New Books–August 2012

Complete New Book List

August, 2012

The Most Misused Verses in the Bible: Surprising Ways God’s Word is Misunderstood, by Eric J. Bargerhuff.

A Cord of Three Strands: Three Centuries of Christian Love Letters, by Diana Lynn Severance. A collection of Christian love letters from across the centuries illustrating Christian marriages bonded in Christ, including John Newton, Stonewall Jackson, Henry Martyn, Charles Spurgeon, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others.

No Ordinary Marriage: Together for God’s Glory, by Tim Savage. Justin Taylor says this new book is undoubtedly the first (and probably the last) to be endorsed by both Kevin Vanhoozer (a rock star of theologians) and Alice Cooper (a rock star of rock stars).

Killing Calvinism: How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Theology from the Inside, by Greg Dutcher. A resurgence of Calvinism is happening in Western Evangelicalism, changing lives and transforming churches. Will it continue or will we destroy it? That depends on how we live the message.

Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball, by R.A. Dickey (with Wayne Coffey). In 1996, Dickey was the heralded No. 1 draft choice of the Texas Rangers. But after a routine physical, his $810,000 signing bonus and lifelong dream were ripped away when an X-ray revealed that his right elbow was missing its ulnar collateral ligament. After a long fight to make his way to the big leagues, he got his shot, starting a game for Texas. After giving up six home runs in three innings, he was consigned to baseball’s scrap heap. Sustained by his Christian faith, he battled back again, and today has emerged as one of the premier pitchers in the National League with the New York Mets.

OTHER BIOS OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: Linspired: The Remarkable Rise of Jeremy Lin, by Mike Yorkey (the Asian-American basketball player who came from nowhere to be a phenomenon in the NBA, with a strong Christian testimony); Jeremy Lin: The Reason for the Linsanity, by Timothy Dalrymple (another new bio on Jeremy Lin); Pujols: More Than the Game, by Scott Lamb and Tim Ellsworth (biography of Albert Pujols, one of the greatest baseball players of our generation and a committed Christian. Recommended by Al Mohler).

Jonathan Edwards and Justification, edited by Josh Moody. Moody has assembled a team of internationally reputed Edwards scholars to look at justification through the eyes of America’s greatest theologian.

The Great Tradition of Christian Thinking: A Student’s Guide, by David S. Dockery and Timothy George (first in a new series, Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition). Designed for college students and those associated with college campuses. Begins by surveying the long-standing history of Christian thinkers.

Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty and the Greco-Roman World, by Bruce W. Longenecker. Contrary to some views in modern scholarship, Longenecker argues that care for the impoverished was integral to Paul’s gospel and standard practice in the Jesus-groups that he founded. Richard Bauckham says it “reveals an economic dimension of Paul’s gospel that has only rarely been identified and never expounded so fully and convincingly”.

The Essence of the Reformation, by Kirsten Birkett. Considered one of the best one-volume summaries of the Reformation. This new edition includes three classic works from the Reformation: Luther on freedom, Calvin on prayer, and Cranmer on salvation.

Shaped by the Cross: Meditations on the Sufferings of Jesus, by Ken Gire. Reflecting on Michelangelo’s majestic Pieta, in which Mary gathers the suffering Jesus into her arms, Gire offers up seven meditations on costly discipleship.

Four Views on the Apostle Paul, edited by Michael F. Bird. The four views of Paul’s theological perspective which are presented are the Reformed (Thomas R. Schreiner), Catholic (Luke Timothy Johnson), Post-New Perspective, and the Jewish View.

NON-FICTION HISTORY BOOKS: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard (after a humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on exploring an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon, enduring loss of canoes and supplies to rapids, Indian attacks, drowning, starvation, a murder within their own ranks, and three deaths, and Roosevelt himself was brought to the brink of suicide); Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of the President, by Candice Millard (story of the assassination of President James Garfield in 1880); Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson (story of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the pursuit of the assassin, John Wilkes Booth).

RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith, by Michael J Svigel. If the church fathers or the Reformers showed up at your church, would they worship…or run? This book is “a well-written call to engage with historical Christianity” both personally and corporately. Mark Bailey (DTS President) says this book is “rich in content”, and that “it is not a matter of rewinding to a more favorable era, but reclaiming the forgotten faith for the future”.

“THE TRUTH ABOUT” SERIES, BY JOHN MACARTHUR: The Truth About Lordship Salvation; The Truth About Forgiveness; The Truth About Grace.

PURITAN CLASSICS: Keeping the Heart, by John Flavel (1627-1691). Proverbs 4:23 says to “keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life”. In this work, Puritan John Flavel looks at what it means to keep the heart, how the heart is to be kept, and why keeping the heart is the greatest business of every person.

COMMENTARIES/BIBLE STUDIES: Paul’s Letter to the Romans, by Colin G. Kruse (Pillar NT Commentary).

ADULT/FAMILY DVDs: Isaiah, with Alec Motyer (series: Book by Book: Old Testament, with co-hosts Richard Bewes and Paul Blackham).

BUCK DENVER ASKS: WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE? (Children’s DVDs): Vol 1 In the Beginning (Gen); Vol 2 Let My People Go (Exodus); Vol 3 Wandering in the Desert (Lev, Num, Deut); Vol 4 Battle for the Promised Land (Joshua, Judges, Ruth); Vol 5 Israel Gets a King (1-2 Samuel); Vol 6 A Nation Divided (Kings & Chronicles); Vol 7 Exile and Return (Ezra, Neh, Esther); Vol 8 Words to Make Us Wise (Ps, Prov & the Writings):

OTHER CHILDREN’S DVDs; Robin Hood and His Not-So-Merry Men (Veggie Tales).

ADULT FICTION: Coming Home, by Karen Kingsbury (The Baxter Family);

JUVENILE BIOGRAPHY: Linspired: The Jeremy Lin Story, by Mike Yorkey and Jesse Florea (juvenile edition about the Asian-American basketball player who came from nowhere to be an NBA star, with a strong Christian testimony).