Review: The Most Misused Stories in the Bible: Surprising Ways Popular Bible Stories Are Misunderstood

The Most Misused Stories in the Bible: Surprising Ways Popular Bible Stories Are Misunderstood by Eric J. Bargerhuff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Who would the intended audience for this book be? Christians who sit under pastors who utilise an eisegetical method of preaching, or Christian friends who wish to emphasise to the abovementioned group the importance of an expository/exegetical method of studying God's Holy Scripture.

In Pg 49 of the Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (1999), Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling explain what these two terms mean: "Exegesis is the process of seeking to understand what a text means or communicates on its own. Eisegesis is generally a derogatory term used to designate the practice of imposing a preconceived or foreign meaning onto a text, even if that meaning could not have been originally intended at the time of its writing."

Having studied the context and reflected upon the theological application of many of these stories for the purposes of teaching/preaching, I was mightly impressed by Bargerhuff's commentary on the stories in the opening of the book - David and Goliath (Chapter 1), Gideon's Fleece (Chapter 2), Jonah and the big fish (Chapter 4), The woman caught in adultery (Chapter 5), Jesus could not do miracles in his hometown (Chapter 6), Sowing your seed (Chapter 8). The content was lively, engaging, and highly accessible; Bargerhuff's theological reflection and application were spot on! I thought that this was an easy 6 star book that would be useful for reference for sermon preparation or that which I had to purchase multiple copies of to give away! But then later came the second half of the book which sadly I found to be unsuitable for my target audience...

Many of the subsequent chapters were often excellent (Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in Chapter 14 was brilliant even) - but many chapters were tainted by the divisive advancing of his theological positions. Bargerhuff appears to be highly reformed/Calvinistic and a - he quotes John MacArthur (author of the notorious Strange Fire) and John Piper. I felt that it was unnecessary to be fixated on secondary or tertiary matters of The Calvinistic notion of Perseverance of the Saints ("Once Saved Always Saved") in The betrayal of Judas (Chapter 10), Cessationism in The Samaritan Pentecost (Chapter 11) and Transubstantiation in This is my body (Chapter 13).

If he releases a subsequent edition, I hope he focuses on the primacy on interpreting Scripture in context, illustrating applying it for the modern audience what the biblical author had intended for the original readers and not let his partisan views taint his exposition and commentary.

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Review: Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The target audience would be novice readers as the depth of theology is kept at an accessible level and the material is easy-to-read. I picked this book because many other authors I've read quoted from Willard, and guessed that he must be a giant in this area of theology. However, I did not enjoy the read as much as I thought I would; I did not find the content engaging or soul-piercing. I wish that the content wasn't expanded, because many chapters provided for a rather tedious read; it may be better for a heavy dose of brevity/editor's hand to be utilised, also by cutting out excess material, shrinking the 300 pages to 200. Unfortunately, in this instance, bigger is not always better.

While Willard may have intended the book to read like a biblical-theological executive summary, I felt that the bible was used as a proof-text or eisegetical aid to elaborate/illustrate his points. I was uncomfortable with the brief and numerous quotations of Scripture texts/narratives were used to support his substantives. At times Willard quotes from other famous theologians, but another weakness of the book is the lack of personal anecdotes and illustrations. If I could use Randy Clark and Bill Johnson as examples (this is not meant as an endorsement of all of the latter's teaching), their books are engaging and exciting because of the numerous stories and testimonies that illustrate a principle they are trying to teach - regrettably, these are lacking in this title. I read other reviews with amusement (the gripe was that the later chapters were theoretical) but I am in agreement that Willard somehow seems to be communicating a topic that he does not personally have a personal experience in.

I cannot recommend this book because of all the abovementioned flaws. Instead, I'd recommend Kevin Deyoung's Just do Something or Bruce Waltke's Finding the Will of God.

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Review: Why I Am a Christian

Why I Am a Christian by John R.W. Stott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As with his other titles, Stott writes clearly and does not dive into complicated theological jargon or discussion. He writes in a calm, gentle manner (unlike the strong argumentation of Ravi Zachariah’s). He cites the notable people. thinkers and theologians as he gives the reasons why he is a Christian. Most of the time, he utilises the bible as the primary source of reference for his substantive.

John Scott is one of my favourite theological authors; The Cross is Christ is one of the few books that I felt deserving of an exceptional 6 stars. However, as a 30 year old I could not engage with the content of this book. I am aware that my peers generally hold post modern world views, and felt that his book would better serve a modern audience (like the readers of 2003, when it was first published). Alternatively, this title could also be useful to readers whose English is a second language or for people who hail from traditional and non-postmodern backgrounds. For engaging critical or intelligent thinkers, this book would however not be useful in bringing up logical positions or debates in apologetics. A better title to aid evangelism of postmodern people would perhaps be Timothy Keller’s Reason for God or C S Lewis’ Mere Christianity.

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