Texts of the New Testament. Bruce Metzger, Bart Erman.
There was quite a bit of invaluable information in this book. Many parts of the book you cannot help but think that one or both of the authors do not really believe in divine inspiration or preservation. One of the major areas in which this is seen is regarding the last part of Mark. It was suggested that we will never know how Mark ends. Many times it appears as if the word of God was attacked. This was not an encouragement to our faith. It was not a horrible book and was helpful at times. The bad really outweighs the good, though.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Christianity in Crisis. Hank Hannegraff.This book focuses in on the word of faith movement. Reading this book you might conclude that the word of faith movement is a cohesive denomination. In truth, the views on prosperity gospel vary from person to person. It is true that Benny Hinn, Kennith Copeland, and Kennith Hagan view's are similar, there are plenty of other people in this system whose views are not similar. The book's introduction gives an amalgamation of all the views and many seem to be led to believe that that is what everyone believes. The word of faith truly is another gospel. However this book does not help, but muddies the waters.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Velvet Elvis, Repainting the Christian Faith. Rob Bell.
Before reading this, I had heard a lot of negative things about this book and about Bell. One of my friends told me to read it for myself before judging it. When I read this, I could not put it down. He does have some funky views, but most Christian leaders nowadays do. He says things to get a reaction. A lot of what he said makes sense. Many of what Bell has been quoted as saying in the book were taken out of context. Although he did ask the question, "What if there was no other virgin birth?" he made it clear that he did affirm the view of virgin birth. He, like many Christian leaders including Matt Chandler, is frustrated with the current state of Christianity. While maybe we don't need to repaint Christianity, we do need to stop and evaluate how we do things. Denying the problem is not the answer.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. John Piper.
This is an amazing book. Each chapter is only two pages. In those tow pages he packs quite a lot. The books is a great blessing. It is a great reading around Easter time. As you read it, you can't help but praise God for his unspeakable gift.
Rating: 5 out of 5
How to Choose a Bible Version. Robert L. Thomas.
Robert Thomas is a professor at the Master's Seminary, John MacArthur's college. While he definitely supports the NA27 as the best texts to translate, his work is honest and thoughtful. He is critical of dynamic equivalence and prefers a word for word translation. He is not against the King James. At times it is very technical, but is still understandable by laymen. It is a helpful book.
Rating: 4+ out of 5
Why Men Don't Go To Church. David Murrow.
This book was written by a laymen. He came from a Presbyterian background. He is a journalist and may or may not be born again. The book was written from a lay men's perspective. He addresses how churches target women to the exclusion of men. He explains that men don't attend church because they don't feel comfortable there. Everything is so feminine. I do not agree with everything in the book, but a lot of it I do. As someone who grew up in the church, it was definitely an eye opener.
Rating: 4 out of 4
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