Book Review: Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament

Book Review: Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament

By Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

Written by one of the biggest names in Hebrew Bible studies, the book is a much needed, scholarly study of troubling themes in the Old Testament. I appreciated how Kaiser did not sugar coat nor dumb down the issues. He tackled questions at their hardest to explain. Issues like Evolution or Creation (How could there be light before the sun and moon were created?), Grace or Law, Monogamy or Polygamy (Didn’t heroes of faith like Abraham and David have many wives?), Peace or Genocide (Didn’t God command the extermination of entire peoples?), etc. are confronted head on. Yet, Kaiser approaches the topics as one who believes the Bible to be the Word of God. This in itself is refreshing in this day and age. Trust me. Not many like him left in academic circles.

If some of God’s actions in the Old Testament have seemed troublesome to you in the past, this is a book you will thoroughly enjoy. Though, let me warn you that part of Kaiser’s honesty will cause him to leave some issues unresolved to your satisfaction. Again, he is handling the Word the best way he can, while still allowing for mystery in the will and actions of God; as it should be, I guess. Personally, I like clear-cut answers, and black or white points of view, but I understand that they are not always possible.

4/5 Stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only an unbiased one.

Book: A Commentary on the Manuscripts and Text of the New Testament

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Book Review: A Commentary on the Manuscripts and Text of the New Testament by Philip Wesley Comfort

 Needless to say, this is not a book for the average believer. But it is a book pastors and Bible teachers that care about every word in the Bible should read. With Bart Ehrman and other skeptics attacking the trustworthiness of the New Testament, the time has come for Christian leaders to become well informed and conversant with issues of text criticism. This book, while not answering Ehrman’s twisted logic, does help us understand the different types of manuscripts the scholars work from. It would also help those that revere the KJV to understand why other translations, while not being liberal (ESV, NET, for instance), have some verses that read differently. The book helps clear up the “missing verses” misunderstanding so common in popular Bible translation wars.

The book includes information on the Early Manuscripts, and a helpful Annotated List of the Manuscripts of the New Testament. The book also has a very helpful and informative Appendix on The Significance of the Nomina Sacra (Sacred Name) and the way it (in its various incarnations) appears in New Testament Greek manuscripts.

Highly recommended resource.

4/5 Stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.

Book Review - 40 Questions on Baptism and the Lord's Supper

40 Questions on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper 

By John S. Hammett

This particular series has proven very helpful as it addresses topics of importance to any believer in the 21^st century. The present tome is no exception. It has a wealth of information on the Christian practices of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (others call the latter, Communion or The Eucharist). The author’s point of view is theologically conservative, accepting the Bible as the Word of God; which is refreshing, given the current academic trend of disbelief. The author got his Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and therefore, the reader should not be surprised to learn he favors Baptist doctrinal stances.

            Hammett does address what others believe about baptism and the Lord’s Supper and he does it in a respectful tone and endeavoring to be fair. This is also refreshing, given the polemic nature of Christian disagreements on these and other doctrinal topics. He does not simply knock down straw men; although, I’m sure proponents of alternative views will be able to point out where Hammett has misunderstood or unintentionally misrepresented their doctrine.

            My own perspective differs from the author’s, but I can appreciate the work he put into his research. I love the format of the series and trust we will get more quality work in other areas of theology and Christian doctrine

4/5 Stars

Disclaimer: The book was received for free from Kregel Ministry books in exchange for an unbiased opinion.

Book Review - For the Love of God's Word

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For the Love of God’s word: An Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

By Andreas J. Köstenberger and Richard D. Patterson

Köstenberger was academically influenced by Grant Osborne and D.A. Carson, two heavy-weights in the interpretation department; that fact alone makes one expect a quality book. But Köstenberger is a scholar of the first rank on his own merit and this book ably demonstrates that fact (I apologize for not knowing enough about the co-author Richard Patterson). Written to be used as a simple textbook on Biblical interpretation, the book contains not only the essentials, but the fundamentals on the art and science of interpretation.

            The book is an abridged version of their more academic Invitation to Biblical Interpretation, but if you have never read the bigger tome, you will not think anything is missing from the abridgment. The authors have carefully distilled the fundamental content and made it more accessible. This is good news for readers that do not have much time but do need to hone in their hermeneutical skills.

            Throughout the book there are shaded boxes with a synthesis of the chapters contents and these are very helpful. They will give you outlines of steps, definitions, arguments, procedures, etc. that you can refer back to when you are done reading the book. They will serve as an excellent refresher for years to come. They also will test you on whether you understood and learned what the authors intended for each chapter in question. The examples given throughout the book are very useful and capably illustrate the hermeneutical principles being studied. There is a useful glossary at the end of the book for the technical/academic jargon used in case one is not familiar enough with it.

            For my taste, the layout of  Scott and Hays’ Grasping God’s Word is more inviting for first time students; but I would recommend the present text as a handy reference to further explore certain types of hermeneutics or if in need of exegetical examples of proper interpretation processes.

4/5 Stars

Disclaimer: The book was received for free from Kregel Ministry books in exchange for an unbiased opinion.

Book Review: Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook by Gary V. Smith

The idea behind the Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis series is an outstanding one. Short, to the point, yet scholarly and well documented. Gary V. Smith is a well-known scholar of the prophetic writings and is informed enough to write a useful handbook; and that he did. He covers the fundamentals, rather than just the essentials (see below). That is, Smith not only tells us how to interpret, but what to do with that information. Most commentaries/exegetical handbooks stop at interpretation.

PROS
• There are chapters on “Proclaiming Prophetic Texts” and “From Text to Application,” which are extremely useful in our day and age. Very few of us know how to preach from these texts without over spiritualizing them. Rather than giving God’s message, we usually end up giving our own (with the best of intentions, mind you).
• FOOTNOTES. Oh, yeah!  I love having footnotes rather than endnotes. This is a major plus for any academic work.

CONS
• The type is set in a small font; specially the Hebrew font. I had trouble reading some of the vowel markings. Not good. I understand the need to make the size of the book manageable, but please remember that 40-year-old and above also want to read scholarly books and continue studying.
• Some charts had too dark a background, which made reading the text more difficult.
• Maybe the content was a little too brief. Again, I understand the purpose behind the brevity, but at many points I was left wanting just a little more information. I would definitely love the book at double its current size.
• A little too critical of the text itself at some points. Since I believe the Bible to be completely inspired of God. Some of the current critical views do not settle well with me.

With that said. I would pick this book up first when beginning a study of the prophetic material, and work from there. It should not be the only source of information by any means, but it is a useful one.

3/5 Stars


Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.

Book Review: Preaching with Accuracy

Book Review:

Preaching with Accuracy: Finding Christ-Centered Big Ideas for Biblical Preaching

By Randal E. Pelton

An essential primer on Biblical preaching

I am a reader, so amassing huge amounts of research on a given subject is not as difficult for me; but as many others can attest to, it is one thing to have the information, and another knowing how to preach it so that the congregation would benefit from it.

Pelton comes to our aid with a brief, very practical book that immediately immerses one in the task of “finding Christ-centered big ideas for biblical preaching.” In an age when sermons are constructed more to impress than to inspire, to get a physical and verbal reaction rather than a soul transforming action, this book is badly needed. Sadly, it is possible that the people that need it the most, are unaware of their own need, and that is today’s preachers. Borrowing a quote from the book,

“[B]y our determined efforts to redefine ourselves in ways that are more compelling to the modern world than are faithful to Christ, we have lost not only our identity but our authority and our relevance.” (Os Guinness)

The biggest value of the book might just be the corrective of preaching what the Bible actually says, instead of the ideas of the preacher, sprinkled with a few barely related verses here and there.

If you are in any way entrusted, every week or once a year, to serve the Bread of the Word to a congregation, get this book. Work through it at your own pace. It is short and sweet. It is not the answer to every sermonic ailment, but it is a good start.

Disclaimer: The book was received for free from Kregel Ministry books in exchange for an unbiased opinion.

4/5 Stars

Book Review: 40 Questions About Creation and Evolution

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For those not afraid to hear real answers

 

Book Review: 40 Questions About Creation and Evolution by Kenneth D. Keathley and Mark F. Rooker

Today’s academic setting is dismissive of those that would question evolution as an established scientific fact. This is very unfortunate. If they could but give the other side a hearing, they would find beneficial information.

Most of the time the problem has been with authors that have a need to communicate on this topic to the masses that may not understand the scientific or biblical concepts behind the debate. Evolutionists dismiss anyone with a similar point of view.

I hope they give this book a chance. It is written at a more scholarly level, it contains hundreds of footnotes and it is respectful of opposing views. They engage the issues critically, biblically, and scientifically. The book has review questions at the end of each chapter, which should help the reader focus what they got out of the book in order to share with others (maybe in a series of church lectures?).

Some topics would have benefitted from illustrations to make the concepts clear; other than that, this is a much needed voice for today’s apologetic endeavors.

4/5 Stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only an unbiased one.

Book Review: Shepherding God’s Flock

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Book Review: Shepherding God’s Flock: Biblical Leadership in the New Testament and Beyond edited by Benjamin L. Merkle and Thomas R. Schreiner

With names like Andreas Köstenberger, Bruce Ware, and Thomas Schreiner writing some of the chapters, one does not have to agree with everything they write to benefit from the meticulous research we have come to expect from their writings.

The obvious strength of the book is that they go to the Bible and attempt to extract what the New Testament has to say about leadership; and specifically to those who have made the care for souls their primary life mission.

While contemporary examples and analysis of different church bodies’ practices may be seen as helpful by some; being on the outside of such movements made the information somewhat foreign to me. While the development of the papacy may be an important historical question, I personally did not see it as a helpful chapter; the same goes for the other ecclesiastical bodies surveyed.

I was expecting more of a biblical work, but it seems that the and beyond part of the subtitle won out. Not really what I think ideal.

2/5 Stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only an unbiased one.