Book Reviews

“In his book God Reforms Hearts: Rethinking Free Will and the Problem of Evil, [Thaddeus Williams] reexamines the place that libertarian free will has taken in Christian responses to the problem of evil, and more particularly whether authentic human love requires libertarian free will.” - TGC

“he demonstrates conclusively that the ancient church fathers—from Irenaeus to Augustine (and he could have gone further) believed in and taught substitutionary atonement. It is simply a myth that they taught the Christus Victor or ransom theories instead.” - Roger Olson

“It’s true that evangelical Christians and churches need to get back to the riches of the earliest Christian theology. Gavin Ortlund makes an eloquent case for this in his book Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future” - TGC

“At its core, secularism is an approach to governance, writes Jacques Berlinerblau… one many religious people, not just atheists and agnostics, support.” - RNS

“This older view of tolerance makes three assumptions: … (3) nevertheless they hold that the best chance of uncovering the truth of the matter, or the best chance of persuading most people with reason and not with coercion, is by the unhindered exchange of ideas” -

“Smith’s big idea was that in the context of competitive markets, the pursuit of self-interest not only could but would lead to benefits for everybody else … . Friedman argues that Smith’s insight and the public reception were possible because of society’s move away from ‘predestinarian orthodox Calvinism.’” - TGC

“Where that Authority does not speak with specificity, I actually do look pretty much to the reality-based community for wisdom. But where he does speak, he outranks them all.” - Mark Ward

“The book has two major sections….The first provides and details seven principles for public prayer. The second is a collection of the author’s public prayers, which serve as examples that can be emulated.” - Tim Miller

“Barr’s book is riddled with serious deficiencies. While there are areas Barr has identified as problematic that are problematic, she does not fairly explain or resolve them…. the faults in the book are grievous enough that they ought to lead both complementarians and egalitarians to find the book deeply dissatisfying.” - Jordan Steffaniak

“Many Christians despise the Enlightenment for its denigration of the authority of the church and trust in the Bible, while many academics castigate the Enlightenment for its elevation of neutrality instead of narrative and equality instead of equity.” - TGC