For All It's Worth

Interpreting the General Letters: An Exegetical Handbook by Herbert Bateman IV This new handbook , Interpreting the General Letters (Hebrews – Jude) by Herbert Bateman IV is once again a treasure trove of goodies for the student and scholar alike.  With a keen eye for grammatical detail and a sensitivity to the cultural and historical situation of each General Letter in the NT, Bateman does not disappoint.  What I found most beneficial and illuminating was the approach taken by Bateman to synthesize history, theology, grammar and application into one coherent message for each individual NT book that he covered.  A word of caution, this book is not for the beginner who just picked up the Greek Alphabet, for Bateman introduces the reader to some finer points of syntax and grammar that an intermediate student would handle well.  Yet, even though this is true, there is much to be commended here for any student. The first chapter is replete with ex...

The Return of the Kosher Pig: The Divine Messiah in Jewish Thought by Rabbi Itzhak Shapira http://www.kosherpig.org/index.php/about The title at first made me chuckle and also wonder what this book was all about.  How is it that a traditional Jewish rabbi considers the claims of Yeshua and traces the Messiah from the OT and Jewish literature?  In this book, The Return of the Kosher Pig, Rabbi Shapira does that very thing in tracing the line of the Messiah as pointing to Yeshua from many rabbinic and OT passages.  What this book does is open us up to the discussion going on about the Messiah in early Judaism and how there was not one central line of argument from the beginning about the identity of the Messiah.  In Part III (Evidence) for the Messiah, Rabbi Shapira dives into the interpretation of Isaiah 52-53 from the ancient rabbis to see if some of the teachers thought that these suffering servant passages referred to the Messiah.  “Ra...

Memorial: The Mystery of Mary of Bethany by Dolores Kimball The figure of Mary of Bethany in the Gospels does not take up a large portion of Scripture.  However, her role in the ministry of Jesus is very important.  Author and editor Dolores Kimball in her new book, Memorial: The Mystery of Mary , brings her years of working for Christian ministries to bear on the portrait of Mary of Bethany.  Specifically, this book is designed to women in a unique way.  I found the chapters to be most interesting in providing a perspective on Mary that brought the special place we find for her in the Gospels.  Certainly, there is more to Mary than meets the eye and thus she provides a good role model for women today. In her chapter on life choices, Dolores brings out an important point on the way Mary and Martha interacted with Jesus in regards to worship and service.  She writes, “Mary made a conscious choice to sit at Jesus’ feet in the same way t...

And Now for Something Completely Different: A Verse by Verse Study of the Book of Hebrews by Matthew Martin The Book of Hebrews is one of the most significant books in the NT for its focus on Jesus using OT promises and fulfillment, but also it is an imminently practical book.  Matthew Martin, in his new book And Now for Something Completely Different sets out to provide the reader with a verse by verse exposition of the text of Hebrews.  Akin to a John MacArthur commentary, Martin tries to elucidate the meaning of many of the Greek words in Hebrews.  The commentary also focuses on how Christ is Better than everything that came before him, a concept that permeates the entire sermon.  There are no footnotes in the text but Matthew indicates that he consulted commentaries in his study. One thing to recommend in this commentary is Matthew’s insistence that Christ be the center of the entire sermon.  Christ brings a peace that no Levite priest...

Confident Faith: Building a Firm Foundation for Your Beliefs by Mark Mittelberg Thinking through our beliefs is not an easy task, especially in today’s world where reason is king and any belief in the supernatural is usually deemed pre-scientific.  In his new book , Confident Faith, author Mark Mittelberg seeks to bolster the confidence of believers in their Christian faith by giving them sound reasons for the faith and dispelling other alternatives to that faith.  Doubts are no intimidation factor for Mark, he takes them head on as he himself as a young man how many questions about the Bible’s trustworthiness and its message.  Mark comes out his readers through a plea to do some hard research yourself to see if the Christian faith is worthy of believing.  Also, in the book, Mark outlines six “faith paths” that most people align themselves with at one point or another: the relativistic faith, the traditional faith, the authoritarian faith, the intuit...

Just Jesus by Walter Wink with Steven Berry Many people know the name Walter Wink through his series of books on the Powers that Be, but many people don’t recognize the extreme nature of Wink’s life.  This new book, Just Jesus, is a memoir of Wink’s life through his time at Union Seminary, his nonviolent protests, and his views on practicing the faith of the fathers in the midst of horrible evil.  You get many pictures of Wink as you work through this memoir; social reformer, radical theologian, and constant stirrer of the pot.  You might not agree with everything in this book, in fact you won’t, but you will appreciate the life of a man dedicated to many worthwhile causes.  After relaying the story of how Walter had decided with his friend to burn up some Christmas trees, the fire marshal came and blamed it all on Walt’s black friend.  Wink writes, “That day I discovered something of what racism is.” (36)  The sting of knowing that someo...

Futureville by Skye Jethani It’s so easy to make a marked distinction between full-time Christian workers in jobs of ministry at the local church/para church ministries and Christians in the workplace of any stripe.  Skye Jethani in his new book Futureville , takes to task those who wish to denigrate the place of mothers, cleaners, dentists, and every area of work that is not labeled full time Christian service.  By reimagining and helping us get acquainted with the Biblical storyline, Skye reinvigorates our minds to see vocations in the service of the King as full of value and dignity.  By also looking at the way Christians of the past have sought to draw away from the world to remain pure from corruption, Skye points a finger at how this proposal ultimately fails as well.  What we need is not a removal from culture but a future looking approach that takes serious the present failures and hopes of this age.  Early on in the book Skye ...