More books to ban

Todd has his work cut out at the moment.  A number of very fine and helpful books have been published recently, so we must assume that the Witchfinder General will be canceling all leave for his pitchfork-wielding underlings in order to deal with the unusual workload.

Jim Garretson's magisterial study of Samuel Miller on the pastoral ministry is now available.  Anyone familiar with Jim's earlier books on ministry will know what to expect: judicious exposition of the the thought of one of Princeton's finest.

Simonetta Carr -- who will always be to some of us the lady who spotted the uncanny resemblance between Thomas Goodwin and John Bonham -- has added to her tally of children's books with a volume on John Knox.  Fans of her work will not be disappointed: informed and well-written, with lavish illustrations and beautiful production values.  Simonetta's books remain a favourite giveaway for the children at Cornerstone.

P and R have published a fascinating volume by Joseph Smith (no, not that Joseph Smith -- this was written, as far as I know, without use of Urim and Thummim):Sex and Violence in the Bible. This book is interesting because it is both frank about the Bible's treatment of these themes but also sensitive to the aesthetics of the Bible's presentation of the same.  Very useful for any pastor or teacher.

Finally, as a long-term admirer of J. I. Packer's writing, I am happy to note that he has a new, short book out from Crossway, Finishing our Course with Joy, a reflection upon growing old and the opportunities it brings for edifying the church.  Given that we all either die young or grow old and then die, this is a relevant book, whatever the mythology of our youth saturated world might tell us.

Given the current moral climate, I should add that I have received no payment for thisVincent Price.jpg bare-faced attempt to catapult these books to the top of the NYT bestseller list, though I did blag some free pdfs and a hard copy of the JIP book from the publishers.  Further, as far as I know, all four were actually written by the people whose names appear on the covers.  Now, over to the WG.   Time to dust off those pitchforks, light those torches, and start paying a few 'pastoral visits.'