"Books are windows through which we catch glimpses of God." - C.S. Lewis
Our "book club" this year is walking through Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2005) by Scot McKnight. Information on the author and the book, as well as notes from our weekly discussions, can be found here. Our supplemental excerpts and sermons are posted here.
The books below serve as valuable supplements to our discussion at various points.
Beilby J and Eddy PR, editors
The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).
A long history of biblical exegesis and theological reflection has shaped our understanding of the atonement today. The more prominent highlights of this history have acquired familiar names for the household of faith: Christus Victor, penal substitutionary, subjective, and governmental. Recently the penal substitutionary view, and particularly its misappropriations, has been critiqued, and a lively debate has taken hold within evangelicalism. This book offers a "panel" discussion of four views of atonement maintained by four evangelical scholars.
The proponents and their views are: Gregory A. Boyd: Christus Victor view; Joel B. Green: Kaleidescopic view; Bruce R. Reichenbach: Healing view; Thomas R. Schreiner: Penal Substitutionary view
Following an introduction written by the editors, each participant first puts forth the case for their view. Each view is followed by responses from the other three participants, noting points of agreement as well as disagreement. This is a book that will help Christians understand the issues, grasp the differences and proceed toward a clearer articulation of their understanding of the atonement.
Some excerpts are found here in our discussion of the atonement.
Greg Boyd
Greg Boyd (PhD, Princeton) is the founder and senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN, and founder and president of Christus Victor Ministries.
Is God to Blame? Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003).
“Boyd argues forcefully that, for Christians, the deepest revelation of God’s character has to be the cross of Christ, where God’s glory is revealed not as compelling power but as sacrificial love. . . . For Boyd, the mystery of suffering resides not in God’s inscrutable will or a possible ‘dark streak’ in God’s character, but in the complexity of a universe where freedom and risk are realities that even God must experience. Always compassionate, sometimes cantankerous, and capturing biblical concepts with memorable clarity, this challenging book should be a valued resource for pastors, counselors, support groups, and individual study.” —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Boyd tackles the tough questions of suffering and God's power:
- If God doesn't put us through hard times, who does?
- If God is all-powerful and seeks to deliver us from tragic situations, why aren't we delivered?
- If God is all-powerful, why is creation filled with suffering in the first place?
- How can God be all-powerful and not always get his way?
Boyd explores the pervasive Christian assumption that there is a specific divine reason for everything that happens (blueprint worldview) and then goes on to outline an alternative way of understanding God and his relationship to the world (the warfare worldview). Boyd gets to the heart of the question—why me?—by looking into the book of Job. He then attempts to show that a creation, which includes free agents capable of love, cannot be one in which God can guarantee his will is always done. Boyd concludes by explaining how to live in the midst of evil, and addresses objections to this warfare worldview.
“For people not sure about the Christian faith, my hope is that this book will present a picture of God that is more attractive and more believable than other pictures they have been exposed to,” writes Boyd. “It avoids what has for many people been the central objection to accepting the Christian God, namely, the idea that ever atrocious event in world history is somehow a result of his plan—his divine blueprint.”
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006).
Arguing from Scripture and history, Dr. Boyd makes a compelling case that whenever the church gets too close to any political or national ideology, it is disastrous for the church and harmful to society. Dr. Boyd contends that the American Evangelical Church has allowed itself to be co-opted by the political right (and some by the political left) and exposes how this is harming the church’s unique calling to build the kingdom of God. In the course of his argument, Dr. Boyd challenges some of the most deeply held convictions of evangelical Christians in America – for example, that America is, or ever was, “a Christian nation” or that Christians ought to be trying to “take America back for God.”
Link here for the original sermon series that formed the basis for the book.
Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father's Questions about Christianity (Colorado Springs, Cook Communications, 1994).
Amazon.com
Edward Boyd's agnosticism rested "not ... too much on any positive position ... but rather on a host of negative ones" about Christianity. In an attempt to address these negative issues, his son Greg, a professor of theology, asked his father, a strong-willed, highly intelligent, and stubborn 70-year-old, to enter into a correspondence in which "all of their cards would be laid on the table." Greg would give his father the opportunity to raise all his objections to the veracity of Christianity, and Greg would "answer these objections as well as give positive grounds for holding to the Christian faith."
Three years and more than 30 letters later, Letters from a Skeptic was published and Edward Boyd came to accept Christ. During his journey, he and his son hash through such topics as why the world is so full of suffering; why an all-powerful God needs prayer; how you can believe in someone who rose from the dead; and how another man's death can pardon others. Despite their brutal honesty, both men exhibit respect and love toward one another as they address these volatile subjects. In Edward's second response to Greg, he boldly says, "Well, your distinction between the 'Christian Church' and 'Christians' is interesting and novel, but frankly, I don't buy it." Greg responds, saying, "I've got to admit that you are raising some extremely good points in your letters. You are raising the most difficult questions a theist can face." --Jill Heatherly
Marva J. Dawn
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989).
Marva Dawn (PhD, Notre Dame) is a theologian, author, musician, and educator with Christians Equipped for Ministry, Vancouver, Washington, and Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College. Dr. Dawn has spoken for clergy and worship conferences and seminaries throughout North America and in Madagascar and in Eastern and Western Europe. Wikipedia biosketch
“But I don’t wanna go to church!” Marva Dawn has often heard that cry—and not only from children. “What a sad commentary it is on North American spirituality,” she writes, “that the delight of ‘keeping the Sabbath day’ has degenerated into the routine and drudgery—even the downright oppressiveness—of ‘going to church.’”
According to Dawn, the phrase “going to church” both reveals and promotes bad theology: it suggests that the church is a static place when in fact the church is the people of God. The regular gathering together of God’s people for worship is important—it enables them to be church in the world—but the act of worship is only a small part of observing the Sabbath.
This refreshing book invites the reader to experience the wholeness and joy that come from observing God’s order for life—a rhythm of working six days and setting apart one day for rest, worship, festivity, and relationships. Dawn develops a four-part pattern for keeping the Sabbath: (1)ceasing—not only from work but also from productivity, anxiety, worry, possessiveness, and so on; (2) resting— of the body as well as the mind, emotions, and spirit—a wholistic rest; (3) embracing—deliberately taking hold of Christian values, of our calling in life, of the wholeness God offers us; (4) feasting—celebrating God and his goodness in individual and corporate worship as well as feasting with beauty, music, food, affection, and social interaction.
Combining sound biblical theology and research into Jewish traditions with many practical suggestions, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly offers a healthy balance between head and heart: the book shows how theological insights can undergird daily life and practice, and it gives the reader both motivation and methods for enjoying a special holy day.
Dawn’s work— unpretentiously eloquent, refreshingly personal in tone, and rich with inspiring example—promotes the discipline of Sabbath-keeping not as a legalistic duty but as the way to freedom, delight, and joy. Christians and Jews, pastors and laypeople, individuals and small groups—all will benefit greatly from reading and discussing the book and putting its ideas into practice.
Table of Contents Chapter 9. Physical Rest
David A. deSilva
New Testament Themes (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001).
deSilva (PhD, Emory University) is professor of NT and Greek, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ohio. He is known for his expertise in the socio-cultural world of Jesus and the early church. He also has served as an interim preacher, organist, and director of choirs.
In this little paperback is addressed Grace, Discipleship, Community, and Apocalyptic, by which deSilva means the Favor of God, which leads to walking in the Way of God, corporately as the People of God, who are drawn into the Triumph of God. He provides an excellent, accessible overview (one of the best I've seen) of the major motifs of the NT.
“For those who are new to the social landscape and teaching of the NT, David deSilva proves to be a trustworthy and engaging guide. For those sometimes bewildered by NT emphases that seem disjointed or strange to our world, he makes plain the complex and mysterious. For anyone ready to be inducted into the thought world of the NT and to be nurtured by its message, New Testament Themes issues an invitation that will not disappoint” Joel B. Green, Fuller Theological Seminary, California.
"The New Testament offers every reader many words of advice, promise, and challenge, but all of them are to be understood in light of a big picture--a way of viewing the world that is distinctly different from any understanding that we would achieve on our own. David deSilva realizes that the early Christians were introduced to this new worldview before they were expected to grasp the finer points of Christian teaching. He shares the life-changing revelation with us in a masterful exposition of what lies at the heart of these biblical writings. Almost every verse in these twenty-seven books [that we call the New Testament] can be understood in light of four central themes that illuminate God's revelation through Jesus Christ." Mark Allan Powell, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Ohio.
Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart
How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), from which we derived our 4-part overview of the biblical drama.
Fee (PhD, University of Southern California), Professor Emeritus of New Testament (NT) Studies at Regent College, Vancouver, BC, is the author of numerous commentaries on Paul’s letters as well as works on biblical interpretation. Stuart (PhD, Harvard University) is professor of Old Testament (OT) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and senior pastor of First Church Congregational of Boxford, Massachusetts.
Reading the Bible need not be a haphazard journey through strange and bewildering territory. Like an experienced tour guide, How to Read the Bible Book by Book takes you by the hand and walks you through the Scriptures. For each book of the Bible, the authors start with a quick snapshot, then expand the view to help you better understand its key elements and how it fits into the grand narrative of the Bible. Written by two top evangelical scholars, this survey is designed to get you actually reading the Bible knowledgeably and understanding it accurately.
In an engaging, conversational style, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart take you through a given book of the Bible using their unique, progressive approach:
• Orienting Data—Concise info bytes that form a thumbnail of the book • Overview—A brief panorama that introduces key concepts and themes and important landmarks in the book • Specific Advice for Reading—Pointers for accurately understanding the details and message of the book in context with the circumstances surrounding its writing • A Walk Through—The actual section-by-section tour that helps you see both the larger landscape of the book and how its various parts work together to form the whole. Here you are taken by the hand and told, “Look at this!” More from the publisher.
Jim Henderson
Evangelism without Additives: What if sharing your faith meant just being yourself? (Colorado Springs: Water Brook, 2007), where we learned about “free attention giveaways.”
Jim Henderson has been a megachurch pastor and is the director of a ministry called Off the Map, which stimulates spiritual discussions among people from all corners of the faith universe. He has a knack for seeing things through other people’s eyes. He spends a large amount of his time investing in people and helping them to realize their potential.
Darrell Johnson
Darrell Johnson (MDiv, Fuller Seminary) is Associate Professor, Pastoral Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC. Prior to arriving at Regent, he served nearly 30 years in pastoral ministry, both in the US and abroad. He focuses his teaching at Regent on expository preaching, as well on biblical spirituality, worship and prayer. Darrell and his wife, Sharon, have four children, all adopted, from four different countries of the world.
Experiencing the Trinity (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2004).
For many people the doctrine of the Trinity is a hopeless puzzle, an outdated philosophical idea far removed from everyday life. What does it all mean? And how can some thing so mysterious possibly make a difference in our everyday lives?
In Experiencing the Trinity Darrell Johnson shows that this doctrine is not only at the heart of biblical Christianity, but that it is also at the center of Christian experience -- of following Jesus Christ in ordinary life and seeing God at work in our human relationships.
"At the center of the universe is a relationship," writes Johnson. "That is the most fundamental truth I know. It is out of that relationship that you and I were created and redeemed. And it is for that relationship that you and I were created and redeemed." A brief excerpt is posted here.
Fifty-Seven Words that Change the World: A Journey through the Lord's Prayer (Vancouver: Regent Publishing, 2005).
Nowhere is Jesus' brilliance more manifest than in the prayer he taught his disciples to pray, the prayer that has come to be known as the "Lord's Prayer." A mere fifty-seven words in the original Greek, the Lord's Prayer gathers up all of life and brings it before God. In eight stirring meditations, Darrell Johnson shows how the Lord's Prayer sums up the essence of Christian faith and, when prayed in faith, draws us into the Triune God's work of transforming the world.
Neil Livingstone
Picturing the Gospel: Tapping the Power of the Bible's Imagery (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2007).
Neil Livingstone (MA, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in metropolitan Washington, DC. He previously served as a campus staff member with InterVarsity.
In our image-based culture, people need to visualize something to understand it. This has never been more true about our communication of the gospel. But sometimes our understanding of the gospel gets stuck in a rut, and all we know is a particular outline or one-size-fits-all formula. While we hold to only one gospel, the New Testament uses a wealth of dynamic, compelling images for explaining the good news of Jesus, each of which connects with different people at different points of need.
Neil Livingstone provides a guided tour of biblical images of the gospel and shows how each offers fresh insight into God's saving work. Walking through Scripture's gallery of pictures of salvation from new life to deliverance, from justification to adoption, Livingstone invites us to deepen our understanding of the gospel. By letting the truth and power of each permeate our lives, we will be better able to articulate the life-changing gospel of Christ to a world that needs to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Reviews and Endorsements Foreword by Brian McLaren Chapter 1: Enter the Gallery More on the author and book as well as additional resources can be found on his website
Brennan Manning
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Publishers, 1990, 2000, 2005).
Brennan Manning is a Korean War veteran and former Franciscan priest who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. A native of Brooklyn , Manning earned degrees in philosophy from St. Francis College and in theology from St. Francis Seminary. His books include The Signature of Jesus and Abba’s Child. Still traveling widely, Manning continues to write and preach, encouraging men and women everywhere to accept and embrace the good news of God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ.
Brennan Manning wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel "for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out," the marginalized folks to whom Jesus ministered: the children, the ill, the tax collectors, the women. In other words, the ragamuffins. Manning understands better than most that behind our facades of order and self-assurance are inadequacies that can find healing only in Jesus. While the powerful and religious elite challenged him, Jesus embraced and healed and fed the needs of the ragamuffins. Jesus delivered love, healing, and, most of all, grace.
Grace is defined as "the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God." But, as Manning points out, we have "twisted the gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper." In reality, God offers us grace immeasurable. Brennan Manning gently encourages us to embrace that grace in the face of our greatest needs. And Manning certainly knows whereof he speaks, having taken a journey from priesthood and academic achievement through a collapse into alcoholism. Manning came face to face with his need, finally abandoning himself to grace. And he invites us now to join him in a life of grace.
Manning is without doubt one of the most eloquent writers on the subject of grace because he openly shares his own pain and struggle to help readers deal with failure and inadequacy. And he sweetly challenges them to do the same.
“Brennan Manning does a masterful job of blowing the dust off of shop-worn theology and allowing God’s grace to do what only God’s grace can do—amaze.” Max Lucado, bestselling author
“I found deep comfort in realizing that Jesus loves even me, a ragamuffin, just as I am.” Michael Card, musician and recording artist
“This is a zestful and accurate portrayal that tells us unmistakably that the gospel is good, dazzlingly good.” Eugene Peterson, author of The Message
Scot McKnight
Scot McKnight (PhD, University of Nottingham), a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. Scot currently teaches Religious Studies to undergraduates at North Park University in Chicago, and maintains an award-winning weblog. He is known for his gifted writing to both academic and popular audiences. Here are fuller biosketches from his blog and from wikipedia.
The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2004), which is behind much of what we’re learning together this year.
Amid a sea of books on Christian spiritual formation, McKnight, professor of religious studies at North Park University in Chicago, brings us a simple, highly readable one focused on the weightiest teaching of Jesus: love God and love others as yourself. The "Jesus Creed" of the title is a trimmed down version of the Shema of Judaism (Deut. 6:4–9), which declares we are to love God with all our being, amended to include caring for one's neighbor as oneself (Lev. 19:18). Packed with vivid and touching stories—from the Bible, history and the author's life—this book covers important aspects of what it means to love God and others. McKnight shows great respect for the Jewish heritage of Jesus and offers readers scholarly, yet highly accessible, illustrations of the sociocultural landscape of first-century Palestine. The book is slim on doctrine, making no comment on the thorny theological squabbles that divide many Christians. That's refreshing for the reader tired of the squabbling, but may leave others wondering what love does require in certain difficult situations. Still, this book is an excellent introduction to Christian spirituality. Its pages glow with compassion, generosity and the invitation to understand what was important to Jesus and what is crucial for Christianity. From Publishers Weekly. Christianity Today Book of the Year
Chapter 11, "John: The Story of Love," can be found here.
40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2008). Amazon
Here is the Jesus Creed:
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.
This was the moral creed of Jesus and the earliest Christians.
40 Days with the Jesus Creed
We do not make progress in learning to love God and love others because of a single sermon nor of a single insight. Instead, progress can only be made if we dedicate ourselves to an ongoing commitment to live the Jesus Creed daily. So, my prayer is that by spreading out these two themes over forty days, with a new theme each day, we will expose ourselves to the potent grace of God's love sufficiently to become more loving.
takes the essence of The Jesus Creed as the launching pad for the great moral statements of the New Testament. It provides us with a steady diet of reminders of what Jesus calls us to. We will explore, in short readings for 40 days, how the Jesus Creed undergirds the Sermon on the Mount, the Love Chapter of the apostle Paul, and the core moral teachings of James (brother of Jesus), Peter and the apostle John. What I believe is that it is not enough to read a book once and then think we've got it. We need ongoing reminders, daily feedings as it were, of what is most important.
The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2007).
In this slim, engaging volume, McKnight (Protestant author of The Jesus Creed) makes the case that the real Mary of the Bible has been hijacked by theological controversies. He begins by noting that Mary has been seen by turns as a compliant "resting womb," a damaging stereotype of passivity, a Christmas figure and a source of "reaction formation" by Protestants, as well as the mother of Jesus. "The real Mary is no offense to Protestants, but rather a woman for us to honor," he insists, envisioning her as an impoverished, bold, gutsy woman of faith. He also portrays her as neither goddess nor supersaint, but as the mother of God. McKnight lends interesting cultural context to Mary's simple and courageous words, "let it be," and unpacks the Magnificat as a song of protest and revolution. He poignantly portrays Mary's gradual knowledge that her son would not be the triumphant king envisioned as Messiah, and makes a somewhat controversial case for Mary having other children. His sections on the immaculate conception and Mary as mediatrix in prayer should help debunk some Protestants' false impressions of Catholic belief. McKnight's lucid, sometimes humorous, conversational style makes this an accessible book for a wide pool of evangelical readers. From Publishers Weekly.
John Ortberg
Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), from which we derived our “As Is” illustration.
John Ortberg (PhD, Fuller Seminary) is a pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He is passionate about "spiritual formation," which is how people become more like Jesus. His teaching brings Scripture alive and invariably includes practical applications and warm humor. The former senior pastor of Horizons Community Church in Southern California, John also served as Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area.
Normal? Who’s Normal? Not you, that’s for sure! No one you’ve ever met, either. None of us are normal according to God’s definition, and the closer we get to each other, the plainer that becomes. Yet for all our quirks, sins, and jagged edges, we need each other. Community is more than just a word—it is one of our most fundamental requirements. So how do flawed, abnormal people such as ourselves master the forces that can drive us apart and come together in the life-changing relationships God designed us for?
In Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them, teacher and best-selling author John Ortberg zooms in on the things that make community tick. You’ll get a thought-provoking look at God’s heart, at others, and at yourself. Even better, you’ll gain wisdom and tools for drawing closer to others in powerful, impactful ways. With humor, insight, and a gift for storytelling, Ortberg shows how community pays tremendous dividends in happiness, health, support, and growth. It’s where all of us weird, unwieldy people encounter God’s love in tangible ways and discover the transforming power of being loved, accepted, and valued just the way we are.
The need for community is woven into the very fabric of our being. Nothing else can substitute for the life-giving benefits of connecting with others—not even God. He won’t preempt the way he himself has designed us to reflect his own intensely relational nature. But there’s a hitch in our experience of community, says John Ortberg: We’re all weird. Folks around us may seem normal enough, but just wait till we get to know them—and they get to know us. The unhealthy, sinful ways we respond to life in a fallen world are hardly God’s idea of “normal,” and they can make us as unhuggable as porcupines. We face the “porcupine dilemma,” says Ortberg: We need each other, but how do we get close without getting hurt? How do we get past all those quills and grow together in Christ?
Who doesn’t want like to be liked, to be wanted, to have solid, satisfying friendships! Ortberg shows what such relationships are made of. He reveals the benefits of authenticity—what it means to live with an “unveiled face,” as the Bible puts it. He encourages us to trade the stones it’s so easy to cast at others for acceptance. He opens our eyes and heart to empathy, the art of reading people. And he takes us through the ins and outs of conflict, forgiveness, confrontation, inclusion, and gratitude. More info here.
Eugene Peterson
Leap over a Wall: Earthly Spirituality for Everyday Christians (San Francisco: HarperSanFranciso, 1997). Amazon
Eugene H. Peterson is pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He is best known for his accessible translation of the Bible called The Message. He is professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Wikipedia has a biosketch.
Of all the characters in the Bible, it is David who is most human. His life is lived on the "rough-edged actuality" of real life, and his relationship with God is an energetic one. Through the passions, the trials, and the lyrical poetry of this beloved figure, we gain powerful insights into the role of God in our own lives.
In this inspirational volume, Professor Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, uses stories from David's epic life as vivid lessons in everyday faith and spirituality. Exploring David's experiences of friendship, grief, love, sin, and suffering, as well as sanctuary, beauty, and wilderness, he reawakens us to the enduring truths behind these beloved stories.
From Publishers Weekly
Toward the end of this book, Peterson, author of the immensely popular translation of the New Testament, The Message, observes that "the Christian life isn't a romantic idyll." Rather, he says, the Christian life is fraught with pain, spattered with grief and paradox and, in the end, lit by hope. Out of a deep awareness of these truths, Peterson engages in an examination of the life of David to illuminate the ways in which the divine is often hidden in the ordinary. Exploring a number of scriptural passages about the life of David, Peterson shows the ways in which David's life, though fraught with struggles and shortcomings, was one filled with exuberance and animated by God's deliberate power. The author brings the Old Testament world revealingly close to our own century, and he makes vivid the notion that God's purposes are worked out in the ordinariness of specific human lives.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Peterson's mother told him many stories when he was a child, filling them with vital detail and color. Later he learned that she had, although never violating their spirit, embroidered some of the Bible stories. He does as much to the stories of David that he retells, but he points out his variations from what the Bible says and states his reasons for them. Mostly, those reasons seem intended to show that he knows biblical research well and isn't just a talented storyteller strutting his stuff. Both his knowledge and his literary skill are impressive, but not as impressive as his ability to make the character of David and the 20 episodes of David's life that he rehearses and interprets illustrate what it is to live consciously in the presence of God, although, like David, one is no miracle worker but all too commonly human. This is an ideal popular companion for study of the man from whom Matthew and Luke labored to show Jesus was descended.
R. Paul Stevens
Doing God’s Business: Meaning and Motivation for the Marketplace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006).
R. Paul Stevens is Professor Emeritus, Marketplace Theology, Regent College, Vancouver BC and Marketplace Ministry Mentor. He has worked as a carpenter and small businessman, and served as the pastor of an inner city church in Montreal. He has written many books and Bible studies, including Liberating the Laity, Marriage Spirituality, The Other Six Days and Satisfying Work.
Christians have likely been struggling with the place of business in the life of faith ever since Paul’s days as a tentmaker. Just how do the spheres of private devotion and public business intersect in a meaningful way?
Paul Stevens has been exploring this question since his earliest working days in his father’s steel business. His Doing God’s Business tells how readers can find lasting and satisfying meaning for marketplace involvement in the light of the Christian faith and tradition. Stevens explores the potential of business as a location for practicing everyday spiritual disciplines and as a source of creativity and deeper relationship with God. More info here.
Richard Swenson
Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, revised and updates (Colorado Springs: Navpress Publishing Group, 2004).
Richard Swenson, MD, is a physician-futurist, best-selling author, and award-winning educator.
Are you worn out? This book offers healthy living in four areas we all struggle with-emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances--and will prepare you to live a balanced life. More on the author and the book.
Jerry L. Walls and Joseph Dongell
Why I Am Not a Calvinist (InterVarsity Press, 2004). Amazon.
Both authors are professors at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. More on Professor Walls (PhD, Notre Dame) and on Professor Dongell (Union Theological Seminary, Virginia).
What's wrong with Calvinism? Since the Reformation, Calvinism has dominated much of evangelical thought. It has been so well established that many Christians simply assume it to be the truest expression of Christian doctrine. But Calvinism has some serious biblical and theological weaknesses that unsettle laypeople, pastors and scholars alike. God is sovereign. All evangelical Christians--whether Arminians or Calvinists--have no doubt about this fundamental truth. But how does God express his sovereignty? Is God a master puppeteer, pulling our strings? Or has he graciously given his children freedom to respond to his love?In this eminently readable book, Jerry L. Walls and Joseph R. Dongell explore the flaws of Calvinist theology. Why I Am Not a Calvinist is a must-read for all who struggle with the limitations of this dominant perspective within evangelical theology.
Introduction Reviews & Endorsements Excerpt: Liberating the Prisoner-of-war
David Wilkinson
The Message of Creation: Encountering the Lord of the Universe, The Bible Speaks Today Series (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002).
David Wilkinson tells us about himself:
Before working in Durham as a theologian, I was a scientist and then a Methodist minister in inner city Liverpool. My background is research in theoretical astrophysics, where my PhD was in the study of star formation, the chemical evolution of galaxies and terrestrial mass extinctions such as the event which wiped out the dinosaurs. I am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and have published a wide range of papers on these subjects.
After this research I trained for the Methodist ministry, studying theology at Cambridge. I then served in a variety of appointments, including a growing church in Liverpool and as Methodist chaplain at Liverpool University.
I arrived in Durham in 1999 and held a Fellowship in Christian Apologetics at St John's College, and was also Associate Director of the Centre for Christian Communication. I am currently Wesley Research Lecturer in Theology and Science in the Department of Theology and Religion and Principal of St Johns College. Read more >>
On the book:
Human beings have always faced the question of why anything exists at all. The Bible answers, declaring that God is the creator of all that is--and the re-creator of all that has been bent or broken. Not only is the theme of creation found in the first chapters of Genesis, it runs throughout the Bible. Creation is a master theme of Scripture, a sightline that brings much of biblical revelation into perspective. David Wilkinson traces the theme of creation through the rich tapestry of Scripture, taking soundings of key texts. With the mind of a theologian (whose focus is the Bible) and an eminent astrophysicist (whose subject is the visible universe), he listens to the message of creation and brings it into lively conversation with contemporary concerns. From the story of beginnings to the fulfillment of creation, we explore the hymns, the lessons and the splendor of the Lord of creation. Table of Contents
Rod J. K. Wilson
How Do I Help a Hurting Friend? (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006). Amazon.
Rod Wilson is president of Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and coauthor of Exploring Your Anger and Helping Angry People. Along with his professional counseling work, he's spent his career in academia in both teaching and administrative posts.
Helping begins with understanding. Each of us knows someone who is hurting. We want to help but often don't know how. So we try to solve his or her problem by evaluating the situation and giving advice. But what hurting people need first and foremost is to be understood.
Rod Wilson offers you practical insights into helping hurting people. These insights are born out of more than twenty-five years of church and counseling experience. In this accessible book, he provides:
- an easy-to-understand description of common sources of hurting
- biblical ways of thinking about them
- descriptions of how it feels to experience the problems
- practical suggestions for coming alongside to help
Whether you're a church leader or a caring friend, this book will give you needed tools to minister more effectively to those around you who are hurting.
Excerpt: Chapter 7, "Wounded Healer"
Tom Wright
Tom Wright (DD, Oxford) is currently Bishop of Durham with the Church of England, serving as a shepherd to the pastors (vicars) in that region. He has taught at Oxford, Cambridge, McGill, and Harvard, is one of today’s leading New Testament scholars, and writes prolifically at both a popular and academic level.
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008).
For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven.
Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise.
Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection—the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it.
Scot McKnight's commendation is here, from Our of Ur, Christianity Today.
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006).
Why do we expect justice? Why do we crave spirituality? Why are we attracted to beauty? Why are relationships often so painful? And how will the world be made right? These are not simply perennial questions all generations must struggle with, but, according to N. T. Wright, are the very echoes of a voice we dimly perceive but deeply long to hear. In fact, these questions take us to the heart of who God is and what He wants from us.
For two thousand years, Christianity has claimed to solve these mysteries, and this renowned biblical scholar and Anglican bishop shows that it still can today. Not since C. S. Lewis's classic summary of the faith, Mere Christianity, has such a wise and thorough scholar taken the time to explain to anyone who wants to know what Christianity really is and how it is practiced. Wright makes the case for Christian faith from the ground up, assuming that the reader has no knowledge of (and perhaps even some aversion to) religion in general and Christianity in particular.
Simply Christian walks the reader through the Christian faith step by step and question by question. With simple yet exciting and accessible prose, Wright challenges skeptics by offering explanations for even the toughest doubt-filled dilemmas, leaving believers with a reason for renewed faith. For anyone who wants to travel beyond the controversies that can obscure what the Christian faith really stands for, this simple book is the perfect vehicle for that journey.
Today a renewed and vigorous scholarly quest for the historical Jesus is underway. In the midst of well publicized and controversial books on Jesus, N. T. Wright's lectures and writings have been widely recognized for providing a fresh, provocative and historically credible portrait.
Out of his own commitment to both historical scholarship and Christian ministry, Wright challenges us to roll up our sleeves and take seriously the study of the historical Jesus. He writes, "Many Christians have been, frankly, sloppy in their thinking and talking about Jesus, and hence, sadly, in their praying and in their practice of discipleship. We cannot assume that by saying the word Jesus, still less the word Christ, we are automatically in touch with the real Jesus who walked and talked in first-century Palestine. . . . Only by hard, historical work can we move toward a fuller comprehension of what the Gospels themselves were trying to say."
The Challenge of Jesus poses a double-edged challenge: to grow in our understanding of the historical Jesus within the Palestinian world of the first century, and to follow Jesus more faithfully into the postmodern world of the twenty-first century.
Interview with the author.
Luke for Everyone (London/Louisville: SPCK, Westminster John Knox, 2001/2004).
Tom Wright has undertaken a tremendous task: to provide guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to include in them his own translation of the entire text. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable discussion, with background information, useful explanations and suggestions, and thoughts as to how the text can be relevant to our lives today. A glossary is included at the back of the book. The series is suitable for group study, personal study, or daily devotions.
Tom guide to Luke, which includes a wealth of information and background detail, provides real insights for our understanding of the story of Jesus and its implications for the reader. His clear style is accessible to new readers of the Bible, as well as to those who are further on. His exciting new translation brings to life, passage by passage, the immediacy and drama of Luke's gospel.
"A rare event: a commentary that is learned without being stuffy, accessible without being reductionist. Tom Wright joins us in our homes and workplaces, our sanctuaries and classrooms, in genial, prayerful conversation over this text that forms our lives, the New Testament scriptures." Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, and author of The Message.
Suggested Readings on the Bible's Coherent Story
For a variety of books on this important topic, link here.