Complete New Book List
May, 2016
A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness, by John Piper. The glory of God is shining through the Bible. Never has the church been in greater need of recognizing that Scripture is self-attesting.
They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run From ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East, by Mindy Belz.
Leon Morris: One Man’s Fight for Love and Truth, by Neil Bach. Biography of Leon Morris (1914-2006), Australian theologian who was one of the most influential Christian scholars and pastors of the second half of the 20th century. He especially expounded the death of Christ on the cross as payment of the penalty for human sin, overcoming prevailing views. Among his many books were The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, and The Cross in the New Testament, as well as numerous excellent commentaries.
The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist, by Larry Alex Taunton. While he railed against God on stage, Hitchens maintained meaningful friendships with a number of evangelical Christians. In this book, one of them reveals the intimate conversations with Hitchens and the questions that followed a seemingly convinced atheist until the day he died in 2011.
Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. Rod Dreher says “this prophetic book inspired me to rethink by own assumptions about how to live faithfully in our American exile”.
The Inerrant Word: Biblical, Historical, Theological and Pastoral Perspectives, edited by John MacArthur, with Foreword by R.C. Sproul. Contributors include G.K. Beale, Al Mohler, Kevin DeYoung, and others.
Reading the Word of God in the Presence of God: A Handbook for Biblical Interpretation, by Vern S. Poythress. Every time we read the Bible, we enter into God’s presence as we study. Poythress works out the implications of that concept in a “radical and refreshing alternative to mainstream methods of biblical interpretation”, controlled at every point by the Bible’s claim to be the very Word of the ever-living, ever-present God.
Disappearing Church: From Cultural Relevance to Gospel Resilience, by Mark Sayers. Why does the Western church look so much like the world? The author weaves together art, history and theology to remind us that real growth happens when the church embraces its countercultural witness, not when it blends in. So as the church loses cultural relevance, it may see a resurgence of gospel witness.
Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course Between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies, edited by Stephen J. Wellum and Brent E. Parker. Contributors include Tom Schreiner, Jason Meyer (Piper’s successor at Bethlehem Baptist), Jason S. DeRouchie (Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at Piper’s Bethlehem College and Seminary), Oren Martin (Assistant Professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), and others. Fresh looks at the Israel/Church relationship, the typology of the Abrahamic covenant, the warning passages in Hebrews, Romans 11 and Israel’s future, and the land promise biblically and theologically understood.
The Founding Fathers and the Debate Over Religion in Revolutionary America: A History in Documents, edited by Matthew L. Harris and Thomas S. Kidd. The personal religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers differed widely, but they shared a commitment to religious freedom and the importance of virtue, along with opposition to state-backed denominations. This book contains a collection of primary documents useful for understanding the issues in the Christian America debate.
In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life, 1492-1783, by Mark A. Noll. The role of early America’s most widely read book—the Bible in colonial America–by one of the nation’s leading historians of religion. Roots his account in the Old World background and restores the importance of Puritanism to the course of American history.
Brand Luther: 1517, Printing and the Making of the Reformation, by Andrew Pettegree. How an unheralded Monk turned his small town into a center of publishing, became the most famous man in Europe, and started the Protestant Reformation.
American Colonial History: Clashing Cultures and Faiths, by Thomas S. Kidd. Brings to life the story of early North America, as Kidd organizes the text around the themes of religion and conflict.
American Christians and Islam: Evangelical Culture and Muslims from the Colonial Period to the Age of Terrorism, by Thomas S. Kidd. Shows how friction between Christianity and Islam is nothing new, running like a thread through the American past, all the way from our colonial beginnings.
Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ’s Rule, by Jonathan Leeman (Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture). What is politics? What are the limits of the church’s political reach? What is the nature of the church as an institution? Michael Horton says this book “represents a new level of evangelical reflection”, as the author advances the conception of the church as an embassy of Christ’s kingdom. Al Mohler calls it a “brilliant resource” for anyone thinking seriously about ecclesiology, local church ministry, the relation between church and state, or even religious liberty. Take a look at the table of contents and you will see why.
COMMENTARIES: The Epistle to the Romans, by Richard N. Longenecker (NIGTC); A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume 3 (90-150), by Allen P. Ross; Jeremiah and Lamentations, by J. Daniel Hays (Teach the Text).
FAMILY DVD’s (Faith-based movies): Alone Yet Not Alone, from Enthuse Entertainment, based on the book by Tracy Leininger. True story of Barbara and Regina Leininger, two sisters kidnapped by the Allegheny Indians in 1775, sustained by their devotion to each other and their Christian faith. Movie based on the book written by a descendent of the two sisters. Beyond the Mask, from Burns Family Studios, starring Kara Kilmer, set during America’s Revolutionary War. A blend of history, action, adventure, and romance.