There has been a recent flurry of publications on the Reformation. Prior to this, Oxford professor Diarmaid McCulloch stood out in the renewal of Reformation studies. His titles include Thomas Cranmer: a life (1997) and Reformation: Europe’s house divided (2004).…
This book consists of selections from around 30 authors from the Puritan era, arranged as daily readings. The editor has condensed and abridged the extracts, seeking to remain faithful to the authors’ flows of thought. Each day’s section is headed…
Christian Focus is to be commended for publishing a clear, concise and comprehensive compendium of John Calvin’s classic, The Institutes of the Christian religion. Systematic, biblical theology is presented in an accessible and appealing format. Using the ESV Bible text,…
The apostle John’s writings, especially his letters, are known to be a challenge to understand. The author of this commentary faces up to this fact. He acknowledges the profundity of John’s thoughts and the difficulty of his grammar. However, the…
This is a disappointing book. The author has the learning, as he discusses the subject of culture and the church, but, as he himself admits, ‘The alert reader will have noticed the dearth of applications in this book’ (p.233). The…
This short book is divided into 22 brief chapters, each based on a biblical ‘picture’. The reader is led on a brief tour of life in Bible times, such as fishing, shepherding and living in tents. At each stop along…
This book is the second in a series dealing with different characters in the Bible. In the introduction, the author makes the point that, although there isn’t a great deal about Judah in the Bible, his name appears there frequently.…
In western society we live in a time of unprecedented cultural change. It is a time when Christian morality is increasingly condemned as well as rejected. Christians often find it difficult to make voices heard in the public square. Any…
This book is based on the author’s PhD thesis. His contention is that the early church was influenced in its understanding of the New Testament more by Neoplatonism than the Old Testament. So, marriage came to be seen as a…
Justin Brierley is the host of Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable? radio show. He describes how, as an undergraduate at Oxford University, his contact with sceptics made him question his belief in God and Christianity. He explains that the experience helped…
Yorkshire is known for its food, athletes and cricketers. It should also be known for the number of notable Christians who have hailed from this county over the centuries. In Fine gold from Yorkshire, Faith Cook brings readers 21 biographies,…
Spoken for is a brilliant read, which draws upon biblical promises as well as biographical anecdotes from Gunn and Bethke. They remind readers that, whether married or single, Christians have been chosen and pursued by God, and he should be…