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This is the thread where you can post links to any reviews you've written of books on the Bible, theology, Christian living, Christian perspectives on current issues or historical topics, Christian literature or literature in Christian perspective, Christian history and biography, religion in general, or any other topic of interest to this group. You can include both newly written reviews and older reviews that you posted before joining this group (or before this group existed! ;-) ).

My five-star review of the Bible (Holy Bible: New International Version) was. by intention, one of the very first reviews I posted on Goodreads. That review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Two books on the "how-to" of Bible study that I personally have found enormously helpful are Understanding Scripture: How to Read and Study the Bible, by A. Berkeley and Alvera Mickelsen, and Toward Understanding the Bible by Perry B. Yoder (under whom I was privileged to study as an undergraduate). My reviews of those books are here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

I haven't read many books on the subject(s) of creation/evolution, and haven't reviewed all of those that I have read. But one of the most informative of the latter has been Evolution: A Theory In Crisis, by Michael Denton. That review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

In approaching the study of the Bible, it can be really helpful to have some solid secondary resources on its background. A really good guide to the history and geography of the Biblical world is Baker's Bible Atlas, by Charles F. Pfeiffer, which I reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Here's the link to my review of War: Four Christian Views: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . There is actually a whole series of these "Four Christian Views" books, providing a variety of perspectives on a variety of theological and other topics; but this is the only one of them that I've personally read.

My four-star review of The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment. 3rd edition, fully updated, revised and expanded is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . IMO, this is an outstanding treatment of a really important biblical and theological topic.

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by R.H. Tawney is a history book (my undergraduate major is history) that had an enormous effect on my outlook on the world, and the way that my Christian faith relates to it. My five-star review, here, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , explains this in more detail.

In a pluralistic world, and one in which the Internet makes international communication routine, Christians inevitably interact with those of other faiths, so discussions of those other faiths are also within the scope of this group's interest. Here's the link to my review of the Koran: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

My main academic specialization (besides library science) is biblical studies; I don't have much academic training in theology, have read few books about it, and have only reviewed one of those. That one is The Trinity by evangelical academics Roger E. Olson and Christopher A. Hall. (My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . It's the first volume in Eerdmans Guides to Theology series, which is intended to provide short overviews of various theological concepts.

Our group focuses on discussion, from a Christian perspective, of various important ideas and issues; but the latter aren't only treated in nonfiction books. Serious fiction may explore serious ideas and issues as well, and fully merits discussion here. Here are links to my reviews of a couple of important Christian political novels from the 90s, Gideon's Torch by Charles Colson and Ellen Santilly Vaughn (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) and The President by Parker Hudson (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

In Cry, The Beloved Country, South African writer Alan Paton produced a major contribution to world literature, a book searingly exploring the social injustices of a particular time and place, but in a way that's universally relevant in any time and place. As I explain in my review, it's also a deeply Christian novel. I've long wanted to read it, and now I finally have. My five-star is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Because the present is necessarily rooted in and shaped by the past, a knowledge and understanding of history is a crucial prerequisite for understanding the contours and meaning of where we are today; and that's as true of the church as it is of society in general. Even though it's an older book (published in 1953), IMO there's no better single book for introducing a reader to the whole scope of Christian history up to that time than A History of Christianity by Baptist missionary and later Yale professor of church history Kenneth Scott Latourette. Here's my five-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

My five-star review of the outstanding Dietrich Bonhoeffer biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by evangelical Goodreads author Eric Metaxas. is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . This was a common read back in 2018 in one of my other groups; this discussion thread there, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... , has more discussion, and links to reviews in several journals.

Posting the link (in my comment above) to Eric Metaxas' biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer brought to mind my reviews of the only two of Bonhoeffer's own works that I've read. Both of these books are serious, substantial works of Christian reflection which got high ratings from me, so I decided to link to those reviews here as well:
The Cost of Discipleship --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Another of the few books I've both read and reviewed that can be broadly characterized as "theology" is Orthodoxy by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton. That was another five-star read for me; and that review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

As I have opportunity, between writing reviews of newly-read books, I try to take time to review some of the many book I read pre-Goodreads, provided that I remember them well enough to do them reasonable justice. One nonfiction book that's well deserving of a review is Introduction to the New Testament by Everett F. Harrison, one that I read as a young man fairly new to serious Bible study, and learned from immensely. Here's my five-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

C. S. Lewis is a 20th-century Christian thinker and writer whom I appreciate greatly (though not always uncritically), and who has had a significant intellectual influence on me. I've read 20 of his books (and have others still on my to-read shelf!) though I haven't reviewed all of the ones read pre-Goodreads. Here are the links to the reviews I have written, starting with the nonfiction ones:
The Four Loves --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Abolition of Man --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've actually reviewed more of his fiction, and those reviews are here:
The Chronicles of Narnia --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Out of the Silent Planet --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Great Divorce --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Till We Have Faces --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

19th-century American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was a nondenominational Christian; his friend and fellow literary giant Herman Melville wasn't a Christian, but had been raised as one and continued to struggle with his upbringing as an adult. Both men incorporate religious themes in some of their significant writings, and I've tried to deal with these in my reviews:
The Scarlet Letter --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The House of the Seven Gables --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Marble Faun --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Blithedale Romance --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Moby-Dick or, The Whale --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My reading in Patristics has been really limited, consisting of just two books, only one of which I've reviewed here. That one is Confessions by Augustine, and my three-star review (a rating which, on Goodreads' scale, means that I liked the book; it's my usual rating for nonfiction books that I've liked, since most of the books that get four or five stars from me are fiction) is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . I have a couple more of this author's writings on my to-read shelf.

All creative literature is concerned, as James Russell Lowell said, with the good, the true, and the beautiful. We've seen above that fiction that communicate serious ideas and images of goodness and truth (and beauty); the same is true of poetry. Stars Through the Clouds: The Collected Poetry of Donald T. Williams is Christian poetry at its finest, which can feed the mind as well as the ear. Here's my five-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Our group's purview includes the appreciation of literature in Christian perspective; so Christian nonfiction about literature and authors is definitely in our field of interest. My own reading of any books about literature has been scanty, though; and where Christian treatments of the subject are concerned, it's confined to the textbooks I used a homeschooling parent in the 90s and early 2000s.. But I have reviewed all of those, as follows:
Themes in Literature by Jan Anderson --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
American Literature for Christian Schools by Raymond A. St. John --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
British Literature for Christian Schools by Ronald A. Horton --https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This four-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...? is of the book Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan of Palm Beach Atlantic Univ. (Baker Book House, 2011). IMO, it's a very helpful resource for Bible study, but also for theological reflection and understanding, and for providing an intelligent defense of our faith to nonbelievers.

In a textbook feint, I wanted to intersperse Werner's steadily-growing list of Werner-grade reviews with one that is incredibly topical right now, but in what I'll pretend is a deliberate attempt at comic timing, sadly I've realised my review is just a 4 star rating with no comments. So here's my review: Required reading, particularly for Americans whose tax dollars have been contributing to this situation since WW2 ended. Christian Zionism, get some facts:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've added the Sizer book (Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon? to our group bookshelf just now, Nathan. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

An evangelical church historian who taught for 25 years at Johns Hopkins Univ., Timothy Smith (1924-1997) was one of the later 20th century's most significant contributors to the historiography of Christianity in the U.S. Revivalism & Social Reform: American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil War (1976) is perhaps his most important book, and one that's still very relevant. My four-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Werner wrote: "My five-star review of the outstanding Dietrich Bonhoeffer biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by evangelical Goodreads author Eric Metaxas. is here:
https://www.goo..."

Bonhoeffer: One of the greats! He was ahead of his time, just in time, at the right time.

Eric wrote: "Bonhoeffer: One of the greats! He was ahead of his time, just in time, at the right time."

Yes, reading his biography and some of his writings in recent years has greatly increased my admiration for him, and appreciation of him as a Christian thinker.

It's been a while since I linked to a review of a novel, but I still have a lot of reviews of relevant novels to draw from. One that's well worth posting here is this one: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , of Lord of the World (1907) by Roman Catholic priest Robert Hugh Benson. This is a highly prescient extrapolation of where the dystopian trends of his own day might be headed --and how those trends might be more relevant to the prophecies of the book of Revelation than the average cheerleader for secular "progress" might imagine.

One strong concern that I've had for decades is the glaring discrepancy between the kind of vibrant church life we see in the New Testament vs. the all-too-common stultified and sub-biblical church experience we settle for today. Two serious treatments of how contemporary congregational life can and should be drastically re-structured in the light of biblical imperatives are The Purpose Driven Church: Every Church Is Big in God's Eyes by Rick Warren and The Problem of Wineskins: Church Structure in a Technological Age by Howard A. Snyder. Both of these books got five stars from me; and my reviews are here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , and here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . Although neither book is very new any longer (the former was written in 1995 and the latter in 1975), they remain relevant today --biblical principles don't become dated.

From its title, Kenneth Bailey's book Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 sounds rather narrowly-focused; but it actually has discussions and insights with value for a much broader swath of New Testament studies than the few parables specifically treated here. Here's the link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Asbury Theological Seminary professor Craig S. Keener is, IMO, one of the ablest American evangelical New Testament scholars of his generation. I've read two of his books, Paul, Women and Wives: Marriage and Women's Ministry in the Letters of Paul, and And Marries Another: Divorce and Remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament, and both of them earned high ratings from me. My reviews are here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together, co-written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, is an unusual book, a true memoir and dual biography of the life journeys of two very different men, and of the God-driven series of events that brought them together, and ultimately impacted many lives. I think it's a book that would interest members of this group. Here's my five-star review; https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

I haven't read a large number of books on Christian evidences, and haven't reviewed all even of the few that I have read. That said, though, Who Moved the Stone? (1930), the classic study of the evidence for the actual resurrection of Christ from the dead by the initially skeptical British journalist Frank Morison, is one of the most important and convincing, both for me personally and for many other Christians. This is the link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Christian parents --as well as parents of other monotheistic faiths, and even ethically traditional-minded parents of no particular faith-- find it an increasingly different challenge to transmit their faith and faithful lifestyles (not to mention cultural literacy and capacity for critical thinking) to their kids, in the face of a largely monolithic government "educational" system and media culture aggressively aiming to stop them. Betty Pfeiffer's book Who's Got Dibs on Your Kids? (reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) is a serious and practical look at this topic, by a Christian author.

The whole subject of healthy and ethical living as persons purposefully created by God as sexual beings is, in a world that's "gone off the deep end" of rebellion against God in that area perhaps more than any other, is one fraught with controversy. Two wise and constructive treatments of this subject (or of an aspect of it) that I can highly recommend are Sex for Christians: The Limits and Liberties of Sexual Living by Lewis B. Smedes, and Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would: A Fresh Christian Approach by Chad W. Thompson. Here are the links to my reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Although Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America by Lawrence W. Levine isn't written from a Christian perspective, it's dealing with a serious topic --the role of creative art and its appreciation in a national culture-- that should be of interest to all thinking Christians who see all of life and culture as a unity under the lordship of Christ. My solid three-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Luke by Robert H. Stein (1992), part of Broadman Press' New American Commentary series on the Bible, is one of a number of books I reviewed over several years in the 90s for The Christian Librarian. (I had to give up reviewing there when my wife and I started homeschooling our girls, because I just didn't have time to do both.) My solid three-star review (my normal rating for nonfiction I like) is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Although it isn't as widely read today, Hal Lindsey's exposition of the dispensationalist approach to end-times prophecy, The Late Great Planet Earth, was extremely popular in some Christian circles in my college days. My review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) expresses my total disagreement with that approach.

On the other hand, Revelation Explained by Church of the Brethren minister Lerry Fogle is an excellent popular level commentary on the book of Revelation, which would be an great resource for study of the end times, the New Testament message, and other subjects. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

I linked to both of these reviews last year on our group's "End Times" thread; but until now, I hadn't linked to them here.

One of my reasons for (re)reading The Normal Christian Church Life by Watchman Nee at this time was to determine whether it was in fact the book by the author that I read in the early 70s. (It was; I'd been confusing the title with his better-known book, The Normal Christian Life.) Re-connecting with it again was a rewarding experience! Here's my five-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis was one of the first books by that author that I read, back in the early 70s when I first becoming serious about my Christian faith. Even back then, I was impressed with it as an example of intellectually rigorous thinking about faith. My appreciation of it was enhanced by a recent reread; here's the link to the resulting review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

20th-century Christian thinker Jacques Ellul has been referenced on at least one of our discussion threads ("Christian theology of government"). The only one of his many books that I've read so far is The Politics of God and the Politics of Man, which offers serious "meditations" on the implications of some seven passages in the book of II Kings; but it got a solid four stars from me. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Earlier this year, I got acquainted with William J. Laurence (who's a Goodreads member, but not officially a Goodreads author) through his comments in this group, and became interested in his book, The Purposeful Love of God: Seeing God's Love from His Perspective (2023). I've now read it, and my four-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

One of the most valuable resources I've ever found for studying the Palestinian background of the New Testament is Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus by the 20th-century German Lutheran scholar Joachim Jeremias. My four-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . A similar, but more popular level, book which I'd also recommend, though I've never reviewed it, is Daily Life in the Time of Jesus by the French Roman Catholic historian Henri Daniel-Rops.

While I don't read commentaries on books of the Bible from cover to cover very often, I have occasionally, usually ones that I took on the task of reviewing. One of the latter is Romans: New International Biblical Commentary by James R. Edwards, which I reviewed for a library journal back in 1993. My new Goodreads review, updated from that one, is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

In the early Christian centuries, proto-Gnostic and Gnostic ideas were a major force opposing orthodox Christianity; and the same ideas have, in modern times, been resurrected for the same purpose. The Lost Gospel of Judas: Separating Fact from Fiction (2007), by two evangelical Canadian scholars, Stanley E. Porter and Gordon L. Heath, looks at this from a Christian perspective. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Although I'm no longer a Lutheran, I was raised as one; so I grew up being more aware than most kids my age of Luther's significance in both church and general world history. Here's the link to my review of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1950) by Yale Univ. scholar Roland H. Bainton: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . There are a number of Luther biographies out there, but this is the one that's usually regarded as the definitive treatment.

Though aimed at lay readers and not a "scholarly" work in any sense, Women in the Old Testament: Twenty Psychological Portraits by the 20th-century Anglican British historical novelist Norah Lofts (1949) is an interesting and at times insightful work that's still worth reading, IMO. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . On Goodreads' scale, my three-star rating indicates that I liked the book (and is my usual rating for most nonfiction that I read).

Until today, the book Was Jesus Married?: The Distortion of Sexuality in the Christian Tradition by liberal Protestant scholar William E. Phipps, which I read in my college days, was sort of buried on my "other nonfiction" shelf; so I hadn't noticed it to link to my review (here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) until now. It's a controversial book, and one I strongly disagree with in part; but I think it treats an important subject.

Even though the staple-bound booklet The Church of God As Revealed in Scripture by Arlo F. Newell is a really short and almost superficial treatment of Christian theology, and even though I wasn't able to rate it more highly than at two stars, I do think the book and my review of it (which is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) deal with issues of interest to this group. So, I finally decided to share my review here.

My long-overdue five-star review of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , is very much a retrospective review, since I read the book around 1971. But it made a deep impression on me, which has stayed with me across the ensuing decades. This is a profoundly Christian novel, which certainly facilitates loving the Lord with all one's mind!

The subject of this 1921 biography, Birth of A Reformation - Life and Labors of D.S. Warner by Andrew L. Byers (which I read back in 1975) isn't well known; in Latourette's definitive, 1,516-page history of Christianity, he rates no mention at all. But his career is of interest to me personally, as my three-star review, here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , explains.