Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see.
If you’re in college or university you might be wondering how to integrate what you learn with your faith. This is especially true for me as I read psychology in my university days. So should be budding students handle their faith and studies?
Jay Green hopes to be able to encourage this generation of students to be able to understand their studies well and at the same time be able to hold on or even grow in their to the faith. First he examines and evaluates the 3 common models of how Christians in the past have tried to handle these two dichotomy. The first paradigm is avoidance, avoiding to study in higher education; the second is to be defensive, to equip students to the be able to handle the ‘attacks’ they will receive in higher education; lastly, to see the two as dualistic, to see them as wholly separate realms. Green then briefly show the strength and weakness of each of them and proposes his fourth way.
Green suggests that by being a christian, we can not only learn legitimately from our disciplines, we can also renew or even transform them, to show how man ought to think God’s thoughts after him in every field. Green then moves on to exhort budding students to be able to thorough soak up the individual disciplines that they are in so as to learn the trade of their crafts. I feel that this is an important point that ought to be raised, far too often christians are not as rigorous as their non-christian counterpart in trying to learn within their discipline. Green is right to point this out. Lastly, Green highlights the importance of Christian students to be living within a christian community so we will sharpen ourselves not only with the tools of the trade, but also stay faithful to the biblical framework given to us by God.
What I think is lacking within this book is an example to show how the transformation paradigm affects one particular discipline. It does sounds like a very good idea, but how does it really look like practically? Other than the one small issue, this book is really a good book for any christians that are currently in a college or would in going into one soon.
As with every faithful learning series, I look forward to other booklets on the various disciplines that will be published in the near future.
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
If you're interested you can get it here, and here (free international shipping).
Other than the book ‘Knowing God’ by J. I. Packer, can you think of another book that talks about who God is (that’s not a part of a systematic theology textbook) and that’s targeted for the everyday christian? I think you’ll have to think rather hard about that. But that’s why this book is so needed!
This is the 2nd book in this series, and in this book Alister McGrath seeks to teach the reader in 5 chapters some basic truth about who God is. The format of this book is not like akin to other christian books that’s currently on the shelf, rather it’s formatted very nicely to be similar to lectures given by the author to the reader. The reader seemingly encouraged to take a seat and ‘listen in’ to the series of 5 ‘lectures’.
Building on from his previous book on Creeds in the series, McGrath logically moves on to the important topic of the identity of God — Who God is. McGrath moves through the Old and New Testament with ease, bringing the readers to attention about what the Bible tells us about who God is. Within the first chapter, he expands on 2 metaphors that describes about God, God as the Rock and God as the Shepherd.
In the second and third chapter, McGrath ‘personalised' God, God is not just one who’s wholly other, He is a personal God, one who is loving and faithful, and one who has power, compassion and understands suffering. Within this 2 chapters, McGrath introduces to the readers what the Bible means when it says God is our Father. Next, he explains what christians mean when we say God is able to do all things, and how only the God of the Bible is able to understand our suffering fully, because He is one who has suffered — in person — alongside with us.
Next, McGrath explains what it means when we say God is a Creator, within this chapter is a very interesting part on how he deals with people often say they would have done a much better job than God had they been in-charge. Also McGrath highlights in this chapter how science and the Bible does not contradicts each other, rather it complements each other as they are each answering a different question.
The last chapter McGrath tackles the hardest topic within the God, Trinity. This chapter is really worth the price of the book. I find this chapter exceptionally well-written, in it he humbly tells us that it is really impossible for us to fully comprehend how God can be triune yet one. Yet, he gives us hope that even if we do not understand it fully in a simple formulae (as life often is), it is okay, we are merely finite creatures. Then McGrath moves on to the practicable aspects of this doctrine.
What I hope could be improved in this book would be the inclusion of discussion questions at the end of each other or at the end of the book, there’s so much in each chapter that they would be enough to sustain one discussion session.
I would recommended this book for new believer who wants to really grow in their knowledge of who God is, or for older believers who are intimidated by systematic theology textbooks. This will be a good place to start!
Rating: 4/5
If you're interested you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Judging by the number of movies that have been released based on world ending events, we are a people who are thoroughly fascinated about how the world will end! Furthermore, If as a faithful christian you have ever tried to read through the notes on the ESV study bible on the book of revelation, you often go away puzzled. Now you can begin to understand why so many faithful sincere christians can differ so much on this one single book in the New Testament!
So it was with delight to see this book being published. Jeramie Rinne has given us a very easy to read and understand book on an extremely important topic — the return of Jesus! — the day that all christians have been looking forward to. However this topic is often filled with jargons and technicalities that discourages the simple christian from attempting to understand it deeply.
First, Rinne analyses the scene of the common responses people have towards revelation, next Rinne goes through briefly and succinctly about the various issues with regards to the return of Christ, such as,
What will the end of world look like, according to the bible?
What will the world look like when Christ is returning?
How will the return of Christ be like?
Next, Rinne then gives a very short but extremely helpful explanation about the various millennials and also the 4 or 5 main school of thoughts for understanding the book of revelation. I felt that this chapter is exceptionally well written, and worth the price of the book. It is able to doe what many books are unable to do, to explain them simply, but not being simplistic.
In the last 2 chapters, Rinne first very aptly talks about what will happen after Jesus returns — the judgement and the new heavens and new earth that awaits us. Following which, Rinne follows up with a chapter on how we should live now. This chapter is often missing or not seen in the books that tries to explain about the book of revelation. It equips the readers not just to be filled with head knowledge, but also with practical application points of how to live while we wait for Jesus to return. Included in the book are also very common questions that people often asked such as ‘Why is the return of Christ taking so long? Who is the Anti-christ? Will there be a secret rapture?’ and many more.
I hope this book receives as wide a readership as it deserves. Simply a well written, insightful and sublime book. I’ll be recommending this book for anyone who wants to begin to understand the book of revelation.
Rating: 4.75 /5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
If you're interested you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. (Lam 3:22-23)
Jesus on Every Page, Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story, Death by Living, Strange Fire, Risky Gospel, Yawning at Tigers (check out my review on it too), The Dude’s Guide to Manhood
When you mention the book of revelation, often people find this book confusing and hard to understand, and for good reason — we’ve been studying this book for the past 2000 years and still haven't come to have a good grip at the book!
However, Mark Wilson has done a great service to the christian community by producing a book that aims to explain this difficult book in plain language, and he does just that with this book. Throughout the book, Wilson wants to the reader to read it through 2 perspectives, one of suffering and the other of victory. On the surface, it does seem to be quite irony/contradictory, why would the victorious be suffering or why would the suffering be victorious?
But Wilson manages to weave through these 2 themes throughout the book as he explains the through the book of revelation. Initially, I found it weird for him to include stories of how Christians have suffered in the early beginning of the church before the reading of the bible passage. But as I read on, I found these stories to be gripping and sets the context of suffering very clearly in my mind as I was reading through the first-half of revelation. Wilson has also made the reading of revelation slightly easier by providing his own translation of the biblical text in the book. What his translation does very well is that it helps the readers to catch the different greek words that are used but often translated with the same word, e.g. stephanos and diadem/diddema, which are often translated as crown, and also a quick explain of the word without the need to refer to a dictionary. Secondly, Wilson refers the readers to what the original readers would be very familiar with — the Old Testament allusions used in the book of revelation and thus help the readers see the need for the importance of being familiar with the Old Testament before he/she attempts to interpret revelation.
What this book does very well is, it does help you understand the book of revelation according to the classical premillennial interpretation. However, Wilson does not support the popular Left Behind pre-tribulational rapture, instead, Wilson firmly believes that the church will face on-going tribulations until our Saviour’s return. Even if you don’t agree with it, you will appreciate the simplicity of how Wilson explains his view in this book. And, if you really don’t want your congregation to be living on the Left Behind series as the only source of understanding revelation, maybe this will be a better alternative that you can point your congregation to.
Rating: 4.25 / 5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Servanthood as Worship, Broken Vows, But God..., Contend, Innocent Blood
Do you personally think same-sex marriage is permissible? Well… According to the authors, they think it should be, IF marriage is nothing more than just a way we acknowledge our feelings of love and affection between people. And that is the crucial point that Sean McDowell and John Stonestreet talks about in this book.
In the first part, the authors defines what marriage is, and also find supports for it, both within the bible and also from historical and sociological records. What the authors brings across clearly is that marriage is not a social norm that is gradually formed, rather it is instituted all the way in creation and predates any civilisations or governments. And thus far, no civilisation has tried to do what the society is trying to do.
In the second part, the chapters centres about the “so what” aspects since we have a definition of what marriage is from the bible. First, there is a call for chrisitans to be willing to take a bold stand for the truth, there is also a clear call for christians not to mis-represent what is found in the bible, such as by telling others that it is ok for same-sex marriages to happen. The authors also calls the christian community to repent. This is a particular topic that has not been discussed by other books on this topic. It is true that chrisitans have had a hard time trying to show others marriage as defined by God, we’ve been a poor example and representation of it. This is one area that the churches have to work hard on in the future in order for us to show the world that marriages as defined by God, is right, true and beautiful.
Lastly, the book ends off with several suggestions on what to do in various situation, however this book is rather short and many may not find it to be sufficient. (Look out for the upcoming book, ‘Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor’ by Glenn Stanton, which will fill this gap very well) [my review here]. Included in the 2 appendixes are what the churches can and should do in order for churches to be better equipped to support our brothers and sisters who are struggling with homosexuality, and also how Christians can answer honestly to questions that are commonly raised by non-christians. The 2 appendixes are really helpful and in my opinion will prove to be helpful for all christians, and worth the price of the book!
This book is to be praised for their call to christians to take marriage seriously, and for christians not to give up in this fight. It is both a call for christians to take our stand, and also a call for us to recover the biblical definition of marriage. I hope that church leaders will take a serious look into this book and train your congregation to be better equipped to deal with the situation, and to take God’s definition of marriage seriously.
Rating: 4.5/5
If you're interested, you can get this book here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
For a similar view about this, read this article by Danny Burk on the impact of same-sex marriage.
John Owen is known as being one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church and one who offered penetrating analysis of the human condition. Though his works are reputed as being difficult to read, they always prove worth the effort. Jerry Bridges says, “To read Owen is to mine spiritual gold.” Mark Dever says, “Sin is tenacious, but by God’s grace we can hate it and hunt it. John Owen provides the mater guide for the sin-hunter.” And Phillip Ryken insists that, “John Owen is a spiritual surgeon with the rare skill to cut away the cancer of sin and bring gospel healing to the sinner’s soul. Apart from the Bible, I have found his writings to be the best books ever written to help me stop sinning the same old sins.” Are you getting the theme there?
What it'll look like:
Each week we'll each read one chapter of the book. I'll post my reflection on the chapter, and I'll also post the link of Challies' reflection on the same chapter on my post as well.
We'll start our first post on 8th Sept, so do get a copy of the book and read the first chapter by that day!
How you can join in:
If you are interested in reading this book together, you can get a copy of the book Overcoming Sin and Temptation, here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle, free pdf.
If you're interested in buying a copy of The Mortification of Sin you can get a copy here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle, pdf.
Revivals — What are they? This might seem to be an easy question to answer but, what really are they? What if someone says that there will be a revival held down the street the next month or that a revival has just been happening in a nearby church. Do they mean the same thing? Can revivals be created or is it solely a blessing from a gracious God?
vOne helpful book on this topic is this book by Iain Murray. In it, Murray wants to the current generation to recover the biblical understanding of revivals. Murray first shares his observation from the most part of christian history, the definition of revivals has remained unchanged through the years, and only recently has there been a new meaning to this word, and one of the chief reason for that was due to Charles Finney.
Then Iain sets aside one chapter on Finney alone, examining his life and teaching with an added emphasis on his theology of revival — specifically on what Finney thinks can “bring” revival today?
Logically, Iain then moves on to the topic of man’s responsibility with regards to revivals, “Do revivals only come because of what man is doing?”. Iain fights for the reformed (and historical) understanding of revivals that revivals are not products of man but God, and God alone. However, Iain is able to balance with a clear emphasis on the responsibility of man. In this book, Iain argues for the reformed understanding of conversion and revival, christians would (and ought) to be the people who pray most fervently for revivals since God is the sole initiator of reviving people's soul.
Next, Iain then talks about the work of the Holy Spirit within a revival, how he would work in the lives of these people and convert them, or create in them an awareness of their lostness in sin or created a deeper love for God within their hearts. Following which, Iain then elaborates on how christians should evaluate experiences, which is a topic that comes up often in revivals. Iain very helpful reminds readers that we have to ground all interpretation of experience from scriptures, and not from such experiences first. Which leads on to the next topic of fanaticism. Iain warns of the dangers of such experiences driven revivals, both because scriptures does not support it, and because history has shown it to be very unhelpful too. Lastly, Iain very helpfully summarise the 6 marks of true revival.
What is good within this book, is the amount of historical facts Iain is able to bring to the readers. Indeed Iain has made a convincing case, using what he has learnt from scripture and how that is supported by what has happened in history. If you hold to an alternative view of revival, or want to find out what he bible has to say about this topic, I strongly urge you to read this book. This would give you a strong grounding from the word of God, and also from church history, of the biblical understanding of revival.
Rating: 4/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping).
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
If you grew up listening to bible stories I’m sure you would have heard before of the story of King Saul and King David. However, when was the last time you heard them preached in the pulpit? For myself, I probably can only remember 3 instances where the sermon was from 1 Samuel, but none of them pointed me to Christ. So it was refreshing to see that Tim Chester had written a commentary that’s extremely readable and insightful for all christians.
1 Samuel isn’t particularly difficult book to understand, but many a times when we fear to read the bible text carefully or if we do not have a working knowledge of the original languages there’s many things that we will miss out. That’s my initial response when I was using the is commentary. It is remarkable that Chester has never tried to put out a Hebrew word or phrase, but he simply just tell us what the word means, which is sufficient for most christians.
Readers must not expect this book to be a verse by verse commentary , rather it takes blocks of 2-3 chapters (at times) and explains them in the context of the book, and also helps the readers see how each and every part of the book points us to Jesus. Chester is really able to show us how he derives his main points through the exegetical work he has done, yet Chester has the gift of being to lead the reader see how he has done his exegetical work without using any technical jargons or being too abstruse. Also, Chester is able to help readers see the link of how characters or situations in 1 Samuel are pointers to what Christ will fulfil/has fulfilled in the New Testament. Although I do not agree to all his allusions, I agree what he has been doing is a fine example of showing Christians how they should read their Old Testament, with one eye one the historical context, and with other of how Christ is ‘hidden’ in it.
This is really a book I foresee I will recommend others to if they want to have a deeper understanding of 1 Samuel. I foresee that pastors and cell group leaders will find this resource to be exceptionally helpful not just for those they lead, but also for themselves. Chester pull no punches in this book, and often confronts the readers with very apt application that will force the readers to reflection hard on their own lives about what they have learnt.
Rating: 4.75/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
[I know, this isn't the usual type of books I review, but thought I might just share some of my thoughts on this book.]
If you had 18 months to live and the world at your feet, what would you say to a ready audience? Within this book Christopher Hitchens share his last thoughts with the world, after he diagnosed with oesophagus cancer.
Each chapter is written very well, although there was not a particular direction as a whole, but it was generally based on his experiences and musings as he journeyed through his battle with cancer. You can still read his attacks against religions, especially Christianity in one or two of the chapters, but generally these are rather mild as compared to his previous writings.
It does bring across a very strong sense of Christopher’s understanding of his own morality, as the title of the book suggests. Christopher writes very honestly (maybe sometimes, a bit too honestly) as you always see this in his writings, and this is no exception. It’s a quick and enjoyable read, every chapter is very readable, some will enjoy it, some might not, but it wouldn't be a waste of your time (even if you don't agree with everything he has said).
Rating: 4/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Come Let Us Reason, Contending with Christianity’s Critics, Passionate Conviction
Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life, Truth with Love, No Little People, The Finished Work of Christ
This is a question that every christian would have asked, ‘Why did God create the world?’ The young asks in curiosity and the old asks in bewilderment, their advances in years have seemingly not helped them much on this question!
But, Jonathan Edwards has done A LOT of thinking in this question, and has even written a book on it! But, sometimes people have complained about how difficult it is to read Jonathan Edwards. So what can these people do? (Other than persevering on and reading it!) A good alternative is now available, Ben Stevens has paraphrased and modernised Jonathan Edwards’ ‘A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which the World Was Created’ into this easy to read work.
To be honest, I’m not a fan of abridgement or paraphrasing or anything of that sort. To me, if you really want to know what someone has written, you should be prepared to work hard at trying to understand what he’s actually saying! But alas, some works prove to be really tough, and only those who are already well-motivated to read that particular work/author would be prepared to work through it. Most would be turned off and would never again go back to such wonderful works. (John Owen would be one such example)
As I read this book, I was quite marvelled at how well and systematic and comprehensive Edwards was in thinking through this question. No doubt, being able to read this text at such a fast and easy pace made it easy for me to follow the argument that Edwards was making. (I doubt I would have been able to if I was reading the original work, you can try it yourself too! The 1st chapter of the original work is found at the appendix)
Ben is highly commended for the excellent job he has done especially with this very tough assignment. He is really able to allow Edwards to speak to us, in no way does he tries to interject his ideas into the readers but really allows the readers to come away with a deep appreciation of Edwards, and to spur readers to then dive into Edwards’ own writing.
I foresee this work will spur even more readers to be exposure to Edwards, and also encourage them to read Edwards’ in his original form. This book is really a good primer for anyone who wishes to have a feel of how Edwards is, and will act like a ‘hook’ to hook others to read Edwards even more after they’re done with this book and I look forward to future such adaptations!
Rating: 4.5/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Why are some nations so rich, and some so poor? Why do some nations — improvised in natural resources — yet can become so rich, but some blessed abundantly with natural resources and still remain so poor? Or think about it this way, what can nations (even those deprived of natural resources) do if they want to move out of poverty into prosperity?
The answers (un)surprisingly lies mostly within the system in which the country run by, economist Barry Asmus and theologian Wayne Grudem combine in this book to promote and defend their concept of free-market economy as the only solution for any nations to move out of poverty.
So steps can a nation take to move out of poverty? The main thesis of this book is that there is only one way for nations to do that — by producing more goods than they consume. However the book is not just about economics, good governance which this book see as fundamental to good economy are also entailed within this book.
This book is a tour de force of exceptional good writing, even with a minimal understanding of economics none of the concept was too hard to understand. Asmus and Grudem does show their depth of research and thinking through the solutions they propose which aim to help every nations. I cannot recall any other book which is so comprehensive and detailed in it’s depth which aims to explain how nations can start to be prosperous.
One minor areas that I thought might be good to be raised here in this review, although the book claims to be “Christian” with Grudem on board to explain the theological basis for such a system, I found some of the verses to be more of proof-texts in the initial chapters. I felt that the model proposed was more economically driven that theologically driven, though I do not disagree with the theological basis raised within the book. What is more, in the last chapter, I think Grudem has done a superb job of proving, explaining and defending the theological basis of the model especially in the cultural values. The other point is, some of the points can be rather repetitive, especially the point about private property (p. 140-149, 191-192, 325, etc), although they might be sometimes viewed from other perspectives on this issue, it was a bit too repetitive on this one point. These minor points does not in any way makes the book any less helpful and useful for nations though. Although this may be a bit of a long read, this book is easy to follow and comprehend. I highly encourage those who wants to have a good concept on economics or wishes to help their nations be prosperous to read this book, I’m sure you’ll see that these points are valid, practical and feasible.
Rating:4.5/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Labels:
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Surprised by Suffering (Free) [until the end of August]
What's Best Next ($3.79) If you're interested, you can see my review on it too.
King Solomon: The Temptations of Money, Sex, and Power ($0.99)
($1.99)
The Liberal Arts: A Student's Guide ($0.99)
When was the last time you heard a sermon or read something remotely close to God’s holiness? How about the last time prior to that? I bet that will probably leave you scratching your head for a little while. Now compare that with the love of God, i’m sure that would be an easy question to answer, but wouldn’t it surprise you that God is far more often praised for his holiness in the bible? What’s with this skewness in our churches today?
With this concern in mind, Drew Dyck hopes to remind today’s christians that God is holy, and a untameable God. Dyck introduces God as a being who’s holy, one who’s set apart, one who’s the ‘other’, and fully worthy of praise. He mentions the importance of having the vision, the vision of God’s holiness which no doubt will shape and mould our lives. I agree with him on this point, as the common aphorism states ‘your attitude determines your altitude’, so much of weaknesses in today’s christianity often lies in the low, trifling view of God.
Dyck also brings out the point of the relief of holiness in this book. RELIEF you say? How can holiness be relieving? Well, it can, because you and I are meant to be holy, and by being holiness we will find relief from our greatest enemy: sin. (You have to read the book for this and many more! I shall not reveal too much)
Often as I read, I find my self thinking, have I have too low a view of God? Have I been worshipping a puppet God? And this is the strength of the book, it help us to reflect on what kind of God we’ve been worshipping, is that the same God as the God described in the bible? Far too often we want a tame down version of the God of the bible, but that will only be to our detriment. We need to recover a right of God, and soon, because God is far, far too valuable to be tamed.
This is a great book for all christians, but especially preachers or small group leaders. Ask yourself this, does your church treat God as holy? If not, read, be enthralled and repent.
Rating: 4.5/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle.
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Labels:
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Thomas Nelson
‘If only I had enough faith, I would be healed by now’ or ‘You just need to believe, then you’ll be fully healed’. I don't know about you, but I’ve heard this being reverberated around even in the conservative circles I’m in. So what would you do if you hear someone who walks up to another person and says, ‘You know, you can be fully healed?’ or if a sick church member is asking on your opinion on the healing services that’s being held down the street. How would you response to them?
For some time, I’m quite sure of my own stance towards these ‘miraculous’ healing, yet am not able to articulate it out well to others. Now, I’m quite sure I’ll be able to explain why I think these aren’t necessary biblical. Scott Blackwell, in this very helpful book explains why this is so.
First, Scott gives a quick introduction on himself, and how he could have personally been able to ‘attest’ to such healing, yet because of God’s clear Word, is unable to. Scott then analysis the scene and seeks to explain why some within the christian circles are so keen/eager to witness to such ‘healings'. Scott does spent a bit of space on this topic and though I do not fully agree with his analysis, I think overall Scott has made an accurate and clear analysis of what is happening within these circles currently. One other point that Scott made clear within this section is that life is hard. Too many a times, Christians ‘forget’ that life in this sinfully world is hard! Why should we be so surprised at some of the suffering we would have to go through in this world?
Next, Scott looks into the bible, and from there defends why he thinks such healings are not warranted by the bible. I found this section particularly strong and well worth the price of the book (though the wording of one particular chapter is rather misleading). This section does make any Christian wrestle with these texts themselves, ‘Does the bible gives us warranty for such miraculous healing?’ Now please don’t misunderstand me or Scott, we are not saying we believe in a deist, one who has created the whole world and has now left the world running on it’s own. We do believe God can, and might heal, but that is His prerogative, He might, out of His grace, but no amount of ‘work’ we do will expedite or ‘direct’ such healing.
Lastly, Scott very wisely, deals with the question of promises, what promises does the christian today have? This I thought was a very good ending to the book. Not only does Scott aim to answer against these miraculous healing, but he also aims to build christians up in the correct direction and base their trust in the correct promises. This is commendable and wise, and will definitely be helpful to many christians.
Scott has done an superb job especially in the tone of the book by not outrightly arguing with christians who might have been firm believers in healing, but has gently tried to show them what he thinks is a more biblical way towards this topic and calls them to turn to what the bible says.
Great book, really suited to a topic that’s happening in our day and age, yet not too overly technical or difficult. Recommended for pastors, church leaders and Christians who are interested to think through this issue biblically.
Rating: 4.25/5
If you're interested, you can get it here, and here (free international shipping), Kindle. [sorry, only kindle version available for now]
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Whenever you see this word philosophy you often get a very polarising response, some are thrilled with it, some run away in horror and the rest are just ambivalent towards it. So how does one approach this topic?
James Spiegel attempt to show why christians need to understand and study philosophy in this short introduction on this topic. Spiegel begins with the age-old question of what Athens has to do with Jerusalem, and attempts to convince his readers that rigorous philosophical study is critical for a christian so that he will not held captive to hollow and deceptive philosophy (Col 2:8).
Spiegel then goes through a quick history of how the christian faith has suffered abuses and attacks from non-christian philosophers through rationalism and positivism, and how the notion of God has been attacked vigorously by them. Christianity appears to have no answers with regards to these 2 areas until….. Alvin Plantinga comes into the scene and begins to challenge their claims.
The challenges that Plantinga raises are then explored and explained and shown how these claims are not unreasonable or irrational, in fact, it was shown how it would be irrational and unreasonable for the claim of God’s existence to be argued on the same plane as other topics.
Following which Spiegel brings up several arguments that supports the existence of God and also encourages future christians whoa re students of philosophy to do the hard work of studying philosophy with a christian worldview in mind, so that we can able to give a defence for the reason of our hope (1 Peter 3:15).
Lastly, be prepared to work through this deceptively small booklet. This will not be a walk through the park but you will be rewarded for your hard work, especially recommended for those who are interested or are studying philosophy.
Rating: 4/5
