Book Review - Biblical Portraits of Creation (11/9)

It used to be that Genesis was a really simple, straightforward book to study, no big controversies maybe other than the JEDP documentary hypothesis (and if the pastor doesn't want to talk about it, it’s still relatively fine). Now however, the tide has turned. It’s one of the few books of the books that has been contested and even contested fiercely within the Christian and evangelical circles. Due to that, books that have appear on the shelves on Genesis have sometimes gone rather technical. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for such books. But it has created a barrier that Genesis is a difficult to study, when in reality it shouldn’t.

Although this is not a book on Genesis, it is however a book centred on creation, it might seem strange and indeed felt a little weird when I first started to read them. However, the authors' intention for this book is to ensure the church is not so lob-sided that we stay away from it due to the current controversies regarding it. And I agree there has been a lack of teaching on Genesis meant for the layman.

This book is really a series of sermons each expounding on one portion of passage with regards to creation. Overall I felt that the passages selected had a great spread, although sometimes we might only be able to think of 2 to 4 bible passages that are linked to creation, Walter Kaiser and Dorington Little are able to use some not-so-familiar passages to deliver on this topic. This is to be commended, they have helped me to that creation is not just a few passages linked only to creation, but the bible has many more passages that talks about it!

Having said that, I do have to say that there was one particular chapter that I thought didn't fit in this book, and that was about the genealogy of Jesus, sure, I’m aware that the greek word comes from genesis, yet, I do think it’s a bit of a stretch to make that point in this book.

Overall, I felt that the sermons by Little was slightly better, Kaiser’ ones were sometimes more technical and had more pointers and sub-pointers. However, located at the appendix is an essay by Kaiser, and that is a superb article! I felt that particular piece should be well worth the price of the book. You really ought to read it. Kaiser and Little have also very wisely added in discussion questions for each and every chapter, anticipating, in fact encouraging readers to use them in conjunction with their sermons.

In summary, if you want to have a book that speaks particular on the topic of creation, yet not too technical, this is the book to go. You’ll be able to learn not just biblical teachings from them, but also pick up some relevant application points along the way.

Rating: 3.75 / 5

Disclaimer: I was given this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

If you're interested, get it here, and here (free international shipping).

Book Review - Victory through the Lamb (24/8)

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.