Review: God's New Society: The Message of Ephesians

God's New Society: The Message of Ephesians by John R.W. Stott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This commentary appears to deviate away from Stott’s usual high quality titles that are epitomised by clear exposition, engaging illustrations and deep theological reflection. Published in 1979, this book has blessed many generators of students, pastors and preachers prior to the publication of newer commentaries. An updating of the illustrations and language would be helpful in capturing the attention of modern readers and assisting in their comprehension of the biblical text. It would also be more useful if Stott transposed what he perceives to be poor translation choices against more popular modern translations such as the ESV, NLT or NIV – as compared to the older AV, RSV and NEB translations as found in the book. On the same note, the title’s age renders it unable to interact with modern scholarship that has since been published, and references are made to scholars whose names the present day reader would probably not be familiar with.

Before the advent of the excellent commentaries by Walter Liefeld's 1997 and Clinton Arnold's 2010 excellent commentaries utilise modern analogies and cite present world events. Liefeld’s IVPNTC commentary is superior in brevity and clarity – teachers and pastors would find it useful for lesson/sermon preparation. Arnold’s ZECNT commentary is superior in depth and theological reflection – advanced readers and scholars would find it useful. R Kent Hughes' 1990 title from the Preaching the Word Series is also superior exposition and has surpassed Stott’s title.

Amidst the book’s various issues, there are some timeless truths and reflections that are still relevant and helpful to reflect upon today. Looking back in time, this reviewer is heartened that in his exposition of Eph. 3:7, Stott extends grace to a movement he did not agree with or endorse, thereby effectively illustrating the point of the passage – that “the unity of the church is due to charis, God’s grace having reconciled us to himself; but the diversity of the church is due to charismata, God’s gifts distributed to church members”:

From this word charismata that the adjective ‘charismatic’ is derived. The so-called ‘charismatic movement’, although controversial in a number of its distinctive emphases, has without doubt been used by God to bring spiritual renewal to many churches and individual Christians. Nevertheless, we should register a biblical protest against the designation ‘charismatic movement’, whether its adherents themselves chose it or were given it. ‘Charismatic’ is not a term which can be accurately applied to any group or movement within the church, since according to the New Testament the whole church is a charismatic community. It is the body of Christ, every single member of which has a gift (charisma) to exercise or function to perform. (Pg. 155-6)

Furthermore, the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches today would do well to pay heed to and prevent much abuse from Stott’s timeless advice regarding God’s raising up of prophets and prophetesses (4:11) by “carefully test[ing] by Scripture and by the known character of the speaker, and that the regular, systematic, thoughtful exposition of the Bible is much more important for the building up of the people of God.” (Pg. 162-3).

This reviewer suggests that much of the abuse and misuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially regarding words of knowledge and ‘commands’ from church leaders, could be avoided if Holy Scripture is the lens by which all such words are examined by. A church would perhaps enjoy the best of the charismatic and reformed worlds – when they are fed a diet of faithful exposition of Scripture in the environment of expectant supernatural faith-expanding operation of the Holy Spirit in ministry of the lost and of the congregation.

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Review: God's Timing for Your Life: Seeing the Seasons of Your Life Through God's Eyes

God's Timing for Your Life: Seeing the Seasons of Your Life Through God's Eyes by Dutch Sheets
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This tiny little book provided a really easy and quick read! Weighing in at 60-odd pages, it is highly accessible and pitched at charismatic non-readers. I really enjoyed the many illustrations, though I doubted the veracity of some of them, which were probably more anecdotal.

I felt that some of the personal accounts could have been further elaborated, for example, I wondered what was the outcome of the rumours resulting in 40% of his congregation leaving on pages 30-1. I also felt that his excessive use of Greek undermined the utility of the book, because bible scholars with a working knowledge of Greek and Hebrew would often stick to explaining in english for the layperson to understand; it is often those who know little biblical languages that tend to cite word after word after word of Greek and Hebrew.

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Review: Acts of the Holy Spirit

Acts of the Holy Spirit by C. Peter Wagner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having read numerous scholarly commentaries (that are often a challenge to read because they are toward the deep end of the technical spectrum), I found this gem of a book to be highly accessible and most engaging; through Wagner's passionate writing, I caught a sense of how exciting the high-stakes events in the book of Acts were. The real-world illustrations and examples provided brought to life the conceptual and the theological; providing the reader with a glimpse of how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers today.

However, I felt that the quality of the scholarship diminished toward the final chapters. Wagner clarifies that as these sections were not the focus of his commentary, he thus skips through the penultimate sections of the book of Acts with less emphasis and fewer comments. I understand that decision he made, because at about 600 pages this book is already relatively unappealing to most laypeople and pastors; it is a pity that 3 volume version of this title is out of print because the bite sized chunks provide for a far easier read. Finally, it would be of great value should Wagner release a revised edition whereby interaction is made with the numerous commentaries that have been published in the recent years - for example Darrell Bock's BECNT (2007), David Peterson's PNTC (2009), Eckhard Schnabel's ZECNT (2012) and of course Craig Keener's massive non-series 4 volume work (2012-2015).

Nevertheless, I regard this book to be a 5 star (out of 5) classic and a most valuable title that has more than earned its place on my bookshelf (books with 1 to 4 stars would be sold off/donated). I thoroughly enjoyed the read - so much so that I bought a copy to keep (the copy I read was borrowed). In conclusion, because of the highly engaging and accessible content, I heartily recommend this book to laypeople, church leaders and pastors for the purposes of inspiration, study and application of principles from the book of Acts.

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Review: Resurrection: The Capstone in the Arch of Christianity

Resurrection: The Capstone in the Arch of Christianity by Hank Hanegraaff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book as part of reading material for a research paper. Incidentally the book I read just before this was Strobel's The Case for Easter, which is actually an excerpt from the bestselling The Case for Christ. While Hanegraaff does make some unique contributions and substantives on his own, it seemed that many of the citations were secondary material from Strobel. Seeing the Gold Medallion Book Award and the many pages of recommendations by famous scholars, I however felt that the book was underwhelming for the amount of accolades and good reviews it received.

The distinguishing factor from Strobel's more popular level material would be the more technical aspects of Part 2 (Defense of the Resurrection of Creation) and Part 3 (Definite Answers to Questions Regarding the Resurrection). However, I felt that Part 1 (Defense of the Resurrection of Creation) is far too brief before the hard hitting matter comes along.

That's not to say that this is a mediocre book, it's one of the better ones on the topic of the resurrection, just that it is not brilliant. I will still recommended Strobel's to anybody who wants to get a grasp on the subject.

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Review: The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection

The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For the purposes of a research paper, I picked up this book alongside probably 30 or so other books, journal articles and encyclopedia articles and this was by far my favourite. The others were mostly either a challenge to read or skimmed the surface; they were either full of complicated theological matter or were too simplistic. Strobel pitched it just right - he pens in an engaging and easy-to-follow manner and yet dived in deep into the subject matter.

An able writer himself, Strobel provides an insightful introduction to each of three segments - (1) Did Jesus really die on the cross, (2) Was Jesus body really missing from his tomb and (3) Did Jesus appear to people after his death on the cross. The highlight of the book is probably when taps upon the expertise of Alexander Metherell, William Lane Craig and Gary Habermas, providing a summary of the interviews he conducted with them when he was still a skeptic. I was surprised that I enjoyed the read (because I wrongly expected popular level books to be mediocre)!

Like today's great comedians who entertain stadium-sized crowds, this book ended a series of exciting storytelling with a bang - one that left this reader highly encouraged and inspired. While the rest of the book appealed to one's intellect and reasoning, the final story tugs on the heartstrings.

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Review: Theologygrams: Theology explained in diagrams

Theologygrams: Theology explained in diagrams by Rich Wyld
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is probably a humourous, light-hearted take at something in the vein of the very serious and informative Visual Theology by Tim Challies. From the content, my guess is that the target audience are British Anglican Christians.

I really like the idea and creativity behind it, (and it was great fun reviewing this book after going through other more wordy ones), but unfortunately only two out of all the diagrams in the book were brilliant - namely the Matthew 13 Parable on p46-7 and the 7 churches in Rev. 2-3 on p86-7. The rest in my opinion, were not as insightful or amusing.

It indeed is a great pity, because when I checked out Rich Wyld's blog (theologygrams.wordpress.com), I found that I like many of the unpublished charts that were posted since the book was published. Hopefully in subsequent print revisions, more of these later ones posted in 2016-7 be added. Pop culture perhaps has moved on since the first edition was published in 2014. If however you found this book appealing, I recommend you check out Adam4d's work as well!

I received this book from Inter-Varsity Press for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

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Review: 5 Things Every Parent Needs to Know about Their Kids and Sex

5 Things Every Parent Needs to Know about Their Kids and Sex by Anne Marie Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How I wish that this book existed for my parents to read so I didnt have to find out what sex (and the related topics) was all about on my own through the internet! This book is well written, easy-to-follow and relatively engaging with the numerous personal stories and real-life accounts from people she interacts with. I felt myself agreeing repeatedly at the propositions she tries to make and hope that there will be more books like this in time to come! Also, at the end of each topic/chapter, Miller includes a Q&A by an expert on the subject matter, which is quite a nice touch.

Miller's own struggle during her adolescent days lends an authentic touch that connects with the millennial. As a 30 year old newlywed without any kids, I appreciated how informative this book is, not because I did not know most of the apps (eg. Snapchat, Tinder, Omegle) that Miller introduces to the clueless non-tech savvy parents, but because the information about the utility and dangers of each app will come very useful for them!

The deduction of 1 star is bordering on nitpicking, but I felt that some sections were more draggy and long-winded than they had to be, so if subsequent editions display more editing and brevity, i'd be happy to edit the rating to 5 stars.

I received this book from Baker Publishing Group's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

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