The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes - Derek Kidner

The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job & Ecclesiastes: An Introduction to Wisdom Literature by Derek Kidner

Rating: 5

Readability: 6

Impact: 5

Read it Again: Not before I investigate some other books on the subject...

Recommend It: Maybe, for a quick overview... I don't know.

What to Expect

An overview where Kidner pulls from multiple biblical scholars and gives you various opinions on different aspects of wisdom literature.

Explores the text, background, and other issues briefly.

My Squib

Could have been much better if he hadn't been so eager to use a wide vocabulary...really slowed the book down and obscured what he was actually saying. (This wasn't just a nice variety..."anon" was employed combined with copious members of it's kin.;-)

He's very smart and has an amazing knowledge of the Bible, I just didn't deal well with his vocabulary and style.

Glad I read it. A lot of excellent things to think about, but not satisfying on the subject (which isn't something against it...it certainly made me want more!)

I've heard that his books specifically on the Psalms and Proverbs are good. It would be interesting to read those.

From the Book

Proverbs claims the whole of life for wisdom, and the whole range of wisdom for God.

...True, it will encourage clear thinking, but the wisdom it speaks of is the kind that must engage the whole man: not only his power to think straight, but his management of affairs, his sensitivity to people, his character and his morals; above all (or rather, at the root of all) his relation to God.

This is the last word on the matter, both in the book of Job and in the New Testament's reflection on it. And that will be the last word in the bigger drama: not that man will demand and get his answers or his imagined rights, but that God will give, to those who endure to the end in this bitter war, 'such good things as pass man's understanding.'

Doug Wilson and Jeff Meyers have books on Ecclesiastes, but does anyone know of a good book on Job? I'd be very interested in reading one.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Encountering the Book of Psalms - C. Hassell Bullock

Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction by C. Hassell Bullock

Baker Academic 2009 (First printing 2001)

Rating: 6

Readability: 5

Impact: It might sound cliche to fall in the love with the Psalms...but that's the fact of the matter.

Read it Again: I dunno.

Recommend it: I dunno.

What to Expect:

This book is meant for college courses. Bullock tries to make the whole thing very student friendly with columns, graphs, pictures and such. It does make it a little more interesting, but it's still not a terribly exciting book.

It does have a lot of useful information and some genius quotes. Pretty well organized and easy to reference. Good review questions at the end.

There is no doubt that C. Hassell Bullock has a passion for the Psalms and it comes through..and is rather infectious.

My Squib:

I really enjoyed most of the book. He pulls from a lot of sources and brings in application.

He makes some pretty weird comments about the imprecatory Psalms through out the book but he's last chapter which is devoted to them, seems pretty solid. I'd love to read some other books that address this issue. Anyone know of any? Or other good books on the Psalms?

Glad I read the book.

From the Book:

To praise God is to live, and to live is to praise God. Anything less than that is substandard existence.

Th Psalms of lament attest, lamentation is never very far away from praise.

I know C.S. Lewis had problems with the imprecatory psalms... That knowledge was one of the great disappointments of my childhood...

But this quote that refers to him is very good-

C.S. Lewis takes a different take and observes that, on the side of Christian piety, the imprecatory psalms remind us that the absence of indignation may be an alarming symptom of the decline of righteousness and moral conviction. To lose this sense of conviction is to lose our moral moorings."

I know "moral" has some bad associations as a term, but I thought this quote was good. Indifference...not good.

I would love to have any recommendations on books of the Psalms. We have Calvin and Spurgeon's commentaries.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books - David M. Howard Jr.

An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books by David M. Howard Jr.

Moody Publishers 1993

Rating: 6

Readability: 5

Impact: I certainly could take a lot away from it.

Read it Again: Probably not...

Recommend it: After several other books on the same subject.

What to Expect

A basic overview on the historical books (Joshua-Esther) with background on authors, dates, and disputes concerning each book. He also briefly goes over the general theology and purpose of each book from his particular view point.

A smart guy, but not a great writer. Sometimes the style is extremely textbooky...in the worst sense ("we have noted," "and in conclusion", and "per se" are everywhere).

There is a lot to learn, but sometimes it's a real slog.

My Squib

Enjoyed this book, but wish he would have taken a firmer stand on a lot of issues. It could have been a lot more exciting if he brought in the big picture themes as well as interesting details instead of the overview middle stuff.

Certainly a good overview. Interesting to get a different angle. Got much more history and information on scholar's controversies than other books.

This was another book in my Ligonier course and I ended up supplement it with Peter Liethart and James Jordan. I just didn't feel like I was getting enough out of this book.

From the Book

Ultimately, that is the best reason for reading the Bible: to discover its revelation of God to us, to learn of His gracious plan of redemption, and to discern how to live. We cannot do so fully, however, without learning how read. This book is intended to point to the Book and whet reader's appetites for that Book. And, in the end that book itself is merely a guide and pointer to someone infinitely more important: the God revealed in its pages.

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Notes:

Inception is still good the third time (actually it's better :-).

Both of my nieces that are old enough to do so, think Javert's Stars is extremely suitable for rocking out to with their Aunt Bopey in the kitchen.

Katie is certain that the Mad Hatter is a princess. (It's either that or a "bad guy" these days...so maybe it's for the best.)

From Paradise to Promise Land - T.D. Alexander

From Paradise to Promise Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch by T. D. Alexander
Second Edition, Baker Academic and Paternoster: Thinking Faith


Rating: 8
Readability: 8
Impact: 8

Read it Again: Maybe the second section, yes.
Recommend It: Yes


What to Expect

Alexander's book is divided into two sections, Pentateuchal Criticism and The Main Themes of the Pentateuch.

Part 1: Pentateuchal Criticism deals with hypothesis on who wrote the Pentateuch, when it was written, and if it still applies.

I bogged down in this part. So many scholars arguing about the Bible when they don't even believe it. Probably important information...but pretty much a headache.
At first I was really wondering where he was going with it all. It kind of sounds like he's totally disregarding the fact that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. His conclusion to Part 1, however, was well worth the slog threw the early pages.

Part 2: The Main Themes of the Pentateuch goes through Genesis-Deuteronomy discussing the main subjects and themes. I thoroughly enjoyed this section. After each chapter and theme discussion he would have a short section on New Testament Connections. I thought those sections were especially cool. :-)

T.D. Alexander is extremely well organized and understandable.

My Squib

This is the third book in my Ligonier course. Yeah! I'm making progress!

I really liked and learned from the second and largest section of the book.
While some of it was pretty basic, a lot of it helped me connect and think on a different level then before.

I also really enjoyed reading through all of the Pentateuch in a month. I confess I've never read through that section of the Bible that fast and it helped me put together Isreal's history as a whole much better.

From the Book

"The distinctiveness of the biblical laws is apparent when one compares the other ancient Near Eastern laws. In the earlier Laws of Hammurabi, a murderer is required only to make financial compensation to the victims family. This contrasts sharply with the biblical insistence of a life for a life. On the other hand, the non-biblical laws apply the death penalty to breaking and entering, looting at a fire, and theft. These examples reveal that in other cultures financial loss was sometimes treated more seriously than loss of life. The biblical laws consistently emphasis the human life is of greater value than material possessions."

"Holiness emanates from God; He is the sole sources of holiness. He alone endows other objects , places or people with holiness. Everything that is given to God or belongs to Him is holy."

"A natural extension of the belief that God is holy is the idea that holiness means wholeness or perfection. To be holy is to be unblemished or unmarred. It is to experience life in all its fullness as God had originally intended it to be."

"From the perspective of a Christian living in the twenty-first century AD these ancient writings continue to be highly relevant, especially given the NT proclamation that Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham and the son of David, who mediates God's blessing to all the nations of the earth."

The Canon of Scripture - F. F. Bruce

The Canon of Scripture
by F. F. Bruce
InterVarsity Press

Rating: 6
Readability: 3
Impact: 8

Read it Again: Maybe I'd refer to it again...
Recommend it: Sometimes it's a slog, but yes, it was a good slog.

What to Expect

A detailed history on the Old and New Testaments and life of the Bible as we know it.

My Squib

This was another book on my list for the Ligonier Acadamy course I'm taking.
I'm glad I read this book and that it was in the course. I would have never picked it up on my own but I can see how profitable it was.

F. F. Bruce gives very good, detailed history in the compiling and canonization of the Bible. When he stretches into interpretation or theology I couldn't really agree with him, but he mostly stuck to the history. He is certainly a smart guy!

Some of this book is a chore, but the Bible is the most important book of our lives. We should be able to defend it.

From the Book

"The inclusion of each scripture in the canon of all scripture helps one in the understanding of each scripture, but at the same time, since each scripture makes its contribution to all scripture, the understanding of all scripture is impossible without the understanding of each scripture."

Let the Reader Understand - Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton

Let the Reader Understand: A Guide to Interpreting and Applying the Bible
By Dan McCartney (M. Div., TH.M., Ph.D.) Charles Clayton (M.A.R.)
P&R Publishing - Second Edition




Rating: 9
Readability: 5 (I'd say 8.5 at least for a theology book, though! :-)
Impact: 8

Read it again: I'm sure I'd benefit from it
Recommend it: Highly!

This book is an excellent in-depth look at interpreting Scripture by the it's own methods as well as an overview on Biblical theology.
The Bible is the Word of God. As Christians we should seek to understand it!!! Let the Reader Understand clearly explains tools that can be used by any Christian at any stage in their study. Through careful detail this book uses Scripture to defend Christian theology and stress the importance that we be immersed in the Word.

From the Book:

"We will achieve understanding only if we submit ourselves, presuppositions and all, to the One who understands and interprets all things rightly. The goal therefore is to become, not presuppositionless, but prepositionally self-critical"

"We may only know absolute truth through God."

"The fact that truth is more then doctrine should never be used to suggest that doctrine does not matter. Without its propositions, truth not only would be unknowable and incommunicable, but would collapse in meaninglessness."

"Unless we have repented and are seeking, through the Holy Spirit, to understand Scripture, we are likely to find what we want to find."

"The Bible itself is redemptive-historical in character, it is Christological in focus, and it is ecclesiologically applied."

"We must always be ready to stand back and evaluate tradition, without necessarily rejecting it."

"Study is useless if the reader does not first submit to Scripture's author, expecting to hear God's voice and obey it."



This book has really helped my study. I can not recommend this book enough!

This is the first book to check off my list in the syllabus for Ligonier Academy's Intermediate Biblical Studies Program! Yippee!

Sorry to those you might not get excited about theology on this post! It was pretty funny when I was reading it. I kept stopping and writing down ideas for my writing or day dreaming about plot ideas and cool symbolism and meaning. Goofy? I know, but what we read is going to effect so much of what we write.

Sometimes we get a groove were we are just pumping to much out and not putting enough in. Real, solid, sometimes hard to grasp truth coming in will greatly influence your outlook on life and your writing. I was blessed by this book!

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian