A thoughtful, contemporary restatement of the classical doctrine of the atonement including different contended terms in reference to the atonement including substitution, expiation, propitiation, satisfaction, and victory.Read more…
Book Review: A Glorious Dark, by A. J. Swoboda
An exploration of living in the tension of the glorious hope of Christian faith and the dark, unsettling realities of our lives through reflections grouped around the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the Triduum of Holy Week. A great book to read reflectively during Holy Week [April 9 – 16, 2017].Read more…
Book Review: Common Grace and the Gospel
Summary: A collection of essays by presuppositional theologian Van Til with introduction and annotations by K. Scott Oliphint, articulating Van Til’s understanding of a Reformed doctrine of common grace, engaging views of others in this tradition that differ from his own.Read more…
Book Review: Paul’s New Perspective
Summary: Argues that both the traditional Protestant perspective and the New Perspective on Paul are each partly right, based on the idea that Paul’s ideas on salvation developed as he wrote over a period of time and addressed different circumstances.Read more…
Book Review: J. C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone
Summary: The biography of this nineteenth century evangelical Anglican, from his early student days, his conversion, the decision to enter ministry, and his growing national reputation and his different assignments, including his last years as the first Bishop of Liverpool.Read more…
Book Review: Jonathan Edwards among the Theologians
Summary: By comparing Edwards writing on various theological themes, Crisp underscores Edwards work as an original thinker and constructive theologian, building on a Reformed base, but even pressing the limits of orthodoxy in some of his work.Read more…
Book Review: Modern Art and the Life of a Culture
Summary: A response to the classic work Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H. R. Rookmaaker, arguing that Rookmaaker was unnecessarily pessimistic in his assessment of modern art, overlooking the religious impulses that shaped much of modern art.Read more…
Book Review: Luminous by T. David Beck
Summary: Explores how purpose, presence, power and peace enable us to radiate the light of Christ in our everyday lives.Read more…
Book Review: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Summary: The classic collection of letters between a senior demon and junior tempter charged with undermining the new found faith of his “patient.”Read more…
Book Review: 16 Strivings for God
Summary: A new psychology of religious experience that argues that religions enjoy such a wide embrace because they offer repeated opportunities to satisfy sixteen basic motivations or “strivings” common to all human beings.Read more…
Book Review: Embracing the Body
Summary: An invitation to move beyond guilt and shame around our embodied selves to discover the goodness of our bodies and how God made us, meets us, and works through our bodied lives.Read more…
Book Review: Roger Williams and The Creation of the American Soul
Summary: A study of the life of Roger Williams focusing on the intellectual influences upon Williams, his journey to Massachusetts, banishment and founding of Rhode Island, and his signal ideas of freedom of conscience and government by consent of the governed.Read more…
Book Review: Answering Jihad by Nabeel Qureshi
Summary: Contends that there is a basis in the foundations of Islam for violent, and not merely defensive, jihad, which neither can be ignored, nor assumed of all Muslims, but calls for a proactive response, particularly of Christians, of love and friendship with the hope of breaking the cycle of violence.Read more…
Book Review: Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah
Summary: A commentary and exposition of the book of Lamentations that advocates for the restoration of the practice of lament as part of the worship of American churches, particularly majority culture evangelical churches.Read more…
Book Review: One Nation Under God
Summary: Explores whether and how it is appropriate for Christians in the American context to engage in politics, how one brings one’s faith into this, and applies this to seven contemporary issues.Read more…
Book Review: Christ and Crisis, by Charles Malik
Summary: Contends that the deepest crisis of his (our) age is a spiritual crisis that the church properly addresses by laying hold of all the resources and pursuing the calling of people of faith.Read more…
Book Review: The Answer to Bad Religion is Not No Religion, by Martin Thielen
Discusses the characteristics of “bad religion”, contending that the answer is not to reject religion altogether but to embrace “good religion”, the marks of which are discussed.Read more…
Book Review: Silence and Beauty, by Makoto Fujimura
A “layered” reflection on Shusako Endo’s Silence by a Japanese-American artist that explores the Christian experience of persecution in Japan, and the connections between silence, suffering, and beauty, that may draw contemporary Japanese to faith.Read more…
Book Review: Called to Community, edited by Charles E. Moore
A collection of readings on Christian community centered around the Bruderhof Community but also including theologians and writers from throughout church history.Read more…
Book Review: With the Clouds of Heaven by James M. Hamilton
A true study of the biblical theology of Daniel, including its structure, key themes, how the book influences both early Jewish literature and the New Testament, and how it connects to key themes throughout scripture.Read more…
Book Review: Fool’s Talk, by Os Guinness
Summary: Guinness argues for the recovery of the lost art of persuasion that combines good apologetic work with evangelism and is aware of the many people Christians address who are not open to their message.Read more…
Book Review: Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian, by Michelle Lee-Barnewall
Summary: Argues on the basis of the biblical texts for a reframing of the discussion of the relationship of men and women from one of power versus equality to one that focuses on the elements in the biblical texts around reversal, inclusion, unity and service.Read more…
Book Review: Reading for the Common Good, by C. Christopher Smith
Summary: Explores how the communal practice of reading in congregations fosters a learning community and shared social imagination the results in clearer congregational identity, sense of mission in one’s setting, and wider engagement with the environment, economics, and political order.Read more…
Returning to Mapping Your Academic Career
Summary: Traces the career trajectory of a college professor, identifying the factors that mark the successful passage from one “cohort” to the next, the risks to be negotiated in each season of work, and key resources for career development.Read more…