Posts about books that I’ve read.
This is an interesting book, but I should note that a lot of it is more about the secular times than about anything directly relevant to the Word. The author’s basic thesis is that King James wanted the translation to be an inclusive, unifying work, drawing together Protestants ranging from establishment bishops to near-Separationists. But … [Read more…]
This is a very good book, made excellent by the fact that the author is who he is: That makes it worth giving and recommending to others. Some notes: He’s a huge fan of C.S. Lewis and quotes him repeatedly. (No mention of Pascal, though.) There’s a heading in the book (224), “Evidence Demanding a … [Read more…]
What a find! I stumbled onto this book in the stacks at the public library; it would be worth buying as a reference and re-reading. The author starts with Alexander the Great and ends with the late first/early second century. The basic idea is to put the New Testament texts in their historical context. The … [Read more…]
Some notes: The patronage system was embedded not only in the culture generally but in the religion (polytheism) specifically. Religious strife and division for Jews, with each other and with Rome, was a big deal in the first century, including how to relate to Gentiles. Jews and the early Christians thought that the Septuagint was … [Read more…]
Bloom is a traditionalist when it comes to criticism, but he is not a believer. He takes issue with C.S. Lewis a few times; Lewis apparently objected to the whole enterprise of reading Scripture as literature. I read only the introduction and the New Testament part (not the Old Testament or Apocrypha, which are by … [Read more…]
The author is a Catholic professor and counselor; the book is not just for Christians. It’s a quick and easy read: about 200 pages, with small pages and lots of white space. Some notes: Here’s a good Thomas Merton quote (133): “Admit your mistakes, then move on.” The book emphasizes the importance of being 95 … [Read more…]
The author is a Jewish environmental scientist and archaeologist, the latter by experience if not by training. He is fairly secular and moderate, which may make his arguments harder to dismiss. A few notes (I read only up to page 25 and then skipped to pages 221-240 — i.e., I read the prologue, the first … [Read more…]
The author was, when he wrote this, a professor of the history of Christianity at Notre Dame. It’s worth reading, and has some good insights, but I found it only good, not great. The basic organization of the book is to show the way a series of important, representative Romans looked at Christians (and Christianity) … [Read more…]
This book is a series of short essays (on average less than five pages each) on a number of apologetic topics. They are uniformly good, and the authors have impressive academic credentials (though I have heard of only a few of them). There’s quite a bit on intelligent design, but that is by no means … [Read more…]
This very enjoyable 155-page book features portraits of Saul, Jonah, Jeremiah, Elijah, and Joshua. Wiesel is a Jew, of course, so the Christian perspective is lost; also, he relies not just on Scripture but on other (Jewish) authorities (Talmud, Midrash) and perhaps does not always distinguish them. But these are not disqualifiers; his analyses … [Read more…]