Resources on Book Reviews
In the early years of American involvement in World War II, only the Marine Corps suffered a higher fatality rate than the United States Merchant Marine. The Merchant Marine delivered critical military supplies from around the world to besieged Britain and the Soviet Union. Without the courage of its mariners, the war with Germany would surely have been lost. To say that these men were courageous does not do justice to their ordeals, sacrifices, and achievements. Early in the the war their vessels sailed in isolation, making them vulnerable targets for German U-boats. Even after the development of the convoy system, U-boat wolfpacks slipped undetected into convoys and wreaked destruction. When men survived the torpedoing of their ships, chances of…
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I love practical ministry books, but there can be a downside: detached from scriptural theology, they become manipulative, promoting worldly methodologies to achieve ends that are at odds with the holiness of life that God seeks for his church. Ultimately, the minister and his work must be shaped by the character of God, who has revealed himself in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. True, a minister must understand the needs of his church and community as he pursues his work. But every plan must also be brought to the touchstone of Scripture and tested for its biblical fidelity. To that end, pastors will find Theology for Ministry: How Doctrine Affects Pastoral Life and Practice a most helpful book.…
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x I’m keen on Puritan and Reformed works in pastoral theology. At their best, they never separate three indissolubly linked areas of ministerial life: personal piety, preaching, and pastoral care. Albert N. Martin’s three volume work is a notable contribution to this great tradition. Since volume one appeared in 2018, I have made volume one, The Man of God: His Calling and Godly Life, a required text in my first-year Pastoral Ministry course, and have found helpful lecture materials in volume two, The Man of God: His Preaching and Teaching Labors (links to both reviews in Reformed Faith & Practice provided). Martin’s knowledge and use of classic texts in pastoral theology is extensive. I tell students that were they to write down the texts he cites…
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When I finish reading or listening to a book, I add it to my annual “books read” list. My 2022 list is at the end of this post. 2022 Reading Highlights Harry Lee Poe’s The Completion of C. S. Lewis surveys the final eighteen years of Lewis’s life. The author provides concise information about the books and articles, placing them in the context of Lewis’s unfolding life and the broader world of English literature. The circumstances of Lewis’s transition from Oxford to Cambridge are thoroughly reviewed. Attention is given to his many friendships and marriage, late in life, to Joy Davidman Gresham. Regarding Lewis, Helen Gardner wrote, “It was impossible to be indifferent to him” (75). And I am not. His books have enriched…
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The Completion of C. S. Lewis: From War to Joy (1945-1963), by Harry Lee Poe. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022, 413 pages, $34.16, cloth. Sometimes work forces me to read. Lectures and sermons must be prepared, and reading is indispensable to the process. Whether I find the reading especially enjoyable or not, the commentaries and theological books and articles must be attended to. But apart from work, I read mostly for pleasure, and Harry Lee Poe’s three-volume biography of Lewis has been for me sheer pleasure. In addition to surveying the life of one of the twentieth century’s great writers and formidable Christian apologists, I have had opportunity during the past year to read for the first time several of Lewis’s…
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In his new book, The Birth of Christ, John Fesko gives readers five finely crafted and theologically rich meditations on the meaning our Savior’s birth. I’ll point to but one of the book’s many gems. The Virgin Mary treasured the Old Testament. Its language shaped her praise. Reflecting on the Magnificat, Fesko writes: Bible knowledge is not only for future pastors but for every Christian. Children learn to speak by repeating their parents’ words back to them. We can apply the same principle to the children of God. We learn to speak words of praise by repeating God’s own Word back to Him. Do we know enough Scripture to speak biblically shaped words of praise back to our heavenly Father?…
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