Matthew
Winner of the 2019 Christianity Today's book award, Rebecca McLaughlin's “Confronting Christianity” is an excellent apologetic for Christianity. The questions McLaughlin tackles are by no means easy or simple, but she approaches them with frankness, depth, and nuance.
I especially appreciated her treatment of human suffering. After briefly comparing atheist, Buddhist, and Christian frameworks to suffering, McLaughlin dives into Christianity's multifaceted approach to this topic using the story of Lazarus as a lens (when Jesus doesn't come). By the end of the chapter, she's calling on Christians to take on Jesus' call to enter into the suffering of others, the way He did for us.
Not all the chapters were equally interesting. Some of the questions like “How can you take the Bible literally?” and “Doesn't religion hinder morality?” were not serious questions for me (but, they might be for you). Even on most of these, however, I learned something new and found my appreciation for Christianity deepened. For example, in “Doesn't the Bible condone slavery?”, McLaughlin (while acknowledging Christian failures through history in this regard) shows how the Church has actually done much to undo slavery, and how when blacks in America found freedom, they found Christianity not as a symbol of their oppression but as a reason for their hope. Moreover, she shows how condoning slavery is not simply one of many legitimate interpretations of Scripture, but rather a blatant twisting of Scripture.
The hardest questions for me were those concerning gender relations (“oppression of women” and “homophobia”) and the question on hell. While these chapters did leave me wanting a bit more, I greatly appreciate what McLaughlin has added to the conversation. These chapters certainly left me with a bite to chew on as she roots marriage in the Gospel and ties God's judgment into God's love.
This is another book that I would heartily recommend to all. More than just an apologetic, this book has deepened my faith as McLaughlin roots her answers in the goodness of God and the Gospel itself.
It also would make great discussion, so if you decide to give it a read, feel free to engage with me on it.
Winner of the 2019 Christianity Today's book award, Rebecca McLaughlin's “Confronting Christianity” is an excellent apologetic for Christianity. The questions McLaughlin tackles are by no means easy or simple, but she approaches them with frankness, depth, and nuance.
I especially appreciated her treatment of human suffering. After briefly comparing atheist, Buddhist, and Christian frameworks to suffering, McLaughlin dives into Christianity's multifaceted approach to this topic using the story of Lazarus as a lens (when Jesus doesn't come). By the end of the chapter, she's calling on Christians to take on Jesus' call to enter into the suffering of others, the way He did for us.
Not all the chapters were equally interesting. Some of the questions like “How can you take the Bible literally?” and “Doesn't religion hinder morality?” were not serious questions for me (but, they might be for you). Even on most of these, however, I learned something new and found my appreciation for Christianity deepened. For example, in “Doesn't the Bible condone slavery?”, McLaughlin (while acknowledging Christian failures through history in this regard) shows how the Church has actually done much to undo slavery, and how when blacks in America found freedom, they found Christianity not as a symbol of their oppression but as a reason for their hope. Moreover, she shows how condoning slavery is not simply one of many legitimate interpretations of Scripture, but rather a blatant twisting of Scripture.
The hardest questions for me were those concerning gender relations (“oppression of women” and “homophobia”) and the question on hell. While these chapters did leave me wanting a bit more, I greatly appreciate what McLaughlin has added to the conversation. These chapters certainly left me with a bite to chew on as she roots marriage in the Gospel and ties God's judgment into God's love.
This is another book that I would heartily recommend to all. More than just an apologetic, this book has deepened my faith as McLaughlin roots her answers in the goodness of God and the Gospel itself.
It also would make great discussion, so if you decide to give it a read, feel free to engage with me on it.
What makes something morally right or morally wrong? And how can we know whether something is right or wrong? Wilkens takes on a journey through 11 different paradigms for answering these questions from cultural relativism (morality is defined by culture) to divine command theory (“God said so, that's why”) to utilitarianism (maximizing happiness and minimizing suffering for the most people) to ethical egoism (acting in my own best interests is always the ethical thing to do) among others. Note, this is about ethical theory as opposed to applied ethics...that is, rather than looking at specific questions of right and wrong (e.g. abortion, etc.) this book looks at the underlying framework that we use to approach such questions.
I love this book for two reasons: One, it challenges us to see beyond our own cultural framework. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking our own worldview is the only worldview (or, just as bad, that there's only two worldviews: ours and “their's”). By exposing the reader to eleven different conceptions of morality, Wilkens helps us to challenge the moral basis we take for granted and develop a more robust framework for ourselves.
Two, Wilkens writes from a Christian point of view, showing both the advantages and disadvantages of each ethical framework in light of Christianity. It turns out there's something we can learn from each of these paradigms. For example, “Cultural Relativism” reminds us of the danger of taking our own culture norms for granted. Conversely, each of these paradigms runs into difficulties that one must deal with.
Wilkens' concluding chapter is especially helpful in making sense of all this data. There he cautions us against apathy or cynicism, instead exhorting us to use this survey as a launching point for assessing and developing our own moral framework (he even offers an example of how a hypothetical student might go about this).
Overall, I found this an excellent, accessible introduction to the philosophical underpinnings of ethics. It's a relatively easy read, so I would highly recommend this to anyone who has not delved into the field of ethical theory before. And, yes, you should explore the field of ethics because it's an integral part of everyone's life.
What makes something morally right or morally wrong? And how can we know whether something is right or wrong? Wilkens takes on a journey through 11 different paradigms for answering these questions from cultural relativism (morality is defined by culture) to divine command theory (“God said so, that's why”) to utilitarianism (maximizing happiness and minimizing suffering for the most people) to ethical egoism (acting in my own best interests is always the ethical thing to do) among others. Note, this is about ethical theory as opposed to applied ethics...that is, rather than looking at specific questions of right and wrong (e.g. abortion, etc.) this book looks at the underlying framework that we use to approach such questions.
I love this book for two reasons: One, it challenges us to see beyond our own cultural framework. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking our own worldview is the only worldview (or, just as bad, that there's only two worldviews: ours and “their's”). By exposing the reader to eleven different conceptions of morality, Wilkens helps us to challenge the moral basis we take for granted and develop a more robust framework for ourselves.
Two, Wilkens writes from a Christian point of view, showing both the advantages and disadvantages of each ethical framework in light of Christianity. It turns out there's something we can learn from each of these paradigms. For example, “Cultural Relativism” reminds us of the danger of taking our own culture norms for granted. Conversely, each of these paradigms runs into difficulties that one must deal with.
Wilkens' concluding chapter is especially helpful in making sense of all this data. There he cautions us against apathy or cynicism, instead exhorting us to use this survey as a launching point for assessing and developing our own moral framework (he even offers an example of how a hypothetical student might go about this).
Overall, I found this an excellent, accessible introduction to the philosophical underpinnings of ethics. It's a relatively easy read, so I would highly recommend this to anyone who has not delved into the field of ethical theory before. And, yes, you should explore the field of ethics because it's an integral part of everyone's life.
What is God's will for my life? To reflect the image of God. Jen Wilken proposes that when we ask this question of God's will we usually begin in the wrong place, asking what we should do. Rather we should start with who should we be. At least, that is what the Bible seems to be more concerned about. And the answer is simple. We should be imitators of Christ, imitating God in His character.
Jen Wilken walks us through ten communicable attributes of God (holiness, loving, good, just, merciful, gracious, faithful, truthful, patient, wise) defining what they are, how we see these attributes in God, and how we can imitate them. I appreciate many of her keen insights into these attributes such as understanding impatience as having wrong expectations or pointing out that often when we ask for wisdom, we're actually asking God for knowledge. And I agree with her overall framework of seeking to imitate God out of gratitude for all He has done for us. We are His image-bearers.
Wilken's style is much like a devotional. I listened to this in audiobook this time around, but I will consider picking it up again for reading so that I can better follow the verses for meditation, questions for reflection, and prayer at the end of each chapter. I've also added her previous book “None like Him” (about God's incommunicable attributes) to my reading list.
I'd recommend this book for anyone desiring to draw nearer to God. Like I said, it's makes a good devotional reading in what I think is the best sense as it focuses not on self-help or a feel good message, but on knowing the living God.
What is God's will for my life? To reflect the image of God. Jen Wilken proposes that when we ask this question of God's will we usually begin in the wrong place, asking what we should do. Rather we should start with who should we be. At least, that is what the Bible seems to be more concerned about. And the answer is simple. We should be imitators of Christ, imitating God in His character.
Jen Wilken walks us through ten communicable attributes of God (holiness, loving, good, just, merciful, gracious, faithful, truthful, patient, wise) defining what they are, how we see these attributes in God, and how we can imitate them. I appreciate many of her keen insights into these attributes such as understanding impatience as having wrong expectations or pointing out that often when we ask for wisdom, we're actually asking God for knowledge. And I agree with her overall framework of seeking to imitate God out of gratitude for all He has done for us. We are His image-bearers.
Wilken's style is much like a devotional. I listened to this in audiobook this time around, but I will consider picking it up again for reading so that I can better follow the verses for meditation, questions for reflection, and prayer at the end of each chapter. I've also added her previous book “None like Him” (about God's incommunicable attributes) to my reading list.
I'd recommend this book for anyone desiring to draw nearer to God. Like I said, it's makes a good devotional reading in what I think is the best sense as it focuses not on self-help or a feel good message, but on knowing the living God.
This books has been on my reading list for a long time because of the author. Not only have I been a fan of Scot McKnight's books, but I found him to be a uniquely apt author to write on this topic as McKnight was raised Anabaptist only later finding his way into the Anglican church.
While I initially dove into this book for McKnight's perspective on infant baptism, I quickly found that this was really a secondary issue (to be sure, it does get a full two chapters dedicated to it) to McKnight's main point: baptism is a community affair. McKnight emphasizes the ideas that we are baptized into a Covenant community (not merely an individualistic statement) and that this is a work of God in us (not a work of ourselves). He frames his argument by taking the reader through the Anglican liturgy on Baptism, because in Anglicanism belief is expressed through worship (it even has a Latin phrase: lex orandi, lex credendi).
Regardless of whether I am convinced of infant Baptism (McKnight does make a decent argument that I'll have to chew on in addition to other arguments I've read since then), “It take a church to Baptize” has helped me gain a deeper appreciation of Baptism and its meaning.
Recommended for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of Baptism or learning a little bit about the Anglican faith.
This books has been on my reading list for a long time because of the author. Not only have I been a fan of Scot McKnight's books, but I found him to be a uniquely apt author to write on this topic as McKnight was raised Anabaptist only later finding his way into the Anglican church.
While I initially dove into this book for McKnight's perspective on infant baptism, I quickly found that this was really a secondary issue (to be sure, it does get a full two chapters dedicated to it) to McKnight's main point: baptism is a community affair. McKnight emphasizes the ideas that we are baptized into a Covenant community (not merely an individualistic statement) and that this is a work of God in us (not a work of ourselves). He frames his argument by taking the reader through the Anglican liturgy on Baptism, because in Anglicanism belief is expressed through worship (it even has a Latin phrase: lex orandi, lex credendi).
Regardless of whether I am convinced of infant Baptism (McKnight does make a decent argument that I'll have to chew on in addition to other arguments I've read since then), “It take a church to Baptize” has helped me gain a deeper appreciation of Baptism and its meaning.
Recommended for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of Baptism or learning a little bit about the Anglican faith.
Finding the Right Hills to Die on
“Is that a salvational issue?”, “Can't we all just get along?” These are questions I'm all to familiar with and used to use myself in the cause of unity. Because, on the other hand, I had seen people dividing over the silliest things. But over the last few years I've finding this framework somewhat inadequate. That's where Gavin Ortlund's “Finding the Right Hills to Die on” comes in.
Ortlund confirmed my suspicions that my previous framework was inadequate. He proposes a four-stage model instead: 1) matters of orthodoxy 2) matters of local church unity 3) important matters that shouldn't be divided over 4) unimportant matters. He devotes a chapter each to the first three of these covering: guidelines for determining whether an issue fits into the category, a few examples of issues he would place in the category, and advice on how to handle these types of issues with love, courage, wisdom, and humility.
Overall the book is definitely a product of Ortlund's personal experience. In fact, he spends most of the third chapter telling his own story in regard to theology and division. I also noticed his personal perspective come out in the issues he chose as examples and the way he approaches them (especially in the chapter on tertiary issues where a lot of his arguments for unity are aimed at those on the opposite side of his personal stance).
That being said, he approaches the entire topic with enough nuance and humility that the more subjective nature of his work adds to rather than detracts from the book. In fact, it is this nuance and humility that I am especially grateful for. He reminds readers that context matters–what might be considered a second-rank doctrine for someone in leadership or for regularly attending a church might be third rank for attending a retreat. He challenges readers to think about not just the issue itself, but how it is approached. And in all things he calls for humility.
The book does not so much give answers as it does direction for the questions. His framework is not a simple decision-tree, but rather a set of questions to think about as we approach theological triage (how related is this to the Gospel, how clear is it in the Bible, how has the church handled it in the past, what are the practical implications, etc.). Gavin's framework is definitely one that I will try to integrate into my own thought process as I continue my journey in theology, using the analogy of triage to decide which hills are really worth dying on in my context for the sake of the Gospel.
Recommended for anyone who engages in theology and Christians in general.
“Is that a salvational issue?”, “Can't we all just get along?” These are questions I'm all to familiar with and used to use myself in the cause of unity. Because, on the other hand, I had seen people dividing over the silliest things. But over the last few years I've finding this framework somewhat inadequate. That's where Gavin Ortlund's “Finding the Right Hills to Die on” comes in.
Ortlund confirmed my suspicions that my previous framework was inadequate. He proposes a four-stage model instead: 1) matters of orthodoxy 2) matters of local church unity 3) important matters that shouldn't be divided over 4) unimportant matters. He devotes a chapter each to the first three of these covering: guidelines for determining whether an issue fits into the category, a few examples of issues he would place in the category, and advice on how to handle these types of issues with love, courage, wisdom, and humility.
Overall the book is definitely a product of Ortlund's personal experience. In fact, he spends most of the third chapter telling his own story in regard to theology and division. I also noticed his personal perspective come out in the issues he chose as examples and the way he approaches them (especially in the chapter on tertiary issues where a lot of his arguments for unity are aimed at those on the opposite side of his personal stance).
That being said, he approaches the entire topic with enough nuance and humility that the more subjective nature of his work adds to rather than detracts from the book. In fact, it is this nuance and humility that I am especially grateful for. He reminds readers that context matters–what might be considered a second-rank doctrine for someone in leadership or for regularly attending a church might be third rank for attending a retreat. He challenges readers to think about not just the issue itself, but how it is approached. And in all things he calls for humility.
The book does not so much give answers as it does direction for the questions. His framework is not a simple decision-tree, but rather a set of questions to think about as we approach theological triage (how related is this to the Gospel, how clear is it in the Bible, how has the church handled it in the past, what are the practical implications, etc.). Gavin's framework is definitely one that I will try to integrate into my own thought process as I continue my journey in theology, using the analogy of triage to decide which hills are really worth dying on in my context for the sake of the Gospel.
Recommended for anyone who engages in theology and Christians in general.
This book served as a decent introduction to the debate on what Communion is and some of the practical implications of each view. Though I find myself aligned closest to the Reformed view, the Baptist and Catholic chapters were my favorites (the other two seemed to ramble). Beyond the debate on presence, both of these chapters really dove into the background and meaning of Communion in ways that I think are meaningful no matter what view you hold (such as the connections with Passover and other covenant signs, and the emphasis on the communal nature of the Lord's Table).
Whether this book is the best introduction to this topic is debatable (right now I have nothing else to compare it to), but it's definitely a topic with exploring for anyone who calls himself Christian.
This book served as a decent introduction to the debate on what Communion is and some of the practical implications of each view. Though I find myself aligned closest to the Reformed view, the Baptist and Catholic chapters were my favorites (the other two seemed to ramble). Beyond the debate on presence, both of these chapters really dove into the background and meaning of Communion in ways that I think are meaningful no matter what view you hold (such as the connections with Passover and other covenant signs, and the emphasis on the communal nature of the Lord's Table).
Whether this book is the best introduction to this topic is debatable (right now I have nothing else to compare it to), but it's definitely a topic with exploring for anyone who calls himself Christian.
As someone new to the science of learning, I found this to be a great resource in dispelling many education myths (such as learning styles or rereading material) and offering practical advice (memory retrieval exercises, spaced and interleaved practice, etc.) for learners and instructors alike. The authors do well at backing up their conclusions with scientific studies. I noticed the authors even utilized the interleaving concept in their book as chapters repeatedly circled around to previous ideas.
Some of the stories ramble on a bit, but this was the only real negative I noticed.
I'll be leaning on the concepts in this book as I try to find my place in the field of education. Recommended for students and teachers.
As someone new to the science of learning, I found this to be a great resource in dispelling many education myths (such as learning styles or rereading material) and offering practical advice (memory retrieval exercises, spaced and interleaved practice, etc.) for learners and instructors alike. The authors do well at backing up their conclusions with scientific studies. I noticed the authors even utilized the interleaving concept in their book as chapters repeatedly circled around to previous ideas.
Some of the stories ramble on a bit, but this was the only real negative I noticed.
I'll be leaning on the concepts in this book as I try to find my place in the field of education. Recommended for students and teachers.
A valuable read for Beale's comparisons of the Temple to the garden of Eden and other ancient near eastern temples (showing how the Temple is a microcosm of the universe), his case for an ever-expanding Temple, and his analysis of many of the OT texts concerning the Temple. There are some good points in Beale's NT analysis as well, though overall this section seemed to presume too much. For a good argument of Jesus as the Temple rooted in 1st Jewish context, I would recommend Perrin's “Jesus, the Temple”.
I would recommend this to anyone seriously interested in scholarly study (the book is rather long and a bit dense) of Temple theology, especially as Beale is an oft cited authority on the subject.
A valuable read for Beale's comparisons of the Temple to the garden of Eden and other ancient near eastern temples (showing how the Temple is a microcosm of the universe), his case for an ever-expanding Temple, and his analysis of many of the OT texts concerning the Temple. There are some good points in Beale's NT analysis as well, though overall this section seemed to presume too much. For a good argument of Jesus as the Temple rooted in 1st Jewish context, I would recommend Perrin's “Jesus, the Temple”.
I would recommend this to anyone seriously interested in scholarly study (the book is rather long and a bit dense) of Temple theology, especially as Beale is an oft cited authority on the subject.
I found this to be an excellent, thorough, and well-balanced account of the history of philosophy. Evans works hard to put you into the shoes of each philosopher that he covers so that you can understand them on their own terms. At times he'll offer a little bit of his own commentary (from a Christian point of view), but he does it in a way that I found helpful rather than distracting. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to dig into the history of philosophy.
My only disappointment was that his covering of 20th-century philosophy (found in the conclusion chapter) was rather abbreviated (as Evans notes, this century is much too recent to cover with any kind of objectivity and could fill a book of its own). Though brief, his reflections on the history of western philosophy as a whole and on the direction of philosophy today were helpful and encouraging.
Now to go back and actually reflect on all of this...
I found this to be an excellent, thorough, and well-balanced account of the history of philosophy. Evans works hard to put you into the shoes of each philosopher that he covers so that you can understand them on their own terms. At times he'll offer a little bit of his own commentary (from a Christian point of view), but he does it in a way that I found helpful rather than distracting. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to dig into the history of philosophy.
My only disappointment was that his covering of 20th-century philosophy (found in the conclusion chapter) was rather abbreviated (as Evans notes, this century is much too recent to cover with any kind of objectivity and could fill a book of its own). Though brief, his reflections on the history of western philosophy as a whole and on the direction of philosophy today were helpful and encouraging.
Now to go back and actually reflect on all of this...
As my first graphic novel, I thought this one was excellent. It tells the story of the boxer rebellion (a bit of eastern history I was not familiar with before reading this) through the eyes of two characters on opposite sides of the fighting. Both sides were told well, fully immersing you in each of their points of view.
As my first graphic novel, I thought this one was excellent. It tells the story of the boxer rebellion (a bit of eastern history I was not familiar with before reading this) through the eyes of two characters on opposite sides of the fighting. Both sides were told well, fully immersing you in each of their points of view.
I picked this one up because I saw it on a list of top sci-fi books (I forget now where I saw the list). Plotwise, the story centers around a flu-like disease that takes out most of the population (not sure if I bought into the speed and totality of the collapse, but that's a minor squabble compared to where the book excels). There are definitely a few moments of suspense, but overall I would consider this a character driven novel–and here the book really excels.
The book follows a number of characters, lives interrelated, both before and after the apocalypse. Throughout the book you see slowly unfold how their various stories are connected. More than that, you see expertly woven into the story themes of what life is meant to be, how we relate to the past and future, and how we react to disaster and tragedy. All of this is pulled off very naturally such that the themes really don't start to hit you until you've taken some time to reflect on the story afterward (the edition I read had some questions in the back that helped spark some of this reflection).
I would put this on my highly recommended list (for just about anyone). I think the combination of deep characters with compelling storylines, all interwoven expertly, should make this book appealing to a wide audience.
I picked this one up because I saw it on a list of top sci-fi books (I forget now where I saw the list). Plotwise, the story centers around a flu-like disease that takes out most of the population (not sure if I bought into the speed and totality of the collapse, but that's a minor squabble compared to where the book excels). There are definitely a few moments of suspense, but overall I would consider this a character driven novel–and here the book really excels.
The book follows a number of characters, lives interrelated, both before and after the apocalypse. Throughout the book you see slowly unfold how their various stories are connected. More than that, you see expertly woven into the story themes of what life is meant to be, how we relate to the past and future, and how we react to disaster and tragedy. All of this is pulled off very naturally such that the themes really don't start to hit you until you've taken some time to reflect on the story afterward (the edition I read had some questions in the back that helped spark some of this reflection).
I would put this on my highly recommended list (for just about anyone). I think the combination of deep characters with compelling storylines, all interwoven expertly, should make this book appealing to a wide audience.
