Complete New Book List
December 2019
Redemptive Reversals and the Ironic Overturning of Human Wisdom, by G.K. Beale (Short Studies in Biblical Theology). The Bible is full of ironic situations in which God overturns the world’s wisdom by doing the opposite of what is expected. In this book biblical scholar G.K. Beale explores God’s pattern of divine irony in both judgment and salvation, finding its greatest expression in Jesus’s triumph over death through death on the cross. Unpacking this theme throughout redemptive history, Beale shows how God often uses what is seemingly weak and foolish to underscore his own strength and power in the lives of his people today.
Against the Darkness: The Doctrine of Angels, Satan, and Demons, by Graham A. Cole (Foundations of Evangelical Theology). Demonstrates that our theology of angels, Satan and demons is not irrelevant, but takes us to the center of the gospel itself. The Christian faith as well as the Christian life is affected by the role and activity of angels and demons in significant ways. Includes excurses and appendices which address such issues as Genesis 6:1-4; the Archangel Michael and the Man of Lawlessness; and how these themes are handled in Christian creeds and confessions as well as in Islam. Recommended by Matthew Barrett and D.A. Carson.
Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America, by Luke Goodrich. A leading religious freedom attorney, veteran of multiple Supreme Court battles, helps people of faith understand religious liberty in our rapidly changing culture—why it matters, how it is threatened, and how to respond with confidence and grace.
The Christian’s True Identity: What It Means to Be in Christ, by Jonathan Landry Cruse. According to J.V. Fesko, this book offers a “rich and accessible account” of the vital biblical teaching on the believer’s union with Christ, helping believers to have a greater understanding of how God has united them to Christ “from their election to their glorification”. In today’s “selfie” culture with its emphasis on individualism, too many Christians are looking for their identity in the wrong places.
The Story of Creeds and Confessions: Tracing the Development of the Christian Faith, by Daniel Fairbairn and Ryan M. Reeves. This book traces in readable fashion the entire history of the church’s creeds and confessions. Mark Noll said it combines detailed attention to the foundation of creedal Christianity (especially Nicaea and Chalcedon) with accounts of later confessional traditions, especially in showing how early Christian worship of one name, Christ the Lord, led over the centuries and in different local contexts to elaborate accounts of Christian faith.
The Assurance of Salvation: Biblical Hope for Our Struggles, by Robert A. Peterson. This book explores the ways God assures us of our salvation by laying the foundation of Jesus Christ as the only solid ground for assurance of salvation, and then building on that foundation with the confirming witness of the Holy Spirit and the attesting witness of a transformed life.
Reenchanting Humanity: A Theology of Mankind, by Owen Strachan. Since nearly every issue on the news today is shaped by one’s definition of humanity, Al Mohler says that “the recovery of a truly Christian, truly biblical, and truly engaging doctrine of humanity is one of the greatest needs of our time”, and he recommends this book as meeting that need. Since our culture views human identity and meaning as self-constructed rather than God-constructed, Denny Burk says Strachan’s work is “a breath of fresh biblical air” centering on God’s original creation design.
Everyday Prayer with John Calvin, by Donald K. McKim. Prayer is central to the Christian life, which is why John Calvin spent more time on prayer than any other topic in his famous Institutes. In this book McKim draws from the Institutes as well as Calvin’s Bible commentaries with short readings on prayer as well as Calvin’s own prayers.
CHRISTMAS READING: Repeat the Sounding Joy, by Christopher Ash. A daily Advent devotional on Luke 1-2.
ADULT FICTION: Smoke Screen, by Terri Blackstock.