Book Reviews
Recommended Books (Spring 2016)
What makes a good piece of writing? Each of us could provide an extensive list of qualifications to answer this question. Our individual personalities each cry out for and are most deeply moved by any number of approaches to writing. Perhaps our inclination toward a particular genre is different from our spouse’s or a close friend’s, leaving us to wonder how they could be satisfied without such riches. Likely those same friends and spouses are wondering the same things of us, which suggests that we should all be intentional about reading...
read moreKept for Jesus: A Review Essay
by Matthew McAffee [The following is an adaptation of a review recently published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 58 (2015): 858-61] Kept for Jesus represents Sam Storms biblical-theological treatment of the Reformed doctrine of eternal security.[1] I appreciate his warm and approachable writing style, which produces a conversational tone for the book. In the introduction he outlines a two-fold purpose: (1) to convince Arminians and antinomians that they are mistaken in their beliefs, and (2) to deepen folks’...
read moreBook Review: Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practical Guide
In my job to teach future youth ministers, I come across a myriad of different youth ministry resources. The majority focus on the practical: how to equip volunteers, how to organize amazing lock-ins, etc. In their own right, these books are often very helpful. However, a variety of these books focus on the theological side. These often offer helpful, theological principles for ministry, but they often fail to lead the reader into a helpful ministry practice. As you might guess, theology and practicality can often occupy two ends of the...
read moreWe Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry – Book Review
by Daniel A. Webster The average American Christian is quick to dismiss a book about idolatry on the grounds that worshipping graven figurines is not a modern church practice. However, when one considers that over one-third of the world’s population claims to be Hindu, Buddhist, or Catholic—all of which implement statues or icons in their worship—the topic seems strikingly pertinent. Even still, for many American pastors, the topic of idolatry is only considered in preparation for the evening service of Super Bowl Sunday. In We Become What We...
read moreThe Trinity by Olson and Hall: A Review
I shall lightlier and sooner draw all the water of the sea and bring it into this pit than thou shalt bring the mystery of the Trinity and his divinity into thy little understanding as to the regard thereof; for the mystery of the Trinity is greater and larger to the comparison of thy wit and brain than is this great sea unto this little pit. A child reportedly spoke these words to Saint Augustine in regards to the doctrine of the Trinity, at least according to folklore.[1] Of all the mysteries wrapped into the infinitude that is...
read moreRecommended Books (Winter 2016)
At the Helwys Society Forum we firmly believe that theology is for all of life. Leroy Forlines’s Biblical Ethics deftly explains how the four basic relationships (man with God, man with man, man with creation, and man with himself) are governed by the four basic values (holiness, love, wisdom, and ideals), bringing our entire life experience under God’s direction. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that many of our Winter 2016 book recommendations concern theology and its implications for various aspects of living. On the other hand, we...
read moreRecommended Books (Autumn 2015)
Orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxy (right actions) are ever present concerns and topics of discussion for Christians. The New Testament is replete with pleas for the church to protect the sound doctrine that had been handed down to them and to live in accordance with the Scriptures. One generation later, Clement of Rome (ad 95) rebuked the Corinthian church: though they used to have “[t]he commandments and the ordinances of the Lord…written on the tablets of [their] hearts,” they had since “abandoned the fear of God…[by] neither...
read moreArminian and Baptist: Explorations of a Theological Tradition: A Book Review
by Tim Campbell For many years, Arminianism has struggled to assume an accepted place at the theological table. The primary reason is not that Arminianism has simply been trumped by the popularity of Calvinism, but that many scholars hold a very limited and biased view of Jacobus Arminius and his theological progenies. In addition, only a few Arminians have attempted to articulate a full-orbed examination of Arminianism, particularly of Classical or Reformed Arminianism, and most particularly Arminianism in the Baptist tradition. J. Matthew...
read moreArminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition: A Book Review
by Dustin Walters Many view Jacobus Arminius with an inaccurate perspective, interpreting his theology as some form of semi- or outright Pelagianism. This common error among Calvinists and others stems from a refusal to interact with Arminius’ actual writings. Dr. J. Matthew Pinson provides readers with a healthy corrective to the mainstream understanding of Arminius’ theology in Arminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition. Dr. Pinson serves Welch College’s fifth president (2002-present). After attending Welch College in the...
read moreRecommended Books (Summer 2015)
You may have noticed that a sizable proportion of books carried by bookstores (Christian and non-Christian alike) are very poor in quality. The reason, of course, is that cheap easy books sell better than more demanding titles. As Donald Stauffer wrote in The Nature of Poetry, “A debased currency will always drive out the genuine article, and there are plenty of ways today to get others to do our thinking and our feeling for us.”[1] We all struggle from time to time with wanting to take the easy way out. However, to be good stewards of our...
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