Book Review – Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (Jim Cymbala)

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This book tells the story of Brooklyn Tabernacle, an inner city church in New York that has grown from a handful of people to several thousands. However, the real subject of the book is prayer.

Cymbala is fiercely critical of much “church growth” thinking today. Over three quarters of church growth is actually Christians transferring from one church to another. He pleads with churches not to look for novel ideas (he particularly singles out strategic level spiritual warfare) or marketing strategies to grow, but to simply devote themselves to prayer. A large church devoid of the presence of God is worthless.

He tells of how Brooklyn Tabernacle started a weekly prayer meeting, and how this became the source of spiritual power and life for the church. He argues that the prayer meeting is the spiritual barometer of a church.

You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.

The book is divided between amazing stories of the power of prayer and biblical teaching on prayer. Cymbala is very honest about the struggles and difficulties they faced, particularly as they sought to minister to many people struggling with drug addictions.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of prayer. Only when we are full of the Spirit do we feel the need for God everywhere we turn.

Those who have read any of Leonard Ravenhill’s books will recognize the style. Cymbala is a no nonsense, give me God or I die kind of person. He calls the members of his church to be passionate about prayer and radical about holiness.

What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?

This provocative book deserves a hearing from anyone who desires to see their church grow. The only type of growth that is worth having is that which the Spirit of God brings, and we cannot expect such growth unless we birth it in passionate and persevering prayer. I didn’t agree with some of what he said about preaching (he downplayed its importance), but the reminder of the importance of prayer is a word in season for the modern church.

Book Review – The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (John Piper)

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This short book from John Piper contains three biographical messages based on the lives of Augustine, Luther and Calvin. Rather than attempt to tell their whole life stories, Piper focuses in on one of the main passions of each man.

He begins, however, with a chapter discussing their “flaws”. Augustine’s views on baptism and sex, Luther’s foul mouth and anti-semitism, and Calvin’s involvement in the execution of Servitus have caused many to dismiss these three men as having nothing worthwhile to teach us. Piper does not excuse their faults, but simply notes that God can and does use flawed saints.

The chapter on Augustine deals with his belief that it is sovereign joy in God that triumphs over joy in sin. There is also an interesting account of his debate with Pelagius over free will. Augustine believed that we are only free to move towards what we delight in, but we are not free to choose what we delight in.

The chapter on Luther narrows in on his diligent study of the Bible, based on his understanding that the Word of God comes to us in a book. He endured many trials and afflictions, but devoted himself to a phenomenal lifestyle of studying, teaching and writing about the Bible. Piper highlights the importance of learning the biblical languages to enable us to really wrestle with the meaning of the text.

The chapter on Calvin primarily highlights his passion for expository preaching. Everything he taught and wrote was as a systematic exposition of Scripture. He had a zeal for the glory of God to be displayed and this is what motivated his diligence in preaching verse by verse through many books of the Bible.

This book serves as a good introduction to the lives of these three influential men, and left me wanting to read more of their life stories and writings. It also serves as an inspiration and a challenge to keep persevering in studying the Bible, and making sure that the glory of God, and our delight in him are kept at a central place as we seek to understand its message.

Pride and Prayerlessness

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Most books on prayer observe that prayer functions as a declaration of our dependence on God. As we pray we acknowledge who God really is and who we really are. He is the Creator and we are the creatures. He is omnipotent and we are powerless.

Prayer therefore is an expression of humility, which set me thinking about what that says about me when I pray very little. Prayerlessness is an expression of pride and independence. When we don’t pray, we in effect say to God “I’m getting along just fine without you at the moment thanks, I’ll call you when I need you.”

The same is true for churches. A church that does not pray is a proud church. It is too comfortable with the way things are to feel the need to beseech God to intervene and change things.

“If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray…” (2 Chron 7:14)

Book Review – God’s Big Picture (Vaughan Roberts)

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  The concept of knowing the biblical “metanarrative” is one that seems to be supremely popular at the moment. Many theologians are saying that there is a desperate need for Christians to understand the big story of God’s redemptive purposes and how they fit in. I bought this book as I was planning to do a series of studies with my cell group on the “big picture”, particularly with regards to the question “what is the point of the Old Testament”.

Vaughan Roberts uses the concept of “kingdom” as the uniting theme of the whole Bible. The kingdom is God’s people living in God’s place under God’s rule and enjoying God’s blessing. This is then explored under eight headings:

  • The Pattern of the Kingdom (Creation)
  • The Perished Kingdom (the fall)
  • The Promised Kingdom (God’s promises to Abraham)
  • The Partial Kingdom (History of the nation of Israel)
  • The Prophesied Kingdom (future hope of OT prophets)
  • The Present Kingdom (life and ministry of Jesus)
  • The Proclaimed Kingdom (early church to present day)
  • The Perfected Kingdom (new heavens and new earth)

I had originally planned only to borrow ideas from this book, but I found myself being increasingly impressed with the organisation and flow of the argument. Each chapter has a short Bible study (two for the partial kingdom chapter), so the whole book could be covered in nine sessions.

Roberts has done a great job of keeping the vocabulary simple, and showing how various prophecies are fulfilled throughout the biblical story. There are a number of breakout boxes which fill in useful information about themes of the Bible or the books of the Bible. He frequently uses diagrams to help explain the concepts.

Tricky concepts such as the “now and not yet” nature of the kingdom, and how the church can fulfil OT prophecies that appear to be exclusively to do with Israel are explained in a straightforward manner. There are probably one or two aspects to his theology I could question, but overall I found this an excellent overview. Those who have already done some reading on the subject of “biblical metanarrative” may not learn anything new, but this is a fine example of how a big theological concept can be taught simply and systematically.

Book Review – God Inside Out (Simon Ponsonby)

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All the evangelical books on the Holy Spirit I have read seem to fall into two categories. First are the books by cessationists, who focus on the Spirit’s role within the godhead, his work in creation and regeneration and his ongoing role in sanctification. The charismatics on the other hand tend to quickly skip by these aspects so they can get to the more exciting and dynamic topics of power, baptism in the Spirit and gifts of the Spirit. I have been waiting for some time to find a book that adequately covers both sides of the story.

So I was quite excited to discover Simon Ponsonby’s God Inside Out book, which is subtitled, “An In-Depth Study of the Holy Spirit”. It is 332 pages long, which is long enough to cover a broad range of topics, but not so long that it effectively becomes a reference book. It had its genesis as a 15 week “school of theology” course he ran, and the continuity can be seen throughout the book.

Part One – The Holy Spirit and God

In the first section, he introduces the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, arguing for his divinity and showing the different biblical titles and pictures of the Spirit. One of the strengths of the book is the interest he has in church history, and there are lots of quotes from various church fathers and theologians. He has a good way of explaining complex debates in simple terms, and is willing to both learn from and critically evaluate the insights of previous generations.

In speaking of the person of the Spirit, Ponsonby portrays him as the “God we experience, the God who encounters us”. So while the discussion is theological and even academic, his passion that we would encounter God the Holy Spirit rather than merely understand him shines through.

We must not attempt to domesticate this wild wind of God – rather we must inhale deep draughts of this vivifying divine life, setting the sail to be carried wherever he wills.

In a chapter on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, he follows Pinnock in arguing that ”The Son’s self-emptying meant that Jesus was compelled to rely on the Spirit … the Son decided not to make use of divine attributes independently but experience what it would mean to be truly human.” I think this understanding of Jesus’ operating as a man under the power of the Spirit is vital to our own understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. However, he cautions us that the parallel is perhaps better drawn between Jesus and the church – together as the body of Christ we walk in his example as a people filled with the Spirit.

Part Two – The Holy Spirit and the World

This section deals with some tricky subjects, including the Spirit’s role in Creation, and asks questions of what ways in which the Spirit is active in the world outside of the church & believer. Ponsonby interacts with various liberal theologians who see the Spirit at work in secular movements for political justice as well as in works of art.

The Spirit-led ministry of Christ was to the whole of man, not just the soul. … We are not saved on the basis of our ministry to the needy, but proof that we are saved is found in our ministry to the needy.

Part Three – The Holy Spirit and the Christian

This section deals quite brilliantly with regeneration, and moves on to consider the Spirit’s role in sanctification, and our sonship. One interesting theme he develops is that our salvation does more than restore us to our pre-fallen state – we are raised to a higher place than Adam was, seated with God in the heavenly places, and co-heirs with Christ. He also laments that sanctification is being neglected in the church at present.

Regrettably in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, sanctification as a theological foundational doctrine, and holiness as a personal and communal imperative, do not seem to be high on the agenda. Holiness has become a dirty word, as the Church has become rather dirty.

The chapter on satisfaction seems to be a condensed version of his book “More: how you can have more of the Spirit when you already have everything in Christ“. I was struck by his observation that the “works of the flesh” list in Gal 5 can be seen as “human attempts to find the satisfaction which the Spirit alone brings.” He presents the satisfaction the Spirit brings as being “love unfathomable, joy unspeakable, peace unshakable and a stream unstoppable”.

The final chapter in this section is on power. He interprets Acts 1:8 as not promising power (i.e. boldness) for witness, but promising power (i.e. for attesting signs and wonders) that would accompany their witness. He argues that “God never withdrew the power of the Spirit to work signs and wonders”, drawing on Stanley Burgess’ research.

Part Found – The Holy Spirit and the Church

The final section is on the Spirit and the church. He starts off with an examination of the ever-controversial “baptism in the Spirit”, which he sees as being for joining to the church and equipping for ministry. It is this concept of being joined to the church that causes him to take up a “third wave” position, in seeing this as being another term for regeneration.

His arguments against a subsequence viewpoint are the main ones found elsewhere – it makes out that two-millennia of Christians are “second-class”, and sees 1 Cor 12:13 as insisting that Spirit baptism is a universal Christian experience. He claims that Luke uses “saved” and “granted repentance” interchangeably with “baptism in the Spirit”, but I did not find this convincing. He is also convinced that Acts 19 refers to unbelievers. I was disappointed to find that he had not interacted with Pawson’s view, which seems to have been ignored by every third wave theologian I have read.

Having said all this, the chapter takes a surprising turn as he considers the position of the Church Fathers who taught a post-conversion reception of the Spirit through the imposition of the laying-on of hands. He develops this theme to talk about a “divine equipping for service” or “transmission”, which “may come suddenly like a violent wind, or gradually like the rising of the sun.”

The chapter on gifts of the Spirit does not go into great depth, but gives broad definitions of many of the gifts listed in Scripture. They are not to be understood as natural giftings, but all are given supernaturally by the Spirit. The section on cessationism is very helpful as he tracks the gifts throughout history and considers why their use has been lacking for much of the time.

There are some other great chapters in this section. One on the Spirit and the Word considers how the Spirit speaks through Scripture, but also outside of Scripture. He suggests that the Puritans understood this better than the Reformers.

The book closes appropriately with the Spirit’s role in mission, from which it gets its title. The Spirit is “God inside out to bring those outside in”. The Spirit is not given simply for our personal benefit, or even for our church to be blessed, but that the world might be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a well-rounded theology of the Spirit that will engage your mind and heart, look no further. I have underlined quotes on almost every page. Its a much more stimulating way to learn about the Spirit than simply reading the relevant chapters in a systematic theology. Read it and get a bigger picture of who God the Holy Spirit really is.

Preaching Jesus

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I was listening to a Mark Driscoll sermon I downloaded recently and it was his first sermon back after he had been on holiday. He asked his congregation if the elders who had been preaching in his absence had remembered to tell them about Jesus. Of course the congregation replied that they had, to which Mark said “good, that means no one has to get fired”.

It sounded like another of his great one-liners, but on reflection, I think he really meant it. In fact, in another talk I recently listened to he made a guarantee that whatever Sunday you come to his church you will hear Jesus preached.

Now I can understand why Mark Driscoll annoys people. He calls things as he sees them, and doesn’t waste time qualifying his controversial statements. But the thing I like most about him is the Christ-centredness of all his preaching (my second favourite thing is that he preaches for over an hour in an age where our attention span is reckoned to be almost non-existent). I’ve listened to him preach through Ruth, 1 Corinthians, Nehemiah, and while discussing all kinds of diverse topics and applications, he always makes sure that there is an obvious christological focus. No one is left in any doubt of the importance of loving Jesus, knowing Jesus, trusting Jesus, following Jesus.

I know a lot of preachers like to listen to Mark Driscoll. He has a great way of putting theological truth across in a very contemporary way, that is accessible to outsiders, and puts a fresh perspective on things for those who have been in the church for a long time. He also has the courage to speak about those awkward topics that most would rather not mention. Many of these preachers are borrowing his vocabulary and his mannerisms to spice up their own messages. But the thing I hope most of all that people will copy is the passion that every time someone comes to church, they will hear about Jesus.

It grieves me that many evangelical or charismatic churches could preach whole sermon series with barely a reference to Jesus. He doesn’t get mentioned because “everyone knows all that”, or “we need to move on beyond the basics”, or “we already did a series on Jesus”. The church needs a lot more Mark Driscolls – the attitude is optional, but the message is fundamental.  We need preachers who will unapologetically proclaim the King and his Kingdom, instead of simply “the Church Leader and his Congregation”, or “the believer and his personal life”.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor 2:2)

Go and Do Likewise

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I’ve been preparing to lead a cell group meeting on the parable of the Good Samaritan, and have been thinking about the reasons that cause us to “walk on by” when we come across someone in need. I’ll post my notes up on my theology page when they’re done.

As I prepared it, it reminded me of a website I had been sent a link to, of someone asking for help because his daughter was seriously ill and the medical bills were out of control. Of course, there were excuses readily to hand. Could this be a scam? Ought there not to be some kind of charity that could give him a grant? Won’t my giving be inefficient because it is an American so there won’t be gift aid and I’ll have to pay a currency conversion fee on top of PayPal fees? And aren’t there a thousand even more pressing concerns?

But as I thought these thoughts, a line from Martin Layzell’s wonderful song “Walk as Jesus Walked” kept running through my head.

To see the poor and not pass by is to walk as Jesus’ walked.

For whatever reason, this particular need had come across my path. And every time the song came into my head, I was reminded of it. Finally, today, I made a small donation. It would have been very easy, and quite understandable (some might even say wise!) to pass by. But I felt the Spirit prompted me to practice what I was preaching, and to help without making excuses.

Heidi Baker has a saying…

We should stop every single time for each person

I need to learn to stop just one time.

Jesus closed the parable of the good Samaritan with a simple command:

Go, and do likewise

Baptism in the Holy Spirit Redux

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It has been a while since I last posted anything on Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The topic has come up again recently in my reading so perhaps its time to post some more thoughts.

First of all, I finally got round to reading Jesse Philips paper on Subsequence. Don’t be put off by the fact that this is just an undergraduate essay – this is a very mature and persuasive defense of the Pentecostal view of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as subsequent to regeneration (without insisting on tongues as an evidence). I will also be hoping to engage with Simon Ponsonby’s modified third wave view in his “God Inside Out” book at some point on my blog.

But today I just want to share some recent thoughts on the meaning of the word “baptism” and “filling”, when applied to the Holy Spirit.

It is universally agreed that whatever Baptism in the Holy Spirit (BHS) refers to, it can also be described with a number of equivalent terms – “clothed with power”, “received the Spirit”, “filled with the Spirit”, “fallen on them” and so on. In other words, BHS was not a technical term in the minds of the NT writers, but a descriptive term – describing the nature of the event.

Baptism of course literally means “plunging”, “immersion” etc. But we also seem to have attached the meaning of “initiation” to it. i.e. BHS is the “initial” reception or power encounter with the HS.

But what if the NT writers who use the term BHS are not thinking of “initiation” at all, but simply drawing on the metaphor of the Spirit as water. This image has good biblical pedigree both in the OT and NT (c.f. Isa 44:3, John 4:14, 7:38-39). I recently noticed that every single reference to BHS also includes a mention of baptism in water in the very same verse/sentence. See (Matt 3:11,16; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16,21; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 2:38; 8:16; 10:47; 11:16; 19:2-5).

The one exception is of course the famous 1 Cor 12:13, which nevertheless also picks up the image of the Spirit as water saying “we were all made to drink of one Spirit”.

Could we therefore argue that when the terms “baptism” and (I also think) ”filling” are used in relation to the Spirit, we are to think primarily of the following imagery – ourselves as a cup / vessel, and the Spirit as water.

Mark 7:4 says that the Pharisees had various customs including washing cups, literally “baptising cups”. I fill a cup when I pour water into it to drink. I baptise it when I put it into the washing up bowl to be cleaned. If a cup is filled, then it must be deliberately tipped over for anything to flow out. If a cup is baptised, then it can’t help but overflow as it comes back out the water.

If this is indeed the picture that the NT writers have in their minds as they use terms such as baptism in the Holy Spirit and filling with the Spirit then perhaps I can draw the following implications from the analogy…

“Baptism in the Holy Spirit” then refers to such an overwhelming flooding of the Spirit that something flows out. Pentecostals say tongues, I would say some form of speech – tongues, prophecy, praise, crying “Abba Father”, preaching, witness etc. BHS always entails being “filled”, and thus can be spoken of in such a way.

Being “filled with the Spirit” however can also refer to something that is, externally speaking, not so dramatic, such as when a cup is filled with water from a jug. It speaks of the Spirit giving us that internal joy and spiritual resource that enables us to pour ourselves out in ministry, witness, service, but may not necessarily overflow at the very moment of filling. It is this filling that we are to continually seek (Eph 5:18), which may of course entail a power encounter (i.e. a baptism) or may simply be a “filling”.

According to this scheme therefore, a person is regenerated by a work of the Spirit and indeed filled with the Spirit at conversion but may not necessarily be simultaneously “baptised”. If a new convert had never experienced a “baptism” in the Spirit, (though they may have been filled), the church leaders would naturally lay hands on them and pray for them that they would receive this experience that brings assurance and propels into ministry and mission.

Hence 1 Cor 12:13 speaks to a normal charismatic church – all have known this “baptising” into the Spirit. As a believer goes on in their Christian life, they are to seek regular (daily) fillings with the Spirit, and God in his grace may occasionally also baptise (immerse) them subsequent times in his Spirit in a way that again results in spontaneous vocal overflow.

I realise that in saying that I’ve probably made myself unpopular with both Pentecostals (because on this view you could be baptised in the Holy Spirit multiple times), and with third wave (because the BHS is not equivalent to conversion). As usual I welcome comments. I’m sure there are plenty of objections you can come up with. I might turn this into a more formal essay at some point, but I will let my ideas be refined by criticism first.

Theological Training Courses

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I have a question for my readers (yes, both of you!) today. Does your church run any kind of theological training course, and if so, what content does it have? I have been looking around at various things going on and noticed that most church theology courses tend to run for about 10-15 “sessions”, which either run on an evening, or for half a day on a Saturday. What I find more interesting, though, is what material is covered.

Here’s four distinct approaches I have noticed, with some reflection on their advantages and disadvantages.

1. Foundational

These courses don’t actually teach theology as such, but attempt to give people the tools with which they can study theology for themselves. Typically this will involve a focus on epistemology and hermeneutics, along with some history of the Canon of Scripture and why Christians believe it. The Theology Program is perhaps the best example of this I have come across.

Advantages – if it works well, you will have equipped people to think critically about their own beliefs and evaluate others

Disadvantages - many churches would rather give people “the answers” on a theological topic & feel uncomfortable with people “deconstructing” their theology

- it takes skilled teachers to do this well

2. Systematic

This is perhaps the most common approach. The course runs like a mini Systematic Theology, with one lecture covering each major topic. Newfrontiers has a “Word Plus” course that runs along these lines.

Advantages – Systematic Theology textbooks will provide a wealth of source material to teach from & can also be used as a course text

- churches can choose the topics they will cover, allowing them to explain their denominational stance on particular “key” issues

- each lecture can be taught by a different person without a significant loss of continuity

Disadvantages – not sufficient time to cover any one topic in much detail

- can simply become an exercise in giving people the “right opinions” on any given topic rather than encouraging them to think for themselves.

3. Topical

This simply takes one sub-topic of theology and covers it in depth. This might be pneumatology, or ethics, or ecclesiology etc. I have recently been listening to the St Aldates School of Theology lectures on eschatology which take this approach.

Advantages – Gives enough time to really cover all the aspects of a topic in depth.

- Allows time to reflect on differing opinions and come to strong convictions

- If a different topic is tackled each course, the same people can keep coming back to learn new stuff, rather than simply attending once

Disadvantages – Requires significant preparation, as ready-made course material is harder to come by

- Works best if led by one person as it needs significant continuity week to week

4. Biblical

Churches that are into expository teaching may well choose this option. It is more often termed a “School of the Word” than of theology. Essentially, you work your way through a book of the Bible verse by verse or chapter by chapter.

Advantages – course materials / study guides / commentaries are readily available

- can be used to teach good hermeneutical method

- gets people stirred up to do Bible study, and gets people more Bible-literate

- as with the topical approach, people can go on as many courses as they like if the book chosen changes each time.

Disadvantages – can mean that some of those “whole Bible” big topics of systematic theology never get addressed in depth because they are only alluded to in passing

Questions

Does your church (current or past) run any theological training courses?

What approach does it take?

Have you been on it and did it work well?

Forthcoming from Baker Academic

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I must confess that I spend far too much time looking at the “coming soon” pages on various publishers websites, planning what I will buy and read next after I have finished (!) the huge mountain of books by my bedside.

Baker Academic were always one of the worst for making it easy to find what was coming soon, and keeping it up to date, but they have recently redeemed themselves by posting a comprehensive guide to their forthcoming releases in the format of three PDFs.

Here’s what’s on my shopping list…

Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament edited by G. K. Beale & D. A. Carson. I’ve heard rumours about this one for years, and it finally is set to appear in Nov 2007. At 1,152 pages and with a very distinguished list of contributors this is surely set to become the standard work looking at OT use in the NT.

Baker Exegetical Commentary on Acts by Darryl Bock. Coming in October 2007 this is a welcome follow-on from the man who wrote what is widely recognised as the premier evangelical work on Luke.

Baker Exegetical Commentary on Matthew by David Turner (Feb 2008). I don’t know much about David Turner, but the BEC commentary series is rapidly becoming one of my favourites. Combined with R T France’s recent volume on Matthew in the NICNT series, this is a good time to be studying the first gospel.

Reformed and Always Reforming by Roger E Olson (Oct 2007). This is one of those books that could go either way. It is subtitled “a postconservative approach to evangelical theology” and looks at the contributions of theologians such as Grenz, Vanhoozer, Pinnock and Volf. I’ve come across postevangelical, postchristian and postcharismatic, but postconservative is a new one on me.

Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered by James Wilhoit (Feb 2008). Another book with an arresting title. The point seems to be that much writing on “spiritual formation” focuses on the individual Christian’s discipleship with little or no reference to the church.

Central Themes in Biblical Theology edited by Scot Hafemann and Paul House. This covers seven themes in 336 pages – “The Covenant Relationship”, “The Commands of God”, “The Atonement”, “The Servant of the Lord”, “The Day of the Lord”, “The People of God” and “The History of Redemption”. This looks like it would be good as a reference to use for an overview of these subjects that repeatedly crop up throughout the Bible.

The Jesus Legend by Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory Boyd. Subtitled “A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition”, this comes with glowing reviews from historical Jesus heavyweights such as Richard Bauckham and Craig Evans. It looks like a genuinely useful contribution to the debate although at 480 pages it may be too long for the casual reader to tackle.

The Evolution Controversy by Thomas Fowler and Daniel Kuebler. This book is designed to present the different sides in the debate rather than to argue for one particular position. I’ve been looking for a book that will do this for a while, as I have not kept up to date understanding all the different approaches found amongst evangelicals.

Getting to Know the Church Fathers, An Evangelical Introduction by Bryan Litfin (Oct 2007) looks like it will be a good way to start learning about the church fathers from an evangelical perspective, getting the basic facts on their lives and teaching without getting too bogged down by the sheer volume of their writings (I got Augustine’s City of God recently and it is huge!).