'Book/Movie Reviews' Tagged Posts
Review of Studies in Perfectionism by Benjamin Warfield
Warfield, Benjamin B., Studies in Perfectionism. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1958. 464 pages. B. B. Warfield is known as one of the major exponents of the Reformed view of theology. He studied at what is now Princeton University and Seminary, graduating from the later in 1876. He taught first at Leipzig, Germany but was later the successor to Archibald Alexander Hodge as professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Seminary. He died in 1921. During his life he earned several distinguished degrees.…
What You Need to Know About The Da Vinci Code
Do you know someone who has read The Da Vinci Code? If you don’t by now, you probably will. Dan Brown’s suspense novel has been on the NY Times best-sellers list for over 3 years, and, according to Brown’s website, "has become one of the most widely read books of all time."1 A quick search of a national bookseller’s website yielded no less than 15 books written about this novel, and a major motion picture based on the book is…
Saved by Grace by Anthony Hoekema: A Critical Review
Anthony Hoekema (Th.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) taught Bible at Calvin College from 1956 to 1958 and systematic theology at Calvin Seminary from 1958 to 1979. The books he authored include The Four Major Cults, What about Tongue Speaking, and Holy Spirit Baptism. He died in 1988. Saved by Grace (Eerdmans, 1989) is the third and final in a series of theological studies. The first two books are The Bible and the Future (on eschatology) and Created in God’s Image (on…
A Brief Review of D.A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers
D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1992, 230 pp. D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois). He is also the author of numerous books that have reliably served followers of Christ for several decades. This trend continues with A Call to Spiritual Reformation, a book in which the pastor’s heart of the author beats loudly as he…
A Critical Review of John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart
(This book review was revised on 03-30-10) Eldredge, John. Wild at Heart. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001. (Spirituality/Christian living; 222 pages; hardcover; suggested retail price, $19.99) John Eldredge’s book Wild at Heart was recommended to me by several different Christians. Partly out of respect for them, and partly out of my pastoral sense of obligation to “Test all things; hold fast what is good,” I made the time to review what Charles R. Swindoll endorsed as, “the best, most insightful…
A Review of Krista Horning’s Just the Way I Am: God’s Good Design in Disability
Krista Horning was born with a rare genetic disorder called Apert Syndrome and has undergone over sixty surgeries in her lifetime. I first heard about her book, Just the Way I Am: God’s Good Design in Disability, from John Knight, the senior director of Desiring God Ministries, who writes at www.theworksofgod.com. Horning’s book is a glorious achievement and a demonstration of God’s grace in her life. I eagerly anticipated its arrival for two reasons: First, I have a daughter who…
Book Review: A Thousand Miles of Miracle
Book by A. E. Glover, Christian Focus, 2000 They were locked in a tiny, bug-infested jail in inland China. The heat inside was suffocating, and the doors and windows were sealed tight by the guards. Outside their prison, crowds of people called for their death, rioting until late in the night. At daybreak, it began again. “Mie yang,” they shouted, “Destroy the foreigner!” Archie and Flora prayed for a miracle. It was 1900, the third year of worsening drought and famine…
Dr. David Instone-Brewer’s Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible A Critical Review
Introduction Bible-believing Christians can, and frequently do, disagree on matters related to divorce and remarriage. If they value God’s Word as they should, however, their disagreements are based on differing interpretations of the written text of Scripture. As I hope to demonstrate in this review, Dr. David Instone-Brewer has arrived at what I believe are unbiblical conclusions about divorce and remarriage for one primary reason—he fails to recognize the written text of Scripture, particularly the New Testament, as a sufficient…
Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus – A Critical Review
Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. $24.95, 242 pp. ISBN 0-06-073817-0 Contrary to what the title might suggest, Bart Ehrman’s book Misquoting Jesus is not primarily about sayings of Jesus that have been “misquoted.” Ehrman’s preferred title was “Lost in Transmission,” reflecting his personal opinion that much of the original wording of the New Testament has been “lost” through the inaccuracies of the early scribes who hand-copied the…
Gregory Boyd’s Escaping the Matrix A Critical Review
Boyd, Gregory A. and Larson, Al, Escaping the Matrix, Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2005. Spiritual Formation; 211 pages. I must admit that I was a bit intimidated when someone suggested that I read and review this book. Escaping the Matrix is directed to Christians, but it is also related to clinical counseling, and I am not professionally trained in that field. I am a former police officer, a pastor, and an editorial assistant for another Christian ministry. Greg Boyd, on…
Brian Fleming’s The God Who Wasn’t There A Critical Review
Written, Directed and Narrated by Brian Fleming Beyond Belief Media 2005 A friend of mine is fond of quoting the axiom, "Consequences have ideas." That certainly seems to prove true in Brian Fleming’s documentary diatribe against Christianity, "The God Who Wasn’t There." The 39-year-old Fleming, who describes his parents as "typical, non-Bible-thumping Methodists,"1 attended an evangelical parochial school in California as a child. There, he says, "I was born again at least three times, I think."2 Fleming describes his school…
Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now A Critical Review
Osteen, Joel, Your Best Life Now, New York, Warner Faith Publishers, 2004. Inspirational/motivational; 310 pages. It may seem foolish to disagree theologically with the man who pastors the largest congregation in America. Thirty-thousand adults attend Joel Osteen’s church every Sunday. Millions more tune in to his national and international television broadcasts. Certainly (one might assume) a man with this incredible following must be on the right track. Joel Osteen’s book, Your Best Life Now, is even endorsed by…
John & Stasi Eldredge’s Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul — A Critical Review
Eldredge, John and Stasi, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul, Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville 2005, 225 pages. Introduction In the introduction to Captivating, Stasi Eldredge writes, “As a new Christian, the first book I picked up to read on godly femininity I threw across the room. I never picked it up again.” Can you identify with her feelings? I certainly can. Over the years I’ve read dozens of worthless books aimed toward Christian women. Some appealed to…
The Imperative of Preaching: A Theology of Sacred Rhetoric
John Carrick commences with a declaration from Dr. J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism: “Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative” (7). The truth of this statement is a leading premise of this “theology of sacred rhetoric.” Carrick is Assistant Professor of Applied and Doctrinal Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is also one of its preaching instructors. He graduated from Oxford University and has had pastorates in the U.K. and in Greenville, North Carolina. This is his first book.…
Introduction to A Million and a half in answer to prayer by George Muller
The following article is an introduction written by Jim Elliff for the book Autobiography of George Muller, or, A Million and a Half in Answer to Prayer by George Muller Hardcover | 736 pages | Westminster Literature Resources ________________ On November 8, 1840, a slender, 35 year old man with wiry black hair held a diamond ring in his hand. His wife, a Brethren woman, would certainly not have worn it—much too audacious for a woman of God of her…
Review of Scotland Saw His Glory edited by Richard Owen Roberts
Roberts, Richard Owen, editor, Scotland Saw His Glory. Wheaton, Illinois: International Awakening Press, 1995. 351 pages. Richard Owen Roberts, President of International Awakening Ministries, has taken out-of-print sources to compile this book. One source was issued in a limited edition of only thirteen copies; the earliest source is dated 1743. No information is given on the lives of the authors. He claims no originality; the works he uses are fully incorporated, with almost no quoting. He mixes and complements the…
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