A review of Dispensationalism Revisited: A Twenty-First Century Restatement, edited by Kevin T. Bauder & R. Bruce Compton, Plymouth, MN, Central Seminary Press, 2023, 294 pages, paperback. This book was written to commemorate the life and teaching of Charles A. Hauser, Jr, a man who did not have a high profile ministry but who had a big impact through his faithful service to the Lord, and the tributes at the back of the book are not to be missed. Dispensationalism …
Category: Book Reviews
A review of Douglas Van Dorn, Giants: Sons of the Gods, revised & expanded, Dacono, CO, Waters of Creation Publishing, 2023, v + 385 pages, pbk. This review is certainly a departure from what I normally decide to write about (though see this). Yes, it is a book about the giants of the Bible and the ancient (and not so ancient) world. The author is a sober-minded pastor of a Reformed Baptist church in Colorado. Van Dorn is an amillennial …
A review of Benjamin P. Laird & Miguel G. Echevarria, 40 Questions About the Apostle Paul, Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2023, 319 pages, paperback. This is another of Kregel’s generally excellent “40 Questions” series, several of which have been reviewed at this blog. The book is divided into three parts: Part One answers questions about the Apostle’s life. Part Two focuses on Paul’s writings, and then Part Three is about Paul’s theology. The first section does a great job of covering the bases of Paul’s …
Part Four Part Four of the book contains essays on “Jesus and Israel’s Future.” Michael Wilkins is well known as an expert on the Gospel of Matthew, and his piece considers how the Gospel tackles Israel’s future is portrayed in light of the negative reactions to Jesus’ ministry (e.g., 314). Wilkins’ long essay includes several interesting facts surrounding the Gospel and expositions of several Matthean statements. I appreciated the fact that “almost every use of the title “Son of David” …
Part Three With a book the size of this one it is not possible to offer comprehensive comments on every chapter. William S. Campbell wrote the article on “Covenant and the New Covenant” in IVP’s Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. His chapter provides a close study on Paul’s understanding of Israel from Romans 9 – 11. Campbell does not believe one should treat these chapter as “a digression from the central focus of the letter” (201). I go backwards …
Part Two The next chapter in the book is by Alan Kurschner, one of the editors of the volume. It engages G. K. Beale’s view of the chronology of the first part of Revelation 7. Basically, Beale believes that the two peoples mentioned in Revelation 7:4-8 and 7:9-12 are the same but seen at different times; the first appearance of them is upon earth, while the second appearance is in heaven (144). Besides N. T. Wright Beale is the most …
Part One Mark F. Rooker is the next scholar in line and contributes a study of Jeremiah 31:31-37. He delineates the major features of the New covenant which include God’s writing His law on the heart (55-56). He is a little unclear in these pages, but the main thing he points out is the inner working of this covenant which produces a new relationship to God. This comes about as a result of God’s forgiveness of their sin (57). The …
A Review of The Future Restoration of Israel: A Response to Supersessionism, edited by Stanley E. Porter and Alan E. Kurschner, Eugene, OR, Pickwick, 2023, 448 pages, pbk. I reviewed a book on supersessionism a few weeks ago, which you can read here. That book was a bit of a let down to say the least. This is a much bigger book. It is also a book written from a different perspective. All the contributors are premillennial, although not all …
A review of God’s Israel and the Israel of God: Paul and Supersessionism, edited by Michael F. Bird & Scot McKnight, Bellingham, WA, 2023, 188 pages, pbk. Any book that tries to tackle the issue of supersessionism or replacement theology should expect a welcome. Of course, exactly what one means by “supersessionism” has to be addressed, and good representatives of the discussion must be chosen. Sadly, this book fails on both counts. Since the subject of supersessionism has been a …
Review of Adam Lloyd Johnson, Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality, Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2023, 256 pages, pbk. This book is something of a hybrid; a mix between a philosophy of religion text, an ethics text, a written debate, and a theology book. It’s author is a professor of Rhineland School of Theology in Germany, and also teaches at Midwestern Baptist Seminary. Divine Love Theory makes an important contribution to Christian ethics in …
