Tag: Christian Living Page 10 of 16

Life events and questionable time management have left me without anything new to post today. So, I’m just going to put up a Spotlight post about one of the works I’m working my way through. I’m also not sure how I’m going to have anything to say about this when I’m done, so this may end up being my only post about it. It’s the kind of book that as you read it, you hope that other people are aware of it so they can benefit from it, too. It’s fascinating and (sadly) timely.

This is pretty much just material I’ve copied and pasted from the publisher’s site. I hope they don’t mind.

Book Details:

Book Title: Faith in the Time of Plague Edited by Stephen M. Coleman, Todd M. Rester
Publisher: Westminster Seminary Press
Release date: September, 2021
Format: Hardcover/Ebook
Length: 400 pages

Book Blurb:

We often hear the Covid-19 pandemic described as “unprecedented”, yet for Christians of earlier times, plague was nothing new. For generations, Church leaders regularly faced the sorts of ethical questions that still prove divisive today.

Selecting from the great “plague writings” of the historic church, Todd M. Rester and Stephen M. Coleman have translated and assembled a one-of-a-kind anthology. The wisdom of the past collected in this book offers much needed and trustworthy illumination for pastors, leaders, and laypeople in times of crisis and uncertainty.

Many of the works appearing in Faith in the Time of Plague have never been available in English until now. Included in this volume are the writings of Martin Luther, Theodore Beza, Ulrich Zwingli, Cyprian of Carthage, Zacharias Ursinus, Gijsbert Voetius, and many more.

Introduced by Peter A. Lillback, Faith in the Time of Plague also includes a Foreword from Mayo Clinic Virologist, Dr. Gregory A. Poland.

Book Trailer:

Purchase Link:

Westminster Bookstore

About the Editors:

Stephen M. Coleman (PhD, The Catholic University of America) is assistant professor of Old Testament and biblical languages at Westminster Theological Seminary, co-editor of the Westminster Theological Journal, and senior research fellow at the J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research. A graduate of Grove City College (BA, 2002), Westminster Seminary California (MDiv, 2005), and The Catholic University of America (MA, 2010/PhD, 2016), he previously served as associate pastor at Wallace Presbyterian Church in College Park, Maryland (2008–2017) and Assistant Pastor of Valley Presbyterian Church in North Hills, California (2005–2008).

Todd M. Rester (PhD, Calvin Theological Seminary) is associate professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Rester is a post-doctoral research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast (September 2016–present). During his time as a research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, Dr. Rester has served the institution as a guest lecturer in the Master of Arts, History of Religion department as well as various undergraduate history courses. In addition to his time at Queen’s University Belfast, Dr. Rester has taught as an adjunct professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (2010–2016), Kuyper College (2013–2015), and Calvin Theological Seminary (2011–2015). He also works as a translator for the Dutch Reformed Translation Society (2009–present). Dr. Rester’s academic interests include but are not limited to: the history of the doctrine of Scripture and its reception; early modern and Enlightenment conflicts between theology and philosophy on general and special revelation; and early modern and post-Enlightenment models of missiology.

The Glorious Feast of the Gospel by Richard Sibbes: An Entirely Okay Collection of Sermons

By HCNewton

On November 7, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Glorious Feast of the Gospel

by Richard Sibbes

Paperback, 166 pg.
The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021

Read: October 31, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s The Glorious Feast of the Gospel About?

The subtitle to this when originally published was “or Christ’s Gracious Invitation and Royal Entertainment of Believers,” it’s a series of nine sermons on Isaiah 25:6-9.

Banner of Truth reprinted the original title page, which does a better job of summarizing the book than I could. It states that among other things, “these Comfortable doctrines” are addressed in the book:

1. The Marriage Feast between Christ and his Church.
2. The vaile of Ignorance and Vnbeliefe removed.
3. Christ’s Conquest over death.
4. The wiping away of teares from the faces of Gods people.
5. The taking away of their Reproaches.
6. The precious Promises of God, and their certaine performance.
7. The Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures.
8. The Duty and comfort of waiting upon God.

So, what did I think about The Glorious Feast of the Gospel?

I was genuinely excited when I saw that the Banner would be publishing a new Sibbes book, but it didn’t live up to my hopes. I’m going to go with the assumption that this wasn’t the right time for me to read this book. I just didn’t connect with it—I’m not saying it was bad, it just left me with a feeling of “meh.”

Sermons 5, 6, and 9 did grab me—proving that I’m not totally dead inside. Sermon 5, in particular, on the comforts of the Gospel as seen through “And all tears shall be wiped away from all faces” (v. 8), made the experience of the book worthwhile.

Once upon a time, Richard Sibbes was my “go-to” Puritan, so I do find it surprising when I don’t connect that well with a book by him. So, my assumption is that when I read this again in 2023-5, my reaction will be different. But for today, this was an okay book, but not a must-read.

3 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Church: An Introduction by Gregg Allison: Tries to Do Too Much and Falters

By HCNewton

On October 24, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Church: An Introduction

by Gregg Allison
Series: Short Studies in Systematic Theology

Paperback, 164 pg.
Crossway, 2021

Read: October 10, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s The Church: An Introduction About?

Allison starts with a good Introduction, sketching the ambiguity of the current English term “church”—driving home the need for a book like this. He then spends two chapters with the foundation—outlining both the relationship between the Trinity and the Church and then with a broad overview of the Scriptural doctrine of the Church.

Then he moves into the bulk of the book:

I will present the church in terms of its local expression according to the following topics: identity, leadership, government, ordinances or sacraments, ministries, and future. For each topic, the first section—mere ecclesiology—presents the common ground shared by most churches throughout history. This aspect addresses the essence, or core, of the church’s identity, leadership, government, ordinances or sacraments, ministries, and future. The second section—more ecclesiology—describes how this essence expresses itself in the actual identity, leadership, government, ordinances of sacraments, ministries, and future of particular churches.

So, what did I think about The Church: An Introduction?

In summary, ecclesiology properly begins with a consideration of the doctrine of God. Specifically, it is grounded in Trinitarian theology, which leads to this conclusion: There is one people of God, who from eternity past has graciously elected all those who will believe in him by faith and walk with him in obedience, worship, love, and service. This one people of God consists of two aspects: the people of Israel in old covenant relationship with him and the people of the church in new covenant relationship with him. Specifically in regard to this second aspect, the church is the body of Christ and temple of the Holy Spirit. As the body, the church submits to its head, celebrates its diversity of people and gifts, lives out its siblingship in all purity, and portrays and fosters its unity by participation in the Lord’s Supper. As the temple of the Holy Spirit, the church in which he dwells is birthed, empowered, gifted, directed, sent, and sanctified by the Spirit.

The first couple of chapters got me excited for the book, and then after that, each chapter annoyed me more. He totally squandered that start—the “Mere” portions of the chapters were generally decent, but far too short. The “More” portions on the other hand…didn’t belong in a book like this (for the most part)—to get into all my problems would involve getting into the nitty-gritty of the arguments. They seemed to be what he wanted to write about more than the “Mere” bits and aren’t really introductory ecclesiology.

Also, and this is just one of those things, one chapter felt like it was written in response to my pastor’s sermon that day—each point seemed to be counter one of his (or vice versa). I was already having issues with the book, but that might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. (not that I think my pastor is infallible, it was just bad timing—and a bad take on the text)

If this was the first book in the Short Studies in Systematic Theology that I’d read, I probably wouldn’t have come back for more. But, as it’s the fifth, I can keep going, trusting that this was a fluke.

In the end, I think this book tried to do too much. It tried to be all things to all people rather than embracing a confessional point of view as well as getting hung up on the structure, and ends up not accomplishing much at all. Focusing on and fleshing out the “More” portions would’ve made for a better read, a more profitable read, and a less problematic read. File this one under “don’t bother.”

2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

What God Has to Say about Our Bodies by Sam Allberry: The Body and the Christian

By HCNewton

On October 17, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

It is frequently difficult to remember that this is a book blog and not a theology blog and I’m frequently tempted to engage with the teaching presented in a book, rather than talking about a book as a book. This is one of those times…I ended up deleting about 5 paragraphs from this (and was gearing up to write more when I remembered what I was supposed to be writing).

What God Has to
Say about Our Bodies:
How the Gospel Is Good News
for Our Physical Selves

by Sam Allberry

Paperback, 185 pg.
Crossway, 2021

Read: October 3, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s What God Has to Say about Our Bodies About?

At the center of the Christian faith is the belief that by coming to earth as one of us, Christ could die for our sins, rise to new life, bring us into fellowship with God, and begin the process of putting right all that’s gone wrong. But at the center of that claim, tucked away where we don’t always see it, is the notion that to become one of us, Jesus had to become flesh. To become a human person, he needed to become a human body.

Become a body, not simply don one for a few years…

Bodies matter. Jesus couldn’t become a real human person without one. And we can’t hope to enjoy authentic life without one either. That his body matters is proof that mine and yours do too. He became what he valued enough to redeem. He couldn’t come for people without coming for their flesh and without coming as flesh.

From the foundation that bodies matter, that humans aren’t just souls trapped in bodies, but are bodies with souls, Allberry sketches out a theology of the body. Something that the Western Church just hasn’t thought a lot about recently.

He discusses things like: identiry, sex, gender, disease, death, the body and discipleship, resurrection. There isn’t a lot of Law in these pages (though it’s not antinomian), as the subtitle says, it’s about the Gospel and what it means for our bodies (both in weakness and in promised renewal).

High Points

Hardwired into most of us is some sense that we all get what we deserve. So it is easy to apply that mindset to sickness and infirmity and wonder if the suffering isn’t some sort of payback for sins. But Jesus is unequivocal in his response: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents” (John 9:3). We’re not to extrapolate from someone’s suffering what they might have done to deserve it. It doesn’t work like that. The main connection between suffering and sin is at a general, humanity-wide level rather than at an individual level. It is not that one person’s suffering is a sign of his or her sin, but that anyone’s suffering is a sign of everyone’s sin.

While reading the book and when I sat down to write this, I had in mind two specific chapters to mention, but flipping through it, I almost doubled the list (and there was a danger I’d have gone further). Basically, I’m saying there’s a lot to like here.

But let’s get back to the highpoints of the book—I’m going to stick with my original plan and mention chapters 1 and 5.

Chapter 1, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Body and its Creator,” is one of those things that I wish everyone would read. It’s foundational for this book, and a vital reminder that our bodies are made and made for a purpose.

“Subjected to Futility: The Body, Affliction, and Shame,” Chapter 5, is similarly foundational—in a fallen world, each of us is confronted daily by the weakness of the body—affliction, sickness, and even shame. Some of the problems discussed in this book aren’t things that we all struggle with—and even with the certainty of death for all of us, it’s clear that in the West we’re pretty good at denying that. But weakness? Sickness? Infirmity? We’ve all dealt with that—deal with it all the time, and seeing that in Scriptural light, in terms of the Gospel, is just so helpful.

So, what did I think about What God Has to Say about Our Bodies?

We need to know this. In too many areas of our discipleship we have separated our Christianity from our bodies. There are areas of our physical life that we think are irrelevant to our faith, and there are parts of our Christian life that we think have nothing to do with our bodies.

The truth is that the New Testament often speaks of discipleship in bodily terms, and in ways that tend to surprise us…These things are not trivial or spiritually irrelevant. The problem many of us have is that we are oblivious to their spiritual significance; we don’t see them as part of our discipleship and service to God.

I’ve read a few books by Allberry (and my wife owns a couple I haven’t gotten to yet), and this is noticeably longer and goes a bit deeper than he normally writes, but still, it’s an introductory volume. So I’m left wanting a little more.

That said, it’s an introductory discussion The Church (and others) need. The contemporary Church’s teaching on the body, on physical-ness is so narrow, so negative*, so deficient that it’s pointless. This is a good corrective. It’s only a first step, but we need to start somewhere. Regardless, Allberry’s writing is crisp, clear, engaging–the prose flows smoothly and the ideas are clear.

* Basically “taste not, touch not” kind of things.

I do wonder if Allberry had gone a little deeper if I’d quibble more or even downright disagree with him on some things, but here? I just spent time appreciating that he was addressing topics and ideas that I haven’t really seen done before. I do strongly recommend this—not as a final word, but as the beginning of a course of study (now I just have to figure out where to go from here).

Introductory and basic or not—I really commend this to your attention.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Opening Lines: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

By HCNewton

On October 10, 2021

In News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Opening Lines, Theology/Christian Living

We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I’ll throw it up here. Dare you not to read the rest of the book.

from The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes:

The prophet Isaiah, being lifted up and carried with the wing of a prophetical spirit, passes over all the time between him and the appearing of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Seeing with the eye of prophecy, and with the eye of faith, Christ as present, he presents him, in the name of God, to the spiritual eye of others, in these words: `Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth’ (Isa. 42:1 3). These words are alleged by Matthew as fulfilled now in Christ (Matt. 12:18 20). In them are propounded, first, the calling of Christ to his office; secondly, the manner in which he carries it out.

CHRIST’S CALLING

God calls him here his servant. Christ was God’s servant in the greatest piece of service that ever was, a chosen and a choice servant who did and suffered all by commission from the Father. In this we may see the sweet love of God to us, in that he counts the work of our salvation by Christ his greatest service, and in that he will put his only beloved Son to that service. He might well prefix it with `Behold’ to raise up our thoughts to the highest pitch of attention and admiration. In time of temptation, apprehensive consciences look so much to the present trouble they are in that they need to be roused up to behold him in whom they may find rest for their distressed souls. In temptations it is safest to behold nothing but Christ the true brazen serpent, the true `Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world’, (John 1:29). This saving object has a special influence of comfort to the soul, especially if we look not only on Christ, but upon the Father’s authority and love in him. For in all that Christ did and suffered as Mediator, we must see God in him reconciling the world unto himself (2 Cor. 5:19).

What a support to our faith is this, that God the Father, the party offended by our sins, is so well pleased with the work of redemption! And what a comfort is this, that, seeing God’s love rests on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us, if we be in Christ! For his love rests in a whole Christ, in Christ mystical, as well as Christ natural, because he loves him and us with one love. Let us, therefore, embrace Christ, and in him God’s love, and build our faith safely on such a Saviour that is furnished with so high a commission.

See here, for our comfort, a sweet agreement of all three persons: the Father gives a commission to Christ; the Spirit furnishes and sanctifies to it, and Christ himself executes the office of a Mediator. Our redemption is founded upon the joint agreement of all three persons of the Trinity.

A recent bit of shopping led me to flipping through a few Sibbes books on my shelf—there’s something about his language (especially those first two sentences) that no one today could (should) get away with, but feels entirely appropriate from him.

Also, both his language and subject make me want to keep on reading (and I’ve read it at least 4 times). Your results may vary, but this is catnip to me.

Deeper by Dane C. Ortlund : Ends Up a Bit Too Shallow and Vague

By HCNewton

On October 3, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners

by Dane C. Ortlund
Series: Union

Kindle Edition, 144 pg.
Crossway, 2021

Read: October 26, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Deeper About?

The goal of this book is to call believers to grow in Christ, to experience a deeper kind of Christian life. Ephesians 4:15 and 2 Peter 3:18 call for the Christian to grow, and that’s where Ortlund wants to focus.

He eschews the typical calls for greater discipline, certain acts/habits, intellectual pursuits, or behavioral changes for this aim. Instead, Ortlund wants to pursue this through a focus on Christ we are changed as we look to Him and his benefits.

Growing in Christ is not centrally improving or adding or experiencing but deepening…deepening is that you already have what you need. Christian growth is bringing what you do and say and even feel into line with what, in fact, you already are.

To point the believer to looking to Christ, he focuses on nine different aspects of that action—with one chapter per aspect (that I’ll gloss over because I get into it later).

Sources/Influences

Early on, Ortland makes several references to Henry Scougal’s The Life Of God In The Soul Of Man, which just made me happy. Introducing contemporary readers to Scougall’s classic is a great thing—also, it reminded me that I need to dust off my copy. I’m far overdue for a re-read of that.

I also assumed that the whole book was going to be along those lines. Instead, he seemed to lean primarily on Martin Luther, C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer—not a slouch among them, but none of them are really all that well-known for their work on sanctification.

I’m not saying that’s bad, I’m just wondering if his influences led to some of my ambivalence about the book as a whole.

So, what did I think about Deeper?

I do not have nine things to say. I have one thing to say. Look to Christ. You will grow in Christ as you direct your gaze to Christ. If you take your eyes off of Jesus Christ and direct your gaze to your own growth, you will prevent the very growth you desire…

The nine chapters of this book are not sequential steps in growing; they are different facets of the one diamond of growth. In order to grow, we need to see who the real Jesus is (chap. 1), collapsing into his arms and continuing to do so all our lives long (chap. 2) as those united to him (chap. 3), drinking down his undeserved love (chap. 4) and full legal exoneration on the basis of his own finished work (chap. 5), being therefore freed up to walk in the light (chap. 6) and receive the anguish of this life as the gentle hand of God to help us rather than to punish us (chap. 7), seeing the love of Christ by inhaling the Bible and returning our love to him in exhaled prayer (chap. 8), and actually experiencing the love of heaven through the indwelling Spirit (chap. 9).

It is, no question about it, better than the previous volume in the Union series. But for a book called Deeper, it really leaned toward the shallow, he needed to expand every one of those facets—if for no other reason than to do a better job of showing how they’re facets of the one idea. Because as much as he claims he had one idea in the book, not nine, I really never got that impression. Like the Reeves book on Fear of God, if this is intended to be the “full treatment” of the idea for pastors and other leaders, it falls short.

I liked everything that he had to say, I appreciated the wisdom of it, and I agree these things, as they are rooted in the gospel, need to be emphasized in the believer’s attention and life. But…I always felt like something was missing. Both in his thinking and his presentation—it’s likely just the latter, but without the more thorough presentation, it seems like it’s his logic.

I think most people will find some benefit to this book—not as much as Ortlund aimed for, perhaps–and I’m glad I read it. I just wanted something deeper.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Path of Faith by Brandon D. Crowe: Covenant and Law for Believers from Genesis to Revelation

By HCNewton

On September 26, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Path of Faith:
A Biblical Theology of
Covenant and Law

by Brandon D. Crowe
Series: Essential Studies in Biblical Theology

Paperback, 169 pg.
IVP Academic, 2021

Read: September 12-19, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s The Path of Faith About?

In his Introduction Crowe previews the book as a whole:

The topics of covenant and law are complex and have often been debated, but I’m not interested in getting bogged down in technical debates. Instead, in this book I make four key points.

All people are obligated to obey their Creator.

Though he did not have to, from the beginning God freely entered into a covenant with humanity to offer a reward upon the condition of perfect obedience.

Only Jesus perfectly obeys God’s law, which is necessary for eternal life. Eternal life is granted by grace through faith on the basis of Christ’s work.

Even though we can’t perfectly obey God’s law, the law continues to guide us in how we should live. Obedience to God’s law is still required. And yet obedience is not a burden but the path of blessing.

These are four landmarks to maintain your bearings in the discussion that follows, and they also serve as a handy summary of the book.

From there, the book traces the development of those concepts from Genesis to Revelation and at all points in between—as every book in this series has done/likely will do.

Relation between Old and New Covenant

Obviously, as he’s working through Redemptive History as it progresses, he begins with the Old Covenant—but always keeps the New Covenant in view, as the goal of the Old. I was particularly struck by the way he did this in Chapter 5, “The Prophets: Remind, Reprove, Renew.” I noted a few times how helpful the discussion there was at pointing at the differences between the two covenants, while stressing the continuity of the two.

I didn’t realize (but admittedly should have assumed) that that chapter was merely the foundation for a lot of the chapters to follow—particularly in Chapter 9, “The New Covenant in Practice: Hebrews Through Jude.” Which was just dynamite, and was probably my favorite chapter in the book. It wasn’t necessarily “more practical” than the rest of the book—but its focus on what what The Path of Faith looks like for believers in a post-apostolic age makes it more obviously applicable to contemporary believers.

I should add that a lot of the material in that chapter came from/was similar to Crowe’s The Message of the General Epistles in the History of Redemption: Wisdom from James, Peter, John, and Jude—and I feel compelled to recommend that book at this time (I didn’t do a post on it when I read it back in 2015, or I’d point you to that).

Revelation

Revelation fittingly concludes the biblical canon by echoing earlier Scripture, highlighting the completed work of Christ and sketching a vision for the future. Revelation wrestles with the ambiguities and difficulties of this age but doesn’t leave the plot dangling. Revelation proclaims that Christ rules, and his people will be vindicated. Revelation is an immensely practical book that provides guidance for living today.

That last sentence is going to strike more than a few readers as odd—but it shouldn’t. While the previous chapter was my favorite, this one took a lot more thought and reflection—and was more striking for me. Believers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are not used to reading Revelation for reasons other than “cracking the code” and figuring out the eschatological message of the book. Which isn’t to say that’s not important—but as Crowe argues, the book is more practical than that.

It’s crucial that we recognize and heed Revelation’s calls to faithfulness in life. We go astray if we think of Revelation as a fatalistic book of predictions. Revelation does not teach us to shut our eyes and sing, Que Será, Será (“whatever will be, will be”). Instead, Revelation provides motivation for faithful covenant living in the present, in light of God’s promises about the future.

This means Revelation is not only about the future; it’s about the entire age of the church, from the first coming of Christ to his second coming. It doesn’t focus only on the last few years of world history; it’s about every era of the church’s history. It’s about things that are persistently true. As one helpful book on Revelation puts the matter, “[Revelation] is a book for every age. It is always up to date.”

Given that reminder about the purpose of Revelation, Crowe’s able to point to the call for faithfulness, the motivations to perverse and the promise of the consummation of the covenants at the end.

So, what did I think about The Path of Faith?

It has been a while since I’ve read a book in this series—primarily because the outline was getting a bit repetitive, and it was causing me to glaze over a bit. It’s been long enough and (based solely on recollection without looking at a prior volume to compare) I think Crowe approaches it with a just-noticeable tweak to the standard outline that I was able to appreciate what he was saying without struggling to differentiate this work from the others.

Even without that gap for myself, I found this to be one of the (if not the) strongest volumes in the series—Crowe is able to deliver on explaining his summary from the introduction, explaining and expanding on them in each era of Redemptive History so that those of us living in the New Covenant age can profit from what was written for our benefit in the Old and seeing what our Covenant Head accomplished for us and for our salvation.

This is a great work on the ideas of Covenant and Law and I strongly encourage you to give it a read.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry: We Can Trust God Because of His Holiness

By HCNewton

On September 12, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Holier Than Thou:
How God’s Holiness Helps
Us Trust Him

by Jackie Hill Perry

Paperback, 168 pg.
B&H Books, 2021

Read: September 5, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

I don’t remember the day I thought about it and i my coffee was iced or warm. What I know is that what I thought, and what I thought of, I wanted an answer for: “If God is holy, then He can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then He can’t sin against me. If He can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make Him the most trustworthy being there is?”

What’s Holier Than Thou About?

The impetus for this book came from that above thought—although as she notes, one of the goals of the book is to remove that “if” from the phrase “If God can’t sin.” If He, and He alone, is really worthy of that trust—how should that impact our lives? What a “blessed” assurance it is to understand and embrace God’s holiness as an intrinsic part of His nature and to then remember his promises are “Yea, and amen.”

On the one hand, that might seem kind of obvious, nothing worth writing a book about. But if you stop and think about that for a minute, what all the implications of it are, how it can (and should) shape our lives? That’s when you remember that that profundity is often hidden in simplicity.

From this jumping-off point, Perry spends the five chapters looking at the holiness of God from various perspectives—as a characteristic of God, as His moral perfection, as His transcendence—what the implications of God’s holiness mean that when it comes to sinful men, and (in a great angle) what it would mean for Creation and Humanity if God were not holy. Then she follows that up with two chapters on the sanctification of believers—how we reflect that Holiness.

The Gospel

One thing that I found reassuring and impressive throughout the book was that while the point of the book was to remind us about the holiness of God, how He should be seen as perfect in distinction to the fallen humanity we see all around us. She never uses that as a way to induce fear and despair, never tells the reader to give up—or to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps to a makeshift righteousness (a futile effort, anyway). Instead—she points to the Gospel. There is always the promise of Christ’s work for His people, His redemption in the midst of this—our only hope.

Sanctification

The other strength of this book is the way that Perry uses two chapters to address the believer’s response to God’s holiness in their own.

The first chapter is what will separate her from most books on the topic—following John Owen, she talks about sanctification as the immediate* work of the Spirit through the work of rebirth/regeneration and the changing the nature of the believer.

* that is, “acting or being without the intervention of another object, cause, or agency;” not “instant.” (definition from Merriam-Webster.com).

That established, she can then move in the next chapter to the transformation of the believer through beholding the Holy One of Israel, believing in Him, and thus becoming like Him as we follow His ways.

Keeping the horse before the cart on this topic is so essential, and so often overlooked.

The Cover

This isn’t something I usually address, but I have to take a moment to talk about the cover design—it’s just brilliant. It may be difficult to see in the thumbnail above (it probably is, but I have the paperback sitting next to me, so it’s impossible for me to not pick up the details on the .png file), but there’s this faux-distressed, bent cover, well-read/reread look to it. The book looks like I’ve read it a few dozen times—and carried it with me for a couple of moves, probably had it stacked under something for a few months.

I absolutely love it (sure, when I pulled it out of the box, I was initially annoyed when I saw the condition it seemed to be in, before I realized it was supposed to look beat up and worn).

So, what did I think about Holier Than Thou?

God’s holiness is essential to His nature and fundamental to His being. His holiness is what makes Him good, and loving, and kind, and faithful. Without holiness, God wouldn’t be beautiful, and so because of it, He is eternally attractive. Think about the opposite of it being present in Him and you may see my point. If He were sovereign, but wicked, with no inner righteousness to restrain His hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if the world was no more. If He had all power without love, our refusal to love Him back would result in cosmic abuse or maybe a million more floods with no rainbow to promise His relent. If He were an unholy God, what would salvation even mean? What is deliverance to a self-centered “savior”? Thankfully, our God is incomprehensibly holy and therefore completely beautiful in all of His ways and works. This is why we are invited to worship Him as such, and in so doing, we become just as beautiful as He is.

This is a terrific review or refresher on this vital topic. It can also serve as a wonderful introduction to it for those who need one. And for everyone, using the works Perry footnotes and alludes to would be a great way to follow up on this book.

For myself (and this is why I’m rating this low for a book I just described as “terrific”), I didn’t learn much—if anything. It felt like a retread of a lot that I’ve read before. It could’ve been a little deeper and still qualified as a retread. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s near-underwhelming.

However—her starting point for this book really impressed me, although I’d have preferred another chapter or two working out that idea after the rest of the book. But it’s Perry’s prose, her style, her near-lyrical* descriptions and depictions of ideas, events, and concepts—that kept me going. There are paragraphs that demand to be re-read—and occasionally to read aloud—I absolutely loved this aspect of her writing, and it’s going to be why I gladly recommend this to others, why I’d likely buy it for others, and why I’ll likely be quick to buy her next book.

* How not-at-all-surprising for a poet and hip-hop artist to have lyrical prose.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Person of Christ: An Introduction by Stephen Wellum: Scriptural and Historical Perspectives on Christ

By HCNewton

On September 5, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Person of Christ: An Introduction

by Stephen Wellum
Series: Short Studies in Systematic Theology

Paperwork, 180 pg.
Crossway, 2021

Read: August 29, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Thinking through all chat Scripture says about Jesus and wrestling with the church as she has sought to faithfully confess Christ is not an easy task, but it’s absolutely necessary, especially if we are going to think rightly about God, the gospel, and the entire Christian faith, The study of Christology is not reserved for academic theologians; it’s the privilege, responsibility, and the glory of every Christian.

What’s The Person of Christ: An Introduction About?

In this installment of Short Studies in Systematic Theology, Wellum examines the doctrine of the Incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity, and the Divinity of Jesus.

He spends four chapters opening the Scriptural testimony concerning Christ and the Incarnation. Then he looks at the development of the Church’s teaching and doctrinal formulation from an historical perspective—pre-Chalcedon, post-Chalcedon, and then contemporary issues. Finally, he gives a couple of chapters of theological reflection and summary.

The Strengths of the Book

I really appreciated most of the book, but two chapters, in particular, stood out to me—Chapter 2, “The Identity of Christ from the Bible’s Storyline” and Chapter 8, “Jesus as God the Son Incarnate.”

Chapter 2 lies the foundation for the next two chapters of the consideration of Christ as presented in the New Testament by examining the storyline of the Old Testament starting with Creation, the Fall, and then seeing how the Law and Prophets point to the coming Messiah.

Chapter 8 draws the testimony of Scripture and the formulations of the creeds, confessions, and theology of The Church throughout history into ten doctrinal statements explaining the essential elements of Jesus’ identity and the doctrine of the Incarnation.

The call to action in the last chapter, “Recovering the Centrality of Christ.” is a great conclusion—something that not every entry in the series has had, but is a welcome presence, and does a good job of wrapping up the book, summing up the high points and pointing the reader to application.

As One of the Short Studies in Systematic Theology

Of the four entries in this series that I’ve read this is the least accessible overall—most of the book is just fine on that front. A large part of that less-than-accessibleness comes from the fact that this appears to be a shorter version of Wellum’s 2016 book, God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ. Assuming I’m right about that, he should’ve edited a bit more for this. Part of the first chapter (“Approaching Scripture on Its Own Terms to Identify Christ”) and most, if not all, of the seventh (” Current Challenges to Christological Orthodoxy”) seem unnecessarily technical, and possibly beyond the Introductory nature of this series.

I’m not saying they’re completely inaccessible to laity, but they felt out of place for both the series and the rest of the book. Maybe it was just my mood or attention span as I read it, but those parts of the book in particular, bugged me.

So, what did I think about The Person of Christ: An Introduction?

Overall, I liked it—I do think it would’ve been stronger without the chapters I mentioned in the previous section (or just with them reworked). But pushing that aside—this is an important entry in the series and focuses on things that too often get ignored.

I appreciated this entry in the series, but do hope the next entry I read is a little more in line with the others. Still, get your hands on this—what it does right is very good, and the rest isn’t bad, either.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Faith Among the Faithless by Mike Cosper: An Example of Being Faithful (while Stumbling) in a Hostile World

By HCNewton

On August 29, 2021

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Faith Among the Faithless:
Learning from Esther How
to Live in a World Gone Mad

by Mike Cosper

Kindle Edition, 208 pg.
Thomas Nelson, 2018

Read: August 8, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Faith Among the Faithless About?

This is hard to sum up briefly, but I’m going to give it a shot—we live in a compromised age, society is changing, shifting—it’s difficult to predict what the next few years are going to look like, but one thing is certain: Western Culture, particularly that of the U. S., isn’t going to look anything like it did before. How is the Christian to react?

Many hold up Daniel as the model of how to behave in a culture hostile to the Faith. Cosper thinks he’s the wrong model

…there’s a problem with looking to Daniel: Most of us aren’t a Daniel. In fact, we are far from it. As much as we recognize that our culture is in decline, we also kind of . . . like it. Christians in general consume as much mass media and are as addicted to pornography, as likely to divorce, as consumeristic, and as obsessed with social media as the rest of our world. Again: we’re immersed in a secular age, and it’s had a profound effect upon us…while [Daniel is] a great model of faithfulness, I’m not sure he’s the best reference point for most of us.

Instead, he suggests we look to Esther.

…her story is more complicated than [the storybook versions we’re used to]. And much darker. It’s less VeggieTales and more Game of Thrones, with a lot more sex, murder, and impaling than the usual version of the story would imply. (There’s actually quite a bit of impaling.) Mordecai and Esther’s motivations are sometimes murky and sometimes blatantly self- serving.

As in Esther’s day, the Church is compromised, we’ve taken on a lot of the World’s values, and we should look for people in the Bible who find themselves in that situation rather than men like Daniel.

Esther’s story reveals a way forward in a culture where people of faith find themselves at the margins of society. She neither clutches for power nor seeks self- protection. Instead, she faces reality, embraces weakness, and finds faith, hope, and help from a world unseen…Her story is also an invitation to those whose faith, convictions, and morality are less than they wish they were.

When we examine Esther, we see that

…the story is a reminder that God doesn’t abandon his people, no matter how dark their circumstances, how compromised their hearts are, or how hidden he may seem.

So Cosper examines the Biblical account, retelling the story in a very non-Sunday School way and uses that to illustrate the situations that believers may find themselves in and how we can learn from Esther and Mordecai (both positively and negatively) in our cultural moment.

I’m going to end up writing twenty thousand words if I don’t cut myself short, so I’m going to do that.

So, what did I think about Faith Among the Faithless?

Whatever happens in the years and decades to come, we can be sure that faithfulness looks pretty much like it did three thousand years ago. Sometimes it looks like Daniel: a steady path of spiritual formation and obedience. But sometimes, and perhaps more often than not in the world we occupy today, it looks more like Esther: a path of awakening, risk, vulnerability, and, ultimately, hope.

This book is told in an easy, breezy style—full of wit, and wisdom. Cosper knows how to communicate engagingly and clearly. I walked away thinking Cosper would be a fun guy to talk books, TV, and The Bible with. But that style doesn’t belie the seriousness of the material, this is a high-stakes situation, and he’s fully aware of that. But Cosper uses his style to connect to the audience, not to sugarcoat anything.

It’s clear that Cosper has done his research on the book—I wish he’d shared more of his homework in footnotes for the reader. Not necessarily to check his work, but to expand on it—to get a greater appreciation for what he summarized.

Do I agree with every jot and tittle? Of course not. But there’s a lot to appreciate here, and more to chew on, to reflect on, and to learn from. There’s hope in the darkness—and Cosper is good to point the reader to it. It’s not because we’re morally strong and faithful like Daniel, nor does it come from the weakness that characterized Esther’s early life and then the ways she found to do the right thing. The hope of the book of Esther is that the Lord is faithful when we are not, and he will provide for His people.

I do recommend this book, it’ll entertain you and then make you think as well as pray.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.