Book Reviews

PrintNineteenth Century English pastor Charles Spurgeon is well-known to Christians today, especially those of the Reformed persuasion, who see him as a champion for Calvinism.  Others point to his passion for “soul-winning,” still others love his sermons and highly quotable comments.  Murray endeavors to move beyond what is commonly known about the influential pastor (this is not a biography, the author tells us, p. 5) to discuss the man revealed in his sermons—the forgotten Spurgeon (p. 4).  This work actually centers around three major controversies in Spurgeon’s ministry. The first, early in his pastorate (1855-1856), involved Calvinism, as Spurgeon preached it, and Arminianism which he strongly opposed.  He desired to reintroduce and strengthen the theology of Augustine, Calvin, and the Puritans, and in his early years met with considerable success—and powerful opposition.  It was during these years that Spurgeon’s reputation as a warrior for biblical truth, as well as an…(Read More)

PrintJoel Beeke’s thesis is that the time is “right for us to biblically expose and condemn worldliness, and to promote the alternatives of genuine piety and holiness” (p. 9). As the author addresses his subject he turns repeatedly to the Reformers and Puritans for quotes and examples. Beeke is pastor …(Read More)

PrintGod’s Forever Family tells the story of the rise, development and influence of the Jesus People (or Freaks, as they were called at the time).  The actual movement was short lived, being birthed directly after the 1967 “Summer of Love” in Haight-Ashbury.  As the hippies flocked to San Francisco to …(Read More)

PrintCulture Shift is comprised of twenty short essays addressing various cultural issues from a biblical perspective. Subjects include secularism (pp. 7-21), the morality of torture (pp. 33-63), public education (pp. 65-94), abortion (pp. 103-120), suffering and pain (pp. 121-136), atomic weaponry (pp. 145-154), and civil rights (pp. 156-160). Books dealing …(Read More)

PrintWhite Fragility is one of the most popular books spreading the worldview of Critical Race Theory and reshaping Western thought concerning racism. DiAngelo’s thesis is that white supremacy, as well as racism, is a social constructs baked into the American culture. Very little can be done to improve the socialization …(Read More)

PrintRod Dreher, author of the popular The Benedict Option (see my review here:  https://tottministries.org/?s=The+Benedict+Option) has written Live Not By Lies as a warning about the soft totalitarianism he sees rapidly overtaking America.  The means of resisting the propaganda is, according to the author, to challenge its philosophy with truth.  Or, …(Read More)

PrintGospel Conversations, How to Care Like Christ by Robert W. Kellemen (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015) 397 pp., paper, $18.99 Gospel Conversations is a long, intense and thorough manual for biblical counseling.  The big idea communicated throughout the book is that “we learn to become competent biblical counselors by giving and …(Read More)

PrintFrancis Asbury: God’s Circuit Rider by Charles Ludwig (Milford, Michigan: Mott Media, 1984) 206 pp., paper, $5.94 used. If someone is looking for a short, simple history of American Methodism, Francis Asbury would be hard to beat. Written at about a junior high level this biography of the most important …(Read More)

PrintSocial Justice Goes to Church, the New Left in Modern American Evangelicalism by Jon Harris (Greenville, South Carolina: Ambassador International, 2020) 205 pp., paper $16.99 Jon Harris has written an important book documenting the history leading up to the modern Social Justice Movement which has infiltrated evangelicalism. In part one …(Read More)

PrintJust Mercy, a Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (New York: Random House, 2015) 349 pp + xiv, paper $17.00 Shortly after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1985, Bryan Stevenson was a young black attorney who found himself quickly thrust into an American South justice system riddled …(Read More)

PrintThe Son Who Learned Obedience, a Theological Case Against the Eternal Submission of the Son by D. Glenn Butner, Jr. (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2018) 224 + x pp., paper $28.00 The Son Who Learned Obedience is exactly what the subtitle claims—a heavy, intense, thorough and robust defense against the …(Read More)