To Know and Love God: Method for Theology, by David K. Clark, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books 2003, xxxii & 464 pp., soft cover, $35.00. The author is Prof. of Theology at Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, and is also the author of a book on classical apologetics. This book is an attempt to give the evangelical community a full-scale prolegomenon for theology that is up to date and forward looking. As part of Crossway’s “Foundations of Evangelical Theology” series, To …
Category: Book Reviews
Christian Apologetics by Cornelius Van Til, Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003, Second Edition, Edited by William Edgar, 206 pages., paperback, $11.99. The name of Cornelius Van Til produces different responses in different people. To those who believe that man’s reason is sufficient on its own to arrive at proper conclusions about God, Van Til is the man whose apologetic method leaves Christian evidences on the sidelines. He is a fideist, a scholar who indulges in circular reasoning. But to those …
Chariots of God by Alan Cairns, Greenville, SC., Ambassador-Emerald International, 2000, 316 pages, paperback, $ This book, subtitled, “God’s Law in relation to the Cross and the Christian,” contains messages edited for publication by a very capable Presbyterian minister from Greenville, S. Carolina. The book is full of thoughtful content, and would make a useful guide on how to write good sermons. But dispensationalists would find problems with it. First, Cairns slices the Law into the usual three divisions of …
The Pentateuch by Kenton L. Sparks, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002, 160pp., paperback, $16.99 This book is one of Baker’s Annotated Bibliographies. The volumes themselves differ in focus and in excellence. For example, one will find that while the volume on New Testament Introduction contains some incisive comments on the books it surveys, the same, unfortunately, cannot be said of its OT companion. This book, covering the Pentateuch, is the work of a Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern …
Triumph of the Lamb by Dennis E. Johnson, Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001, 384 pp., hardback, $24.99 This is one of the latest additions to the surfeit of commentaries on the Book of Revelation. The author is Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary’s California campus. He begins well by telling his readers that the book is a “revelation”; an unveiling of truth for God’s people (pp.6-7). He further helps his reader by employing a clear and engaging writing style. …
A Critique of “The Prayer of Jabez”. Not too long ago, Bruce Wilkinson, a Bible-teacher with “Walk thru the Bible” Ministries, released a book about a little-known Bible character and his pithy prayer. The character’s name is Jabez, and his petition is found in 1 Chronicles 4:10: And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep …
Resurrection: Theological and Scientific Assessments edited by Ted Peters, Robert John Russell, and Michael Welker, Grand Rapids, MI.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002, xvii + 326 pages, paperback, $ 29.00. This large paperback is an analysis, by authors of varying degrees of orthodoxy, of topics surrounding Big Bang cosmology and the theology of resurrection. The basic thesis of the symposium is stated by Russell in his essay. As far as the universe is concerned, “the far future scenarios are …
Biblical Interpretation Then and Now by David S. Dockery, Grand Rapids, MI., Baker Books, 1992 (Second printing 2000), 247 pages, paper, $19.99. In this well written book, Dockery, who among other things, dons the hat of associate general editor of the New American Commentary, has attempted to bridge the gap in hermeneutics from the early church to the present. This is achieved by first surveying the history of interpretation, particularly the first five centuries, and then comparing the approach of …
Dr Charles Ryrie’s book Dispensationalism Today was something of a watershed when it was first issued in 1965. In it Ryrie attempted to provide both a defense and positive presentation of the main tenets of Dispensational theology, as well as a clear-cut definition of why those tenets are so. The book under review is a revision of the earlier work. It addresses some of the attack made on dispensationalism since the mid 1960’s, and also seeks to critique an mutant …
