Simply put, this is one of the best books I have ever read on Christianity and its impact in America. I am guessing that if one were to count biographies along with studies of American Church history as a whole and studies of particular events, I have read well over 100 such books. (I’m really thinking 200 or more.)
There are issues raised in this book where I would hold a somewhat different perspective. I had the feeling on more than one occasion that I would be easily bested if I tried to defend my position in a debate with the author. (That doesn’t necessarily mean that I am wrong. Maybe I just need more study. But, then again, I may be wrong.)
It has been a frequent refrain in circles where I live and read that Christianity is often slighted in historical studies. Let’s go back a few decades. Peter Marshall, Jr. and David Manuel published a book for the popular reading Christian audiences, titled The Light and the Glory. The sequel was titled From Sea to Shining Sea. Along with those two books, two women, Verna Hall and Rosalie June Slater, began compiling and publishing a series of weighty volumes on the Christian history and influences on American history and government.
A cottage industry of Christian history books flowed from the 1970s onward. Some works were quite good, scholarly, and pioneering. Others were a bit over the top, shallow, and mere repetitions of each other.
Less known in those decades were the very weighty books by C. Gregg Singer, who wrote A Theological Interpretation of American History, and R. J. Rushdoony, who wrote This Independent Republic and The Nature of the American System and who gave a recorded lecture series on American history.
I am guilty of collecting, hoarding, and hunting for all the books I could find on the topics related to American history from a Christian perspective. So, it was natural that when I heard Pastor Bob Vincent cite the book by Dr. Coffman, I was in a panic until I had a copy in my hand.
This book did not disappoint. It took me down many familiar paths with many well known people and events, but also introduced me to many figures in American history that I was not aware of. (But in my defense, I have only been studying American history since 1970.)
Beginning early with this quote: “A history of the United States with Christianity cut out would be like a map of the United States minus the Mississippi River basin—it would have a gaping hole in the middle.”
And ending with this one: “History teaches. It rebukes. It shows crooked places that need to be set straight and wounds that need to be healed.”
This book is one that calls for many readers and several readings.
I think it would be an outstanding work to use in a college-level American history class. Pastors and teachers need to read this book. It would work wonderfully for a reading group or Sunday school class. It is also a wonderful sequel of sorts to Mark Noll’s well known Turning Points in Church History. That is why he got to write the foreword to the book.
It was many years ago when I first heard the name of someone I thought was a woman–Loraine Boettner. Then I learned that Loraine was a man, a writer, a theologian, and a very generous older gentleman living in Rock Port, Missouri.
His books were published and distributed by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company. They were relatively cheap hardback books, but they could be purchased even cheaper by ordering them from Dr. Boettner himself. And he would sign the books and enclose a typed letter.
Two of his books, Studies in Theology and The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, were life-changers in my thinking and understanding. He ushered me into a whole new world of Calvinia where I had to learn a different vocabulary, a different way of thinking, and a different way of worshipping. I have never left that world.
Through the years, a few other Boettner works appeared. One such book was titled A Harmony of the Gospels. This was a blue kivar covered book, also published by Presbyterian and Reformed, around the year 1976.
In the past year, P & R Publishing (the more recent name for Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing) issued an all new, attractive hardback edition of Boettner’s work. This is a wonderful book for both appearance and contents. It is titled The Gospel of Jesus: The Four Gospels in a Single Complete Narrative.
Boettner put the Gospel accounts together originally for his students. He was a theology teacher. We have all been challenged by the fact that we have 4 accounts of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus from four different authors and perspectives.
I don’t have patience or energy for those who read them as contradictory or rival accounts. Each Gospel presents a powerful angle on a person who is the greatest challenge to any writer, historian, theologian, teacher, philosopher, or ordinary person (like me). Boettner found that his students were baffled at trying to see the four Gospels. Like the good teacher he was, he wove the account together. As the original title implies, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John sang in harmony. They didn’t sing the exact same notes all the time, but the net result is a harmonious whole.
Those theological students who are sweating out the details of events, such as the resurrection appearances, need to keep sweating and working on the texts. There are helps. Vern Poythress, among others, have written on these matters. But to read and get the continuous flow, Boettner’s book is a delight.
I read it last year just after I had finished reading the four Gospels separately. Boettner’s content is the Bible. This book can be read for your morning Bible reading, evening family time, or personal study of the life of Christ.
The Gospel of Jesus is not a replacement to your reading through the four faithful witnesses. It is a supplement. I love this book, as is typical of me in regard to books, but even more, I love the dear old fellow (now long departed) who put it together. And I join with him in loving the subject of his compilation.
In an otherwise boring life filled with many ongoing journeys, the history of the Christian Faith in Scotland has been one of my abiding interests. And I confess to never quite being able to sort out the timelines, personalities, and controversies along the way. I do recognize and honor the big names, such as John Knox, Patrick Hamilton, Andrew Melville, Samuel Rutherford, Thomas Chalmers, Thomas Boston, John Witherspoon, and others.
Even in the past century, we have been blessed with many fine preachers who were also theologians and scholars. I am thinking here of those two amazing Murrays–John and Iain. (Thanks be to God for Banner of Truth Trust–located in Edinburgh–that has published those two men.) There are two great Scotsmen who have crossed the pond to share their preaching and writing gifts with us today–Sinclair Ferguson and Alistair Beggs.
My library has more than a few books on the history of the Reformers, Covenanters, Marrow Men, missionaries, and pastors from Scotland. (I even had a great set of books that I gifted to a more important figure.) I have had the occasion–here and there–to lecture on this or that portion of the history of the Scots Christians.
For those interested in the topic, there is an author and some titles that need to be put at the top of your list to acquire and read. I speak of Donald Macleod.
After a long and faithful life of proclaiming Christ and the doctrines of Reformed and Presbyterian theology, Dr. Macleod died in May of 2023 at age 82. We are left with the riches of his works via his books and those whose lives and ministries he directly touched.
I reviewed and praised this wonderful account, along with another title by Macleod–Compel Them to Come In: Calvinism and the Free Offer of the Gospel–in a blog post on this site found HERE.
When reading this work, as well as its prequel, don’t expect just an account of historical events. Macleod is a theological historian. The book has, as histories of the Faith often do, inspiring accounts of those who were faithful to their pastoral callings. But the book is largely focused on how the particular figures dealt with theological issues that arose in their day.
One of the biggest battles of the time was the Marrow Controversy. Like many theological controversies, it can be confusing to the reader. Like many theological controversies, the heat and tensions of the time resulted in some harsh pronouncements on the souls and motives of the opposing participants. Like many theological controversies, one can easily, but not wisely, write it off as needless arguing over insignificant details.
Sinclair Ferguson thought the controversy important enough to write a book in recent years about it. The controversy was rooted in a book written in the 1640s by Edward Fisher. It was then reprinted by the Scottish preacher Thomas Boston who added notes to the text.
A theological battle arose between the Marrow Men (as those were called who embraced the teachings of the book) and the anti-Marrow Men. The issue had to do with the free offer of the gospel. The question at stake was whether one had to repent of his sins before coming to Christ, or whether (as the Marrow Men contended) repentance was something that followed from being in Christ.
As is usual among Christians with deeply held convictions, the passions rose high. So did the name calling and denunciations. As is often the case, there were solid men on both sides, and to some degree, the battle was over words, phrasing, and emphases, as well as what the Westminster Confession of Faith actually prescribed.
Thomas Boston was the key figure in the rise of the controversy. He is one of the main subjects of Macleod’s book. Also, he authored two theological works that are classics. One is The Crook in the Lot: God’s Sovereignty and Wisdom Displayed in Our Afflictions. Macleod’s summary of that book is wonderful. It made me want to go and reread The Crook in the Lot. (It appears that The Crook in the Lot has been reprinted several times by various publishers, including Banner of Truth Trust.)
The other Boston book, and perhaps the better known one, is Human Nature in its Fourfold State. This book deals with man (or humans) in a state of innocence (sorry, but that train left before we could board it), the state of sinful nature, the state of glory, and then the eternal state. This work has long been in print by Banner of Truth Trust. I confess to my neglect of it and hope to rectify this soon.
As Macleod’s book progresses, the Scottish Church sadly regresses. There were always faithful preachers and doctrinal outcroppings that were worthy. But the tendency was toward MODERATION. One of the last men who is covered was Hugh Blair. His sermons were reasonably sound and occasionally doctrinal. But notice, “reasonably” and “occasionally.” Adding water to the soup may sometimes be a helpful practice, but when it happens too much and too often, one begins to suffer from a lack of nutrition.
This book–From the Marrow Men to the Moderates: Scottish Theology 1700-1800–belongs somewhere between your theological studies and church history studies. The battles remain relevant. The bolder men remain worthy models.
I only wish that Donald Macleod could have lived on a while longer and taken the story forward another century or two. For now, we have this book and Therefore, The Truth I Speak to enjoy and learn from.
As the year 2023 draws to a close, I realize that there are quite a few books that I have read and not written reviews for and quite a few more over in the farthest pastures that I have not yet started or did not finish reading. The fault is all mine, or it is all those petty tyrannies that while away my time and keep me from reading, reviewing, and writing.
The contributions of Dutch theologians and preachers to theology is immense. No other country can boast of so many great thinkers in the field of Reformed theology and its applications to all areas of life. As is usually the case, once one gets past the point of learning the names of men like Kuyper, Bavinck, Vos, Berkof, Van Til, Schilder, Ridderbos, Hoeksema, Dooyeweerd, Rookmaaker, and others, you realize that not all of these men were in lock step on every doctrinal position or on application to church, life, and society.
The internal intramural battles all have or had their place. One can assume that there were vital principles at stake, and one can rest assured (even if it doesn’t seem reassuring) that good and godly men disagree. The key is to wade past whatever may have been a hot button issue of decades past and glean the riches of the Dutch Reformation which happened during the era of the overall Protestant Reformation and then kept on happening again and again and again.
And it is vital to understand that much of what grew out of the Dutch world and life view was transplanted in the New World. So, many of the greatest of Dutch theologians were born in North America or came here in their early youth. Fluent in both Dutch and English, they translated the faith to many congregations, mostly in the more Dutch-centered areas of the mid-west, like Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan, but they wrote books that have even reached such remote and backward areas as the fundamentalist, Bible-belt American South.
Herman Hoeksema was one of the giants of the Dutch preacher-theologian-authors. His main works include his three volume Triple Knowledge and Reformed Dogmatics. Like many preachers, he had realms of materials that he had preached in the pulpit, or in the case of I Believe–on the radio.
Marco Barone did the groundwork to bring a series of such messages into print. The result is this volume on the Apostles’ Creed.
I Believe is a collection of 38 messages that Hoeksema preached on the historic creed detail by detail. For many of us, we grew up reciting the Creed. Little did we know that we were having our minds ingrained with the heart of the Christian faith. Year after year, reciting the Creed can bring one into a knowledge of Christian salvation (outwardly, with always there being the necessity of a work of God’s Spirit in the heart). Although the Creed takes a minute or less to recite, each phrase is heavy laden with Scriptural teachings. Thirty-eight messages with two additional appendices are still a light, or we might say, accessible, entryway into Christian theology and life.
This book is a useful tool for anyone wanting to get better grounded at theology. All too many systematic theologies are also heavy lifting, but this book is set at a good cardio level of a bit over 300 pages. Pastors, consider teaching through the Creed. (And if your church doesn’t regularly recite the Creed, repent and start this Sunday.) Teachers and study group leaders: Consider taking this book and leading your group through it. If 38 session is too many, double up. Christian reader who is bored with devotional fluff: Dig in.
And to all who have yet to experience the embarrassment of riches found and rooted in the life and faith that prospered in the Netherlands (much more in the past than the present), begin here.
Okay, I owed this book and my friend at Reformed Free Publishing Association more than a line or two, I wrote a good bit, but the remaining reviews will be confined to a line or two.
I read Minich’s previous book on the topic. This is a vital issue in apologetics. I have great confidence in the author, who is a friend via social media and a brother in Christ. To Be Read.
Thankfully, we are seeing Tolkien getting lots of attention in both the fields of theology and literature. This book is a combination of two of my loves.
Books from Intervarsity Press:
A Study of the Old Testament:
Creator:A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1 by Peter Leithart.
Leithart is a brilliant theologian, and the reader will find occasions to be blown away by what he says, baffled by what he says, or in disagreement with what he says. It may all happen on the same page. I am currently reading this book. This is no easy slide through Genesis 1. So far, it has been tough climbing, but the view is magnificent.
The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness: Reading Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as Christian Scripture, edited by Andrew T. Abernathy, William R. Osborne, and Paul Wegner.
I always need help and instruction in how to read and use the Major Prophets. Andy Abernathy is an author/theologian with whom I am familiar from recently reading his book Savoring Scripture, which is also an IVP publication and a book previously reviewed.
This collection of essays are on the To Be Read list. I will be trying to read the Major Prophets along with the essays.
The Monor Prophets: A Theological Introduction by Craig G. Bartholomew and Heath A. Thomas
After I have worked through the major prophets, I hope to delve into this study of the guys who wrote shorter selections.
History Studies from Intervarsity Press:
Theologies of the American Revivalists From Whitefield to Finney by Robert W. Caldwell III
I think I reviewed this book earlier this year. It is an outstanding study of American history and the revival movement. One of the best books of the year. Suited me as a history teacher who also has done church work.
Worship by Faith Alone:Thomas Cranmer, The Book of Common Prayer, And The Reformation of Liturgy by Zac Hicks
Another fine study that satisfied the historian teacher in me along with the student of theology. Cranmer often gets pushed aside by a few of the bigger names in the Reformation Era. Weighty, but inspiring reading.
Martin Luther and the Rule of Faith: Reading God’s Word for God’s People by Todd R. Hains
If I had not just finished a lengthy read on the Reformation, I would be delving into this right away. Nevertheless, I can hardly resist a book that has the name of Martin Luther in the title. To Be Read.
Other Intervarsity Press Titles
Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ by Eugene Peterson
Peterson was a great stylist and communicator. You don’t have to remind me of his theological misdemeanors and possible felonies, for I am aware of his foibles. Take him for what he was and read him with discernment (as is the case with every writer) and glean the good.
I have been greatly blessed by many of his books. This book was less satisfying because I did not connect with what he was conveying in his emphasis on freedom. Perhaps, I was wanting more of an exegetical book.
The Second Testament: A New Translation by Scot McKnight
I plan on reading this book for my Bible reading just as soon as I get through some of the prophets, major and minor.
God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible by Vaughn Roberts.
Recommended to me by my pastor Jared Gibson and my longtime friend and former colleague Ryan Brown. It is a brief look at the Bible as a whole.
And I am several years overdue in getting into The Story Retold:A Biblical Theological Introduction to the New Testament by G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd
I have no excuses. I need to at least read a couple of hundred pages into this study.
Holiness: Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Theology by Matt Ayars, Christopher T. Bounds, and Caleb T. Friedman
I was a bit taken aback when I realized that the perspective of the authors is Wesleyan. But, I realize that I need to be constantly both drilling deeper into my own Reformed perspective while exploring some other viewpoints that have things to tell me. And I do need to grow in holiness.
Time to halt this portion of the round-up and try to tell you about some more books later.
Hope the year ends well for you. God’s blessings for the New Year.
Two books that I read recently were hitting hard on the same subject: Reading Scripture. I must confess up front that I read both of these books as a book reviewer and not as a practitioner of the contents. By that, I mean that both books call for hitting the brakes and not the accelerator. These are not “hurry up and find out how the story ends” reads, but rather books that need to be carefully applied with exact measurements of the measuring spoons. Otherwise, the recipe doesn’t work.
I hope that somewhere along the way, I will circle back around and slowly wade across both of these books and not be in a rush to finish. But there were benefits to my own imperfect style.
Andrew Abernethy is Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He has written several books prior to this one, with a focus on the book of Isaiah. I have previously read and reviewed two of his books: HERE.
This book, Savoring Scripture, is a short, straight to the point, study on how to seriously read the Bible. I know that there are dozens, yea, even hundreds of books on how to read the Bible. I had one that I used–as assigned–for a Bible class last year. I was not satisfied with it, and I think that this book would have been a better option. (It was not even published at the time, so I am not complaining–for once.)
Abernethy begins with the topic of posture. We could use terms such as “state of mind” or “attitude” as synonyms. This may be the most important step. It involves being ready, willing, hungry, and teachable. We really struggle with posture. Sometimes, if like me you have been a Bible reading, church going believer for a long time, you struggle because you already think you know what the Bible is saying. As a classroom teacher, I continually deal with a different posture: the person who doesn’t want to know. Cross reference a thousand Puritan sermons and treatises on the heart at this point. But nothing works with Bible reading without the right posture when approaching the Scripture.
The second concept is Flow. This takes the reader up close to the passage. And by the way, Abernethy’s focus is not on trying to get an overview of the whole of either Testament or of the whole Bible. The focus here is on passages. For most of us, our reading each day–whether a chapter, a few chapters, or some select verses–is on a passage. This chapter takes us smack dab right back into the middle of that English class years ago where someone was trying to invade your brain with the intricate details, the structure, the composition of a piece of literature. (Future Bible study is one–of many–reasons why literature is such an important subject.)
Two concepts that Abernethy focuses on are subunits and genre. For better or worse, our Bibles are prearranged in subunits. These are the chapter and verse numbers. Whoever inserted all of those into our Bible world did a great service, but also a slight disservice. Abernethy is not merely calling attention to the sometimes misleading verse or chapter numbers. His focus is on finding the smaller portion of the text. He suggests using a short passage around ten verses. Oh yeah, his method calls for writing and marking in the Bible. For those like me who don’t do that, there are plenty of resources or means of printing Bible portions out on paper or on your dee-vice (which is how I pronounce that word).
Genre is also connected to the Flow. Once again, literature teachers take heart! This concept is crucial to identifying the type of literature one is reading–in the Bible or off of the bookshelf. Language simply doesn’t make sense unless one is interpreting it according to genres.
The next two portions deal with that tricky issue of context and then the whole Bible. Everyone who has wandered through the Bible with untrained eyes has been stumped or confused or mislead by not understanding context. Satan has a number of Bible verses he loves to share with believers with his sleight of hand methods of ignoring context.
And obviously, or what should be obvious, is the need to grasp the Bible as a whole. “Okay, so he is saying to work through a passage of 10 verses and yet grasp the Bible as a whole?” This is a short book. A readable book. A simple book. It’s not an easy book.
Abernethy finishes with a chapter titled “Faithful Response.” Nothing new and original here, but it is a message that needs to be heard and heard and heard again. The whole emphasis on Bible reading and study is found in the response.
I would recommend this book to Bible study groups and Sunday school classes. High school kids can read it, and well-trained Bible scholars (of whom the author of the book is a qualifier) can learn from it as well.
Hans Boersma’s Pierced by Love is a different sort of book from the one above. For that reason, the two books complement each other, and the two authors would make a fine tag team in wrestling if there were a league for Bible scholars to enter the squared ring.
This book reminded me quite a bit of Gavin Ortlund’s Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals, which I read with great pleasure earlier this year.
Boersma’s book gleans heavily from the writings of early and Medieval Christians regarding how to read, meditate, chew on, and digest Scripture. In the early portions of the reading, I begin to feel that the book was too much focused on the “spiritual” or “mystical” side of the spectrum. I had read Herman Hoeksema’s book I Believe: Sermons on the Apostles’ Creed, published by Reformed Free Publishing Association some weeks earlier. I liked the straight-forward, doctrinally tight, unwavering Reformed emphasis of that book. (Consider that as a plug to get Hoeksema’s book, which was edited by my friend Marco Barone!)
The monastic-feeling, Medieval rooted, Lectio Divina of Boersma didn’t fit my personality quite as well. So, let’s be honest: We need those books whose grooves match our personalities. But we also need those that force us to act right in other theological and spiritual social settings.
Just look at the table of contents of this book. Admit it: How many other books on Bible reading have you read that devote a chapter to “chewing and belching”? And it’s a marvelous chapter.
To save time, I am going to do some more “cutting and pasting.” Here are the 8 guidelines that Boersma has for applying the Lectio Divina method. This gives you a Cliff’s Notes version of the book, but you miss all of the rich discussion and quotes from a host of sources buttressing each point.
In short, Boersma’s book is more of the contemplative, think, take time, and enjoy Scripture kind of book, while Abernethy’s in the category of self-help and application of Bible study tools.
Both books help the reader to see, feel, grasp, and enjoy the Bible. Both would make great Christmas presents.
I rarely travel anymore. The main reason is economic. But for one season in my life, I traveled from coast to coast. I went to Newport Newes, Virginia some years ago and gave a series of talks on key Reformed thinkers during the 20th century. A year later, I went to Alaska and gave a shorter, more detailed series of talks on some of the Dutchmen who were Reformed thinkers.
Then my speaking and traveling career crashed. The crash was more directly related to having a heavy load of school responsibilities and church responsibilities. Ho hum. So much for my autobiography.
But I never recovered from one part of those travels: I fell into an unbreakable desire to read and learn from and about a band of hearty Dutchmen whose impact changed and continues to change the world. Those fellows include Groen van Prinsterer, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Herman Dooyeweerd, H. Van Reissen, Klaus Schilder, G. K. Berkouwer, Louis Berkof, Cornelius Van Til, Geerhardus Vos, H. R. Rookmaaker, and a few others. (I am hoping to soon make acquaintances with J. H. Bavinck.)
More and more books came to weight down my shelves. I even picked up a Dutch Bible (thanks to Cam Clausing) and a few works on learning the Dutch language. Add to that several works on Dutch history. Recently, and only slightly connected to this, I read a book titled The Diary Keepers by Nina Siegal. It recounts and contains portions of some of the more than 2000 diaries kept by Dutch people during the horrible years when the Nazis occupied the country. Many of us know parts of that story because of the very popular Diary of Anne Frank and The Hiding Place.
The term Neo-Calvinism has often been used to describe the views of some of the Dutch Christian thinkers. In Reformed discussions, one quickly learns to make a distinction between Neo-Calvinism (a Dutch “innovation”) and New Calvinism (usually related to the book Young, Restless, and Reformed which deals with the resurging interest in Calvinistic theology among young audiences in the USA).
Neo-Calvinism has gained lots of attention among the more scholarly types of Reformed folks because it deals with a wide range of topics. Christianity and philosophy is a raging discussion and interest. Sorry pessimillenialists, but Christian thinkers are making a big impact within both the secular and Christian academic philosophical circles.
Plantinga is highly regarded today for his philosophy studies. (And he is also of Dutch heritage.)
Along with philosophy, Neo-Calvinists have made bold strides into such fields as political thought, economics, sociology, psychology, history, and more. The person who has woven Neo-Calvinism into her books on social issues in the most popular and readable way is Nancy Pearsey. Admittedly, many of the Neo-Calvinistic writers and thinkers are heavily weighted down by Dooyeweerd’s writings and other concepts that elude the general reader.
Another tendency has been to see Neo-Calvinism as, to use the popular and sometimes controversial term, Worldview thinking. What does Christianity have to say about X,Y, and Z? What has been lost or overlooked are the traditional and foundational theological building blocks.
Neo-Calvinism is, as the subtitle states, a THEOLOGICAL introduction. Someone wanting to know more about Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck and others will not find it here. This book is a series of serious, challenging essays relating how K & B were primarily and always recurringly working to dig into what the Bible says about theological concerns. All of the other stuff flows from those basic foundations.
For now, let me say that much more needs to be said about this book. But my yard needs mowing and the weather is pleasant outside. So, I will hasten to complete this fly over review.
Neo-Calvinism builds upon the writings of Kuyper and Bavinck. The examination is in-depth. The study is neither for beginners nor for the one wanting some devotional light theology. The fact that I was able to read it is proof enough that it is capable of being read by the non-technical theologian. But my read was a slow and steady one. I thought it was a good study, rich and full. But don’t quiz me on the details.
If you have Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics and a few volumes of Kuyper on the shelves, get to reading them. And buy this book to enrich your conversation with the Dutch thinkers.
Reading big, weighty books and mountain/rock climbing/rappelling have a lot in common….
Well, maybe they don’t really have much in common, but I try to find excuses for how little reading I get done and how few books I make it through. A book reviewer ought to be really tough, disciplined, focused, and intense when picking up a book and turning to page one. At that point, he ought to remain stationary, except for a few trips back to the coffee maker, and then a few hours later, he should be finished, near finished, or at least 100 pages into the book.
And he ought to have a keen grasp of what the author was saying, how and in what ways the author succeeded or failed in his writing task, and what profound implications the book contains. I, on the other hand, stumble along for 10 to 20 pages, find my mind wandering, get distracted by anything around me, stop and throw the ball for my dog, and find my mind all fuzzy and clouded about what I just read.
If there were a parking lot where book reviewers were to leave their cars, I would be parked in the handicap section.
Over the past two summers, I have had three books close at hand that I have started, but failed to finish. I am still determined to read the books. But by the time these new books are finished, they might be sitting on the shelves along with the latest works from Charles Dickens or James Fenimore Cooper.
I do wish to give each one a shoutout. I have good reasons for being attracted to the books in the first place, and my lack of success in finishing the books is a reflection on the reader, not the writer.
This is a weighty, serious study of political philosophies that have shaped the modern world since the French Revolution. I blundered in wading into this book initially. As the old (but not totally true) saying goes, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
I saw Napoleon on horseback. I saw the words “tyranny” and “revolution,” and I thought I was venturing into an historical account of the French Revolution, guillotines, angry Girondists, a young Napoleon seizing the reins of power, and more. (Maybe it would have ventured off into the frozen Grand Armee retreating and dying in Russia.)
Instead this is a book about the ideas, the concepts, belief systems that underlie the recurring revolutionary thoughts since the events of 1789. Oops. I signed up for the wrong class. No movement of armies across Europe in this course.
Still, the topic is a vital one. I have high regard for two works and authors on a similar vein. One is James Billington and his outstanding book Fire in the Minds of Men: The Origins of a Revolutionary Faith.
In my younger days, I used to dream of teaching a course on revolutions and using this book as one of the prime studies. It is deep, profound, and chocked full of insights.
Unbelief and Revolution was compiled from lectures given by the Dutch historian and Christian thinker of the 19th century. It gives a Christian and theological interpretation of what was going on the the hearts and minds of people that led to the French Revolution and from there to a revolutionary spirit that still persists.
Okay, I have to admit then that I am being a wimp and a weakling for not reading Tyranny and Revolution. If you are involved in studying or teaching political philosophy, if you are one who is delving into the ideas of our time (and not gleaning your notions from conservative talk radio), and if you are committed to the long haul, invest the time and money into Newell’s book.
Thanks to Koty Arnold, professor of politics at Colorado Christian University, for calling my attention to this book.
T. S. Eliot was one of the most profound thinkers of our time. He was a Nobel Prize winning poet and a literary and cultural critic. In his literary journey through the world, he became a Christian and a faithful member of the Church of England (having previously embraced England over his native United States as his country).
The author of many great poems, the best known, but perhaps the hardest to grasp is “The Waste Land.” For those new to Eliot’s writings, I would recommend reading “The Hollow Men,” “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and “Journey of the Magi” so as to not understand them (except for the last one) before reading and not understanding “The Wasteland.”
I keep climbing the ladder and walking out to the edge of the high diving board that is the writings and mind of Eliot and trying to coax myself to jump off.
Of course, a biography of a poem is really a biography of the poet. Part of my decades-long interest in both the author and his work stems from essays I studied detailing how Eliot’s poetry impacted lots of other 20th century authors.
There was nothing unreadable about the book when I started it. Instead, some other books crowded their way in, covered it up on the nightstand, and swept away my interest and intention.
If it’s 20th century literature that you want to study, this is a good place to go. Eliot had his feet planted in both the cultural milieu where C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Christopher Dawson lived and that where Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and Robert Frost did their writings.
Everything I heard about this book convinced me that I wanted it. Everything I have read in it has been enjoyable. But I kept it in the morning reads stack. I would turn to it after I had already read from a book or two, so I would be both out of coffee and out of time.
In some ways, this book always reminds me of Tom Holland’s book Dominion. The books are not covering the exact same ground or promoting the same angle to Christian history.
Heather is focusing on the time period roughly from the conversion of Constantine to the late Medieval Period. His comments on the Emperor Constantine are quite interesting. One must grant that Constantine is a tough nut to crack, historically speaking.
Heather states in the introduction that he is not a Christian. For that I both applaud his honesty (and may God bring him to faith) and am able to carefully weigh his ideas.
This book needs to be rushed to my nightstand and read.
Thanks to the authors and publishers for these challenging volumes. Shame on me for not having my homework completed. Can I please have a few more days to get it finished?
The Klaas Schilder Reader: The Essential Theological Writings, edited by George Harinck, Marinus DeJong, and Richard Mouw, is publised by Lexham Press.
For most of my life studies, the Dutch people and the Netherlands has been on the peripheries of the major topics. The story of the Dutch Reformation is usually included as a chapter following the events in Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and France. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 highlights a Dutch king and queen, William and Mary, but the story is centered on events in England. The Dutch settle the New York area, but their hold on the colonies is short lived and the original name, New Amsterdam is replaced. Henry Hudson has a river and a bay named after him, but his end was tragic. The Dutch sidestepped the World War I and were quickly conquered in World War II. Stories such as those of Anne Frank and Corrie Ten Boom are popular and inspiring reads.
No college I attended offered Dutch as a foreign language, nor did any have serious studies in the literature and history of the country. Okay, most of general studies focuses on the larger swaths of the paint brush and not the fine details. And we are finite in ability and time is really limited.
“Go Dutch” was a phrase I often heard associated with everyone paying his own way, usually at a meal. Had it not been for an unexpected exit off of the interstate of life, I would have not encountered the Dutch mutch (sic).
That unexpected exit led to a side journey which led to a complete rerouting of my trip. I encountered the world of Calvinia. In short, I had a theological revolution that shook all of my previous ideas and revamped the direction my life would take. At times, it seemed like I had embraced one of those weird cults of the past (and that was exactly what my parents thought had happened).
“It’s real! It’s vast. There are many people of the past who believed these things. This is very historic. This is Biblical,” I said to many skeptics.
And for me, as James Jordan tells in his wonderful essay “The Closing of the Calvinistic Mind,” the world was deep, highly educated, challenging, and different. For a long time, my mind was filled with the odd sounding names, the obscure books, and the theological ventures of a people I did not know existed.
Life has many twists and turns along the way. I never abandoned what I had encountered, but church life, public and private (classical Christian) school teaching, marriage, family, and other events changed the emphases in my life.
And then some 10 or 12 years ago, I reconnected even more strongly with starting points. “You will not find me changed from him you knew: Only more sure of what I thought was true,” were words from Robert Frost that I found descriptive of myself.
To try to focus more clearly and not be so nostalgic, let’s get to the Dutch, That small country, replete with dykes and windmills, associated with tulips and sea-born tales, has been a factory that has produced more theologians and Christian thinkers that any other land, especially when compared by size and population.
Christian thought, theology, scholarship, and study has been one of the hallmarks of the Dutch people who embraced the Reformed Faith centuries ago.
My recent book stack/burden/challenge/marathon is only a small part of the works that I possess by these men and others.
Let’s begin with Cornelius Van Til and The Christian Theory of Knowledge.
Cornelius Van Til was born in the Netherlands, and like many Dutch folk, he with his family immigrated to North America. Raised in the richness of the Dutch Reformed world and life view, he grew up believing the Scriptures. In time, he became a professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary.
His method of teaching and thinking have been expressed in his many books. The term Presuppositional Apologetics is used to describe his method and system of thought. This method proved to be both pathbreaking and controvesial. Christians with a bent toward apologetic theories still draw swords both for and against Van Til.
A Christian Theory of Knowledge, along with Defense of the Faith, are among the most often cited and read books by Van Til. For those not initiated in the theological and philosophical language of apologetics debates, note that Van Til is not easy reading.
One can acquire a sense of what is being said after a diligent study. It helps that Van Til often repeats or re-emphasizes key arguments and concepts. At the same time, he was often answering theologians and philosophers from earlier times whose names and ideas aren’t as current or well known.
Overall, this book is a gold mine of encouraging Christian thought. One reading–a couple of decades overdue–is not enough, but will have to suffice for now. As with many of the greater Christian thinkers, I can, at best, only gain more appreciation rather than passable comprehension.
Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction is a series of lengthy essays primarily focusing on the theology of Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck. The term “Neo-Calvinism” (not to be confused with New Calvinism) has reference to the ways that Kuyper, Bavinck, and a company of fellow Dutchmen and their other adherents have expanded the breadth and depth of Calvinistic thinking.
One of the best known works in this area is Abraham Kuyper’s Stone Lectures, which were published under the title Lectures on Calvinism. These lectures provide a panoramic view of how certain concepts–rooted and developed during the Reformation–apply the faith to all areas of life.
I probably have a dozen or more copies of Lectures on Calvinism, including one in Dutch, and a couple of dozen books related to the lectures. I rank the book as one of the most important that I have ever read.
The colleague of Kuyper who gets billing in Neo-Calvinism is Herman Bavinck. Bavinck is something of a rock star in Calvinistic circles in our day and time. His book are being published and translated into English with speed and urgency. (In the past, Van Til would chide students about the importance of learning the Dutch language if they wanted to study theology.)
My incomplete Bavinck collection would fill a shelf or two. Also, I have two fine biographies written about him.
The essays in Neo-Calvinism have as their intent trying to set the record straight in regard to the theological center of the movement. Since Neo-Calvinists have ventured into many areas of thought–philosophy, the arts, politics, social issues, ethics, and so on, the need is to go back to the starting point and determine that the men who started the movement (not that they were intentionally just doing that) were primarily preachers and theologians.
Klaas Schilder was a twentieth century Dutch pastor, theologian, and author. He was living in the Netherlands during World War II when it was occupied by the Nazi German regime. He is perhaps best known for a sermon series on the trial and death of Jesus Christ.
There were a large number of theological and ecclesiastical battles among the Dutch during the 20th century. I confess to not understanding most of what was being battled over, nor do I expect to devote the time to understanding them.
The Klaas Schilder Reader provides English-speaking readers with a weighty portion of Schilder’s writings. As implied above, some of the issues were heavy fought battles of the day. For me as a reader, I am more prone to glean a line or there or a few insights than I am to get prepped for a debate rehash.
Schilder was a bold and great man. One whole section of the book is devoted to writings during the Nazi Occupation. The first selection there included this great statement:
“For the Lord’s sake we must be faithful in the preaching of God as the only God, Creator of heaven and earth, of the maintenance of the distinction between God and creature, of the majesty of His Word, of His Sovereignty over all areas of life, all according to each creature’s nature….”
Herman Hoeksema, like Van Til, was born in the Netherlands, but spent much of his life in the United States. From the time I first became Reformed in my theology (circa 1974), I began hearing about Hoeksema. I confess to owning several underused volumes of his theological writings.
Recently, my friend Marco Barone compiled and edited a series of 38 sermons that Hoeksema gave over a radio broadcast in the 1950s. I have lots of appreciation for Hoeksema (who was often battling theological controversies that are beyond me) and I have admiration for Marco, who continues to develop as a writer and theologian. Most of all, I have lots of connection to the Apostles’ Creed. For the past 3 or 4 years, I have preached at Fellowship Bible Church here in Texarkana. Each time, I use a portion of the Creed for my sermon. (It may take me a century to finally do the whole Creed or 38 sermons.)
My childhood church experiences were not always great, but the Methodist Church did routinely “recite together this historic affirmation of the Christian faith.”
I have just started reading these sermons, and I will press on with reading the entire collection, but so far, I am convinced that book is a good commentary on the Creed, a solid exposition of the essentials of the faith, and a good read for both body and soul.
Dr. Wilson is a lifelong scholar and author whose works have been devoted to the writings and life of John C. Calhoun. Shotwell Publishing, in its own words, “loves the South—its history, traditions, and culture—and are proud of our inheritance as Southerners. Our books are a reflection of this love.”
The terrible year 2020 is past, and we wish it were forgotten. Most of the memorable events of that year were not good. The year began with the first impeachment of Donald Trump, quickly became the year of Covid, witnessed the improbable rise of Joe Biden, experienced the horrible summer of shutdowns, riots, racial tensions, and more. The year ended with a bitterly contested Presidential race where facts about election tampering still surface.
One of the most energetic events of that year was the surge of raging desire to remove statues across the land. Anyone associated with the South, the Confederacy, or the American connections to slavery becme the subject of efforts to erase them from history.
Long revered in the North and the South, long considered a great statesman, long admired by scholars and political thinkers, John C. Calhoun was a favored target. His statue in Charleston had to come down. America had to purge itself of any and every representative of the then current group-think.
Calhoun said things in the 1800s that no one today would or should say. Of course, it is hard to find someone who hasn’t said things that are discredited, embarrassing, misguided, or grossly wrong. But Calhoun defended features of slavery itself and was relegated to the dung heap of history.
Robert Elder wrote a biography titled Calhoun: American Heretic that was highly acclaimed. (We reviewed it that year, trying to be fair minded about the book. That review is found here.) Its central thesis is found in the title. Calhoun was not viewed as a truly American thinker; he was, to use a word that is really a damning one, A HERETIC. Not being Medieval, we no longer burn them at the stake, but we find other ways of reducing them to ashes.
If one listened to the journalistic rhetoric, the protests, and even some of the scholarly opinion of circa 2020, one would assume that John C. Calhoun should be pushed to the far corner of historical notice. He could be assumed to be the Theodore Bilbo of the 19th century.
One might never guess that Calhoun’s career was large and touched many facets of American political thought and action. Also, he was a holder of many offices–Senator, Secretary of State, Vice President, and more. He was also a profound political thinker; he was one whose ideas were not just bullet points or applause lines for public events.
There are and have been quite a few Calhoun scholars and fans among political leaders in the past, but their tribe is much diminished today. Professor H. Lee Cheek, a professor of political science and history at East Georgia State College, is one example of a worthy scholar and writer who has written or edited books on Calhoun. His works include the following:
Calhoun and Popular Rule, published by the University of Missouri Press (2001; paper edition, 2004);
Calhoun: Selected Speeches and Writings (Regnery, 2003);
A Disquisition on Government (St. Augustine’s, 2007), which is an edition of Calhoun’s most famous writing.
The other big name in Calhoun scholarship is Dr. Clyde Wilson, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of South Carolina. Along with a number of books and articles that he has written, he has also the editor of The Papers of John C. Calhoun..
While a new and extensive and strongly defensive biography is needed on Calhoun for our time, Dr. Wilson has produced a book to plug in the gap during the current onslaught of attacks.
This book consists of over a dozen previous essays all about Calhoun the man and his thought. There is, as the book admits, quite a bit of repetition since the essays overlap in subject and topic. Some are quite easy pieces dealing with parts of Calhoun’s life, while others are more detailed studies of some of the issues he was grappling with in his day.
Overall, this is good history. It is a good “Wait a minute now!” kind of work for someone who is being swept away by the now accepted party line. One of the sad things about much of what we call education is that there is no dialogue. We have our modern list of good guys and bad guys, and no place for the serious weighing of merits, context, and greater course of life that people lived.
One value of this book is that it highly commends a previous biography of Calhoun by Margaret Coit. Ms. Coit was a young writer who had developed an interest in Calhoun as a high school student. She went to college and became a reporter. Her biography of Calhoun, titled John C. Calhoun: American Portrait, won the Pulitzer Prize for biography.
Clyde Wilson wrote the foreword to a reprint of this book.
Obviously, Clyde Wilson’s compilation is not the final word or the definitive study needed. One doubts that such a study could get any serious attention in our time. But there are those who don’t shop wholesale on current trendy ideas. They look around at the small suppliers, the less known-brands, and even the ideas that we are warned to steer clear of.
Clyde Wilson is no stranger to promoting the non-party line. He has never been in danger of his ideas sweeping the nation. He is, in fact, the co-founder and co-publisher of Shotwell Publishing. One would be well advised to search out the books, ideas, and writings of Dr. Wilson and John C. Calhoun when seeking light in these dark times.
Several loves merged with the reading of this book. First of all, I have a decades old love of the Protestant Reformation. This year, I began my Bible class with a series of spontaneous, impromptu lectures about Martin Luther, his spiritual struggles, the conditions of the 1500s, and his embracing of Sola Scriptura.
In my American history class, we studied a chapter (from my book) about the Protestant Reformation and its spillover into the American colonies.
Usually such studies and teachings at the high school (and perhaps college survey) levels tend to focus on Luther and Calvin with a few side references to some of the other players in that century of drama. The English story is no less thrilling than those which took place in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Ranking right up there with Calvin, Luther, John Knox, Zwingli, Beza, Farel, and those other 3 men is the name of Thomas Cranmer. His story is filled with drama, spiritual travails, political intrigue, long sessions with kings and pastors, lonely vigils of the soul, and finally with martyrdom.
We don’t readily associate him with a book, like Calvin’s Institutes or Luther’s Bondage of the Will, or with a dramatic event like the posting of the 95 Theses, or with the episodes that characterize the adventures for Christ that his contemporaries experienced. Of course, his death at the stake, with his recanting that moment of weakness when he compromised his position, and his nobility of faith when it finally counted most is highly honored.
Cranmer was, like Thomas Becket and Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More, a theological office holder who had to have political saavy to survive. Church and State relations were neither clean nor neatly exercised in those days. Cranmer was also a theologian of emerging Puritan sensibilities and he was a writer with exactitude.
His greatest literary legacy is The Book of Common Prayer.
This work carefully provided tools for liturgical and personal devotional use. Its Scripture selections, words for various Christian services and needs, and its prayers contain language that has permeated our culture. The marriage ceremony as found in the BOCP is that which is so often heard in ceremonies to this day.
Concerning Zac Hicks’s book: This is a serious study. Anyone wanting to know what happened during the English Reformation or wanting to know about the life of Thomas Cranmer will need to begin elsewhere. This is not a scholarly treatise so technical that only 5 other Cranmer scholars living today can understand it, but Mr. Hicks is not writing for Charles Swindoll readers.
It’s what Otto Scott referred to as a “middling book.” It is scholarly, yet readable. I read it during my morning hours, and I confirm that strong, black coffee is needed to help weigh in on some of the concepts.
“Faith Alone” is one of the 5 slogans of the Reformation. The 5 Solas, like the 5 Points of Calvinism, or any other bullet-point summary of serious issue serves as a useful teaching and learning tool. But just as tools can be misunderstood or misused, so can the Solas. The place of faith in the salvation and sanctification of a believer involves some careful walking, studying, and discerning. Consider how many get tripped up with Paul’s discussion of “faith without works” and James’s “faith with works.” (And I am one of those who gets tripped up.)
Cranmer in both this work (The Book of Common Prayer) and his collection of homilies was trying to grow the larger congregation of God’s people in England, but also model instruction for the pastors. We can easily imagine young men who grew up Catholic tossing everything overboard once they got on the Reformation ship. But unlearning is never simple.
I would recommend this book to all of those, who like me, have been reading works from and about the Reformation for a long time. Certainly Anglican/Episcopal friends would glean much out of the book. But I am Presbyterian and, by a set of various circumstances, a member of a reformish Baptist church. And I found the book useful.
It is a good model to consider that Cranmer and other Reformers, although often whipping out books, treatises, and sermons by the dozens, were really insistent of using the most precise and careful language and formulations in their theological pronouncements.
This book is a part of a series called Dynamics of Christian Worship. So much, too much, is written about worship with the wrong emphases. If this book is any indication of the series as a whole, it is much needed. I don’t think you will find anything in this book that will fill your pews or create a mega-church (neither of which I oppose per se). But I do think this book will make its readers more appreciative of a great man and his labor and more careful in his and our labors.
The Heavy Laden Bookshelf 