Book Review: Basil of Caesarea: His Life and Impact by Marvin Jones

This is one of the most difficult books I have had to read in a long time.  It was difficult primarily because of my unfamiliarity with world history and the subsequent difficulty in knowing the position the characters play, and partly because of the way the book is laid out.  The book is not chronological or linear, except in an iterative way.  Not having a detailed table of contents made it difficult to see the development of thought and the flow of the book.

For these reasons, I would suggest reading a hardcopy of the book, rather than with an eBook reader.  I found the eBook version hard to reread previous sections and keep track of where I was in the general framework of the book. Below is my attempt to give a rough outline that might prove helpful to those reading the book.

1.       Basil’s life: An overview

2.       Conversion and theology

a.       Salvation

                                                                           i.      Asceticism

                                                                         ii.      Asceticism, Arianism and the church

                                                                        iii.      Theological development(Homoiousios, Homoousios and Hypostasis phases)

                                                                       iv.      Bishop Basil

                                                                         v.      Marcellus

                                                                       vi.      Marcellus, Athanasius, and Basil

b.      Pastoral Public Ministry

                                                                           i.      Ministry of the Word

                                                                         ii.      Worship

                                                                        iii.      Preaching

                                                                       iv.      Continuing Theological Development

                                                                         v.      Reward in heaven

                                                                       vi.      Basil’s contribution to Evangelicalism (The Scriptures and the Church)

                                                                      vii.      Theological Development

3.       Solace in the desert

a.       Intro

b.      Saint Anthony, the Anchoritic monk

c.       Pachomius, the Coenobitic monk

d.      Monastic trip

e.      Monastic reform

                                                                           i.      The rationale for coenobitic reform

f.        Basil’s contribution to Evangelicalism

                                                                           i.      Holiness in the church

                                                                         ii.      The moral Rules and the Large Asceticon

4.       Development of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

a.       The Nicene Creed

b.      The Arian resurgence

c.       Athanasius’s contribution to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit

d.      Didymus the Blind

e.      Contribution to Evangelicalism

5.       Basil’s Contribution to the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

a.       Arianism in the Late 360s

b.      Basil’s On the Holy Spirit

c.       Prepositions and deity

d.      Council of Constantinople

6.       Basil’s Hexaemeron

a.       Allegory versus literal

b.      The witness of the Hexaemeron

c.       Richard Lim’s theory

d.      The Content of the Hexaemeron

e.      The sovereignty of God

f.        Six literal days for creation

g.       Creation instantaneous and ex nihilio

h.      Young earth and evolution

i.         Contribution of the Hexaemeron

j.        Contribution to Evangelicalism

7.       Basil Speaks Today

a.       Ecclesiastical contributions

b.      Theological contributions

Overall I found the book quite helpful in understanding the importance of knowing the struggles that are behind the very concise, precisely worded creeds left to us by our forefathers in the faith. In addition, I found the excellent discussion of monasticism and asceticism quite helpful and relevant to the issues now facing the church.  One of my favorite quotes from the book (Kindle location 1301-1302)

“Again, Basil seemed to reject the isolationism of the monastic movement simply because his devotion to the Scriptures compelled him to think ecclesiologically.”

I received this book for free from Christian Focus via Cross Focused Reviews for this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Book Review: Active Spirituality: grace and effort in the christian life by Brian G. Hedges

In a progression of fictional letters, author and pastor Brian Hedges explores the tension between grace and effort in the Christian life.  In this way Brian helps a fictional Chris understand the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints as he seeks to grow in his walk with God in the midst of temptation and discouragement.  I thought the book started out a bit slow, but by the third chapter, I was hooked.

One of the striking features of the book, is Brian’s use of solid Christian fiction and nonfiction to help illustrate the many scripture references he uses.  For example, in the chapter on backsliding, after carefully laying out the scriptures in which God reminds us to remember his saving acts, Brian uses the memorable story of Jill seeking the lost prince of Narnia in C.S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair.  In this, and other chapters are frequent uses of Paul Bunyan’s The Pilgrims Progress, several of C.S. Lewis’s books, excerpts from John Owen, John Newton, J. I. Packer, Leland Ryken, Charles Spurgeon, Octavius Winslow, William Gurnal, Gordon Fee, Anne Lamott, Annie Dillard, Augustine, William Bridges, John Calvin, D. A. Carson, and many others. He also uses Baptist and Presbyterian church standards and hymns.

In no way do these other illustrations get in the way of or take away from the impact of scripture. The illustrations taken from literature serve to add weight and clarity. Brian is quite pastoral and not wooden, shallow or dry. The letters have the feel of good literature, in that they evidence progression in the emotional life of Chris and his relationship to the letter writer Brian. They realistically deal with the ups and downs of the Christian life and thus serve as an encouragement to us who need assurance.

The book has two very useful bookends.  The first chapter is an opening letter to the reader explaining how the resurgence of Reformed theology has increased the awareness of the extent of grace not only in beginning the Christian life, but in living the Christian life.  While he applauds this, his experience has been that this truth can seem to dismiss the necessity of effort in continuing as a Christian.  In laying out the definition of doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, he explains perseverance as requiring both grace and effort in order to find our place in heaven.

The last two chapters contain more detailed information on the sources he quotes.  Many of the works noted in the Bibliography should be on the new Christian’s reading list, and contain both old and new works well worth reading.

Are you struggling with assurance or the relationship between grace and effort in the Christian life? Then this book is one you should read.

I received this book for free from Shepherd Press via Cross Focused Reviews for this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Book Review - Bible Revival: Recommitting Ourselves To One Book by Kenneth Berding

Note: Since writing this review the website mentioned (http://biblefluency.com) is now complete! It leads you through a 12 week program that will not only qualify you as biblically literate, but will also train you to recite the storyline of the whole bible. Visit the website and view the free videos, music and other free resources rather than reading the book reviewed. The program is suitable to do as a family. A suggestion: use it as a ready-made Family Worship/Devotions. It is best for Junior High to Senior Adult, but can easily be adapted for younger children.

I grew up at a time when most people knew some basic facts about the bible.  My parents could expect almost anyone I encountered to remind me how my behavior was not in line with that required by the God of the Bible.  But that day is long gone.  Kenneth Berding has written a useful resource for the church to supplement efforts to increase Bible Literacy. It is a book “about learning, living and loving the Bible that would teach and stir the hearts of our people” says author, Professor and church elder, Berding.

This book lays out the underlying spiritual causes of the present predicament of Bible Illiteracy. As such, it is not a devotional book, nor a how to interpret the Bible book, nor a book about the doctrine of Scripture.  It is a book that makes a case for hearing, valuing, understanding, applying and obeying the scriptures. Each chapter has a “Digging Deeper” section that uncovers the spiritual issues related to the topic. Kenneth Berding closes each chapter with a prayer and questions quite suitable for small group bible study or to gauge your own understanding of the chapter.

He follows these chapters with two helpful appendices, one on memorizing the scriptures and another making an announcement of an upcoming Bible Fluency program to be released by Weaver Press in the summer of 2014. 

Here are the topics of the 6 chapters.

Chapter 1 – Hearing the Word.  How little this generation knows about the Bible and the underlying causes.

Chapter 2 - Valuing the Word. The origin of our underlying distrust of the Bible.

Chapters 3 and 4 - Understanding and Applying the Word.  Why we struggle to understand and apply the bible. He provides a framework for how to do so.

Chapter 5: - Obeying the Word.  Here he addresses sentimentality, avoidance, the opinion that I have the right to decide and the possibility that one is still not at peace with God.

Chapter 6: Speaking the Word. Berding issues a call to not only read, learn and obey the bible, but to talk about it regularly with each other.

The book is quite readable, well laid out and has the right amount of personal stories as illustrations. His use of scripture makes his arguments convincing.  I would not hesitate to use this book as a starting point for developing a bible fluency program for yourself or your church.

I received a free copy of this book from Weaver Book Company via Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for an honest review.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I just finished a  wonderful memoir written by a gracious and intelligent author. This was a wonderful read and break from my normal genre. There are a number of reviews on Amazon. 

I most certainly would rate this one high. I grew fond of the Dad and wish that he had the tools to deal with the issues underlying his addiction to alcohol.  My emotions were like water in a bathtub when entering or exiting; sometimes great admiration for his sensitivity and creativity but swamped by depth of sorrow for his cluelessness or choice to ignore the needs of his family.

Here was a family that homeschooled without calling it that.

What You Really Need In Marriage

What You Really Need In Marriage

Book Review: Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection by Thabiti M. Anyabwile

A very ill 10 year old grandson, a father approaching his 90^th birthday and the upcoming Good Friday and Easter Holidays made me eager to gaze upon the mystery and meaning of Christ’s death. In that readiness, I was not disappointed as I read through Pastor Anyabwile’s new book.

I am a frequent listener of sermons, so I felt quite comfortable reading this collection of sermons reworked as meditations. Throughout the book, reference is made to numerous scriptures, reminding us of the unity of the history of redemption that exists from Old to New Testament and providing that much needed pause to gaze upon the necessity of the Christ’s death, the abandonment of God, the death of death, the resurrection and the way of knowing how these things are really true for us personally.

I thought Pastor Anyabwile does a particularly good job in chapter 2 of making relevant to today’s readers the acts and words of Jesus at the time of his death and resurrection.  Using the part of the armed forces creed that says “Leave no man behind”, he shows how we are taken home by God’s willingness to go to great lengths to bring members of his family to heaven.

This book is not for the reader antagonistic to the Christian faith. It does not attempt to convince, as much as provide good meat to chew on and be nourished by. And much as a good meal brings refreshment and new strength to a hungry body, these meditations will help bring solid hope and clearer definition to what death is and what it is not.

Each chapter is followed by a set of questions I found quite helpful for seeing if I understood the chapter and for practice in articulating the contents. These questions would make good questions if using the book for small group discussion.

I received this book for free from Reformation Heritage Books via Cross Focused Reviews for this review. I was not required to write a positive review

Book Review - Prophet On The Run: A Devotional Commentary on the Book Of Jonah by Baruch Maoz

I was not disappointed in the reading of this short devotional commentary on the book of Jonah. So many commentaries tend to much moralization of the stories, completely missing the more important and larger themes present in the story.  This commentary does a good job of placing the story in its appropriate place in the history of redemption, foreshadowing a greater prophet to come who will extend salvation to all nations.

Since this is a devotional commentary and not a study commentary, the reader should not expect detailed discussion of words and issues scholars would find interesting.  Rather the reader will find appropriate material about the context, a careful observation of what the text says, and then appropriate comments on the meaning of the text, which is supported by numerous cross references to New Testament passages.  These New Testament cross references then serve to help bridge the gap between the original audience and what meaning God intended for us.  The author’s good application questions peppered throughout the text will prove helpful to the reader who takes the time to meditate on the text and honestly answer the application question.

Since the author’s stated goal for the book is “to give the reader a graphic sense of the message of the book of Jonah, taking into account the particularities of the Hebrew…” he provides his own translation of the book. I think this adds to the value of the book and helps the author achieve his goal.

I found the format of the commentary helpful. Following a discussion of the verses in each chapter is a helpful summary, a prayer based on the chapter and then some discussion questions.  So we don’t miss the big picture, the author has final summary questions for the whole book.

I received this book for free from Shepherd Press via Cross Focused Reviews for this review. I was not required to write a positive review.