Saturday, March 7, 2015

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.