It has finally happened - we've increased the amount of reviews viewable on the splash page because we produced too many to post. And that's with me (Mark Tubbs) sitting out this week!
Even in midst of Together for the Gospel, sick children, and rain in the dining room, Tim Challies managed to produce four reviews. Here they are, in no particular order.
Rapture Ready: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture by Daniel Radosh is a book written by a secular liberal outsider who immerses himself in the weirdness of North American evangelical pop culture.
Gum, Geckos and God: A Family's Adventure in Space, Time and Faith, by philosophy professor James Spiegel, narrates Spiegel's attempts to explain cosmic ideas simply but not simplistically. Personally, I would read the book on the strength of this quote alone, supplied by Tim in the review: "If you can probe the sticky topics of faith and life's meaning with a kid while he probes the sticky recesses of his nasal cavity, then you can discuss theology with anyone.:
I Don't Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges is pure drivel, says Tim, and should be avoided along with its sister, American Fascists, another Hedges effort panned by Tim last month.
Out of the Black Shadows by Stephen Lungu is the autobiography of a typical Zimbabwean boy who joined a gang of streets thugs early in his young life and was forever changed when he heard the gospel message at an evangelistic tent meeting which he and his gang were about to firebomb. You'll have to read the book to hear the rest of the story!
Meanwhile, Scott Lamb has matched Tim review for review this week.
The Atonement Debate, a series of papers edited and compiled by British theologian Derek Tidball, emerged out of a symposium held in London designed to allow both the pro and con sides of penal substitutionary atonement to present their cases. Scott also recommends some supplementary resources on the subject.
The Baptist Way, a book by Southern Baptist university administrator Stanton Norman, looks at Southern Baptist distinctives as practiced in a healthy Baptist church context. How about an alternate title suggestion: "8 Marks of Healthy Baptist Church"? Scott recommends this three-year old title and wonders why he missed it before.
Speaking of 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever's newest release, Twelve Challenges Churches Face, identifies twelves areas churches invariably struggle with to some degree or another. You'll want to check out the various uses Scott recommends for this 'brief' book (180-ish pages).
Finally, Scott reviews Scenes From The Bible, a biblically sequential visual portrayal of many scenes created by French artist Gustave Dore. Scott comments on the artistry as well as the practicality of this collection.
Thank you kindly for your continued patronage of Discerning Reader. We hope to serve up eight more reviews next week, if time permits and God allows.
