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The Christian and Amusements

Biederworlf was a well-know Presbyterian fundamentalist at the turn of the century.  He once headed the Winona Lake Bible Conference (1922) and taught at Winona Lake School of Theology (1922-33).  A study like this from a generation gone by (1907) is always a cultural reminder of how much the church has changed.  His three subjects […]

The Decline of the African American Theo...

I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged with this 2007 volume from the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.  Anyabwile is professedly Reformed in his theology, steering him through his many theological evaluations of the Black American experience, which, according to the author, departed from Biblical orthodoxy mostly in […]

Understanding The Trinity

I generally appreciate and greatly profit from McGrath’s writings.  His Oxford Evangelicalism always seems a bit too Anglican, but on most matters of theology he has been good.  This basic book on the trinity is a book you might want to give a skeptic who is not sure whether he can believe in such an […]

The Holy Spirit

Ryrie wrote the first edition of this book in 1965 and it has gone through several editions since then.  The bulk of it is also reproduced in his Basic Theology.  In rereading the book (an easy read of 120 pages) I was encouraged by the orthodox presentation of what can be a very controversial doctrine.  […]

The Practice of Prayer

While browsing in a used book section of a store, I found this 1906 edition printed in the second year of Morgan’s 39 year ministry at the Westminster Chapel in London (not to be confused with either the Abbey or the Cathedral).  Morgan was followed there by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones who retired in 1968.  One […]

Systematic Theology, Vol 1

Those of us who sat under Dr. McCune, whether at Central Seminary in Minneapolis or at Detroit Seminary, are glad that he is writing (my syllabus notes are getting old and tattered).  Reviewing this volume, Dr. Larry Pettegrew writes, “Highlights include a presuppositional apologetic, a single source (Scripture) as the only rule for theology, cessationism […]

The Truth Behind the New Atheism

The book store shelves are filled with titles and authors we know little about. Adding to the confusion is the disappearance of familiar and trusted authors as well as the obvious change in the trustworthiness of publishers to offer orthodox material. Usually we have to choose a book by its title and take a chance […]

Great Hymns of the Faith

In addition to one’s daily reading schedule, it is a good thing to read through the hymn book in a year.  I am going on my fifth year of reading through this 1968 edition of Great Hymns.  Since I rise early, I can sing a hymn in the morning (no one else need listen) before […]

That Old-Time Religion in Modern America

Hart is professor of church history and dean at Westminster Theological Seminary.  He has written also in the area of Reformed worship (With Reverence and Awe, D.G. Hart & J.R. Muether) and American church history (see last month’s Book Shelf).  Hart’s purpose in this book (2002) is to examine the influence evangelicalism has had on […]

A Secular Faith

I had not read Hart before this book, and only then because I found him quoted a lot by D.A. Carson regarding culture.  Hart, a Westminster Seminary, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins graduate  writes very fairly about conservatives in a mixed religious and secular culture.  I liked his view that the church should be kept the […]