Book Reviews, etc

Note: I recently read an excellent commentary on Daniel in the very accessible Story of God Bible Commentary series, by Wendy Widder. Widder, who got her PhD at the University of Free State, South Africa, is an author, teacher, and scholar with a passion for helping people understand the Bible better. She is not a dispensationalist, and holds to the Greek view in the identification of the fourth kingdom (rather than the Roman view). Rather than review the entire book,…

Note: This new book is in the library, and has been highly recommended.   Here is a sampling of the quotes below:  “In order to experience final salvation, sanctification is as necessary as justification. Why is this? Simply because there is no justification without sanctification”  “We are not justified on the basis of our sanctification; yet justification never takes place without sanctification beginning.”  “The law-maker (Jesus as a member of the God-head)  became the law-keeper (in his obedient life), but then…

Note: This article is by Brandon D. Crowe, author of the new book, The Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels, which is being added to the library on February 5. Ron Maness The Adamic Christology of Early Christianity In discussions of the New Testament Gospels, it is commonplace for scholars to affirm that Jesus is somehow the fulfillment of Israel. This is indeed an emphasis of the New Testament. However, much less often…

Note: This new biography on John Knox, the leader of the Scot Reformation, was just added to the CBC library.   Ron Maness http://www.reformation21.org/featured/the-real-john-knox.php The Real John Knox Article by Thomas Kidd  June 2016 If you ever go to see the John Knox statue at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, you won’t come away with warm and fuzzy feelings. Knox, in statue and in Scottish historical memory, comes off as stern, formidable, and unapproachable. To admirers, he was also a man of…

Library Note: I am pleased to report that noted historian, blogger, and author John Fea has published an article on CBC’s library on his blog site. John teaches history at Messiah College, a Christian college in Pennsylvania. We have had his books in the library for some time, and I recently began following him on twitter, where he has over 6,000 followers. I had sent several tweets to him, and identified myself as a church librarian. He asked what church,…

This email concerns a new book being added to the library this week. It is not a book review, as I have not yet read it. But it is a book I have been eagerly awaiting since it was first announced a couple of months ago. At this point, I just want to make some introductory comments, which are paraphrases and summaries of comments from the Preface to the book. Making All Things New: Inaugurated Eschatology for the Life of…

This is a brief review of a brief (107 pgs), but very compelling book. The book is Heirs of Promise: The Church as the New Israel in Romans, by P. Chase Sears. It is on the new book shelves of the library. It is the first in a new series titled Snapshots, edited by theologian Michael Bird. The series will engage significant themes in contemporary biblical and theological scholarship in a relatively brief “snapshot” manner, making them accessible to busy…

Library Note: I recently completed this magnificent book about the animosity between Washington and Jefferson, former friends and founding fathers who became adversaries due to different visions for the new nation. The divergence between their visions is ultimately seen in the later dissolution of the union that resulted in the Civil War. Lincoln’s aim to preserve the union was in accordance with the vision of Washington, whereas the South’s basis for seceding followed principles of Jefferson’s vision.   Closely allied with…

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History, by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger. I just finished reading this fascinating book. To pique your interest, let me ask two questions: When was America’s first war on Muslim terrorism? In the famous Marine Corps hymn, there is a line that says, “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we fight our country’s battles, in the air, on land, and sea”. Do you know the…

Well, not really so odd if you have a basic understanding of the differences between the eschatological (end times) views. This email relates to a new book in the library, and the reason I called them the Odd Couple is that the authors hold to different end times perspectives, yet really not so very different.   This is not a book review, because I am in the process of reading the book. But in skimming it, I can see what they…

Among the new titles being added to the CBC Library this Sunday are three that should be of particular interest to devotees of the Puritans and Puritan-style writings. Although J.I. Packer, while 89 years old, is too young to actually be a Puritan, he has long been noted for his devotion to, and promotion of, the Puritan writers. Among his books in the CBC library is A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, which is a…

Book Review by Ron Maness January 26, 2015 I just completed perhaps the greatest commentary I have ever read, and below I have written a review of it. I realize the review is somewhat long, but even for those who will not want to undertake reading the book, I would recommend that you read the review, because it will give you an overview of the book of Revelation from a different perspective—in this case how an amillennial interpreter views the…