Book Reviews

Christianity at the Crossroads, How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church by Michael J. Kruger, Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 2018, 256 pp. Christianity at the Crossroads is a well-written and interesting book; scholarly, but also accessible on a popular level. In it Michael Kruger explains important 2nd century church developments, proceeding topic-by-topic

Absolute Predestination by Jerome Zanchius, Grand Rapids, MI: Sovereign Grace, 1971, 126 pp. Absolute Predestination is a translation in English from the original Latin text of Jerome Zanchius (1516-1590). It presents a strong Calvinistic view on God’s will, election, and reprobation. Modern “Calvinists” who teach the error of the so-called “well-meant offer of the Gospel”

No Final Conflict, The Bible Without Error in All That it Affirms by Francis A. Schaeffer, L’Abri Pamphlets, InterVarsity Press, 1975, 48 pp. While the subtitle of this pamphlet does properly indicate that it is about biblical inerrancy, that main title more accurately reflects the specific intentions of the author, Francis Schaeffer, who contends that there

A Reverence for Wood by Eric Sloane, New York: Ballantine, 1965, 110 pp. Having previously read and enjoyed Eric Sloane’s Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake—1805, it was an easy-to-make purchasing decision when I found his A Reverence for Wood for a dime at my local thrift store. Sloane (1905-1985) was a prolific

Pushing the Antithesis, The Apologetic Methodology of Greg L. Bahnsen, ed. Gary DeMar, Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007, 285 pp. There is much that is good in this book, though it is marred by significant use of and dependence on the “transcendental argument.” Pushing the Antithesis begins with a foreword by its editor, Gary

Children of Doom, A sobering look at the commune movement by John W. Drakeford, Nashville: Broadman, 1972, 143 pp. The “Children of God” run “an apocalyptically-minded youth commune” and “Training Center” near the West Texas ghost town of Thurber. It is a place where, for protection against Cowboy-types who have harassed them in the past,

Creation Regained, Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview by Albert M. Wolters, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985, 98 pages. Al Wolters writes Creation Regained from the “Reformational” tradition of the Dutch philosopher, Herman Dooyeweerd. While I’ve found Dooyeweerd’s works to be nearly unreadable, Wolters has put together a concise and well-written book. This Reformational movement is

Prophecy and the Church, An Examination of the Claim of Dispensationalists that the Christian Church is a Mystery Parenthesis which Interrupts the Fulfillment to Israel of the Kingdom Prophecies of the Old Testament, by Oswald T. Allis, Presbyterian and Reformed, 1945, Third Printing 1972, 339 pp. In Prophecy and The Church Oswald T. Allis argues

The Gospel As Taught By Calvin by R. C. Reed, Grand Rapids: Baker, Reprinted 1979, 159 pp. Contrary to what one might think based on the title, this book is not a analysis of Calvin’s written comments on the Gospel. While the author’s understanding of Calvinism is on display, he almost never actually quotes from Calvin’s

Getting the Message, A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible by Daniel M. Doriani, Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1996, 255 pp. I had recently contacted Dr. Doriani, who teaches at Covenant Seminary, to ask him about what courses on American Presbyterian history he taught there. In our email conversation he mentioned his appreciation for Gordon

The Story of Philosophy, The lives and opinions of the greatest philosophers by Will Durant, New York: Time, 1926, 2nd ed. 1962, 497 pp. It is never a poor use of one’s time to read a history of philosophy. Even for learned philosophers (which I am not) there must value in such an undertaking. There