Shelf Life

Jesus Interrupted By Bart D. Ehrman 304 p. HarperOne (March 2009) This review has been used by permission as appeared in WTJ 71, no.2, Fall 2009 Just in time for Easter, Bart Ehrman has (again) offered another popular-level assault on the historical integrity of the Bible. One begins to wonder how...

Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace By Iain Murray 274 p. Banner of Truth (May 2008) The Lord Jesus Christ has gifted his church with teachers and preachers in the past and for that we are truly grateful. One, whose writings I first came into contact with twenty-two years ago, was the late Dr. David...

John Frame's new book is very fine. In 25 chapters he takes the reader through a crash-course in systematics. The chapters contain many wise judgments, much sound teaching, and good emphases. When caution is needed, Frame is cautious; when boldness is called for, he is bold. Though the book'll need...

A Theology of John's Gospel and Letters By: Andreas J. Kostenberger 652p. Zondervan (2009) When I began undertaking a writing project on the seven signs of John's Gospel my first instinct was to review everything Andreas Kostenberger had written on the subject. In my opinion (and many others more...

This is a very big book! A thousand pages of detailed descriptions of sermons preached by almost a hundred preachers from the mid-eighteenth century to the present; well, almost, for the final entries are of men who died in the 1990s. Nor is Dr. Old done with this massive project for there is...

"There is no more searching test of a theology than to submit it to dramatic handling; nothing so glaringly exposes inconsistencies in a character, a story, or a philosophy as to put it upon the stage and allow it to speak for itself. Any theology that will stand the rigorous pulling and hauling of...

If poetry has any benefit at all for the Christian (and it does), then certainly one of its more valuable functions is to show us that things are not always straightforward and simple; that our lives are both complex and beautiful, both miniscule and meaningful. Poetry is, in a way, then, a...

Amazing Grace attempts to tell the story of the British MP, William Wilberforce, and his long crusade against the British slave trade. Wilberforce was born in Hull in 1759. The son of a merchant, he inherited his father's wealth when he died, and was later rewarded by his uncle's will. As a result...

Biographies of William Wilberforce regularly highlight his noble statesmanship and tireless efforts at reform. He is often labeled in those biographies as an activist who knew what he believed in and would not give up till he accomplished all he set his mind to do. And though such an evaluation of...

There's nothing like a good debate to stir the juices and make you think! To listen to a bunch of intellectual heavyweights slugging it out verbally is more than just spectator sport, it's a healthy exercise in personal mind-expansion. The Four Views series published by IVP taps into this...