is a better way, and that he finds it.

Robert Whitlow, Higher Hope

2009-06-01T14:01:00.005-05:00

Robert Whitlow, Higher Hope, Tides of Truth, Book 2 (Thomas Nelson, 2009). Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

Tami Taylor, a law clerk in a Savannah firm, finds herself in the middle of a libel case involving a bold and outspoken preacher who claims prophetic abilities. The case, and her relationships at the firm, cause her to reflect on her own strict conservative upbringing and about the role her faith plays in a legal setting. Whitlow has crafted an interesting character study about the struggle between past and future, faith and life. Tami is forced to evaluate what she thinks is true about God and about how she should follow God. Though it slows down at points, and dwells too much on the competition of two lawyers for Tami's affections, the story still draws you in. The legal portion of the book sometimes gets lost amid the other story lines, but it still forms the backbone of the action. In all, it is worth a read.

P. D. James, The Private Patient

2009-05-29T15:01:00.003-05:00

James has done it again with this latest installment of the Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. In her usual style, she takes the reader into the life of the victim, Rhoda Gradwyn, and into the messiness of the lives that surround her untimely death. Much like a classic Agatha Christie mystery, we puzzle over a number of possible killers, each with some opportunity or motive. And, as always, James's insightful characters Commander Dalgliesh, Inspector Kate Mishkin, and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith lend continuity and depth to the mystery. In this story Rhoda Gradwyn, a "private patient" at a plastic surgery clinic in the English countryside is murdered at the clinic hours after her operation. Dalgliesh and his team work to uncover the connections between the patient and the workers at the clinic, turning up some rather unusual links. A couple of subsequent deaths thicken the plot, but the pieces fall into place nonetheless. I enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed many of her previous books. It is a good story by a great writer.

Gordon Fee, Pauline Christology

2009-05-18T09:52:00.001-05:00

This important book by professor Fee is truly a monumental achievement and an important contribution to the study of Paul and of Christology more broadly. When I decided to buy this book a few months ago, I scanned the contents and, noting that the first two thirds of the book was largely exegetical, figured I would maybe graze through a few sections of that, but mostly focus on the synthesis portion at the back (still more than 100 pages of discussion). But, in reading the book, I found that Fee's exegesis of Paul, going book by book and passage by passage, was too rich to pass up, so instead of mostly skipping over the first four hundred pages of the book, I read almost the entire portion. There is no doubt that this book will become an important reference for me as I study any passage on Paul that touches on Jesus Christ. His in-depth discussions of some of the key christological passages in Paul is extremely worthwile. As should be no surprise, 1 Cor 8:6, Philippians 2, and Colossians 1, among others, receive sustained attention. But the careful and sustained exegetical attention given to each of Paul's letters (both the undisputed and "disputed" letters) helps Paul's own thoughts to come through clearly, and builds a very powerful cumulative argument for Paul's high christology.

Fee argues that Paul holds a very high christology. Paul envisions Christ as the Preexistent One who became incarnate as the human Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus died and was raised again, proclaimed to be the risen Lord, receiving "the Name" and exalted to the highest place. It is this same Jesus who shares in a large array of divine prerogatives, is worshipped as God, and who along with the Father sends the Spirit.

The details of Fee's work, both exegetical and synthetic, are too many and varied to communicate here, but the value of his work is easy to ascertain. Interesting among is emphases is that much of Paul's christological discussion comes in the form of assumptions that seem to be held in common with his audience (Colossians 1 being the primary exception, where christology is the primary focus). Fee repeatedly emphasizes that this lends great weight to these inherent assertions, since they were so fundamental to both parties that they could be assumed.

In all, this book is a great statement of Paul's understanding of Christ, and demonstrates how the data from Paul's letters, along with that of John and Hebrews, led the church down the road to Nicaea and Trinitarian Orthodoxy. While Paul wasn't overtly Trinitarian, the way he talks of Christ (and the Spirit) shows that these developments find rich soil in Paul's thought. I highly commend this great study. It's ambition is clearly matched by its execution.

Eckhard Schnabel, Paul the Missionary

2009-04-25T16:23:00.006-05:00

Schnabel, professor of New Testment at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, presents a distinctive and thorough treatment of the Apostle Paul by focusing on Paul as a missionary. There can be no doubt that keeping Paul's missionary motivations in mind helps illumine Paul's thinking and writing, and furthermore, that investigating the way Paul carried himself as a missionary has bearing on what it means to be a Christian and more specifically a missionary in our twenty-first-century context.

Relying heavily on what must be an even more exhaustive treatment in his two-volume Early Christian Mission, Schnabel first sets out to describe the mission Paul undertook (dividing Paul's "travels" into fifteen different "periods" of mission), the task he set for himself (or maybe better, the task he saw himself as being given), and the message he preached. He then synthesizes this material in two chapters that discuss Paul's strategies and his methods for carrying out that mission. In the final chapter, he brings the study to bear on questions of mission in the current context, both in understanding why and how a church should grow and in what way current missionary endeavors should be informed by Paul.

I found the descriptive portions of the book to be informative, and though keeping track of fifteen "periods" of mission over Paul's career is cumbersome, it also helpfully breaks up the more traditional missionary "journies" in a way that better reflects the reality of Paul's undertaking. Easily lost in the old scheme are the significant periods spent in various locations in sustained ministry, whether the two years in Ephesus or the six months in Athens, the sorts of durations that are more obscured than illumined when talking about "travels" or "journies."

Schnable focuses repeatedly in the book on a couple important themes. One is the primacy of God in Paul's mission. Paul saw himself as called and appointed by God, in his service, dependent upon him, and ultimately accountable to him. No other responsibility, no other obligation, and no other message could supplant this one in the apostle's thinking. A second emphasis is that it is the gospel itself that dictates Paul's strategies and methods, not a grand itinerary or a finely-honed rhetorical presentation. Paul understood the deep need of all humanity to come to faith in Jesus Christ, and he undertook whatever ministry was expedient to bring about that end. He may have developed some patterns of ministry (such as going first to the synagogue), but these were always subservient to the message he proclaimed.

Schnabel's final chapter is an application of the study to the modern situation in the church and in missions. Some of the critique, such as his discussion of the "homogeneous unit principle" or of church planting, proves quite insightful, as is his caution against the search for the right "method" for church growth or evangelism instead of focusing on the gospel message. But at other points, his critique seems quite disconnected from the five substantive chapters on Paul, such as his discussion of "seeker-driven" churches or "atonement," where very little discussion of Paul is actually brought to bear on the matter at hand. While I would agree with many of his comments regarding "mega-churches," his discussion is very heavily dependent on David Wells and Os Guiness, and I think unfairly equates mega- or seeker-sensative churches with a dearth of theology. Criticism aside, though, the final chapter ends with some very helpful discussion of how study of Paul can and should inform how we do "missions" in the twenty-first century, and much wisdom can be gleaned here by pastors and missionaries. In all, Schnabel has written a detailed study of Paul that focuses on his missionary context and undertakings and it is helpful both in illuminating Paul and his thought as well as in guiding our application of the gospel message in our own day.

A final, reluctant but necessary note is in order here. This book desperately needed a good proofread before going to press. I was distressed by how many errors remained in the printed edition, and though I was just annoyed by inconsistencies in the footnote style or confused punctuation, there were numerous instances were the sense of a sentence was indecipherable. While I'm usually annoyed when reviewers point out one or two typos in a book, in this case, it really did detract from this worthwhile book.

Stephen Westerholm, Preface to the Study of Paul

2009-04-25T15:38:00.001-05:00

Pauline scholar Stephen Westerholm, author of the spectacular Perspectives Old and New on Paul, has also written this great little introduction to the study of Paul. Organized as a conceptual tour of Romans, Westerholm seeks to acquaint his readers with Paul's worldview. He contends that coming to terms with Paul means first grasping his "particular vision of reality," his worldview, which is then more fully developed and nuanced as one investigates deeper into Paul's "theology."

And this well-written little book accomplishes its aims admirably, and then some, I would say. Westerholm succeeds in contrasting modern assumptions about "the nature and terms of human existence" (1) with those views that underpin and are played out in Paul's writings. Topics such as law, freedom, and the nature of the cosmos are helpfully discussed to bring out common modern assumptions and illuminate Paul's own perspective.

This book truly is an introduction, in the best sense, and would prove a very good place to start a study on Paul and his thought. It also carries out the task of a good introduction in giving a remarkably concise and readable overview of the important contours of Paul's theology. Especially illuminating are the discussion of the interplay of sin, the Mosaic law, and Israel and the new situation brought about by Christ.

His chapter on Romans 9–11 is easily worth the price of the book, and the four-page discussion, "The Role of God in History," is easily one of the best summaries and statements I have ever read on God's knowledge, providence, election, and interaction with humanity. He defends a traditional view of God's foreknowledge, the necessity of election and God's capacity to "harden," while also maintaining that God certainly does not predetermine all human activities and choices, and furthermore that there is no divine role in the origin of sin. He also asserts that while some have drawn the further implication of a double predestination of some to salvation and some to damnation, Westerhom asserts that such an conclusion need not be drawn, and that in fact Paul often warns that those who are "called" may prove faithless and be lost and that the "call" can be resisted.

I highly recommend this great little book, and I am greatful to pauline scholar James Aageson, one of my professors at Concordia College in Moorhead, who pointed me toward this book back in my college days. Rereading it has been a treat.

Jon Krakauer, Under the Banner of Heaven

2009-04-24T14:03:00.001-05:00

Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air (both are great books and worth your time), takes up a different subject matter in Under the Banner of Heaven. This book, as Krakauer puts it in the "Author's Remarks," is his endeavor to "grasp the nature of religious belief" (333) His investigation into the nature of belief, and especially its irrational elements, takes the form of an investigation into the history and beliefs of the Mormon church, with special emphasis on Mormon fundamentalism and the murder of a woman and her infant daughter by two fundamentalists who believed they were doing God's will.

It is clear as Krakauer sets out that he hopes to illumine the "dark side to religious devition" (xxi) and lay bare the irrationality of faith. And lest there be any doubt as to the tack he is taking, he defines faith as follows at the close of the prologue: "Faith is the very antithesis of reason, injudiciousness a crucial component of spiritual devotion. And when religious fanaticism supplants raticination, all bets are suddenly off" (xxiii). Not exactly a robust definition of faith, though maybe closer if one limits the scope to "fundamentalism." (Though I don't want to go off the track here and discuss what fundamentalism of the various stripes is and isn't and how it relates to more orthodox faith.) So, back to Krakauer.

Under the Banner of Heaven is a well-written investigation into a double murder of a young woman and her child by brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, investigating both the factors that lead to the killing and the interesting lack of remorse in its wake.

The Lafferty brothers are Mormon Fundamentalists, part of a loose group of Mormons who seek to return the faith to its roots and vigorously defend and follow its doctrines, plural marriage one among many things that they see the modern LDS church waywardly departing from. Ron receives a revelation that he is to kill his sister-in-law and her daughter. Dan goes along with him, and is the one who ultimately carries out the brutal executions. In the wake of these brutal killings, neither man feels significant remorse, instead living confident that they have carried out God's will, a higher law than any earthly laws.

The story brings out many facets peculiar to Mormonism and Mormon Fundamentalism (espeically the importance of ongoing revelation and the authority of these revelations), but it also investigates by extension the nature of faith and its relation to rationality and modern society.

While I don't agree with Krakauer's conclusions that faith is ultimately nothing more than irrational delusion, I think he has none-the-less done a service by writing this interesting book. Beside bringing out the very interesting story of the rise of Mormonism and its later Fundamentalist developments, he also raises important questions about the nature of faith—questions that I think can ultimately be answered much better than Krakauer allows, but he does a service by at least raising the questions.

Walter Wangerin Jr., Paul: A Novel

2009-04-08T13:21:00.001-05:00

The well-known writer and Valparaiso professor Walter Wangerin lends his pen to this novelization of Paul's ministry years. Wangerin shows a thorough knowledge of the relevant scholarship, and especially of the New Testament text, as he weaves together the narratives in Acts and the relevant data from Paul's own letters to form a coherent story of Paul's post-conversion life. Starting with his journey to Damascus, we met Paul and a broad cast of characters that come alive off the pages of the New Testament. Paul is of course the focus of the book, and it is the compelling characterization that Wangerin gives him that makes this book work so well. Paul is a driven personality, captivated by Jesus Christ and single-minded in his pursuit of God's call.

Wangerin does, I think, a good job of portraying some of the tensions that beset early Christianity, especially relating to questions of the Law and Jew-Gentile relations, portraying the relationship between Paul and James as a genuine but rocky friendship. He also brings out Paul's displeasure with the pronouncement of the Jerusalem council (Ac 15), asserting that Paul was deeply disappointed that they didn't go far enough in breaking down barriers.

Paul is a well-written novel, and it follows nicely the outline of Acts. Wangerin also peppers Paul's speech with words right from his own letters, both enlivening the often familiar words and also keeping his characterization of Paul close to that found in the NT especially in Paul's own writings. There could of course be quibbles about various details large and small with regard to Paul and early Christianity (e.g., Wangerin relates Ac 15 to the visit Paul relates in Gal 2, certainly a legitimate interpretation, though not one I favor; or the depth of the rift between Paul and James), but these are certainly eclipsed by the value that comes with Wangerin's imaginative yet faithful writing.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

2009-04-08T11:52:00.005-05:00

Having recently reread The Lord of the Rings, I thought I would also pick up The Hobbit again. It narrates the story of how Bilbo set off on his own set of adventures, a generation before Frodo and the tale told in LOTR, and how he obtained the ring of power deep in a cave in the Misty Mountains. The tale is lighthearted, but shows Tolkien's trademark depth and imagination, with fascinating characters, interweaving histories, and compelling prose. While I don't think it rivals LOTR, it certainly stands on its own as a wonderful book, and I look forward to reading it to my kids in a few years.

A. T. B. McGowan, The Divine Authenticity of Scripture

2009-04-08T11:51:00.001-05:00

I am way behind on my posting, and this one has been on my desk for well over a month now. I've been reading a lot of books lately that I have really appreciated. And this one is no different. In the very contested area that is the evangelical doctrine of Scripture, McGowan makes what I believe to be a very valuable and important contribution. First, he sets out to situate the current evangelical landscape with regard to Scripture, and particularly inerrancy, in its historical context, focusing especially on the rise of liberal theology and biblical criticism in the nineteenth century and on the conservative reaction in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His purpose is to show that the doctrine of inerrancy was formulated in a very particular landscape. He further asserts that while if pressed he would choose an "inerrantist" position over an "errantist" one, he presses the discussion in a different direction, proposing a reformulation of the doctrine and a retrieval of the term "infallible" as a robust alternative. He then concludes his study with studies of how the doctrine of Scripture should relate to confessions and also how it relates to preaching and the proclamation of the Word.

There are a number of reasons why I think McGowan's contribution is to be particularly commended. First, I think it lends a very important non–North American perspective to this debate, and firmly and repeatedly demonstrates how the errantist vs. inerrantist debate may be raising a false dichotomy, or at least asking the wrong question. And as he demonstrates, this isn't incompatible with many of the more nuanced inerrantist positions, in which the notion of "error" is carefully qualified to fit with the setting and intention of the Bible's authors. Second, I think McGowan's restatement of the doctrine helpfully emphasizes Scripture's role in the Trinitarian economy of communication, and emphasizes the need to move it from a prolegomenon to an item under the doctrine of God in theological statements and considerations of doctrine. (Incidentally, the new Evangelical Free Church in America Statement of Faith does just this, moving the statement on Scripture from first to second.) Another helpful facet of McGowan's book is that he proposes a constructive doctrine of Scripture based around the word infallibility, and is careful to mine the work of past evangelicals, especially Herman Bavnick, showing how others have approached the doctrine and how it fits into their larger theological program.

Much more could be said about this very interesting book. I need to continue digesting a number of his arguments, but I will certainly keep this book close at hand as I continue to reflect on these extremely important theological questions.

Brad Mezrich, Bringing Down the House

2009-03-26T11:08:00.001-05:00

Bringing Down the House is a fun book. Mezrich tells the inside story of Kevin Lewis, an MIT student who joins a secret group of card counters who travel from casino to casino plying their trade. Mezrich details the basics of how team play works and narrates the ups and downs as the team becomes more successful and is finally detected by a group of Vegas casinos. It is a light read, but it takes you deep into the gambling world.

Ken Duncan, In the Footsteps of Paul

2009-03-10T10:50:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy. In the Footsteps of Paul is a beautiful gift book that chronicles the life and ministry of Paul. The book is a mixture of photographs interspersed with quotations from Acts, brief reflections from Duncan, and quotations from well-known authors. Following the Acts narrative, the book weaves together the story of Paul's life both in word and picture. The images—mostly of landscapes and sites, but sprinkled with artifacts, and artwork—are of exceptional quality, and give life to the narrative. A number of the scenes are truly breath-taking, and make this book worthy of a place on a coffee table, in addition to its other merits as a worthwhile introduction to Paul's travels.

The carefully chosen excerpts from Acts and Duncan's brief comments help to narrate Paul's story, chronicling his movements around Palestine, Asia, and Europe, highlighting major events and important interactions. The narrative is also augmented by well-chosen quotations from biblical scholars such as Ben Witherington, N. T. Wright, and F. F. Bruce, and inspirational writers such as Henri Nouwen, Max Lucado, and Thomas Merton.

In all, the book is beautifully assembled and laid out. The pictures are stunning, and the text helps bring Paul's journeys to life. As Duncan says in his introduction, "I knew [following in Paul's footsteps] would challenge me in my own walk with God. . . . Paul was all in for Jesus." Through words and images, Duncan helps us to see Paul the person, a follower of Christ, dedicated to the mission God laid before him. While I would look elsewhere for a more rigorous introduction to Paul's life and thought, this book makes for a great primer on Paul, and a worthy visual companion to other studies, at times instructing and at times challenging us to follow.

John Grisham, The Appeal

2009-02-16T17:19:00.004-06:00

Grisham hits with another enjoyable read. In The Appeal, Krane Chemical, a chemical firm that has been illegally dumping carcinogenic chemicals near the small town of Bowmore, Mississippi, is on the hook for millions of dollars because of its pollution. The book opens with the the conclusion of the trial, and the huge verdict against Krane. And that is only the beginning of the action. The real story is what happens next: the appeal.

Carl Trudeau, the majority owner of Krane Chemical, takes a huge hit in the stock market because of the negative verdict. In order to save his company from huge liabilities in the Bowmore case, and in hundreds of others like it, Trudeau recruits a secret firm to get a corporation-friendly judge elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court in the fall, tipping the balance of power on the court and making it likely that the decision will be reversed on appeal in the name of "lawsuit reform."

Ron Fisk is that candidate, though he doesn't know it. He is recruited by a high-powered group of supporters to run for the Supreme Court. He knows there are a lot of people behind his candidacy, but he has no idea that it is primarily being funded by Carl Trudeau, in hopes of essentially buying a seat and securing a verdict. Fisk will be running against Justice Sheila McCarthy, a centrist justice who is coming up for reelection. The Fisk campaign gets everything ready, including its huge fund-raising machine, but doesn't announce until shortly before the deadline, leaving McCarthy surprised and mostly without cash or a plan for a campaign. The Fisk campaign quickly pounces on her record and saturates the market with negative advertisements characterizing her as a liberal justice. Barrie Rinehart, the mastermind behind the Fisk campaign, also arranges for a gay couple from Illinois to move down to Mississippi and try to get married, injecting gay marriage as an issue into the campaign as well.

Sheila McCarthy, after a slow start, raises some support, primarily from trial lawyers, and gets her own campaign moving. But she is no match for Fisk and all of the money that pours into his campaign, and she is narrowly defeated. Fisk assumes a seat on the Supreme Court, and it is immediately obvious that he is living up to his pro-business billing. But as the time to decide the Krane Chemical appeal approaches, Fisk's son is injured by a line drive in a little-league baseball game, and the bat that was used was illegal. As his son clings to life, Ron comes to realize that the manufacturer of the bat should hold some liability for making the faulty and dangerous equipment, and this begins a shift in his judicial philosophy toward more compassion for the victims. But when the time for the Krane decision arrives, he reluctantly sides with the chemical company none the less, ending hope in Bowmore for cleanup and compensation for all of the toxic dumping and the resulting sickness.

I think Grisham has achieved a great blend of readability and enjoyment, together with thoughtful fiction. He certainly makes me think twice about the process of electing judges. This book is another good read, with believable characters and always-interesting legal plot twists.

Ted Dekker, Blink

2009-02-16T16:52:00.003-06:00

I've heard a lot of good things about Ted Dekker, and this is my first forray into his work. He writes fast-paced christian fantasy fiction much in the mold of Frank Paretti. In Blink, Dekker follows Seth Borders, a brilliant graduate student who develops a very strange power, the ability to see alternate futures. At first, he can only see a few seconds into the future, but the gift develops into allowing him to see hours into the future. He is able to see an almost infinite number of possible outcomes for any situation, and thus is able to manipulate reality toward the outcomes he wants by doing the things in that particular future. Seth comes in contact with a Saudi woman named Miriam, who is on the run from an arranged marriage in Saudi Arabia. They meet by chance, and the book is the chronicle of their flight across the globe.

Intertwined with this plot is Seth's wrestling with the possibility of God's existence. He starts out intellectually open to the idea, but unwilling to actually believe that God really exists. His own ability to view alternate futures seems to debunk the idea of God's existence for him because it seems to mean that the future is open and this appears to be incompatible with an all-knowing God. But as the book goes on, Seth realizes that he can pray to the God of Jesus Christ and the possible futures that he sees change, pointing toward God's involvement in the world.

Miriam, meanwhile, is wrestling too, both with the cultural difference between Saudi Arabia and the United States and between Islam and the Christianity that Seth is exploring.

All of these plots come to a fast-paced conclusion as Seth rescues Miriam from her husband-to-be's palace and God delivers them from a seemingly inescapable standoff.

Dekker wrestles with some interesting questions in an imaginative way, and that makes the book work. The biggest weakness is in the characters, who seem rather flat. All told, the book wasn't bad, and I'm going to dip into Dekker's work again.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

2009-02-09T16:34:00.005-06:00

I love this book. It is without a doubt one of my favorites. Tolkien is a master of words, and when this is wedded with his fertile imagination and his deep faith you end up with a powerful work. And it only gets better with rereading.

I am always struck by the beauty and depth of the world he creates, the reality and dynamism of his characters, and the epic scope of the events. It feels like every page of this voluminous work is built upon a foundation of volumes of history. I also love the powerful themes of temptation and failure, virtue, hope, and redemption. It is truly a theological goldmine, a volume illumined with a "Christian imagination" that propels the action. Simply said, I love it!

Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement

2009-02-09T16:34:00.001-06:00

In this great little book on the atonement, Scot McKnight lends his capable hand to this very important doctrine, navigating the often contested waters with ease. McKnight asserts the importance of atonement both as a doctrine of the church but even more so as a practice of the church. Does atonement work? He asserts that yes, it does. It can and should create a community transformed by Christ's work, and transformed to further that transformation in the world.

McKnight lays out a nicely rounded out picture of the atonement by situating the doctrine in the larger Christian story, by investigating the biblical and historical roots and developments, and by asserting the continuing validity of the theory and even more the praxis of atonement.

I think this relatively short book is a great entry point into this important field of discussion, and beyond that it is a robust statement of how this doctrine stands at the core of Christian faith and life. A number of helpful avenues are explored, such as atonement as the work of the missional God and creating a missional community. I also think he takes a very even-handed approach to the modern criticisms of penal substitution, showing how the doctrine can be sometimes distorted by some of its defenders, but also emphasizing how it can express an essential aspect of our faith. Last, I think his own summary of atonement as identification for incorporation proves to be a helpful way of approaching this doctrine.

This certainly doesn't constitute a full review of McKnight's broad and far-reaching project, but I hope it gives some of the flavor of this great little book that can help the church to rethink what it means to be an atoned-for and atoning people.

John Grisham, The Testament

2009-01-21T10:43:00.004-06:00

Though different from many of his other books, I think The Testament goes down as one of my Grisham favorites. Troy Phelan, a self-made billionaire, jumps to a spectacular death after signing a will leaving his fortune to an unknown daughter, Rachel Lane, and spurning his six other children by three failed marriages, all of whom are circling like vultures waiting for their lucky day to finally arrive. The wrinkle is that Rachel is a missionary in a remote part of Brazil, and is totally out of touch with the Western world except for two phone calls a year. So Josh Stafford, Troy's long-time lawyer, dispatches one of his associates, Nate O'Riely, on a mission to find Rachel.

Nate is fresh out of drug rehab (his fourth trip), and is coming to terms with the wreck his life has become, with a failed marriage and kids he doesn't stay in touch with, on top of federal charges that jeopardize his law practice and good intentions but little hope of true sobriety and recovery. Josh sees this little trip as a chance to get Nate back on his feet, and also keep him away from trouble for a little while. So Nate is dispatched to Brazil to venture out into the Pantanal, a vast region of rain forest on the Brazil-Bolivia border with little contact with the outside world. Rachel Lane is a missionary there with World Tribes Missions, a group that seeks to evangelize unreached peoples by sending missionaries in to live with tribes permanantly and to get to know them and earn their trust. Nate, with the help of a couple local guides, finally tracks Rachel down in a remote village, only to learn that she doesn't want the money. This to Nate is of course shocking, and as he spends a few days with Rachel, he comes to see the deep contrast between her contentment and his own searching and floundering.

While in the jungle, Nate catches malaria, and narrowly escapes death after convalescing in a Brazilian hospital for a number of days. Once back in the States, he begins acting as Rachel's lawyer, in defense of the will, since the other Phelan heirs are contesting the will and seeking their own share of the vast estate. In the end, a settlement is offered to the other heirs, solving the legal troubles, except for the need for Rachel's signature. When Nate makes a return trip to Brazil, he learns that Rachel died of Malaria. But before her death, she signed the necessary papers, giving Nate control over the vast fortune in the form of a trust to benefit World Tribes, the spread of the gospel, and the betterment of the people of Brazil.

This book has the legal intrigue of Grisham's other books, with some comical but also interesting heirs and their lawyers battling for control of billions of dollars. But it is in the characters that this book excels. Grisham shows the devastation that money and greed can bring in the lives of the three ex-wives and six heirs-apparent to the Phelan fortune. And he does a great job of contrasting this with the contentment that can be found elsewhere (namely in peace with God). Rachel is a very authentic character, and adds great depth to the book. But the best character proves to be Nate O'Riley. His journeys to Brazil parallel the searching in his own life, and his encounters with the Phelan heirs and with Rachel cause him to refocus his own life. His journey shows how painful the past can be, but also how liberating God's truth and forgiveness is. The journey isn't easy for him, but Grisham has cast it just right, to make it authentic without being shallow and moralizing or preachy.

In short, I loved this book. The setting was fun and different, the legal maneuvering is vintage Grisham, and the characters bring the story to life. And, best of all, it is a great "testament" to the source of true meaning in life, none other than God and the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ.

I. Howard Marshall, Aspects of the Atonement

2009-01-20T08:56:00.002-06:00

Based in part on his 2004 F. F. Bruce lecture at Highland Theological College, this great little book is an important and even-handed look at the atonement. Its four chapters entail three major foci. The first two chapters deal specifically with the doctrine of penal substitution through a careful look at its two constituent parts, with a careful study of the penalty for sin in chapter 1 and a sustained look at substitution as it relates to the atonement in chapter 2. Throughout these chapters, Marshall carefully takes into account recent critiques of the doctrine as well and weighs them against a careful investigation of the biblical basis. Through this study, he demonstrates the importance of the doctrine of penal substitution but also how it could be better formulated to avoid excesses and misrepresentations. Thus, he carefully critiques and also defends this important doctrine. He looks specifically at issues of violence, wrath, and suffering, as these often come up in critiques of the doctrine. (A proper trinitarian understanding of God and God's action plays a central role here.) In all, he forcefully demonstrates that the fundamental ideas behind the doctrine of penal substitution are important and essential facets of a doctrine of atonement.

In the third chapter, Marshall sets out to investigate how the resurrection of Jesus relates to atonement. While much thought rightly focuses on Jesus' death as the location of atonement, too often this is done without giving necessary attention to how the resurrection likewise plays an important role. Through a sustained look at Romans 4:25 (Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification), Marshall shows how the resurrection can and should play a helpful and central role in our thinking about atonement, especially as it is connected with the them of new life, and how it should be seen as an essential part of God's work of justification.

In the fourth chapter, Marhshall puts forth reconciliation as a helpful overall scheme for thinking of the atonement. While reconciliation and its attendant word forms are not prevalent in the New Testament, Marshall shows how related themes of forgiveness and peace, which play an important part in the NT, point toward reconciliation as an important and helpful way of thinking about what the atonement accomplishes.

I greatly enjoyed this very readable little book. Marshall is very sensitive to modern critiques of the doctrine of penal substitution, and both shows the value in the critiques and also the enduring value of this historic doctrine. For any who are interested in this ongoing debate, I highly recommend this book. It is also very valuable for its second half, with a great discussion of resurrection and of reconciliation. In all, this is a great exposition of the doctrine of the atonement.

Tom Clancy, Red Rabbit

2008-12-27T10:34:00.003-06:00

In this 2002 installment in the Jack Ryan series, Clancy returns to Jack's early days in the CIA, after his run-in with the IRA in Patriot Games. In the hey day of the Cold War, with tensions in Eastern Europe rising, the new Pope, John Paul II, sends a letter threatening to renounce the papacy and return to Poland to shepherd his people who are buckling under communist rule. When word of his plans reaches Moscow, the politboro is concerned about destabilization in Poland that could spread across the Warsaw Pact. So Yuriy Andropov, the head of the KGB, sets a plan in motion to assassinate the Pope. Meanwhile, the CIA and the British SIS have gotten word of the letter, and are busy trying to guess the Soviets' next move.

As the Soviets' plans unfold, an operator in the signals section of the KGB (a person who transmit coded messages), Zaitzev, is overtaken by the weight of the messages he is translating. Even though as an operator he isn't supposed to have an opinion about the messages, isn't really supposed to read them, he can't be a party to the murder of an innocent man. On his commute home, he has been seeing a new American ride the train, and suspecting that he might be CIA, he slips him a note on the train. The American, Ed Foley, is in fact a CIA field agent, and a careful courtship begins. Zaitzev wants out for him and his family, and, to get such a well-placed agent, the CIA is willing to comply. The "Red Rabbit," that is a communist who wants to defect, is a valuable source of communications intelligence about a wide array of soviet intelligence, so a plan is put in motion to get him out of the country. The CIA brings the British SIS in on the plan, which is to have Zaitzev take a train to Warsaw and then smuggle him across the border into Yugoslavia. Ryan takes part in that little bit of the operation, as the CIA representative on the otherwise British-run phase of the operation. The exfiltration goes off without a hitch, and Ryan is amazed to learn of the plans to kill the pope, and he quickly relays the information to Washington.

But, that leaves the CIA in a precarious position, walking the fine line between using the intelligence they get and protecting the valuable source. In the end, it is decided that they can't notify the Vatican because the source needs protecting, but Zaitzev is able to identify the probable assassin, so the Brits dispatch a team to try thwart his plans, surmising that he will try kill the Pope during his weekly tour around St. Peter's square. Ryan goes along, and they scout out probable scenarios for the shooter. They find themselves in the square, and have spotted the shooter, but Jack realizes that he's not looking at the Pope, but somewhere else. Just then, shots erupt from nearby in the crowd. The Pope is shot, but only wounded, the shooter is captured, as is the Russian assassin, who was there to kill the assassin so his actions couldn't be traced back to Russia.

Red Rabbit is another interesting and enjoyable installment in the Jack Ryan saga, though Ryan is both on the periphery as well as at the center of the story. But the facet of the book that pulled the story together was the character of Zaitzev. His own struggles with the information he was transmitting, and with the whole Russian disregard for God made for an interesting character at the center of the plot and pulled the book together. It may not rank as one of Clancy's best, but it is still vintage Clancy.

Karl Barth, Epistle to the Philippians

2008-12-13T12:47:00.001-06:00

This interesting little commentary is one of the few examples of Barth's theological exegesis as it is applied to an entire book systematically. It doesn't rival other more traditional commentaries as far as exegetical insight, but it contains a number of gems, and reflects a deep and sustained engagement with the text. Barth illumines a number of theological themes in the letter in his own distinctive way, and, as is reflected by citations of this book in many modern commentaries, certainly makes a contribution to the understanding of Philippians. I most thoroughly enjoyed his discussion of Phil 3:8-9 and the subject of faith and righteousness. This brief discussion alone is worth the price of the book. While I won't be consulting this little commentary first or most frequently in future studies of Philippians, I certainly won't neglect it either, especially when looking at those more theologically dense passages.

William Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals

2008-12-13T11:44:00.000-06:00

I think it is fair to say that hermeneutics, and specifically hermeneutics as it relates to cultural anaylsis, is one of the most pressing issues facing the church today. How we understand Scripture to relate to its original culture and how we appropriate it in our own culture is one of the issues that is driving our current era of church history. How we understand issues such as those surrounding women and homosexuals are very live and important questions in our day. And this is why I commend William Webb's book as highly as I possibly can. He addresses these issues by carefully probing the underlying hermeneutical questions with thoroughness and and an irenic and humble spirit.

Webb begins by laying out the Christian's challenge with regard to these issues, "It is necessar for Christians to challenge their culture where it departs from kingdom values; it is equally necessary for them to identify with their culture on all other matters" (22, italics in original). This is difficult because though Scripture contains both culture-bound and transcultural elements, these would have been nearly indistinguishable to its original readers. The challenge, then, is to live out the spirit of the text without being too inseparably bound to the "isolated words." For Webb, this means undertaking a "redemptive-movement hermeneutic" as opposed to a "static" hermeneutic.

A redemptive-movement hermeneutic seeks to assess the "movement" of a text relative to its original cultural setting. It then moves into our own day and seeks to retain the same direction of movement relative to our current culture in places where our cultural setting has gone beyond that of the original culture. An explicit component of this assessment is that the Bible doesn't only contain an "ultimate" ethic, but often contains provisions, laws, and instructions that entail only a "partially realized" ethic. It is worth taking a second to look at the reasons Webb outlines for this to be so, because I don't think this concept is one most readers of Scripture consciously ascribe to. Webb asserts that God often inspired a "partially realized" ethic (1) for pastoral reasons, to stretch his people as far as they could go without snapping; (2) for padagogical reasons, to help people move from the known to a foreseeable future with enough continuity so they can find their way; (3) for evangelistic reasons, thus reform was intended to better social structures without being so radical as to jeopardize other aspects of the Christian mission; (4) to sustain competing values, such as upholding temporary values in pursuit of associated goods, such as slavery in service of social welfare or patriarchy in service to gender differentiation; and (5) for soteriological resons, to to deal with a fallen and sinful humanity to whom reform does not come easiliy and move us in a process of progressive sanctification.

Throughout the book, Webb sustains an argument that, taking the presence of elements of both an ultimate and a provisional ethic within Scripture (and he certainly acknowledges the presence of an ultimate ethic in Scripture), we must undertake careful cultural analysis to determine what components of Scripture are culture-bound and which are transcultural. Once this is done, we seek to uphold the transcultural components and seek to live out the culture-bound components through a process of "redemptive movement" where we seek to follow the redemptive spirit within the text by reapplying that same spirit to our own culture. Let's follow a similar flow to Webb's own argument to flesh this out a bit.

Webb argues that the neutral example of slavery provides an important case study for understanding how a redemptive movement hermeneutic works. The culture of the Ancient Near East and of the Greco-Roman world upheld a structure of slavery. The Bible, written within this culture, reflects this setting, in that it assumes the general structure of slavery. There are no explicit texts or passages that speak directly to the need for the abolition of slavery (except perhaps for Gal 3:28 and parallels); there are, on the flip side, though, many texts that assume that slavery exists. But many of these texts reflect a "redemptive movement," that is, they demonstrate a limited but real movement away from the worst abuses of slavery toward better and more equal treatment of slaves. This movement, when coupled with the ultimate ethic in Scripture that acknowledges the equality of all people before God and the need to love neighbor as self, points toward the need for further movement beyond the movement accomplished in the OT or NT. Thus, as we live out the spirit of these texts, we appreciate our different cultural setting and seek to move closer to the unrealized ultimate ethic of abolition of slavery, and even beyond this toward fuller workplace and economic justice.

Webb takes this same process of analysis into his discussion of texts surrounding women. In that cultural analysis, through the use of eighteen different criteria, he assesses the culture-bound components of patriarchy, relating to economic, social, and practical concerns. This analysis includes a careful exposition of the pertinent New Testament texts in their cultural settings, as well as a thorough discussion of the relation between the testaments on this point, and especially of the role played by Genesis texts in the discussion. He then couples this with an investigation of the ultimate ethic present in scripture, and concludes that the Bible moves toward a complementary egalitarianism or an ultra-soft patriarchy.

The third issue Webb looks at throughout the book is that of homosexuality. This is important in two respects. First, it is important because it is a vital issue in its own right, and second, because it is often related either positively or negatively to discussion of issues regarding women, usually to rhetorical effect. Thus, importantly, Webb demonstrates that the two issues, both needing careful cultural analysis, demonstrate opposite movements within Scripture. Whereas the patriarchy texts evidence a positive movement toward egalitarianism, the homosexual texts consistently demonstrate an absolute movement away from freedom to complete prohibition, and this movement is to be carried over into our own culture, albeit slightly modified.

William Webb's book is often cited and quoted in studies surrounding these important and divisive issues, and this is with good reason. I wish I had read this book years ago, and have deeply appreciated his hermeneutical insights. He shows how to recognize a redemptive movement in Scripture that acknowledges and appreciates the spirit of the text without being too bound to the "isolated words," by which he means the words taken in isolation from their cultural and canonical context. He demonstrates a genuine faithfulness to Scripture and an intense pursuit of God's truth and God's desire for our lives here in the in-between time, while also demonstrating how to carefully move beyond the bare words of Scripture in those cases when it is bound to its cultural setting. I look forward to appropriating his insights in future study. I must say that I also deeply appreciated his humble and irenic tone. He openly acknowledged the areas of greatest weakness in his own case (even writing a "What If I Am Wrong?" chapter to lay bare and discuss these weaknesses and their bearing on his case), and also sought to acknowledge the strengths of his opponents positions and demonstrated charitable readings of opposing views. All the same, I think he also admirably shows the promise of careful cultural analysis for faithful application of Scripture, in a convincing assessment of the issues surrounding both homosexuality and women. I also hope at the very least that this book dismantles the arguments often bandied about that those who favor women in ministry are on the slippery slope to accepting homosexuality or that those who accept women in ministry must make this subsequent move, as Webb demonstrates how this is clearly not so.

In all, this book is a landmark study of hermeneutics especially as it bears on these important issues, and is a must read for those on all sides of these pressing discussions. Do not miss this book, and do not delay.

Ben Witherington, The Lazarus Effect

2008-12-10T13:56:00.004-06:00

I loved this book. Biblical Scholar Ben Witherington and his wife Ann Witherington have put together a great, plausible work of fiction, and I enjoyed reading it. And further than that, I learned something.

Art West, a well-known biblical archaeologist, makes an astonishing discovery. In an unexcavated mound in Bethany, he finds the tomb of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. In it is reference to Lazarus's first "resurrection" from the dead and his eventual death, as he awaits the second resurrection. Also discovered is an ancient manuscript of the Gospel of John in Aramaic, shedding important light on the origin and nature of that Gospel (Witherington, a Johannine scholar, makes some interesting points about dating and authorship). But before West can make the discovery known, he is trapped inside the tomb, and before he can show the discovery to the world, the tomb is robbed and the inscription is stolen. Thus begins a chase to find this astonishing piece of history amid doubts about its authenticity and among an interesting inter-religious setting in Jerusalem. West is aided by his Jewish friend and scholar Grace Levine, and by his Muslim friends Kahlil El Asad and his daughter Hannah, antiquities dealers in the old city. As the story moves forward the pace picks up as Art is framed for having a fake inscription made and also for shooting his friend Kahlil. With so many rumors swirling in such a volatile world, suspicion rests on Art, and he finds himself on trial for the killing and for the forgery. And more stories intertwine, as fundamentalist Christians and ultra-Orthodox Jews both see West as someone who is compromising the essentials of the faith. The complexity of the plot really helps to illumine the complexity of the real-life situation in modern Israel.

The Witheringons' book is a real page turner, with a great plot and interesting characters. But what sets it apart is both the plausibility of its events (Ben Witherington is an expert in the James ossuary, a real-life artifact of similar significance also fraught with suspicion) and the quality of its history. It is obvious that the authors know the Biblical world and modern Israel well, and they help the reader to feel some of the important dynamics between the various groups. They also bring a great glimmer of hope to the situation as the "Lazarus Effect"--new life from the dead--takes hold among many of the characters and brings hope in unexpected places. I think this book is a great read and would make a great gift.

Scot McKnight, The Blue Parekeet

2008-12-04T11:17:00.001-06:00

Scot McKnight, well known blogger and author, challenges readers to think about how they read the Bible in this great little book. The challenge McKnight lays down to readers is to think about what it means to be "biblical" in our thinking, speaking, and acting. Though we may think we mean simply "doing what the Bible says," he shows us that for almost all of us, that is clearly not the case. Through some simple examples he shows that we all pick and choose what we apply and how. The question explored throughout the rest of the book, then, is why and how do we do this. He asserts that "adopting and adapting," a more positive spin on the phenomenon, is indeed the right way to read the Bible, as we seek to discern both how God spoke in the past and how God is speaking to us in our day in our way.

McKnight proposes a three-stage process in our reading and applying the Bible: Story, Listening, Discerning. The first case he sets out to make is that the Bible is fundamentally a Story, or more properly, a variety of retellings of the one Story: Creating Eikons; Cracked Eikons; Covenant Community; Christ, the Perfect Eikon, redeems; Consummation. That, in a nutshell (and in Scot's own distinctive terminology) is the story of the Bible. The 66 books of the Bible then make up "wiki-stories," retellings in often distinctive ways, with varying emphases and language in different times and settings, of this one overarching story. And here is one of McKnight's core assertions, these "wiki-stories" are tellings of God's truth "in Moses' days in Moses' ways . . . in David's days in David's ways . . . in Jeremiah's days in Jeremiah's ways . . . in Jesus' days in Jesus' ways . . . in Paul's days in Paul's ways . . ." He concludes that we are "called to carry on that pattern in our world today" (28). The key to this movement into our own days and ways is Story, as we recognize the story and its retellings in the Bible and seek to enter into that same story in our day.

The second section of the book takes up the second stage in our reading and applying the Bible: Listening. McKnight emphasizes that we listen to the Bible because we have a relationship with the God of the Bible. That relationship forms the ground and purpose of our reading and listening. He seeks to get past abstract discussions of the Bible's authority, past having a "view" of the Bible, as legitimate as these things may be, to focus on having "a 'relationship' to the God of the Bible" (95). This understanding then shapes our listening, as we listen attentively to and for God, we are attentive in recognizing God speaking, we absorb what God says and we act on what we hear (99). This puts a helpful emphasis on the way the Bible must shape us as we listen. We aren't just mining the Bible for "truth" or theology but we are encountering God speaking to us, and must act and react accordingly.

The third stage we encounter is Discerning. After we have recognized the story in the text and have listened attentively to God speaking through his Word, we must discern our part in the story, we must discern what we are then to do. Here he argues that the "adopt and adapt" strategy that all Christians implicitly or explicitly espouse is in fact the right idea. We must recognize that "that was then and this is now." But this is not simply a personalistic anything goes reading of Scripture, but is a discerning, with (as opposed to through) tradition, in community. We need to recognize that the Bible itself points toward a strategy of discernment, and that the church has likewise passed on this legacy of a "pattern of discernment" (118). McKnight acknowledges the messiness of the process, and that it means there will be disagreements. But, he writes, "it is the attempt to foist one person's days and ways on everyone's days and ways that quenches the Holy Spirit" (143). It is because of the gospel that we strive to adapt, just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9. We, like Paul, should be governed by what furthers the gospel the most (142). Thus, "Living out the Bible means living out the Bible in our day in our way by discerning together how God would have us live" (143, italics in original).

These three stages sketch McKnight's proposal for how we should approach and appropriate the Bible in our own day. The fourth part of the book provides an extended case study in this method, using the question of women in ministry as an example of "adopting and adapting." In this fourth part, he lays out a careful argument, beginning with what women did in the Old and New Testament times and in the Early Church, and with what the Bible says about women and ministry. He looks at how we can recognize the cultural distance between these past times and our own, but also focuses on how we can recognize the "story" in the Bible that spoke powerfully in past days and again in our own. Through this process, he makes the argument that discerning God speaking in the story of the Bible and discerning how God would have us act today, with a focus on the message of the gospel, leads to the full participation of women in the life and ministry of the church.

I thoroughly enjoyed this very readable introduction to how we read and apply the Bible. I have no doubt that almost all Christians could benefit from a book like this, as all too often we assume that we're being "biblical" without recognizing the complexities involved in our own positions. This little primer on hermeneutics is a great way for people in the pews to begin to come to terms with these important issues. But, importantly, this isn't a cause for consternation but for hope. Instead of being paralyzed by fear of the messiness of discernment, we should be energized by the gospel and our part in the story as we acknowledge the God of the Bible speaking to us even down to our own day. This book is clearly at an introductory level, as McKnight acknowledges along the way, but I think it agreeably whets the appetite for further study into these important questions. And I think it is a helpful introduction into the Bible as "Story," as we recognize the great divine drama into which we are called. I also enjoyed his case study on women in ministry. His arguments and his own personal journey make for very compelling reading. I think he shows beyond doubt that the church, at the very least, has restricted women beyond even the restrictions they faced in New Testament times, and he points toward a fuller inclusion of women in all areas of the church. While he obviously doesn't engage with the vast array of scholarship or the serious technical issues involved in the debate, his case study provides a great "egalitarian" introduction into the debate.

In all, I think McKnight's Blue Parakeet is an important guide to seeing the Bible as it really is and to recognize how we do and how we should read and apply it.

Robert Ludlum, The Sigma Protocol

2008-11-26T09:32:00.004-06:00

In The Sigma Protocol, Ludlum puts wealthy financier Ben Hartman and federal agent Anna Navarro on the chase of an elusive world-wide conspiracy. It all begins with a string of seemingly unconnected deaths of men in their eighties. Each death in itself seems normal enough, but there seems to be some connection, and Agent Navarro is enlisted to prove they are in fact murders and to try find the killers. All she is given is a list of names, including a number of the murdered men and the names of a couple who cannot be located. Ben, meanwhile, finds himself the target of a strange assassination attempt while he is in Zurich, and ends up on the run, though he doesn't know from whom. Anna's and Ben's paths eventually intertwine, as they discover they are in pursuit of the same elusive foe.

Sigma, it turns out, is a corporation that was started in the closing day of WW II, by a group of industrialists from around the world, men on both sides of the great conflict. In the years following the war, this secret corporation wields enormous power over the affairs of the world. But it is all with a sinister end in sight, as Ben and Anna discover. Sigma is headed by Jürgen Lenz, son of the famed Gerhard Lenz, one of the doctors in the Nazi regime famous for his experiments on children during the war. Lenz and Sigma are working on an anti-aging formula, and behind their legitimate front, they are continuing Lenz's WW II experiments, with the goal of producing a chemical that will prolong the lives of important members of society, such as politicians, leaders of industry, scholars, and scientists, with the goal of bettering society by allowing these people more productive years to make use of their experience. But the anti-aging serum comes at great cost, as it must be harvested from the brains of children. So Sigma has been kidnapping and killing children, mostly from war zones and other underprivileged areas, to make their drug. In the mean time, Sigma has been killing older members of its board who are not of the same mind about this course of affairs.

Anna and Ben eventually uncover this plot, and come face to face with Jürgen Lenz, who they soon discover is really Gerhard Lenz, the WW II scientist, who has been one of the first test subjects of his own drug. They are able, with a little help from Ben's father and one of the original founders of Sigma Max Hartman, to foil Lenz's plan and narrowly escape with their lives.

The Sigma Protocol was an interesting read, and it had some really great stretches, though it dragged in places. I also found the eventual solution to be quite a bit far fetched. The idea that there is one meta-corporation manipulating world markets and events from behind the scenes stretches plausibility, as does the killing of thousands of children a year to make a drug to halt and reverse aging. Overall, I'd say it's not a bad book, though I hope to discover that other Ludlum books make for better reading.

F. LeRon Shults, Reforming the Doctrine of God

2008-11-24T17:17:00.000-06:00

In Reforming the Doctrine of God, LeRon Shults takes a sustained look at theology proper, but he does it with an important contemporary twist. Shults asserts that theology must be done as a "messy reciprocity between our ideas about God and everything else" (12). That is, theology is (inevitably) conditioned by our understanding of the world, just as it conditions that same understanding. It is with this basic insight in mind that he sets out to reform the doctrine of God.

Why reform? The reason, as laid out in the first part of the book, is because too much of theology has been inextricably linked with outmoded philosophical categories that see God as immaterial substance, single subject, and first cause. These categories, he asserts, lead to problems with our thinking about God that are created more by the categories than by the reality they seek to illuminate. In the second part of the book, Shults looks at a number of "late modern" trends that can prove as resources to reinvigorate our thinking about God by overcoming some of the philosophical barriers of modern thinking. Specifically, he looks at divine infinity, the trinity, and eschatological ontology as three important streams of thought that are reshaping how we think of God.

In this review, I'm not going to try to expound either of these parts in detail, for a couple of reasons. First, and probably most important, philosophical theology is not my own specialty, and I fear any summary I give would only distort his points, rather than illuminating them. Second, he draws on a broad range of streams of modern and late modern thought in his critiques and constructions, and a concise summary would not do them justice, especially if you aren't already familiar with his subjects. But, a few comments will hopefully give at least some insight in to where he is going.

Shults demonstrates, successfully, I think, that some of the classic dilemmas in theology, such as how God works in the world or how divine sovereignty and human freedom are compatible, are at least in part caused by assumptions and categories that are foreign to the Bible. His second point, worked out in part two, is that many late modern thinkers have begun to rethink some of these basic assumptions and have collectively reclaimed some important ways of thinking about God that have been too often lost or diminished in modern theological thinking. And in each chapter he surveys a number of important thinkers from a variety of perspectives, such as Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and John Zizioulas, to show the sources and contours of these important developments. The three streams that are recovered focus on God's infinity (God is more than just "extensively" greater than creatures but is genuinely "other"), trinity (God is not a single substance or mind but is dynamic relationality in himself), and futurity (God relates to time not only as its originator but as its upholder and as its future hope and consummation). All of this is helped by what he calls a "turn to relationality" in philosophy, with a movement away from a more substance-based view of reality to the acknowledgment as relationship or relationality as basic to the constitution of what it means to be person.

It is in part three that the the real "reforming" takes place, as Shults seeks to rebuild the doctrine of God through a critical appropriation of many of the late modern trajectories into a constructive exposition of theology. He looks at God's knowing, acting, and being through the themes of omniscient faithfulness, omnipotent love, and omnipresent hope. As with the first two parts, I won't try to recreate the flow of his argument. Instead, I want to note that he takes head on three of the thorny (and fascinating) issues that confront theology, the "antinomies" of divine foreknowledge, divine predestination, and divine timelessness. In each case, he surveys the state of the discussion and proposes a way forward that liberates the discussion from the classic categories that create the problems in the first place. In each case, I found his proposals to be insightful and liberating while remaining true to the core biblical insights that provide the foundation for the discussions. Just these three discussions are easily worth the price of the book, but I think the book's greatest value is that the "solutions" to these three problems point toward a richer and more dynamic doctrine of God.

I read the whole third part of this book with growing appreciation and excitement, and I look forward to delving in to Shults's other books and seeing how his vision plays out across the various ares of theology. But I know that the groundwork laid here is deeply valuable. It certainly struck a chord with me both in its freshness and its faithfulness. I look forward to rereading these final chapters again as I reflect on who God is and how we think of him. This book is highly recommended, though it certainly contains a lot of technical language. It is at times a rather difficult read, but it will repay a careful reading. For anyone who is interested in contemporary evangelical theology, this book is essential reading, and is a profound example of a vibrant and delightful investigation and appreciation of who God is.

Allan Coppedge, The God Who Is Triune

2008-11-18T11:23:00.000-06:00

In The God Who Is Triune, subtitled Revisioning the Christian Doctrine of God, Coppedge undertakes a systematic exposition of the doctrine of God. The key to the book, though, as its title makes clear, is that Coppedge draws on the triunity of God as the key for his reconstruction. The book opens with two chapters laying out the New Testament evidence, larger biblical "frame," and early theological developments toward understanding God as triune, making a case that understanding God as three in one and one in three, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is essential to understanding who God is. He then goes on to construct a fuller doctrine of God, covering the classic themes of God's attributes, creation, and providence, but he does it all after laying the trinitarian groundwork and in light of these fundamental insights. This makes Coppedge's book a valuable contribution to the field.

Coppedge's material on the Trinity is very well done, and I think he lays out very clearly and helpfully the essentials necessary for constrcting a theology of the Trinity. He shows much sympathy toward an Eastern approach to the Trinity that starts more from God's threeness and goes on to assert God's unity, though he also shows sympathies toward the more Western, Augistinian approach of starting from God's unity. Overall, though, this Eastern trend helps give the trinitarian drama to his whole presentation, as it keeps the vibrant interrelational life of God center stage as moves on to discuss God's being and attributes and God's relation to creation.

One of the defining insights of the book is that a Trinitiarian starting point means that when one moves to discussing God, the traditional four categories of attributes are still discussed--personal, moral, relative, and absolute--but they are approached in a different order. Coppedge begins with God's personal attributes (discussing attributes such as God's social nature, life, heart, moral capacity, freedom, creativity, and responsibility) and moral attributes. Only then does he move on to God's relative and absolute attributes. This means that God's sociality, will, freedom, and righteousness come before and exercise a controling role over attributes such as omnipotence. The result of this is that a picture of a vibrant, alive, relating God comes to the fore. This doesn't lessen God's glory or holiness, or diminish God's transcendence, but it means that who God is isn't lost in discussions of what God is capable of. Instead of focusing on God's being in himself, with a focus on God's unity as the omnipotent and omnipresent being above and beyond the universe one meets God as Father, Son, and Spirit, forever relating as living, loving, active beings who come to meet us in holiness and invite us to enter into their trine life. That, to me, is the refreshing aspect of this book. The Doctrine of God doesn't become abstract philosophical discussions about categories of being, though it does contain that, but it focuses instead on God as he makes himself known in a personal way. The focus is thereby supremely on God as made known in Jesus Christ, who becomes the key for our understanding of who God is.

I found Coppedge's expositon of the entire doctrine of God based on a trinitarian starting point to be supremely helpful. It helps to illumine all of theology by adding a relational element to God's very existence. It also points Coppedge (a Weslyan) toward an understanding of providence and freedom that entails God inviting human persons to enter into genuine relations with God and each other in true freedom. In short, I think it is one of the most helpful defenses I have read of a Weslyan (that is, essentially an Arminian) understanding of providence and free will, drawing as it does on God's very nature as the ground for its theological reasoning.

I highly recommend this book as a great resource on the doctrine of the Trinity, but more than that, I think it is essential reading for an example of how Trinity matters to all of Christian life and thought, instead of being a mere appendix to the doctrine of God to set it apart from other non-Christian expositions of theism. Not only did I benefit from it, but I enjoyed reading it. And further more, I was drawn closer to God through it, by being reminded that God isn't an amorphous being up there but is instead chooses to be known as Father, Son, and Spirit: in short, God lets us know who he is, and that's a lot more intimate than focusing on what or that God is.

I. Howard Marshall, New Testament Theology

2008-10-13T18:49:00.003-05:00

I. Howard Marshall is one of the most distinguished evangelical New Testament scholars of the past twenty-five years. And the adjective "evangelical" is not necessary to make that statement true: he stands tall in any scholarly company. His work has been devoted to the documents of the New Testament, from Luke-Acts to the Pastoral Epistles, with many important works of biblical theology as well. This work, New Testament Theology, is clearly the fruit of his long career.

First, a word about general format. Marshall begins with an introduction about the nature of New Testament theology. He then proceeds systematically through the documents of the New Testament, with periodic breaks for synthesis and comparison. He sums up the theology of the Synoptics and Acts, for example, before proceeding to Paul, and after discussing the Pauline corpus document by document, he synthesizes Paul's letters and then proceeds to carefully compare the theology of Paul's letters to the theology of the synoptics and Acts, and so on throughout the collections of literature that make up the New Testament. In each book, Marshall begins with some introductory comments about the book, it's setting, authorship, etc. He then tells the "theological story" of the book by moving chunk by chunk through each book, dealing with the major teaching units and their content. After moving through the book this way, he synthesizes the theology by approaching the book's content in a more theologically organized way, looking at things like "God the Father" or "Spiritual Gifts" or the like. This allows the book's theology to speak to itself, but also helps the book's theology to speak toward the categories of systematics and helps piece together an author's theological perspective.

I have really enjoyed reading this book, and though I haven't yet read it cover to cover, everything I've read has been well informed and uniformly excellent. I have also really enjoyed his synthesis and comparison articles, such as the article dealing with the synoptics and acts in relation to Paul, which help to explore some of the really important and pressing issues that are often so formative to a New Testament theology. I also really enjoyed his article on the theology of the Pauline letters. His synthesis was concise and clear, bringing out important themes. He is certainly conversant in the latest developments in Pauline studies, but defends a very balanced approach. He also deals delicately but effectively with the "authorship" questions by synthesizing Paul's earlier theology of the undisputed letters and then discussing the data from the disputed (and almost uniformly considered to be later if genuine) epistles in relation to this basic formulation. This allows the later letters to modify and support the undisputed letters without making authorship a stumbling block to the whole enterprise.

In short, this is a great book that I highly recommend. Marshall's writing is clear and learned, and this book has proven to be both good reading and an essential reference work.

Nicholas Perrin, Lost in Translation?

2008-10-10T14:36:00.003-05:00

Do the words of Jesus that we see in our Bibles today resemble the words that were actually spoken two millenia ago? Or have the Bible's authors, copyists, and translators played fast and loose with them? Bart Ehrman, in his book, Misquoting Jesus, makes a case for the (often systematic) corruption of Jesus' words and of the whole text of the Bible from the earliest times on down to the present. For him, the Bible isn't trustworthy: Jesus words and those of the earliest apostles have been lost in transmission. It is into this discussion that Nicholas Perrin, professor of NT at Wheaton College, enters with this new book.

Let me start by saying that this book is decidedly not academic, by design. Perrin, a NT scholar, could certainly mount academic responses to Ehrman and others on these issues, and other authors have in fact done so. Perrin, on the other hand, seeks to both respond in a way that can be understood, but more than that he seeks to put forth a compelling vision of what our New Testament is and why it's worth paying attention to. This whole discussion is encased in a testimony of sorts, as Perrin talks about his own upbringing and his first exposures to the Bible. His journey of discovery makes a great storyline within which these issues can be explored.

I recommend this book quite highly. He makes a lot of current research in a number of areas, from Jesus studies to textual criticism, highly understandable. His chapters on Jesus and his Jewishness are worth the price of the book, and his summary of the quests for the "historical" Jesus is one of the clearest I've read. Beyond that, he also (selectively and rather quickly by design) refutes a number of Ehrman's central points, and, probably more important, points toward more fruitful lines of inquiry and more authentic approaches to questions of the Bible's integrity.

Perrin's work is full of insights, such as the important assertion that Jesus intended his words be remembered by his disciples, and that, in their Jewish context, it is highly plausible that they would have done so with care. He also makes clear that God chose to impart his revelation into a human context and process, deeming it a sufficient and appropriate vehicle for the intended message. We shouldn't necessarily expect a wooden, flawless, perfect textual tradition, and this fact doesn't lessen the power of God's revelation or diminish it's call on us. In the end, he concludes that "even if that transmission [of Jesus' words] was less than completely perfect, it was faithful" (187). This book has clearly done a service to the church in making some of these discussions accessable. If these are issues that interest you, this book is a great place to start.

Stephen Westerholm, Perspectives Old and New on Paul

2008-10-06T16:06:00.004-05:00

Pauline studies have been an interesting and contested field for the past thirty years or so. Even the most fundamental tenets of Paul's theology have been brought into question. Central to the debate has been the question of whether the "Lutheran" reading of Paul and his gospel, which has held sway in the West since the 16th century (or the 4th if you go back to Augustine), is faithful to the essence of Paul's preaching or whether it distorts Paul's intent.

Westerholm, in this spectacular book, provides a great entry point into the debates, careful analysis of the various positions, and a clear, mature assessment of Paul and the modern debates about him. I think this book provides an ideal starting point for people who want to get the lay of the land in current study about Paul, while also interacting (mostly in the notes) with these positions. He then, with surprising humor and wit, puts forth one of the clearest statements I've ever read concerning how Paul understood "law," "righteousness," and "justification by faith." Westerholm brings in the best of the "new perspective on Paul," taking into account a fuller understanding of the Jewish backdrop of Paul's writings and a fuller account of Paul's own thinking on these matters, while also showing that the essential core of the "Lutheran" Paul, especially when augmented and corrected at points, helps present a full and accurate view of Paul's thinking.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is very well written, surveys the most important historical figures in the debate, the most important current contributions, both for and against the "Lutheran" Paul (with frequent use of their own words, so that each author's own flavor and emphasis comes out), and then brings this all together with a great presentation of Paul's thought. His work on the role of the law, summed up in nine theses in chapter 19, is especially good. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. It has given me a grasp of all of these issues and debates, and a grasp of Paul's own thinking, that seemed almost too elusive to grasp before.

Ben Witherington, Paul's Letter to the Romans (with Darlene Hyatt)

2008-10-06T15:10:00.004-05:00

Ben Witherington is one of the most prolific New Testament scholars writing today, and he brings a great volume of learning to the texts. In this book, a "socio-rhetorical" commentary, he takes a careful look at Paul's letter to the Romans, paying special attention to the social setting of Paul and his readers, and also analyzing carefully Paul's rhetorical structure and flow. These two emphases make this book a bit different than many commentaries, in that they bring out these two facets of the text, but I think this makes his book the stronger for it. This well-written commentary does justice to this very important and theological letter, discussing the many important issues of interpretation, all the while keeping Paul's "rhetorical strategy" in view. This helps, in my estimation, to help keep sight of the forest among the trees, by placing particular verses and passages within the larger narrative flow, to help see the relations between the passages and their role in supporting his main argument or countering possible objections. This, in turn, helps keep Paul's main idea always in view.

Witherington, with the help of doctoral student Darlene Hyatt, also adds "Bridging the Horizons" sections that illumine applications of texts and themes to our modern day, a very helpful addition. It is certainly not a comprehensive "application" section, but it demonstrates one possible direction one could go when looking at a particular text, and some of them prove quite insightful.

Overall, I think this is a great book on Romans. Witherington's Methodist leanings certainly show through, as do any commentators, but I think this provides a refreshing, non-Reformed and non-Lutheran take on this letter that is still very balanced and seems to take into account Paul's major points with ease. While not the only book one could or should read on Romans (I'm sure there is no such thing), this book is a worthy addition to a library and makes for very good reading.

Pete Maravich and Darrel Campbell, Heir to a Dream

2008-10-02T14:23:00.005-05:00

This little book is an autobiography (with some help) by one of college basketball's greatest players ever. Pistol Pete Maravich helped to transform the game into today's fast-paced run-and-gun style, and beyond his playmaking abilities, he was an almost unparalleled shooter. His college points records still stand. He averaged over 44 points per game in his college career, and the next closest player is still only at 34 points per game. That's domination.

But this book is about so much more than basketball. Maravich starts with his dad, recounting his discovery of basketball when it was still a young game, and his growing love for the sport, first as a player but then even more as a coach. When he had a son, it only seemed natural to teach him this same love for the game, and thus, Pete's obsession with basketball was born. He haunted the high school and college courts where his dad coached, and ultimately played for his dad at LSU, where they both shined. But Maravich recounts how his life off the court was one of recklessness and irresponsibility. He shunned the idea of being a role model, and his drinking and partying was a constant problem, even costing LSU a shot at the NIT championship when Pete stayed up the whole night before a big game partying.

Pete's despair continued as he played in the NBA, first for Atlanta, then for the New Orleans Jazz (who later moved to Utah; the name made so much more sense in Louisiana!), and last for the Boston Celtics. His whole life was basketball. He lived and breathed it, always in search of a championship. But a championship was never to be. Instead, he spent his professional career butting heads with his teammates, always seeking acceptance and adulation that never seemed to come. In the end, he walked away after the preseason of his second season with the Celtics, feeling like he wasn't getting enough playing time and appreciation--the team went on to win the championship that year.

Basketball had been pretty much all Pete knew or cared about. His marriage to Jackie, who wasn't a basketball fan, kept him grounded to at least some limited extent, but once he left the game, he realized that it had been pretty much all he had. This began an important search for him, to discover what life is really all about, because it certainly wasn't basketball. It was then, into this emptiness and helplessness, that someone spoke about Christ. Maravich came to accept Jesus into his life, and was overwhelmed by the purpose and hope that is found in realizing that you aren't the center of the universe and of discovering life's true purpose and meaning.

This simple little book made a great story about basketball, but also proves a nice refreshing reminder of the beauty and coherence and joy that come with knowing Jesus Christ. For me, it is something I too often take for granted, but it is always nice to be reminded about the joy of salvation and the peace that it brings.