Book Reviews

PrintAs Dale Johnson is the current executive director of the Association of Certified Bible Counselors and a professor of biblical counseling at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the reader would expect this work to be an explanation and promotion of biblical counseling, and they would be right. But Johnson is eager to tie counseling to the life and ministry of the local church. This is a most important union, especially in a current church environment which tends to specialize and professionalize its care of souls. The author states several purposes behind the book: to defend the place of soul care in the church, to guard against integrating psychology and Scripture, to show how God uses the body of Christ in soul care, and to challenge the idea that the church is inadequate for the task (pp. 2-3). Biblical counseling is defined as “the personal discipleship ministry of God’s people to others…(Read More)

PrintTheologian, and prolific author, Michael Horton, states his own thesis for this volume, “My thesis is that the fear of God drives out the fear of everything else (p. 17, italics his). He further elaborates: “I want to help us shift our whole focus from a human-centered obsession with saving …(Read More)

PrintCory Marsh is a professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary. He is concerned about biblical literacy, what it is, why Christians should be biblically literate, and how they can become biblically literate (pp. vii-viii). Starting with the premise that the Bible can and should be understood (p. xv), …(Read More)

PrintThis work was one of Christianity Today’s “Books of the Year” and, as its title suggests, is centered on the resurrection of Jesus, which the author believes is the “core of the core” of the gospel. The author’s stated purpose is found on the first page: “This book is about …(Read More)

PrintJason Sobel, a Messianic Jewish rabbi, believes he has found a secret, encoded, cryptic messages from the Bible. His method is primarily the use of numerology, a branch of knowledge that ascribes numerical value to words and letters and then attempts to reveal hidden insights. Numerology, when applied to Scripture, …(Read More)

PrintFor those who battle depression, and for those who seek to care for them, Zack Eswine’s little book detailing Charles Spurgeon’s struggles will have value. Spurgeon suffered from deep depression for most of his life, and he was very open about his sorrows both in his sermons and writings. That …(Read More)

PrintScot McKnight’s companion book with Five Things Theologians Wished Biblical Scholars Knew is almost as disturbing as the first. Hans Boersma, the author of the volume mentioned above, comes fully equipped with Anglo-Catholic, mystical, and liberal credentials, but McKnight is a card-carrying evangelical. This renders the work under review even …(Read More)

PrintI purchased this volume and its companion, Five Things Biblical Scholars Wish Theologians Knew, looking for a lively interaction between biblical scholars and theologians, which would expose holes in each approach leading to a better comprehension of God’s truth. Unfortunately, such was not the case. The publishers chose not an …(Read More)

PrintCrash Course is a 100-day devotional manual targeting teenagers. The author wants to help his readers become followers of Christ by discussing five critical areas: doctrine, decisions, direction, devotion and delight. Each of these areas is addressed in 20 two-page devotionals, complete with an introduction, bottom line summary, application, prayer …(Read More)

PrintIn light of the consolidated, monetized and dominate flow of news coming from modern media sources, we need a practical theology of the news. Jeffrey Bilbro writes this volume to help his readers “think theologically” about how Christians should consume the news (p. 6). Each of the three parts addresses …(Read More)

PrintThe Berean Bible Society and Cornelius Stam represent a wing of dispensationalism often called hyperdispensationalism although this handle is rejected by those in the Grace Movement. While maintaining most of the major tenets of more traditional forms (e.g., moderate and progressive) such as a separation between the church and Israel …(Read More)