The Four - Peter J. Leithart

The Four: A Survey of the Gospels by Peter. J. Leithart

Canon Press 2010

Rating: 9
Readability: 8
Some of it might seem a bit slow when he's getting into scholars arguments on dating etc... Why can't biblical scholars just believe the Bible? Most of it is extremely interesting and it continues to get more and more exciting as the book progresses.

Impact: Very high, I hope.

Read it Again: Yes! Slower with my Bible, pen, and paper in hand.

Recommend it: Highly.

What to Expect

The Four is organized like A House for My Name with bite-sized portions followed by review and thought questions.

Leithart gives an excellent overview of what we commonly refer to as the "intertestamental period" and in the process, information on the prophets. He then dedicates a chapter to the four Gospels and how they relate and differ before going on to a full chapter on each individual book. As always his writing is clear and exciting and his Bible knowledge is staggering and inspiring.

My Squib

I have been so immersed in Old Testament books with this Ligonier course. This was really fun to read. I literally flipped out when I saw it was coming out last October. I'd just been griping that Leithart didn't have enough on the NT.

The introductory stuff on the history before the Gospels was especially good for me as I haven't heard much on that era. The way he pointed out the different thrusts of each book and how they related was excellent. I really felt like copying the whole book out in my "notes/quotes journal".

I had very high expectations and wasn't in the least disappointed. I only wish there was more...

From the Book

See this quote I posted earlier.

Okay...this is a long quote and I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws, but this is simply awesome and should show you how much you need to read the book.. :-)

As Matthew tells the story, Israel's history is a story of a spurned husband who refuses to give up on His bride. His bride spurns Him and finds other husbands, but He woos her back. He is the relentless, pursuing Hound of Heaven.

That is the message of the final act of this romantic comedy. Yahweh comes in flesh; Israel's Father comes as Israel's Son, and He is rejected yet again. He is rejected more thoroughly than ever. Persecuting prophets is bad; killing God Himself is worse. But the resurrection shows that Israel's God will not let Israel have the final word. He will not let Israel's rejection stand. He keeps coming back, even after Israel thinks they have killed Him. Israel does her worst: Yahweh comes as man, and Israel kills Him. If this were not the gospel, it would be a horror story, because this God cannot be stopped, cannot be buried. He comes back, and back again, even from the grave.

This is the great good news, the unsettling gospel of God. Matthew's gospel reveals that God is love, and Matthew's gospel shows us what kind of love God is: He is relentless, faithful, persistent love.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

We can Boast

Christ crucified between two thieves

Rembrandt

God the Son is so utterly and completely Lord that He can enter a womb and be born as man, hunger and suffer weakness, die on a cross, and yet all the while remain wholly Himself, the living Creator of heaven and earth who needs nothing of what He has made.

To heretics who can't bring themselves to believe that God can so thoroughly identify Himself with His world and to the timid orthodox who want to maintain a buffer (however thin) between God and His creation, the orthodox answer is, Our God is great enough even for this; He is great enough even to become week, poor, empty, man. To those outside the church, who scoff at our crucified God, we can boast: "Our God can die. Can yours?"

Thus, and only thus, do we make our boast in the Lord, our Lord Jesus.

~From The Four: A Survey of the Gospels by Peter J. Leithart

Against Christianity - Peter J. Leithart

Against Christianity by Peter J. Leithart

Canon Press 2003

Rating: 9

Readability: 7. I read it quickly and it's extremely interesting, but sometimes I really had to pause and think. This is mostly due to me, not the book. It is a little harder to grasp quickly than some of his other books.

Impact: 9 :-)

Recommend it: Yes!

Read it Again: Yes.

What to Expect

Leithart rejects anything we name with the name of Christ that is not a complete remaking of the world. A spiritual feeling of Christianity that adopts the world's vocabulary, marketing, values, etc. is the enemy of Christians.

Christianity is gnostic.

The Church can not be gnostic.

The Church is the new city, not ideas that sit under or even alongside the existing culture.

Against Christianity is divided in five sections: Against Christianity, Against Theology, Against Sacraments, Against Ethics, and For Constantine. Each section is divided into bite-sized, numbered ideas (similar to Deep Comedy).

Like several of Leithart's other books, he manages to leave you with a clear mission and beautiful portrayal of our living hope. It get's me high every time.

The book is excellent and even better during the second read.

My Squib

I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified to review this intelligently, but I'd be quite happy to jump up and down and tell you to read it. :-)

Compared with other Leithart books I've read, I did have to slow down a bit with this one, but it was well worth it.

I've been very blessed to grow up in a church culture where the ideas behind the book have been taught, but I've never thought about them so directly before. Some passages were very convicting and helped me to see some errors in my own thinking. It also helped me solidify ideas that were drifting around without an anchor.

I feel like the book should be required reading. :-)

I also think it's well worth the time if you are exposed to other books or lectures by Peter Leithart. It helped me understand his terminology better and just where he's coming from in general. All good things.

I feel slightly self-conscious using the word "Christianity" now... Not sure what to do with that.

The whole book is certainly worth reading again...and again. ;-)

Somewhere in the middle of reading this book and whatever else was coming in at the time, I came to a realization. Something I guess I've heard but haven't really taken into action. There is nothing to apologies for striving enthusiastically to be a Christian in everything. My identity is "follower of Christ". I don't need to apologies or dance around. This is who I am and it affects every area of life.

From the Book

Transformation of life, including social and political life, is not an "implication" of the gospel. That would suggest that the gospel is over "here," and that it has implications for life which are over "there." It would mean that the gospel is on the left hand, and that we can draw out the moral implications of the gospel on our right hand. Such a procedure is compatible with heresy of Christianity with its separation of "theology" and "practice," but it is not a biblical picture.

Transformation of life is not an implication of the gospel but inherent in the gospel, because the good news is about transformation of life.

The modern Church is in exile; we have chosen exile, and the LORD has delivered us to our desires. But we do not worship the God of permanent exile. We worship the God of exodus.

He calls us to faith, and that means renouncing Christianity and all its works and all its pomp. It means clinging to the gospel, believing the gospel, preaching the gospel, living the gospel as the CHurch, even to the shedding of blood."

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

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

The Goodness of God - Randy Alcorn

The Goodness of God: Assurance of Purpose in the Midst of Suffering by Randy Alcorn

Multnomah Books 2010

Rating: 8

Readability: 8

Impact: High, I believe.

Doubting the goodness of God has not really been an issue to me...which scares me a little.

Am I overlooking something? Or...is God not testing me? Or...will God test me? These are all frightening thoughts. But I can be confident that God is good. What that will mean for me in the rest of my life...I don't know, but I do not doubt that it is true!

Read it Again: Yes...

Recommend it: Yes, especially for people who struggle with this issue. And for those who are watching someone or going through intense suffering themselves.

What to Expect

Short, direct chapters that end up covering all sort of subjects.

After all, if we don't believe in God's goodness we certainly have a messed idea of everything that following Him means.

He addresses many basic doctrinal issues, uses stories as illustrations, and tells stories of real suffering people.

Well-written, poignant, and often convicting.

My Squib

I really enjoyed this book, however, I thought Notes of a Tilt-a-Whirl covered many of the same issues more directly and beautifully. But that was only part of N.D. Wilson's book and I do think this is an excellent read for people struggling with this issue or more of a "topical" study.

Randy Alcorn did force me to think about some things which I hadn't before and certainly made me realize how important it is that we don't have doubts in this area...and how many people do. How can someone even want to exist if they do not believe God is good?

He talks about American health and wealth religion and other issues that really brought up the lives of the Biblical writers and heroes. Paul did not have a healthy, wealthy life. We are called to follow Christ. Are lives are to look like His.

In many ways this seems like a non-issue because if we think there is good and evil, then we have to believe there is a God that makes these definitions...unless it is just every man for himself. Or every man creates his own god with its own definitions.

But if God makes up these definitions who are we to impose them against Him? How can we possibly understand this? Us--Sinful. Fallen. Incapable of "goodness" without God!

Like pretty much every issue, this seems to come down to a wrong view of who we are and who God is.

God is past our understanding.

But we know that He is all good, all merciful, all powerful, all knowing. Completely sovereign. What that means or looks like, we might not be able to comprehend, but we can be confident that it is true!

All His plans work together for God to those who fear Him. And all things are His plans.

How different I should be. Believing in God's sovereignty is an action, not something we read heavy tomes about in a dusty armchair and just believe in our head.

When something falls out of the fridge seven times in a row, when I trip and fall on my face in the middle of a restaurant, when I smash into something in our room in the dark...all these things were written into my story. How do I react? How often do I get frustrated?

How about bigger things? Discontentment. Regret. Tragedy. Death. Am I angry at the Author of these things?

As strange as it sounds, I believe sometimes it is easier to accept the the "big" things.

At least the big things in my life. God has given me a glimpse of how these are working together for good. How He uses tragedy for joy. How He uses evil for good.

Yes, they're hard-- suffering is real, but we know He has it under control.

How about when you break your toe by hooking it on a stool walking through the kitchen? Or when your sibling gets on your nerves by asking the same question a hundred times? Do we see God orchestrating all these things? Or do we lash out at His plan for us?

I certainly have some work to do...

From the Book

I loved this tidbit about G.K. Chesterton-

The London "Times" once asked various writers for essays on the topic "What's Wrong with the World?" G.K. Chesterton's contribution was perhaps the shortest essay in history.

"Dear Sirs:

I am.

Sincerely yours,

G. K. Chesterton"

For turning us toward God, sometimes nothing works like suffering. C.S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

God calls us neither to victimization nor fatalism, but to faith in his character and promises.

Good book. Glad I read it. Now I want to retain some of it and put it into action!

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Necessary Note: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. :-)

One Precious Pearl - Robert Lloyd Russell

One Precious Pearl: God's Design for His Church by Robert Lloyd Russell

Christian Concepts Series: Timeless Truths and Contemporary

Perspective

Infinity Publishing

Rating: 7

Readability: 7

Impact: 7
I'll never think about pearls the same way. It certainly made me do some good thinking.

Read it Again: Yes.

Recommend it: Yes!

What to Expect

One Precious Pearl focuses on Jesus parables in Matthew 13, especially the parable of the merchant and the pearl. He also touches on other uses and context of the gem in the Bible.

The second portion of the book explains analogies and symbolism that can be seen in the actual pearl and through history and tradition.

The book can be easily used as a personal or group Bible study or can be read in a couple sittings. It's divided into 22 short chapters with questions, and thought and discussion ideas at the end of each. The book is engaging.

My Squib

I really enjoyed the book. The symbolism and analogy are all very exciting. (Especially after just finishing Through New Eyes.) Russell has a wide Bible knowledge and pulls passages from throughout the Scriptures. The style is understandable and relatively direct, although not outstanding.

One Precious Pearl gives the three common interpretations of Matthew 13:45-46 and than argues for what the author sees as the correct view, why this is important, and what it means.

The book then moves on to actual aspects of the pearl and how it may symbolize different qualities of the Church.

A pearl begins by something "piercing its side", the impurity (us sinners) is then transformed through the body of the oyster...it is a result of suffering and "sacrifice", the pearl is formed layer by layer, it is a perfect unit, etc... This whole section is very interesting.

One chapter that really made me think was on the pearl reflecting the inner shell of the oyster...which is actually very pearly and beautiful.

Jesus was not comely that we should look at Him, but obviously He is truly more beautiful and pure than we can imagine. And someday, as the Church becomes more like Him, it will become glorious and beautiful, reflecting His perfection.

While I don't think you could argue all these analogies are set in stone in the Bible, they can certainly be used as symbols of Christ's Church. I found this very exciting as a way to explain key aspects of the Church after the Resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The book is excellent for meditating on and discussing the Church that we are part of today.

The only real problem I had was the book was his theology on "end times"...but he almost seems to contradict himself.

I believe Jesus reigns now (we all sing it at Christmas). His Word will spread and the Church will grow.

Russell seems more dispensationlist in his view, but at the same time has confidence in the spreading of the gospel and growth in the Church...but perhaps not it's visibility. He also seems to believe that Israel is still very important in the future of Christ's kingdom (besides obviously being a nation that will bend the knee to Him).

I found it all pretty interesting and raised lot of questions for me.

And, again, I was surprised how doctrinal differences affect so many more things than I anticipate. I'm afraid I'm not particularly confident I could argue our view of eschatology...but at 19 there's still hope, right?

Russell, however, demands respect when he does not shy away from sometimes tough or unpopular doctrine...or merely applying what he believes. I sincerely believe that his greatest goal is to drive others to open their Bibles and study the perfect Word! It certainly made me dig into my Bible, even if it I was because of a disagreement. :-)

Although I didn't agree with everything, I thoroughly enjoyed One Precious Pearl. I'm very glad I got the chance to read it. I now view the pearl as a beautiful symbol and amazing teaching tool!

I recommend it and would love discussing it. :-)

From the Book

In both the beginning of a pearl and the initial formation of the Church, the side of a living organism was opened.

Both the impurity in the Oyster and sinners in the Church are transformed into items of great value.

Like a pearl, the Church is a product of a living thing--the Church is a organism rather than merely an organization.

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Necessary Note: I received a complementary review copy of this book.

Threw New Eyes - James B. Jordan

Through New Eyes: Developing a Biblical View of the World by James B. Jordan

Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers Inc (First printing 1988)

This is a book I've heard about a lot but never read. It was a much easier read than I first anticipated and I really enjoyed it. I wish it was something I'd done a long time ago.

I've never actually read anything by Jim Jordan (besides a few articles) so it was pretty interesting after hearing hours of his lectures. His voice was pretty stuck in my head.

I think Through New Eyes really helped me see better where he and a lot of other writers and teachers are coming from...more of the root of it, you know. It was really an exciting read.

He goes through the Biblical "worlds" and covenants and points out imagery and symbolism that really hit you on the head and make you think. It is a quick but invaluable overview from Genesis to the church today.

Besides the fact that we want to see the world biblically and see the Bible biblically, I found this book really exciting when it comes to trying to write fiction in a way that portrays accurately God's world.

Recently I've been going through a series of lectures on The Church and Pop Culture. In one of the talks N.D. Wilson says that all fiction would be plagiarism if we weren't so bad at it. And we are miserably bad at it. I don't know if the connection makes sense, but it did to me at the time... :-)

Here are just two portions that I thought were particularly interesting-

What emerges from this discussion is that if we want to acquire a Biblical view of the world, we shall have to make a study of Biblical symbolism. The way the Bible uses symbols shows us how to interpret God's natural revelation.

The Jews of this period had almost completely perverted the law. As we have seen, they were not keeping the moral requirements of the law. Neither did they understand the symbolic aspects. When Jesus told the Jews that if they destroyed the Temple He would raise it up in three days, referring to His body, they were utterly confused (John 2:19-21). Similarly, when Jesus talked with Nicodemus and referred to the water-cleansing rites of the Old Covenant as a means of resurrections and new birth, Nicodemus was confused. Jesus expressed amazement: "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?" (John 3:10).

In the first century, the Jews had rejected Biblical symbolism and typology, and were divided into two groups. The Pharisees had turned symbolism into moralism, and were keeping the law as a means for salvation. The Alexandrian Jews had replaced Biblical typology with allegories grounded in Greek philosophy. As a result neither group was able to recognize Christ when He came to them.

Basically Through New Eyes is amazing and should be a must-read.

I have the feeling that the books I love and admire the most are the ones that get the crummiest reviews... Something I need to work on. But in one sense I just don't feel qualified and I'm not sure what I should add. You should read it. :-)

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Radical - David Platt

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt

Multnomah Books (2010)

Rating: 8

Readability: 8

Impact: Very high. Really made me think and want to talk about things I haven't really.

Read it Again: Yes... I almost did already...writing all the quotes I wanted.

Recommend It: Yes! Emphatically. And then I'd love it if you'd talk about what your thoughts. :-)

What to Expect

David Platt challenges our commitment to Christ and His Church and what we think that means. He comes strait on and doesn't shy away from criticizing the current state of American churches or explaining basic (but sometimes complicated or unpopular theology).

The book is an easy 200 page read and the writing style is engaging. He uses a lot of stories from modern day Christians as well as quotes from previous saints.

His focus is on Matthew 10 and the Great Commission.

My Squib

I'd heard the title of this book off and on, but had never really looked into it. I picked it up knowing no more than the title and that it had created a buzz.

I was suspicious. It was written by the pastor of a four-thousand member church and it's focus was on missions. (Not that either of those things are inherently bad at all!)

But pretty soon I was just enjoying it and feeling convicted...and writing lots of notes.

David Platt is a pastor of a huge church but this book is about the complete failure and sometimes open hypocrisy of the megachurch of America and how they approach "missions"...a better and more accurate name for Platt's perception of it would be "life".

Although there are probably things we could argue about the book it contains a lot of solid wisdom and exhortation in it.

I really needed to read it. I'm relatively comfortable with talking (and/or arguing) theology but miserable at sharing the Gospel with non-believers. And I think this is, unfortunately, a malady with some CREC members. I'm not blaming my church at all here, but I think a lot of us young people have this problem. We don't have any excuse and this is really a horrible failure. Not okay!

I strongly recommend it and I'd love to discuss it with someone who has read it. (If you know me your welcome to borrow my copy.)

Plus talks about and quotes two of my heroes...Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Jim Elliot. <3

From the Book

Are we willing to obey the orders of Christ? Are we willing to be like him? Are we willing to risk our lives to go to great need and to great danger--whether it's in the inner cities around us, the difficult neighbor across the street, the disease-ridden communities in Africa, or the hostile regions in the Middle East? Are we willing to fundamentally alter out understanding of Christianity from a luxury-liner approach that seeks more comforts in the world to a troop-carrier approach that forsakes comforts in the world to accomplish an eternally significant task and achieve an eternally satisfying reward?

We have adopted a Christianity consumed with little devotional thoughts from God for the day, supplemented by teaching in the church filled with entertaining stories and trite opinions on how to be a better person and live a better life in the twenty-first century.

Meanwhile, we hold the matchless Word of God in our hands, and it demands a superior position in our lives, our families, our small groups, and our churches. Do we realize the battle that is waging around us? There is a true God over this world who wants all people to bow at the feet of the loving Savior, and there is a false god in this world who wants all people to burn in hell. The battle is intense, and it cannot be fought with little thoughts in a daily devotional or petty ideas from a preacher on Sunday. It certainly can't be fought with minds numbed by the constant drivel of entertainment on television, DVDs, video games, and the Internet. If you and I are going to penetrate our culture and the cultures of the world with the gospel, we desperately need minds saturated with God's Word.

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Necessary Note: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. :-)

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

I Will not forget Your Word

I keep going back to this blog post by Leithart- Keeping Words

And to Psalm 119 and the psalmist devotion to God's word.

Make me to understand the way of your precepts,

and I will mediate on your wondrous works. vs 27

I trust in your word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. vs 42b-43

Last week we finally got around to watching The Book of Eli. I'm sure there are things we could argue about and I'm certainly not saying it's the perfect movie, but it really makes you think. Right after we finished I went to bed and just wanted to clutch my Bible all night.

How often do we think about this gift?

We live in a nation where you can get a KJV from the Dollar Tree. Our houses are stocked with pocket, study, large-print, and leather bound in dozens of translations.

Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a town where only the church ministers had actually read the Bible? And some of those hadn't ever seen the New Testament?
You professed Christ but could never actually read His word? Never actually even seen it?

Can you imagine owning a Bible in risk of losing your life?

Of risking your life to take other people Bibles?

We are tremendously blessed. At the same time, how often do we even think of this gift? How are we treasuring it?

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O LORD;

teach me your statues!

With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on you precepts and fix my eyes on your ways,

I will delight in your statues;

I will not forget your word.

Psalm 119: 9-16

What does God's Word mean to us? And how to do we value it?

I think I certainly need to work harder on this. The Bible should be my #1 reading material.

I'm also rotten memorizer and I don't have any excuse. Two very good things to work on in this new year!

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Only Where God is Praised

Exalting is a part of existence.

It is so much a part of it, that when one has ceased to exalt God, something else must be exalted. Then God can be displaced by a man, an institution, an idea. Exalting remains a function of existence. World history demonstrates this.

Man must exalt something, and without such exalting there can apparently be no existence...If the praise of God, as the Psalms express it, belongs to existence, then the directing of this praise to a man, an idea, or an institution must disturb and finally destroy life itself.

The psalms say that only where God is praised is there life.

~Westermann

Searching for God Knows What - Donald Miller

Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

Nelson Books 2004

Rating: 7+

Readability: An easy, but sometimes rambling read. I guess it depends on what you like.

Impact: Really made me think hard about a lot of things. I certainly hope it helped change me.

Read it Again: Yes...

Recommend it: Yes (read review:-)

What to Expect

In a style now associated with it's author, Searching for God Knows What wanders through the problems of identity and an improper view on just who our God is.

It focuses on Christianity being relational.

Who is God? Who are we? And what is our relationship?

My Squib

I have mixed feelings. Sometimes he really made me wary. He writes extremes and I don't think he would always hold to them. Some of the iffy things he implied, you certainly could take them to mean something you wouldn't want them to. Perhaps in his exuberance to get across a point he goes a little off into the other ditch.

I'd love to discuss it with someone a lot smarter than me and get their perspective!

He denounces war terminology in any use. This seems pretty narrow. He never even attempts to address all the uses in the Bible. For a girl who loves The Son of God Goes Forth to War and Rise Again Ye Lion Hearted this was pretty bothersome. :-) It's also disappointing since he is normally pretty careful about only pushing stuff he thinks he can back up with Scripture.

On the whole, it is an amazing book and really gets you thinking and evaluating yourself. He points out some extremely interesting (and mostly really sad) things about how we seem to imagine God.

He bases a lot of his book against "the lifeboat theory" and shows how our identity is not "being ourself" but being defined by something else. We can try to get people to define us by their words or actions, or we can acknowledge and accept our identity in Christ. To be defined by our Creator is the only way to be secure and satisfied.

He is direct and frequent in his criticism of modern Christians (mostly conservatives). Most of it is well deserved, but could use some spice and humor. Blunt railings could be more effective if replaced with satire. :-)

It was actually very interesting that I was reading Searching for God Knows What while I was also reading A Serrated Edge . They both touched on identity and how it effects our relations so drastically with others and with God. It also gave two different angles on some of the very same passages from Jesus life. It was pretty interesting...

Identity is already something I've been thinking about a lot. (You know already if you remember my post on Survival in Auschwitz.) I picked up Searching for God Knows What and A Serrated Edge without knowing anything about them except my interest in both authors. It was very providential that they both addressed identity.

Donald Miller also gave an interesting perspective on Romeo and Juliet in the last chapter... That's a Shakespeare play I'm still very much trying to figure out...

I've extremely glad I read this book.

From the Book

If man was wired so that something outside himself told him who he was, and if God's presence was giving him a feeling of fulfillment, then when that relationship was broken, a man would be pining for other people to tell him that he was good, right, okay with the world, and eternally secure. As I wrote earlier, we all compare ourselves to others , and none of our emotions-- like jealousy and envy and lust-- would exist unless man was wired so that somebody else told him who he was, and that somebody was gone.

The second chapter of the book of James tells us, specifically, not to take a wealthy person and seat him in the place of honor and leave a poor person in the back. I take this to mean that in church the rules of the lifeboat don't apply, that church is a refuge, where the kingdom of God is emulated, not mocked.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

A Serrated Edge - Douglas Wilson

A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking by Douglas Wilson

Canon Press 2003

This was a quick, thought-provoking, and funny read.

If Doug Wilson and some of his writing make you uncomfortable, this would be a good book. (Or as an introduction to his writing in general, if you're not familiar with it.)

This is not mockery of what is sacred, but a defense of it. It is not contempt, but deep respect. Love which is really love, will fight for what it believes.

I feel like some of the passages from the book taken out of context could be either confusing or misleading... So I'm just going to stick with this quote. (Even as fond as we all are with quoting Doug Wilson out of context.)

When we find examples in Scripture (and in Church history) of men who can do both--comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable--we have to take care that we categorize them as the Bible teaches us to. They are not to be thought of as conflicted personalities, but rather as examples of obedience and balance."

I filled up another five pages in my journal with other portions. Hope that doesn't go against any copyright laws. ;-)

I really enjoyed this book and was completely persuaded in principle. In practice this seems like an area for caution, wisdom, and prayer. I think Christians have used this sort of satire well, but also badly and from a completely wrong spirit.

Wilson's greatest emphasis is diligent search of the Scriptures and to truly love in a biblical manner.

Who can argue with that?

Now, how well does our idea of love match Christ's? And how well do we read our Bibles (and is our translation The Message)?

It seems like this is all especially dangerous for us young people. There are great temptations in this sort of stuff and we already have enough. If our attitude is pride and elitism, we have some serious problems. Jesus' favorite victims of satire were, after all, the Pharisees.

Perhaps our greatest test is if we have first learned to laugh at ourselves.

Any thoughts?

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.)

1 & 2 Kings - Peter Leithart

1 & 2 Kings: A Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible by Peter Leithart

Brazos Press 2006

Rating: 9

Readability: 8

Impact: 9

Read it Again: Yes

Recommend It: Yes

What to Expect

A stout Reformed perspective on 1 & 2 Kings, it's Gospel message, and it's applicability in issues of today.

The Brazos Theological Commentary series is written by theologians, not Bible scholars and digs deep into the issues of the text, but not so much every detail. (Both have wonderful places.)

Leithart takes a small bite at a time and addresses important issues in Kings that are often issues today. He also gives an excellent over all look at Israel's history that pull things together.

The chapters are short. This could be an excellent Bible study companion to read over a long course of time, or a sit down and get through it read. :-)

Very good. Exciting and pertinent.

My Squib

I went through 1 & 2 Kings in my Ligonier course, but the book was so...uh..boring. Mostly caught up in the historical arguments against it and very little about the actual text. (Not to say it didn't have some interesting things to say and learn from.)

So...When I saw this at Exodus Books I got really excited.

It talked about so many different things and really made me think more about the implications of Kings. I really, really enjoyed it.

I've always loved Kings and it has some of my favorite people...Benaiah, Elijah, Jehu, Jehoiada, and Josiah.

So glad I read this. I wrote so many notes...gah.

From the Book

This book covers way to much for me to give you a quote that would properly represent the book, but here's a few a copied out in my journal.

"Always, the church's greatest tests come not from the kings who call for imprisonment and torture; Christians relish martyrdom. The great tests arise from lying prophets, from wolfish bishops, and priests, pastors, and preachers."

"If memory shapes our sense of who we are, it is no accident that the communal amnesia of the modern church produces churches without root or rudder, churches that trim their sails to every wind of doctrine. Forgetfulness is ingratitude, and ingratitude is one of the original sins. Worship is history class, where we are renewed in our communal memory and where we confess our forgetfulness of the Lord and his commandments.

Memory binds our past with our present, but in Scripture memory of the past is never nostalgic, but always evokes confidence for the future."

"The book of Kings leaves Isreal east of Eden, awaiting a return that is not yet come. And so it leaves us, a divided Christendom exiled in modern secularism, enduring the times of the Gentiles. It leaves us in exile, but it does not leave us without hope."

Hope this was helpful and, if you haven't read it, I hope it piqued your interest. :-)

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Trinitarian Justification... and the Importance of Artists and Story Tellers!

Listen to this Reformation Day Sermon...

Trinitarian Justification by Peter Leithart

The sermon uploaded 11/1/10 #1589

And here is a excerpt on Peter Leithart's blog.

The sermon itself is extremely good, but the part before is amazing too.

I had to listen to it twice. :-) What an mission for writers and artists. May we take this to heart. This so important. May we encourage each other!

I hope you have time to listen.
Miss Pickwickian

Reform the World

We always have good sermons, but the last two have been especially pertinent.

The Fifth Word and Parents

and

The Fifth Word and the Elderly

These are things I need to work on and attitudes that will change the culture!

As a side note...I've been messing around with things on the blog...

Probably because I was exhausted yesterday and had so much to do that I didn't know where to start. I fell asleep reading in the morning and my reading glasses fell off and my study Bible fell on top of them. They are toast. It's absolutely horrible. Really. That and a combination of being very tired and eating more candy than my blood sugar can handle the night before and getting up at the crack of dawn (okay...not crack of dawn, but it felt like that after the night before) and helping clean out our kitchen for a complete remodel... Anyways! The point is, yesterday was hectic and I took it out on revamping my blog. Somebody's got to pay. ;-)

Actually, I have nothing to complain about (except myself for breaking my only reading glasses). And yesterday was greatly improved by going over to my brother's house in the evening for a voting party and being in the company of two very adorable nieces.

The point is...the blog is a mess and hopefully with some technical and aesthetic support from Suzy it will look better soon. :-)

Let me know if you have any suggestions. And of course, encouragement is always welcome. :-)

If you have the time and inclination, listen to the sermon links. They are very good. There things we need to hear!

Can you believe it's November?

Thanks for reading.
Miss Pickwickian

Deep Comedy - Peter J. Leithart

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, & Hope in Western Literature by Peter J. Leithart

Canon Press

This is another book I am totally unqualified to review. I'm going to try anyways because I want you to be inspired to read it. (If you haven't...I know I'm always shamefully behind.:-)

It's quite simply amazing.

We had a wonderful Sunday school class talking through David Bentley Hart's book on beauty. Deep Comedy was mentioned and I knew I wanted to read it. :-) I have an awesome mama and a brother who works at a book store, so it was diligently acquired. Thanks Mama! I know your going to like it as soon as you get done with Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl...already. ;-)

This book was both easier and harder than I anticipated.
Easier because Leithart is a gifted and hard working genius and can make the difficult clear and direct so people like me can understand.

Harder because I'm not very sharp and don't know very much about many of the people and stories he mentions.

Still, I could understand the concepts he was writing, even if I didn't always understand the people he was quoting or arguing against. I never felt completely lost, just vaguely stupid.

I loved the book. It wasn't a hard read. I read all but the last 10 pages in two sittings and I'll want to read it again.

It's direct and eye opening. It is laced with good humor (I literally LOLed in several parts). It is a book about story and about hope. By the end I was feeling disgustingly cheerful. :-) It was amazing.

Since I know I'll fail at trying to paraphrase I strongly suggest you pick the book up yourself. It's only 157 pages. Anyone can manage that.

Leithart crams a lot in. I really can't begin to summarize. He gave me a whole new dimension to understanding the way our faith in the Trinity shapes our world view. He gave me a clearer understanding of story and all that goes along with it. It was simply thrilling. :-)

I know I'm raving now, so I'm going to move on.

Here are two of my favorite quotes...

"If the Gospel is true, if new life was unleashed in the world on Easter morning, then we would expect there to be some signs that this is the case."

Unleashed. I love that. How often do we think of new life as unleashed?

"Satan digs a pit for the merry, but Satan falls into the very pit of merriment. And it tortures him forever."

And here was a quote that really got me thinking...

"Christian literature not only produces deep comedy but also, and for precisely that reason, deep tragedy. Christian tragedy can no longer mean what ancient tragedy meant. There are still sad stories, but Christians cannot believe the world is a sad story without abandoning their fundamental convictions about the triune God and the incarnation of the Son. So I should add to this book a companion book on deep tragedy."

I hope he does.

I particularly liked what he said about Christian tragedies. It seems like too much modern Christian thinking tries to ignore sad stories because it spooks them. We know that life isn't a tragedy but sometimes we can't understand why tragedies happen. We try to ignore them so we write fuzzy feel good fiction or try to shelter ourselves from reality.

He also mentions in passing that many "Christian" tragedy's are even sadder because there was an unrealized hope of redemption.

This helped me understand myself in relations to The Mayor of Casterbridge. I'm not sure where Thomas Hardy was when he wrote it. I know he was bi-polar when it came to his "faith" but I think the movie gives an interesting interpretation. It is so extremely sad because there was hope of redemption. He could have turned around.

Like Saul, which he resembles, Henchard is given a good life (numerous times) and good friends, but because of his sin and pride he will not repent and be reconciled. And it's absolutely, terribly heart rending!

The story is not meaningless. It is not a story meant to depress you. It shows the stupidness of sin. The depravity of man. But also the mercy of God. Henchard is blessed over and over again, he just never gets it.

And in the end the long-suffering daughter gets a good life with a righteous man (whatever is ultra-weird, irrational behavior towards woman comes in).

My conclusion seemed to be this-- Christian stories can be sad (even sadder then non-Christian) but they can not be ultimately depressing.

I know I'm not explaining this very well, but it helped things line up in my mind...

Okay, one last quote (sorry about the longness, but it's worth it).

"The conclusion of the matter is this: for the ancients, for the moderns, and for postmoderns, human existence is fundamentally tragic. The world is built for tragedy. As a matter of sheer observation, we all die, and this is one of the few things that can be guaranteed about life. Time marches toward death and in the end we all die. Change can perhaps be good, but change is ultimately decay, because in the end we all die. Desire is either fulfilled in the motionless statis that might as well be death, or is never fulfilled leaving us frustereated, and in the end we all die. Law gives a semblance of order to the process of decay and the forces of chaos, but law is uncertain, and in the end we all die.
With their tragic narratives of human history, Hesiod and Ovid give mythical expressions to the story of the world that ancient, modern, and postmodern all tell.

Apart from the Gospel, what other story is there?"

I consider this book invaluable to readers, writers, and Christians.

Now, if you haven't, go read it. :-)

Thanks for reading.
Miss Pickwickian

Our Only Hope

Read this good reminder and thought provoking post by Peter Leithart.

Neither Comprehend nor Overcome It

Paul, however, means exactly what he says: the coming of Jesus, and particularly the resurrection of Jesus, means that death and sin are themselves doomed, and life is already on the march to conquer death. Darkness is being dispelled because Light has come and the darkness could neither comprehend nor overcome it.

~ From Deep Comedy by Peter Leithart