Books

Gloomy. That’s the general outlook that the vast majority of Americans seem to have when it comes to our future. Whether it’s political wrangling, economic turmoil, pandemics or education—the present is bleak and the future is downright scary. It’s not just Al Gore predicting global devastation caused by global warming, nor is it simply the war-mongers who see a jihadist behind every bush, it’s Christians too, who seem to enjoy pointing out how bad things are (and are getting).

Bradley Wright, in his new book published by Bethany House asks, “What if the Doomsayers have it all wrong?” A Christian sociologist, in Upside: Surprising Good News About the State of Our World, Wright explores why it is that so many of us can’t get enough bad news, and why we all think that things are continually getting worse. The reality, however, is a far cry from the perception! And Wright proves his point by the end of the book.

Reading Upside, was like inhaling a deep breath of fresh air. On so many fronts, there has been remarkable progress in the world. Life expectancy, health and disease, poverty and access to clean water, air pollution, crime, financial well-being, literacy—all these areas and more have seen astounding improvement in the last 200 years. read more

“When Satan was cast out of Heaven, he fell into the choir loft.”

This oft-repeated piece of apocryphal angelology is used to bemoan the devastating effect of the “worship wars” on American churches. And while a certain Pastoral Theology professor contended that the Evil One and his minions alighted instead in the sound booth, the net result is the same—God’s people embroiled in conflict over how best to worship Him.

John Jefferson Davis, professor of systematic theology and Christian ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has made a substantial effort to cut through the noise and touch the heart of the worship issue in his book Worship and the Reality of God, an Evangelical Theology of Real Presence (231 pages, IVP Academic). In the opinion of this reviewer, he has done an outstanding job of pinpointing the problem. His solutions, however, while well thought-out and passionately delivered, seem to fall short of the mark.

Pinpointing the problem

In the lengthy introduction (actually the first chapter), Davis relates his visits to churches of varying worship traditions. While styles differ, he identifies a common problem with all of them: the lack of awareness of the very real presence of God. He then goes into a discussion of the three “competing ontologies” he sees in today’s culture: scientific materialism, digital virtualism, and trinitarian supernaturalism. This leads to a discussion of contemporary Evangelicalism and where it is headed. Here he solidly identifies himself as “evangelical” in the Ockenga/Graham tradition, and gives a brief overview of what he considers to be the six major groupings of contemporary Protestantism. These groupings are “the evangelical left, charismatics and Pentecostals, popular apocalypticism, Willow Creekers, emergents and Reformed orthodoxy.” Dispensational fundamentalists are placed—not surprisingly—squarely in the “popular apocalypticism” camp. read more

The Bible is a big book, and since the nineteenth century, many big Bible dictionaries have been published to assist readers and students of the Bible to understand important words, concepts and background information. The most recent effort in the field of Bible dictionaries is the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary (ZIBD). This dictionary is Moisés Silva’s substantial revision and expansion of Zondervan’s previous Bible dictionaries, the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (ed. Merrill C. Tenney) and the New International Bible Dictionary (ed. J. D. Douglas).

ZIBD is, in all technical aspects, quite well done. The full color photographs, maps, and charts are helpful without being overdone so as to dominate the text. The introduction is entirely correct when it says that “the new artistic design and use of fonts greatly enhance the attractiveness and clarity of the work” (v). In the articles I compared with the original Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, the changes in wording improved the clarity. One other commendable point is that the publisher has kept the price affordable for such a large volume, as well as making a Kindle version available for those who prefer an ebook.

The introduction notes that ZIBD “may be regarded to some extent as an abbreviated version of its multivolume cousin,” the Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, and the reader is referred to the larger work for more argumentation, documentation, and bibliographic information. Nevertheless, I found the articles to be adequate in depth, and the 7,200 entries were superbly comprehensive in breadth. One can find information on any person or place in the Bible. Many, many doctrinal topics are introduced. One can even find an occasional foray into church history (s.v. “Apostolic Fathers,” although I wonder about the relevance of a full entry on Valentinus to a Bible dictionary). read more

With recommendations from Paul and Tedd Tripp, Tim Challies, and Kirk and Chelsea Cameron, it would be difficult to pick up Ruth Younts’ newly released Get Wisdom! without high expectations. As the Director of Christian Education at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Moore, SC and mother to five adult children, Younts has spent a lifetime teaching youngsters and this book is the fruition of that experience. It is a series of lessons designed to teach children about the virtues of the Christian life or as the subtitle expresses it, “living for Jesus.”

Targeted at early grade-schoolers (K5-4th grade), the twenty-three short lessons each address a specific character trait like humility, trust, meekness, and contentment. Each lesson begins with an opener, includes a memory verse, definitions, guided discussion, and ends with a role-playing activity. Instead of simply being a text, the lessons rely on discussion and active participation from the children, all while keeping the main point firmly rooted in Scripture. It could easily be used in family devotions or a weekly teaching setting such as a mid-week or Saturday Bible club. And despite the famous names listed above, the greatest recommendation I can give comes from my three children—ages seven, five, and two—who beg to read it every evening.

Greater Theological Context

In some ways, Younts is brave to tackle the topic of character development as any more it seems that such teaching can quickly become a theological minefield. The confusion surrounding justification vs. progressive sanctification (that has been embodied in such controversies as the New Perspectives on Paul and Federal Vision movements)—even our own circles’ tendency to rely on structures to produce godliness—can tempt us to neglect teaching on Christian virtues at all. Simply put, in our attempt to avoid moralism, it’s easy to avoid morality altogether. read more

From time to time, SharperIron will be hosting book giveaways.  With the recent publication of Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism, which includes a chapter from Dr. Kevin Bauder—a frequent contributor at SharperIron—we thought we would giveaway three copies of this new title to our readers. 

The contest is open to all members of SharperIron.  If you read SharperIron but are not yet a member, you can join for free.

Just fill out the following form to enter the giveaway. Additional entries are available for publicizing this giveaway or answering a question about the book. See details on the form below. You may also want to check the book out at Zondervan.com.

The contest will run from now through the end of November.  Don’t forget to enter below.

Contest now closed.

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Our thanks go out to Zondervan publishing for graciously sponsoring this giveaway.