Reading and Readers

"In a day of polarization to extremes and consequent fragmentation of churches and individual lives, we need to heed his [the Apostle John's] call to hold together truth and love on the basis of God’s self-revelation throughout the Scriptures and especially in this text [the Epistles of John]." That was a prescient quote from 1988 by David Jackman in his book, "The Message of John's Letters".
What revelation does the Apostle John's letters have for us? If you want to know more, don't go away.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. When I can, I try to squeeze in a Logos Free Book of the Month, depending on what Logos is giving away. For this month, it's "Exalting Jesus in 1, 2, 3 John" by Daniel L. Akin.

Confidence to Review a Commentary
Coincidentally or providentially, my senior pastor just completed a sermon series on 1 John. And after him, I preached a sermon on 2 John. With the Apostle John still ringing in my mind, I feel more confident on reviewing this 288 page commentary on his letters.
"Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John" is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, CCE for short, which boasts 35 books so far with more in progress. Let me read the Amazon description of the commentary series:
Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books. Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition.
The nature of the book gives added confidence that I could finish the review before the free promotion ends.
The series editors, David Platt, Daniel Akin and Tony Merida explain:
... the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series has pastors in view. While we hope others will read this series, such as parents, teachers, small-group leaders, and student ministers, we desire to provide a commentary busy pastors will use for weekly preparation of biblically faithful and gospel-saturated sermons. This series is not academic in nature. Our aim is to present a readable and pastoral style of commentaries.
And if the CCE's commentary on 1,2,3 John is any indicator, then they have achieved their aims of "a readable and pastoral style of commentaries".
Although I must point out to my listeners that easy to read is relative. If you are in a teaching position in church or you are a keen student of the Bible, if you understand or want to understand what is hermeneutics and homiletics, then you'll appreciate this review.
If not, then please know that most book reviews in this podcast are not commentaries. For example, you can listen to my review of children's books by S.D. Smith and Andrew Peterson or "Redeeming Money" by Paul Tripp.

Structure and Author
Coming back to "Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John", to make this review on a commentary interesting, this the structure. I'll tell you two things I like, two things I don't like. And I'll do that by comparing it with another commentary on 1, 2, 3 John. I'll call this other commentary, Commentary X. Near the end of the episode, I'll reveal the title and author of this mysterious Commentary X. In doing this side-by-side review, you will not just learn more about this month's free commentary from Logos but you will hear how to compare two different commentaries, which could be important if you are out shopping for one.
First, let me give a quick brief on the author. Daniel, or Danny, Akin is the President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. So it's a good thing I'm not reviewing his book as an assignment in his seminary because that would be a bit intimidating... given what I have to say. On his website, he lists 25 books he has written which includes 12 books for the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series, and among many books, there is with an eye-catching title, "God on Sex". If I did a review on that book, maybe I'll get more subscribers. I hear that sex sells. I should ask Akin if his book sales confirm it. In short, Akin has an impressive CV and has written for both scholars and general readers. How did he do for his 2014 book, the CCE Commentary on 1, 2, 3 John?

Positives: Readable and Contemporary
The first positive is, as I've mentioned, it's readable. Non-academic. Non-technical. Any reader, without any theological training, can pick this book up and profit from it. Every chapter begins with a one sentence 'Main Idea' followed by a catchy outline. For example, chapter one which covers 1 John 1:1-4, begins with the following one sentence Main Idea:
Jesus Christ is the God-man who is the one basis of true Christian fellowship and eternal life.
Next is the outline:

1. Have a Passion to Know This Life
2. Have a Passion to Share This Life
3. Have a Passion to Enjoy This Life

Easy to read, easy to digest, easy to remember. The Main Idea and outline is helpful to guide the pastor or confirm his initial forays into the text.
The second positive is the contemporary voice. Akin references John Piper, Chris Tomlin and other contemporary voices. He also addresses questions ordinary people ask today not questions scholars ask many decades ago.

Negative: Sometimes Little Added
Now, I'll move to the negatives which will be longer because I try to substantiate my criticisms by comparing it with Commentary X.
The first negative is in some parts (not all!) it feels like he is just paraphrasing what the passage says.
For example, the Apostle John writes in 1 John 2:8: "At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining."
We read this today and wonder, how is this commandment new? Listen to how Akin explains it here:
And the newness is threefold. First, it is new and true in Jesus. Second, it is true and new in us, those who “walk just as He walked” (v. 6). Third, it is true and new in us because “the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” (cf. John 1:5, 9).
It is new and true in Jesus. It is new and true in us. But that's just what the original verse said, I quote, "a new commandment ... which is true in him and in you". And as part of his reason Akin quotes back to us the verse, "the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining".
This is as if I asked you, "Why is the sky blue?" And you answer, "Because it is blue." It sounds Zen but that's not an explanation or exposition. And if reading the bible verse back to you helps you, then you don't need this commentary.
Thankfully, if Akin doesn't stop there. Otherwise, my criticism would be sharper. He elaborates. But is the elaboration helpful? Listen to how he continues:
In Christ the command to love one another is strengthened, deepened, expanded, and given a depth of meaning and understanding never seen before His coming in the incarnation. And now that same kind of supernatural love is being seen and experienced in those who love Him and abide in Him. But there’s more! Perfect love as revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has dealt a death blow to darkness. Darkness is on the run and it cannot outrun the light. In fact the darkness is already departing and the true light already shines! The light of the world (John 8:12) has come. The King of light and love is already reigning, and the fullness and consummation of that reign is just around the corner. How we love one another gives evidence of all of this.
The way I read it, his elaboration midway turns to spontaneous doxology, to praise. Which I can appreciate, except I wanted to know what 1 John 2:8 means. If I knew what it meant, I too would like to burst into praise.
Perhaps the problem with the repeated paraphrasing here is due to the nature of the letter itself. If you are familiar with 1 John, you know that it 'suffers' from thematic repetition. Perhaps it is the repetitive nature that is responsible for the tiredness in this reader-reviewer. It's not CCE's fault because the source material is the way it is.
Except... when I read Commentary X's exposition on this same verse, I am enlightened. Remember the question I posed of 1 John 2:8 is "How is the commandment new?"
In Commentary X, it says:
The law of love is new in the sense that it is seen in Jesus and established by him through his death and resurrection. This command is also new in that Jesus by his obedience fulfilled the whole of the law and gave it “a depth of meaning that it had never known before” (John 13:34b, 35). Finally, this command is new because for those who believe it makes possible a new and eternal life in which they are motivated by the grace of God to fulfill the law of self-sacrificing, Christlike love.
In comparison, Commentary X is here saying almost the same thing but saying it better and to the point. Does every chapter in the CCE have this same problem? No. And not always in the way I just described. Sometimes the disconnect appears as a list of facts, Bible verses or a lengthy quote that seems out of place in the flow of the argument.

Negative: Unsatisfactory Difficult Passages
The second thing I don't like about the CCE's commentary on 1,2,3 John is when he deals with a difficult passage, he doesn't present the merits of the different views. Now I understand the goal is not to be academic, which to some conjures up pages and pages of exhaustively listing and debating every minutia of data to arrive at no conclusion. First of all that is not true. Depending on which audience it aims for, an academic commentary can give concise and conclusive arguments.
The CCE doesn't handle well the tension between being devotional on one hand and expositional on the other, especially for difficult passages.
1 John 5:6, "water and blood"


I'll give you an example. The Apostle John writes in 1 John 5:6, "This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth."
The obvious question is "What is the water and blood?"
Christ-Centered Exposition (CCE)


This is what CCE has:
Some see [the water] as a reference to the water of physical birth, the water that flowed from our Lord’s side when He was pierced on the cross (John 19:34–35), or even the two sacraments or ordinances of baptism (water) and the Lord’s Supper (blood). This last perspective was held by both Martin Luther and John Calvin. However, the historical context of refuting the false teachings of Cerinthus, who said the Christ-spirit descended on the man Jesus at His baptism but abandoned Him on the cross, points strongly in the direction that John had the baptism of Jesus in mind.
Why is Martin Luther and John Calvin wrong? Akin doesn't say. We don't have enough data to weigh the merits or to understand how and why Akin made his conclusion.
Commentary X


On the other hand, this is what Commentary X has concerning Luther and Calvin's interpretation:
First, John is concerned with combating false teachers who denied the human nature of Jesus. It is therefore unlikely that John would now switch topics. Second, John uses the past tense (ho elthōn, “the one who came”) which reflects a past, completed event in history, whereas baptism and the Lord’s Supper are recurring observances. Third, although water seems to be a likely synonym for baptism, the same is not true for blood and the Lord’s Supper.
He explains why Luther and Calvin are wrong. And this is a small part of a larger section explaining how other views came to be and why they too are wrong, before settling to the same conclusion as Akin's in the CCE.
NICNT, TNTC, WBC


On the question of water and blood, I checked the academic commentaries I have: Howard Marshall's New International Commentary on the New Testament (the venerable NICNT), John Stott's Tyndale New Testament Commentary (TNTC), Stephen Smalley's Word Biblical Commentary (WBC). These commentaries gave helpful insights to the question which is to be expected because they give nitty gritty details often at the expense of accessibility. Although I think the Tyndale New Testament Commentary or TNTC as a series manages to give a good balance in a concise volume.
The Bible Speaks Today (BST)


The Bible Speaks Today, BST for short, is a commentary series with similar aims to the CCE. David Jackman, whom I quoted in the beginning, is under similar constraints to Akin for the CCE.
Comparing how they treat 1 John 5:6 side by side, Jackman is more focused on expounding the text while Akin tends to drift towards... exalting Jesus. Akin would punctuate his commentary with statements like: "Jesus is the anointed Son", "Jesus will be the suffering King", "Jesus was not a mere man. He is the Son of God who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world", "Praise His name, He did come to die for us, and He did come to change us!" Akin's writing is more exultation and less exposition.

Preaching the Word (PtW)
I want to make a special mention of David Allen of the Preaching the Word series. His commentary on this passage is a combination of creative writing and exposition. I quote:
As the courtroom comes to order, our eyes are riveted on an aged man who stands and approaches the front of the court. A former fisherman, he is now famous worldwide as the only surviving member of the original twelve disciples who followed Jesus. His name is John.
So Allen goes on a different track with this passage, he doesn't weigh the merits of different views but rather brings out the testimony and witness feel of the passage.
1 John 5:16, "Sin that leads to death"


Coming back to my review of "Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John", I had prepared another example for comparison. 1 John 5:16 which says, "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that."
This too is a puzzling verse. The question "What is the sin that does not lead to death and the sin that does lead to death?" arises naturally for any reader of this passage, and so more is expected from any commentary. And the CCE is found lacking.
While it tells us the three views, again it doesn't explain how it came about or why we should accept CCE's view in comparison to others. The conclusion is simply asserted. On the other hand, Commentary X explains the different views, compares the data and while it reaches the same conclusion in the CCE, it gives the reader confidence.
In my opinion, the preacher especially needs that confidence because his preaching is a result of that confidence. Not in his own ability but in what the Bible says. Hence the preacher studies as much as he can, given the time, money and ability he possesses. I'm not saying the preacher can publish a journal paper out of his studies, merely that his conclusions can be supported or defended from the text.

Revealing Commentary X
Now, what is this Commentary X that somehow always reaches the same conclusion as the CCE but substantiates them better? And I dare say communicates them better.
It can substantiate better because Commentary X is an academic commentary and is thus expected to substantiate arguments. But you ask, "How can it be fair to contrast the CCE with an academic commentary? The CCE is doing what it promised. A non-academic devotional commentary for the busy pastor that exalts Jesus. Comparison would be apples to oranges. Totally unfair!"
Ah... but I argue it's not. It's a delicious comparison! Because... Commentary X is the New American Commentary or NAC for short, on 1, 2, 3 John which is written in 2001 by a scholar by the name of Daniel L. Akin. Yes, the same Akin who wrote the CCE.
If you felt that I was a bit hard on Akin's CCE work, it was because I have both his NAC and CCE in mind. So I knew Akin possessed the scholarly depth and writing flair to address my main concern with the CCE but did not because of it's different purpose.

New American Commentary (NAC)
The NAC is an academic work. The book begins with a discussion on the author, date and place of writing, the occasion, purpose and theology of the epistle. Every chapter assumes some understanding or at least some appreciation of the Greek, textual criticism, theology and historical development. Thus, it's not easy book to read hence why I didn't and couldn't read the whole book for this review. I only used it as a reference to the difficult passages in 1 John 5:6 and 16.
What sets apart this NAC book from all the other 1 John commentaries earlier and also showcases Akin's scholarship is the marvellously long discussion on the structure of 1 John.
In this discussion, Akin presents:

1. a summary of Raymond Brown's survey of 26 outlines from different scholars,
2. several outlines from more scholars using discourse analysis,
3. even more outlines from another set of scholars this time using rhetorical criticism, before he finally presents
4. his own proposed outline.

I'd like to think that the multiplicity of structures for 1 John validates my own struggles in outlining this epistle.
In case you haven't caught on, I quite like the NAC compared to the CCE. Akin is more focused in the NAC and even with all the academic baggage, in my opinion the argument still reads and flows better.
In the CCE, sometimes the not-well-resolved tension between expounding and exalting makes the argument seem interrupted and lacks substance, which is a pity when we now know how much Akin can bring to the discussion.
Maybe you say the problem is I'm reading it as an argument when I should read it as a devotional. It's a devotional man! Don't expect something else from it. Just enjoy it! The thing is I do enjoy devotional commentaries. David Allen's chapter was good and I thoroughly enjoy the Reformed Expository Commentary Series. I suspect, and this is only a suspicion, I'm not getting much out of the CCE because the material would come out better if it's preached not read.

Synergy: 1 + 1 = 3
I do have a reason for bringing up Akin's NAC and it's not to pit it against his CCE. Instead of saying which is better, which listeners would argue is not fair, and I agree, I'm comparing them because I want to propose to you that they are complement one another.
Instead of choosing between the NAC and CCE, why not just get both?
"What?! I barely can read one and you want me to get two?"
"Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John" is free for October so that's a no-brainer but even if you had to pay for both books, it might be worth it. Let me explain the synergy. Synergy is what happens when the combined effect is greater than the sum of the parts, or 1 + 1 = 3.
When you get both the NAC and the CCE, a research commentary and a devotional commentary by the same author, you get a peek at what happens going from one stage to the next.
We can see sermons as a two-stage process. Hermeneutics then homiletics, or interpretation then delivery. If a sermon is a car, the first stage is to fill the tank, and the second stage is to drive it.
Sometimes the problem for the preacher is there isn't enough fuel in the tank, and he ends up pushing the car on his own strength. Meaning the hermeneutics is weak, and the sermon over relies on addressing felt needs, personal testimonies, even dreams and visions.
Other times the problem is the pastor finds he has too much fuel and turns his car into an oil tank truck. What was supposed to be a Christ-exalting sermon becomes a lecture on Greek grammar.
How can preachers improve on moving from interpretation to delivery? Books on both hermeneutics and homiletics have chapters to bridge that gap but there is a limit to how many examples authors can squeeze into a book.
If only, we had an author who would take one whole book of the Bible, show us how he does the interpretative work for every verse in that book and then show us how he would put everything he learnt and deliver a series of sermons on that book. What would that book be... Genesis? Too many stories scattered all around. Matthew? Too long. Hmm... it would be good to have something shorter but not too short and thematically focused. Of all the books in the Bible, the epistles of John best fits that requirement.
That ladies and gentlemen, is the synergy you get by getting Akin's NAC which is the interpretative work and Akin's CCE which is the delivery work on 1, 2, 3 John. Even though it's not a one to one correspondence, the books don't refer to each other, I think it works really well to see how one man interprets a whole book and later puts it down as a series of sermons or in a devotional setting. You don't often get this type of arrangement so I wanted to highlight that in this review.
In this review, I explained the difference between an academic and a devotional commentary. I also shared one way, not the only way, to evaluate a commentary is simply to see how it deals with a verse. Pick a verse that is confusing like "blood and water", or controversial like, "women should be silent in the church", or important like the atonement, and see how the commentary deals with it.
I have explained to a brother in Christ that we should not view commentaries as authoritative because only the Bible is authoritative. We should view commentaries as friends, knowledgeable friends for sure, friends who have dedicated a lifetime to understand a narrow part of the Scripture, but friends whom we can still argue with in a respectful way.

Conclusion
In conclusion, even though the Akin's CCE and NAC are both commentaries on 1, 2, 3 John, they each serve different purposes. The NAC is an academic book. The CCE is a devotional commentary written for busy pastors. For lighter reading the CCE can be read cover to cover as food for the soul. As a reference on difficult passages, the NAC is better positioned to help you. If you get both together, you get the benefit of seeing how one man interprets and delivers from one book.
This is a Reading and Readers review of "Exalting Jesus in 1, 2, 3 John" by Daniel L. Akin. If you are listening to this in October, then this book is available for free only in October, only via Logos. And if you missed the offer, well, you should subscribe to Reading and Readers because every month I will review at least one free book for you.
You have a very special person in your life, who believes in Jesus, obeys Jesus and loves you in a way that no one else would. Yes, your pastor. If he doesn't know it yet, you should tell him about the Logos free book of the month programme and even this podcast that reviews Christian books. October is Pastor Appreciation Month, so go and appreciate your pastor. Until next time, keep reading!

Book List

• "Exalting Jesus in 1, 2, 3 John (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (CCE))" by Daniel L. Akin. Amazon. Logos.
• "1, 2, 3 John (New American Commentary (NAC))" by Daniel L. Akin. Amazon. Logos.
• "The Epistles of John (New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT))" by Howard I. Marshall. Amazon. Logos.
• "The Letters of John (Tyndale New Testament Commentary (TNTC))" by John Stott. Amazon. Logos.
• "1,2,3 John (Word Biblical Commentary (WBC))" by Stephen S. Smalley. Amazon. Logos.
• "The Message of John's Letters (The Bible Speaks Today (BST)) by David Jackman. Amazon. Logos.
• "1-3 John: Fellowship in God's Family (Preaching the Word)" by David L. Allen. Amazon. Logos.

When was the last time you heard a sermon or read a passage and thought, "Huh! I never looked at it that way before." Today's book promises you a new set of eyes to see passages in a new light.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Today I review the Faithlife Free Book of the Month for October: "Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Parables: Discovering New Insights in Familiar Passages" by Doug Newton. 208 pages, published by David C. Cook in August 2018.

The First Samaritan Moment
Do you remember your first time hearing or reading the Parable of the Samaritan Man? Wow! Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the religious elite. What a wise and powerful answer to the question, "Who is my neighbour?"
Do you remember how the weight of the parable came to bear on you? "Can I do that? What does this story mean to me? Will my life now be forever changed?"
Fast forward some years, and you have heard many sermons on the Good Samaritan, you have read many articles on the parable, you have explained the parable to others, perhaps even teaching it in Sunday school.
Now, when a preacher comes up to preach on the Parable of the Samaritan Man, or the Parable of the Sower, or the Parable of the Prodigal Son, or other familiar passages, before he has finished reading the passage, you have outlined his sermon and are now just tapping your watch waiting for him to finish. Unless, of course, the preacher offers new insights.
And if he does, those old passages spring back to life. You are gripped by the revelation of God speaking into your life again. Don't you want a book that promises new insights on familiar passages? Doug Newton's book "Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Parables: Discovering New Insights in Familiar Passages" offers more than new insights. The keyword here is 'discovering'. He gives you the tools for discovery.

Fresh Eye Series
This book is part of a three-book Fresh Eye series. Let me quote from the book's introduction to the series:
My primary mission with this book series is not to share new insights I’ve uncovered. My greater desire is to reveal specific techniques that will allow you to make new discoveries about familiar passages that can revive your love for the infinite Word and transform your work in teaching and testimony.
The series consists of three books: "Fresh Eyes on Famous Bible Sayings", "Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Miracles" and "Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Parables", which is the one free for October from Faithlife. All three books in the series offers to teach readers how to discover new insights on familiar passages.

Running Man Makes Every Effort
Who is the writer making this offer? According to his online profile:
Doug Newton is the cofounder and director of the National Prayer Ministry of the Free Methodist Church-USA. The author of twelve books, he served for thirty years as a senior pastor and for fifteen years as editor of Light & Life magazine.
This profile doesn't convey Newton's passion to (I quote) "help people see the Bible with fresh eyes and expectancy." This is a pastor who preached two sermons back-to-back while running on a treadmill just so that he could illustrate what the Greek word spoudazo in 2 Peter 1:5 means. I can almost see the pastor huffing and puffing, "Spoudazo in the Greek means make every effort."
Some listeners would be attracted to such gimmicks. Some would be turned off.
I have used gimmicks, mostly in sermons targeting children and youth. Now if you think it's acceptable to use such visual aids for children and youth, then rejecting them on the main Sunday Service might reveal a personal preference rather than a theological line. While we could discuss whether the sign acts of Ezekiel and Jeremiah allows preachers to use gimmicks, that is not the point of the book.

Suspicious Gimmicks and Insights?
Even though I employ gimmicks, I am suspicious of them. Gimmicks like sermon illustrations and personal testimonies can take a life of its own and hijack the sermon. Similarly, even though I offer and desire new insights on familiar passages, I am also suspicious of people offering them, because these phrases are also used to cover distorted or false teachings.
My suspicions are not assured by Newton's interpretative approach, I quote:
Other scholars have argued that a parable should be reduced to one simple lesson. Seminary students are often trained in that school of thought. Thankfully, a resurgence of interpretation theories has allowed for allegorical readings of parables and their ability to convey multiple points at once.
He later continues:
We need to use our limited permission and let the parables take us into Spirit-guided research, reflection and application, in harmony with the whole Word of God.
He says clearly good things (i.e. it should be in harmony with the whole Word of God) but what does he mean by "allegorical readings of parables and their ability to convey multiple points at once"?
Bingo: Jesus' Parables
Let's find out in the book. What are the new insights that Doug Newton offers in this book and how helpful are his techniques on discovering them?
Excluding the introduction, there are ten chapters for the ten parables he has selected. Let me pause and ask you, "How many Parables of Jesus can you remember?" If you are not driving, I suggest you pause this podcast now and list the Parables of Jesus that you remember.
Because we are going to play Bingo, the Parables of Jesus version. If your list, the list that you made, includes all ten of the parables in this book, you can shout, "Bingo!" and earn the admiration of all your peers. By one count, Jesus spoke more than 30 Parables, so get going. Fun for the whole family!
Let's hear it. The ten parables you will find in this book are: The Hidden Treasure, The Vineyard Workers, The Lost Son, The Friend in Need, The Unmerciful Servant, The Wise and Foolish Builders, The Five Talents, The Shrewd Manager, The Lost Sheep and lastly, the Good Samaritan. How many did you get? Are all these parables familiar to you?

Walkthrough the Hidden Treasure
I'll walkthrough the first chapter, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure to show what readers should expect for the rest of the book.
First, he leads in with a brief story, humorous and relevant to the point he will eventually make. Soon he introduces the parable, in this chapter he quotes Matthew 13:44:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
He then tells us what the traditional view is. I quote:
One common interpretation ... [is]: the kingdom of heaven is such a precious treasure that we, like the man, should give up everything to lay hold of it. Of course, that’s absolutely true—but probably not what Jesus was talking about. So let’s flip our minds upside down, shake out the old teaching, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us discover something new. Let’s start with a quick review of the facts:
What did the man buy? Don’t say “treasure.” He wanted the treasure, but he had to buy the field where he found it in order to possess the treasure. That’s an important observation.
How did the man come up with the money to buy the field? He sold everything he owned.
What was his frame of mind while doing that? He was joyful.
Finally, what was the kingdom of heaven like? Wait . . . don’t say “treasure.” The first thing you must do whenever you approach a parable that begins “the kingdom of heaven (or God) is like . . .” is to put the parable’s elements inside a parenthesis so the phrase “kingdom of heaven” applies to everything that follows. This parable is not saying the kingdom of God is like any one element in the parable, such as the treasure or the man or the field. Rather, the parable is saying the whole picture that follows is what the kingdom of God is like. That is, the man finds treasure, hides it, joyfully sells everything, and buys the field. Given that basic rule of interpretation, we cannot interpret this parable the common way—that the kingdom of God should be like a treasure to us.
Four Things I Like About You
Let me tell you four things I like and one I don't.
First, I like how he challenges us to really read the text and not just recall whatever we have heard or learnt. Here is the text, read it for yourselves.
Second, I like how teaches by asking questions. I believe that effective learning is often asking the right questions instead of giving the right answers. And if this book helps readers ask better questions, it's a good book.
Third, he makes a distinction between right teaching and right interpretation. He affirms that the kingdom of heaven is a precious treasure to us, that's right teaching, but he claims that's not what Jesus was talking about, that's not the right interpretation. I think this is an important distinction which preachers and teachers should know.
Fourth, I like it that he says the traditional interpretation is "probably not what Jesus was talking about." If you recall, earlier he said one parable may convey multiple meanings at once. I like this because he doesn't say there are two meanings. He says the traditional meaning is wrong and that makes it easier for me to argue against, which you will hear later.

You are the Treasure! It is You!
But I haven't yet told you what is his conclusion. After telling us that the kingdom of heaven is not the treasure but the whole picture of the man finding, hiding, selling and buying, where would this interpretation lead to?
He leads us by reminding us to be aware and to check our assumptions. Then he throws the big question: "What if the man in the parable is not us? What if the man who finds the hidden treasure is Jesus?" If so, then it is Jesus who gave everything up in order to gain the treasure, and the treasure would be us!
How does Newton support this interpretation? Ironically, for a man who seeks to overcome an interpretation we have received via tradition, he begins his argument by appealing to an earlier tradition. On the picture of the man being Jesus, he writes:
Did you realize that for the first thousand years of Christendom that picture was likely the more common way of understanding salvation? It is sometimes called Christus Victor.
Using Christus Victor as the interpretative key, Newton then confirms this to be the right way of thinking by connecting the joy, selling and buying in the parable to Hebrews 12:2 "For the joy set before him he endured the cross...", Philippians 2:6-7, "[Jesus] made himself nothing..." and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price."
Finally, Newton tells us how this Christus Victor interpretation can make a different in our lives. Christ gave up everything in order to gain you, his treasure. He writes:
When you become His, Jesus wonderfully and lovingly turns your life upside down and erases the sin, shame, corruption, and marks the Devil left in your life, granting you a clean slate and heart that He writes on by His Spirit. Because you belong to Him.
This chapter ends, as does every chapter, with two sections titled 20/20 Focus and Vision Check, both of which I will explain later.

Standing Up For Tradition
But first I want to ask, "Are you convinced with Doug Newton's interpretation? The parable of the hidden treasure is not about us giving all we have to gain Christ but instead is Christ giving his life to gain us?"
Let's be clear, both teachings are right. If the teaching is not taught here, it is taught elsewhere in the Bible. We are asking, "Which is the right interpretation of this parable?"
Let us look at the context. The Parable of the Hidden Treasure sits in the midst of a string of parables! In them, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to:

1. a man sowing good seed in the field,
2. a grain of mustard seed,
3. leaven,
4. hidden treasure,
5. a merchant in search of fine pearls,
6. a net

and closes with Jesus saying:
Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
What is the treasure here? Can the treasure be us? Or is it more likely that the treasure is the kingdom of God, the old treasure is the old understanding we receive from Moses and the prophets and the new treasure is the new understanding we receive from Jesus and the apostles?
Second point. In the string of parables, what is the unifying theme? Or asking it another way, "What triggered this string of parables?"
We read in Matthew 13:10 that the disciples after hearing the Parable of the Sower asks Jesus, "Why do you speak in parables?" And Jesus answers them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."
If we take the trigger as the interpretative key, it becomes clear. The good soil receives God's Word and produces a hundred-, sixty-, thirty-fold. Jesus explains he speaks in parables because there are two sets of people: the one who has and the one who has not. As we follow the string of parables, we see that in the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, Jesus is continuing his teaching; he is describing a man who gives up everything to gain the kingdom of heaven. The man who has, for whom more will be given. The man who is the good soil. The man who will be saved. The man is you and me. The man is not Jesus.

Right Teaching Good Christian
At this point, you might think, "This book isn't any good, is it? Terence just said Newton got it wrong."
Well, I think he interpreted the parable wrongly but I think the his teaching is right. Many of his interpretations and questions lands on a note of Christian compassion, kindness and care. His section titled 20/20 Focus asks 3-4 questions or prompts which if you do them would make you a better follower of Christ.

I Got It Right Because Of Him
As for his insights being wrong, well, get this... my conclusions that you heard earlier, I employed two of Newton's interpretative techniques.
The star of the book is not the new insights, it's the techniques to get new insights. The different insights are examples of what you can get by applying the techniques.
This is made clear in the section titled Vision Check. For the first chapter, Newton writes:
Whenever you begin to think about anything, you start with assumptions you’re not even aware of. The key to clear thinking is to release those assumptions. Don’t let them control what you see before you check them out like we did in this parable. (Are we right to assume the man who bought the field is a person like ourselves?)
Newton is right. We may assume we know what the text says. We should not be defensive if asked to check our assumptions.
Vision Check is a key feature of the book for two reasons. First, he explains, in simple terms, the interpretative technique used in the chapter. Second reason is he asks you to practice the technique on a given bible verse and compare your answer against his.
For example, on checking assumptions, he writes:
Practice this skill by going to 2 Corinthians 9:15, where Paul wrote, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” First, identify what most people assume Paul meant by the “indescribable gift” and hold it in question. Then read the preceding verses (vv. 6–14) to see if the common assumption fits the context. Or is the “indescribable gift” referring to something else? Hop on dougnewton.com or the Fresh Eyes app to compare your thoughts with mine.
I went to the website and found a 4-minute video of Newton going through his answer for the homework. It's a really nice personal touch to have the author walkthrough the exercise with you. He does this for every chapter so by the end of this book, you would have practiced 10 interpretative techniques. And if you get the whole series, you can learn 31 of them.
You might think that I would not recommend this book after disagreeing with his primary conclusion in the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, and your interpretation of my comments would be wrong. He has insights which I agree with.

What Triggered It All?
Remember when I said, let us find out what triggered the string of parables? Well, that's the technique Newton presents in chapter three, applying it on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This all too familiar passage is often taught to emphasise God the Father's great love, which is not a wrong teaching but not the right interpretation.
Newton shows us that by asking what triggered this parable, we see that this is the third parable following the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and thus in keeping with the pattern, the Prodigal Son would be better named the Lost Son. And what triggered this series of three parables? We read in Luke 15:2:
The Pharisees had grumbled saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." And Jesus responded with the three parables where the recovery of the sheep, coin and son leads to joy! Joy in heaven, joy before the angels of God and joy in the prodigal's home. Instead of grumbling as the prodigal's brother did, the Pharisees should be rejoicing! Newton writes: Even though we might like to bask in the father’s love as the parable’s emphatic point, Jesus clearly combined the three parables into one strong rebuke of the Pharisees’ attitude.
Did Newton discover an insight previously unknown to man? No. In a sermon, Charles Spurgeon linked the three parables together. John MacArthur has a book, "The Prodigal Son" where he points readers to what triggered the parable. The important thing is not who discovered the insight or even the insight itself but how we get there.
In this chapter's Vision Check, Newton writes:
You never fully understand what’s going on in a person’s mind until you know what triggered what he or she did or said. You have to ask, “I know what you said, but why did you say it? What are you getting at?”
So how is it that two man can employ the same methods but reach different conclusions? Well, I would say that for the first chapter, Newton did not go far enough in asking what triggered the parable. But if asked, he probably would explain why he is right and I am wrong. And I want to point out that the difference is because we are wrestling, not with each other but with Scripture.
I am happy with any book that gives me more tools to wrestle with Scripture and Newton does a great job of inspiring readers to try the tools for themselves to get fresh eyes on the text.

Do You Mean New Insights or 'New Insights'?
Which leads me to my final thought on the premise of the book. When we say we want fresh eyes or new insights on familiar passages, what exactly do we mean?
If it's music, when I want fresh and new insights, do I mean it's the same hymn but I now appreciate it better because I know it was composed by a mourning father as his ship sailed past the site where his daughters drowned? So it's the same hymn played the same way but it's now more significant to the listener.
Or in the second case, when I say fresh and new: do I mean it's the same hymn but jazzed up, with drums and electric guitar, a faster tempo and more modern. It's the same hymn but because it's presented differently, it's fresh to our ears.
Or in the third case, when I say fresh and new: do I mean change the song because the song has been overplayed and it's about time for everyone to hear something different but the same.
We are not talking about music here, we are talking about interpretations.
My worry is some people like the idea of fresh eyes and new insights because they want, above everything else, novelty. That is dangerous and I would argue underlies the temptation "to go and serve other gods - gods that neither you nor your fathers have known." (Deuteronomy 13:6). Novelty is not but it can be a form of idolatry.
For others, fresh eyes and new insights is a thunderclap to wake slumbering Christians. You have heard the Good Friday message so often, how can we make it as meaningful as the first time you heard it? Why don't we show a clip from the movie the Passion of the Christ? Is it gimmicky? Maybe. Is it necessary? No. Does it help the congregation see what Jesus went through for sinners? Yes. So the audio-visual is meant to compensate for our lack of imagination and because we are so far away from that time and place. Thus, the text becomes fresh without changing the message.
But do we need to make the delivery more hip and trendy with audio visual magic to make it fresh? No, as Newton abundantly shows. Another example in books, is John Piper's 700 page Providence. In an interview, Piper affirmed he doesn't say anything new about God's Providence. His position is an old position. He gives fresh eyes and new insights by showing the connecting parts, a more complete picture than the scattered pieces we have.
Therefore, the techniques in this book can:

1. give you a deeper appreciation and understanding of a traditional view,
2. make the traditional view more significant (or if you prefer, more relevant) by bridging ancient Scripture into modern times, or
3. challenge the traditional view to be replaced with an alternate view. A view that can be God-glorifying right or dangerously wrong.

In short, the techniques introduced in this book are like scalpels. The results depend on the surgeon. And I hope this doesn't come across too macabre, but failed surgeries are rigorously studied for surgeons to learn what not to do. We should do the same for interpretations. And we do!

More Interpretations Help
When we study apologetics, we study heresies, which are often wrong interpretations of key passages. In a similar but less consequential way, when we study different interpretations of Jesus' parables, we are applying the discipline of humbly taking in an alternate view, analysing it from all angles using all the techniques in our disposal and deciding whether is it true or not. Just like how I appreciate reading commentaries that debate the merits of different interpretations, I appreciate Newton explaining how he arrives at his insights even as I disagree with him.
One added bonus of knowing more interpretations is it takes the wind out of people who are chasing after novelty.
Your friend comes to you and says, "Did you know that this passage could be read in this way and that? It's shocking isn't it how we have been misled all these centuries?!" And you listen and say, "Oh... I know that view. Have you considered so and so before you accepted it as true?" If your friend is chasing novelty, he will be discouraged by your response. But if he aims for truth, he will engage and want to know more, and you will be ready.

Concluding Thoughts
In conclusion, I like the book because of the interpretative techniques. The new insights he offers are a mixed bag. It's only 208 pages and written in a very accessible way, plenty of personal anecdotes and humour. If you are bored or spiritually dry, you could give this book a try. You might just wake up with fresh eyes. Don't forget it's now available for free for this month and only this month from Faithlife.
This is a Reading and Readers review of "Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Parables: Discovering New Insights from Familiar Passages" by Doug Newton.
I confess one area in frequent need of freshness here is how to persuade you to share this podcast with more of your friends. Maybe instead of new insights, you need new friends. Not for my benefit - you are making an assumption there! - but for the kingdom of heaven.
I am working on another review on a free book for October. It's the free book from Logos, "Exalting Jesus in 1, 2, 3 John by Daniel L. Akin. I may need an extra week to prepare the episode but I aim to publish it before the month ends. Just get the books and tell your friends about the free books (and this podcast that reviews them!). Take care and God bless!

Book List
"Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Parables: Discovering New Insights from Familiar Passages" by Doug Newton. Amazon. Faithlife.

An atheist jumps off his seat and runs to his friend, "The Bible itself says, 'There is no God.' The Bible says that!" His friend, a Christian turns and smiles, "That's in Psalm 14:1. You should read the whole verse my friend for it says "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" After today's episode, we'll see that it's not just the Bible that atheist have read wrongly.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Previously, I reviewed Fault Lines by Voddie Baucham and Imprisoned with ISIS by Petr Jasek. I dropped an email to the publisher, Salem Books, saying I enjoyed the two books, thanks for publishing them. They replied asking if I wanted to review an upcoming book, "Is Atheism Dead?" by Eric Metaxas.
I said, "Yes! I loved his Bonhoeffer book." I had also suggested another book of his, "Seven Men", to a young adult who was on his way to a reading habit.
Soon I had in my hands the advanced review copy of "Is Atheism Dead?" Advanced review copy means that what I have here might be different from the final published copy but it should not be substantially different. And if it is substantially different than whoops, I have to re-do this podcast episode.

Rallying Christians to Storm Atheists Positions
The title "Is Atheism Dead?" is a riff on that famous 1966 Time cover asking, "Is God Dead?" Fifty years later, proclaiming that God is dead is no longer as shocking as it was then. Atheists survey the battlefield and consider the battle all but won. Christians are on the retreat in politics, science, education, even within the church, liberal theology has taken over many institutions.
In this book, Metaxas launches a counter-offensive against the atheistic worldview. He shows that science, true science, pure science detached from a foreign atheistic worldview shows what is obvious: life in this universe is not a random occurrence. Second, archeology unfailingly confirms what the Bible says happened, actually happened. And third, Metaxas argues atheism in concept and in practice eats itself. These three parts (science, archaeology and atheism) form the book and form a rallying cry for Christians to bring the battle to the atheistic side.
Big Bang Theory: Friend or Foe?
The offensive starts at the beginning: The Big Bang Theory. He writes:
Infinite time was the darling of many atheists who maintained that “with enough time” anything was possible, and God was unnecessary. Whenever anyone objected that certain things could not have happened randomly and without some “Designer” or “Creator,” those wed to the atheist materialist position would object that “given enough time” anything could happen. Life could arise randomly out of non-life in the primordial oceans. Amoebas could become redwoods. Aquatic creatures could become flying mammals. It was only a matter of having enough time, for time covered a multitude of sins.
Metaxas then outlines how Big Bang Theory came to be -- Einstein makes an appearance -- and how, to their great dismay, atheists were forced to confront a universe with a beginning, the universe is 13.8 billion years old. Now to us, 13.8 billion years is such a huge number, it might as well be infinity. Surely it still gives atheist the allowance to say "given enough time, anything could happen". However, if you consider that the earth is only 4.5 billions year old, in the time scales we are talking about, you pretty much have to get things right the first time for life to happen.
Imagine you have 13.8 hours before everyone comes for the party, and it takes 4.5 hours to bake the cake. Given infinite time, you could try different recipes, throw all the ingredients together, and hope to bake the perfect cake because given enough time, anything could happen, even a perfect cake. But if you only have 13.8 hours to bake it, and it takes 4.5 hours to bake one, then you need to plan. If you only have 13.8 billion years to make life happen, you can't hope for things to come together randomly.
"Whoa... whoa... hold on here. What's this about 13.8 billion years and 4.5 billion years. I believe the earth is 6000 years old!"
So we have here a Young Earth Creationist who answered the call and showed up to fight the atheists and he suddenly realises that he is sharing a foxhole with a Christian, who is repeating the same billions of years nonsense that atheists are saying. What was supposed to be a two way pistol fight has become a three way Mexican standoff.
Ah right. Metaxas doesn't deal with that tiny little conflict between Young Earth and Old Earth Creationists. In the book, he frames the fight as one side believes God created everything and the other side believes there is no God.
I'd like to suggest respectfully that if you hold to Young Earth Creationism that you continue to hold on to it. Don't let this book persuade you otherwise because Metaxas doesn't mention and then refute Young Earth Creationism. He is not so much arguing for Old Earth Creationism, he is arguing against atheism, hence the title, "Is Atheism Dead?"
You know how Star Trek or Star Wars or Marvel Universe have its own in universe logic? Whether it's tractor beams or light sabers, it obeys it's own in-universe physics. What Young Earth Creationist can gain from this book is that in a billions of years universe, which atheists and popular culture know to be true, this universe shows that life is not a random occurrence.
Therefore, Metaxas is saying Christians need to know the argument "Given enough time, anything could happen" is dead in the water. Christians need to take the fight to the atheists to ask them, "Do you know that your heroes, your thinkers and scientists have admitted that the evidence is compelling: life is not a random occurrence?"
The Big Bang Theory is only one part of a greater argument.
A Dime's Worth of Mass Would Collapse the Universe
Next, t here is also the fine-tuning argument. A big part of what Metaxas does is to convey how easily it is for life not to exist.
Metaxas quotes many scientists on this and one of them is Hugh Ross, a Caltech astrophysicist, from his book "Why the Universe is the Way It Is":
At certain early epochs in cosmic history, [the universe’s] mass density must have been as finely tuned as one part in 10 to the 60th power to allow for the possible existence of physical life at any time or place with the entirety of the universe. This degree of fine-tuning is so great that it’s as if right after the universe beginning someone could have destroyed the possibility of life within it by subtracting a single dime’s mass from the whole of the observable universe or adding a single dime’s mass to it.
Crazy huh? And that is only for one parameter, the mass of the universe. Metaxas describes other parameters including the size of the earth, the relative mass of the moon, the location of the solar system, the properties of water, the properties of light and the four fundamental forces. And he only lists some in this book because there are 200 parameters to get exactly right for life to happen. 200 parameters!
That's like going to Vegas pulling the arm of 200 slot machines in a row and hitting the jackpot for every one of them. What are you going to tell the casino owners as they strap you to a chair for a trip to the bottom of the ocean? "I'm just really lucky"? What if you told them, "Let me call my science professor. She'll tell you how it's not just likely but inevitable that this could randomly happen." You call her. You explained that you are on the edge of an existential crisis. And she says, "Nobody is that lucky. The machines must have been rigged."
And that's where atheism has left the non-believer. No help whatsoever to deal with the evidence.
Metaxas quotes Stephen Hawking:
If the overall density of the universe were changed by even 0.0000000000001 percent, no stars or galaxies could be formed. If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it reached its present size.
Metaxas quotes Francis Crick, one of two scientists who discovered DNA's double helix.
An honest man armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.
Metaxas quotes Richard Dawkins, the most famous atheist in the world.
During an interview for the 2014 film Expelled, he [Richard Dawkins] allowed that yes, the astonishing and baroque complexity of DNA might indicate “a signature of some kind of designer,”...
Despite Hawking, Crick, Dawkins and others conceding the complexity of life and the force of the fine-tuning argument, they don't end up believing in Intelligent Design. So what do they believe?
Instead, and what I'm about to say is disappointing for atheists, they suggest... Francis Crick suggested aliens. Dawkins calls that an intriguing possibility. Others suggest multiple universes. Ideas like this are the plots for Alien and Marvel movies. Others still cling on to random occurrence, a happy accident, saying isn't it amazing? 200 jackpots in a row! We are really blissfully lucky (and ignorant)!
But can we trust Eric Metaxas with the science? Are the numbers right? He is not a scientist. He graduated in English from Yale. He wrote bestselling books on Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther, more of a religious biographer rather than a hard science guy. Would you trust him to make sense of the origin of life and the universe? Well, I won't. Which is why I'm grateful he doesn't claim to be smarter than he is. He puts forward scientists both religious and atheists, their books, their quotes and their thoughts.
Metaxas did not discover any of the things here, he is merely assembling a story that all the scientists know but re-telling them to Christians who should know that the Big Bang Theory has destroyed the atheist argument that "Given enough time, anything could happen", that there are at least 200 parameters that are so fine-tuned to defy a happy accident, we are just not that lucky. And we can't say it's evolution because water doesn't evolve, light doesn't evolve. There is survival of the fittest over successive generations. Every condition was perfect from the beginning.
Digging Deep to Find the Bible True
Other than the science, the next thing that Christians need to know is archaeology has never contradicted the Bible. Not once.
King David was fictional, they said. Like King Arthur was fictional, they said. There was no evidence he existed, they said. And by that they mean the Bible does not count. And lo and behold, archaeologists discover carved into a memorial stone from 8th Century BC, the words: "the House of David".
My favourite chapter in the book is the "Three Misbehaving Boys Who Changed History". It's three stories, each story starring a naughty boy. I told one story over breakfast, another during lunch and the last one at dinner. So while my wife and children were having their meals, I was telling them of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, Hezekiah's Tunnel in 1880 and the Silver Ketef Hinnom scrolls in 1979. I took my story outline from Metaxas, simplifying what Metaxas wrote here:
... when we are dealing with the Bible, one finds a predictably high level of skepticism, especially among those who don’t take the text very seriously. Thus many have claimed the Bible texts were “changed” in the course of their being “copied” over the centuries by the monks of the Middle Ages. Skeptics suggest the monks—in league with “the all-powerful Church”—transformed them into what the church wanted, rather than what they originally were.
I then asked my children what would it take to prove that the Bible was never changed? The answer, to their delight, came from a young shepherd boy looking for his lost sheep. He finds a cave. Thinking his sheep might have gone in that cave, he throws a rock and hears broken pottery. Against every parent's wishes, the young boy enters this cave alone and finds treasure. The Dead Sea Scrolls.
Metaxas tells it:
Surely the largest jewel in this dazzling treasury were the two-thousand-year-old copies of the thirty-seven books of the Bible, which showed that what we possess today as our own Bible is precisely the same as what existed then. Never in human history has an observed absence of change so instantly and dramatically changed everything.
In a way this book is a collection of stories, there are many people in this book with their adventures, hopes and dreams told amidst the cosmology, biology and archaeology. Metaxas writes in a way that we can take the bare essence and retell it to delight even young children.
And there is more! Metaxas describes the story behind the long lost Hittite civilization, the Moabite stone, Pilate's stone, Pool of Siloam, Herod's Temple, Sergius Paulus' inscription, Gallio inscription and more.
And what I just listed are the older discoveries. He covers new ones. For example, in one chapter he details the discovery of the childhood home of Jesus. Metaxas writes:
First of all, on the face of it, the idea that a simple home built over two thousand years ago would survive and eventually be identified as belonging to anyone specifically seems absurd. And in this case, we are talking about a very out-of-the-way village or town called Nazareth, and about an unknown carpenter/builder named Joseph who raised his family of several children there, including his eldest, Jesus. This would have been where his wife, Mary, raised their children and cooked their meals. But this place—both the town and the house itself—would have been distinguished principally by being undistinguished. This was not a palace or any kind of structure that was any different from the innumerable other structures built throughout what we today call the Holy Land. It would have been a very simple home for a working-class family in an obscure village. Why should any such place survive beyond a century or two?
The book by Dr. Dark describing this finding was published in late 2020. Other recent discoveries include:

• In 2018, a seal ring was found bearing the name of Pontius Pilate.
• In 2019, a tiny ceramic pomegrenate was found in Shiloh precisely matching the description of those described in Exodus 28:33-35.
• In Christmas 2020, a "mikvah" purification bath was discovered from the time of Jesus near what was believed to be the Garden of Gethsemane. And one of the most exciting recent discovery is the discovery of Sodom. It's a story of a man, Dr. Collins, who believes what the Bible says is true and goes out looking for it despite unbelievers saying it's a fable and believers saying it's under the Dead Sea. At the site, he discovers an artifact, an artifact more important than Thor's hammer, because Thor's hammer is fictional but Sodom is not. Dr. Collins has proven that Sodom is as real as the city you are living in now.

Countering Atheism
Finishing the archeology part, we are not done yet. There is a third part and it's to me, the most debatable part, not in content but in tone.
I like Eric Metaxas when he is happy. A happy Eric is exuberant in his praises, whether it's on Bonhoeffer or the seven great men or the science and archeology he describes. Full of wonder and awe. An angry Metaxas is...
Let me read to you what he writes about people he doesn't like.
I quote, you judge. Metaxas writes:
Richard Dawkins may have spent his career doing science, but in talking about what science actually is he has shown himself to be hopelessly confused. We might expect scientists to be able to do science, but we should not expect them to understand the idea of science any more than we can expect a fish to understand how he swims.
And again:
But the New Atheists seem to revel in tossing caution and nuance to the wind. So to search for rhyme or reason in what they say can sometimes be like trying to parse the ravings of a madman. In particularly purple flights they contradict themselves at nearly every turn of phrase, boustrophedonically doubling back on themselves again and again in ways that seem tangential and tangled, and yet the proudly indignant determination with which they speak captivates us and carries us forward until it seems we have entirely forgotten the objection that a moment ago bothered us, for they have moved on and are still moving on and on and on. Part of this may be intentional strategy on their parts, but whether conscious or unconscious—or what part of each—is impossible to say.
I could defend the writing. Elijah egged on the Baal prophets. Jesus and the Apostle Paul called people, "Brood of vipers and dogs". Militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are notorious for their hostility against the faith and they only deserve what they get.
But on the other hand, Elijah commanded all the Baal prophets be killed, which means whatever license he may have, may not apply to us. Jesus was silent before the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod. And Paul in Romans 9 said, "For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." And as bad as Dawkins and Hitchens and the rest of them may be, Christians have been gracious to men far worst than them.
If we take one of Metaxas frequent targets in the book, Christopher Hitchens, who wrote "god is not great", God deliberately spelt with a small g. He has a nasty reputation.
I don't know much about him and I don't really want to but after reading his name so often, I opened a book that I bought a long time back but never gotten around to: "The Faith of Christopher Hitchens" by Larry Alex Taunton. Let me quote from Taunton's book:
While I do not quite want to say that the public Christopher was a sham—perhaps an occasional actor might be a better description—he said and did things in my company that would lead one to conclude that this public manifestation of Christopher Hitchens was not the real one.
In another part of the book, Taunton writes:
You see, in one manifestation of himself, Christopher Hitchens was everything the people in this room thought him to be: a radical Leftist, sympathetic Marxist, and militant atheist. But in another, more carefully guarded and secret book, Christopher Hitchens was something altogether different. And therein lies the remarkable plot twist in the tale that is Christopher Hitchens’s life.
Metaxas has a chapter on three famous atheists who converted out of atheism: Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Anthony Flew. Which makes one wonder if Christopher Hitchens lived a bit longer perhaps he too would have accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
If you prefer a less spicy book that argues against militant atheists, you should check out "The Dawkins Letters" by David Robertson. Robertson wrote open letters to Richard Dawkins which Dawkins published in his website. These letters were then adapted into a book. The tone is conciliatory for example, in one chapter it starts this way:
Dear Dr Dawkins, I would like to apologise if I am in any way misrepresenting your position. It is not intentional. I disagree with what you say and it would therefore be pretty pointless to write about what you are not saying. However, I am becoming more and more convinced that your position is primarily a philosophical and religious position, rather than one you are driven to by science.
And it ends in this way:
And one last thought. One thing that really annoys some atheists is when Christians promise to pray for them. Why do we pray for you?
Skipping ahead:
Therefore, to pray for you is a supreme act of love because it asks for the best for you. And Jesus tells us that we are to love our enemies. So I do pray for you and for all those who have been deluded into thinking that there is only the material, and that their Creator does not exist. Forgive me.
The third part has many good things going for it, Metaxas counters common atheist points like: religious wars (they ignore more deaths are caused by secular states), religion suppresses science (they ignore many scientist past and present are religious, including Kepler, Copernicus and Galileo) and many more good points. Because Metaxas engages directly with atheism's talking points, he comes across frustrated at the arrogance and ignorance he sees.
Conclusion
In conclusion, "Is Atheism Dead?" has many great stories that are simple enough to be told over family meals and deep enough to get you exploring science and archaeology with the many books Metaxas cites and recommends.
With regards to his tone, I see it as Metaxas getting tired of seeing Christians on the retreat when Christians are the ones with the winning positions. He is going down the line kicking soldiers out of the ditches, shouting, "We have the guns, the tanks, the enemy has nothing. They are cock-eyed and shooting blanks. So come on!" Which stirs up the troops at the expense of the other side.
You see, not all atheists are worked up like Dawkins or Hitchens. And for them, a respectful yet convicted tone as found in "The Faith of Christopher Hitchens" by Larry Alex Taunton or "The Dawkins Letters" by David Robertson, would be more welcome.
Ultimately, I don't think the tone detracts from what the book offers and Metaxas does achieve his aims. The question, "Is Atheism Dead?" is deliberately provocative and rallies Christians to confront atheists with the knowledge that life is not a happy accident, archeology has proven the biblical record over and over again and atheists simply have no ground to stand on.
This is a Reading and Readers review of "Is Atheism Dead?" by Eric Metaxas.
If you like this episode and my other episodes, don't you think more people should know about Reading and Readers? You learned so much in this episode didn't you? Do you know anyone else who likes science? Or archaeology? Or the question of atheism? Think of a name, make sharing your aim. The next episode, I'll review Faithlife's Free Book for October. See you then.

Book List

• Is Atheism Dead? by Eric Metaxas. Amazon.
• The Faith of Christopher Hitchens by Larry Alex Taunton. Amazon.
• The Dawkins Letters by David Robertson. Amazon. Faithlife.

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Many are first attracted to Christianity because of its simple message. Later, when one reads the whole Bible, that simple message becomes lost in the 66 books with its diverse authors, times, places and subject matters. It doesn't help when scholars seem motivated to highlight the diversities at the expense of what holds the Bible together. Does anything hold the Bible together? Today's book confidently answers "Yes!"
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. In the last episode, I reviewed "Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness" by Chris Wright, a free book for September from Faithlife.
Faithlife is the maker of Logos, a Bible Software that has its own Free Book of the Month program. The books in Logos are more theological and academic which can be tough for me to read, much less review. However, when I see a Logos book that is within reach of a general Christian reader, I push myself to get the review out early so that you will hear the review while it's still September because the book is not "free while stocks last", it's "free while it's still September". But if you listening to this after September, you can hear the review and decide whether this book is worth $23.99 in Logos or $8.99 in Amazon Kindle (prices may change after recording). And to make sure you don't miss out on any great deals, subscribe to Reading and Readers.
The Logos Free Book for September is "Recovering the Unity of the Bible: One Continuous Story, Plan and Purpose" by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. 256 pages, published in 2009 by Zondervan Academic.

A Beautiful Orchestral Symphony
A bright-eyed Christian leaves everything behind to enter seminary. He sees himself getting trained in order to enter full-time ministry, wherever God calls him. To be a shepherd to the flock. To preach to the nations. To burn mightily for a great God.
After some time in seminary, he quits, leaves the faith and is never seen again. Or if he stays, his awe and wonder is now replaced with cynical scepticism.
For he is now awakened to the overwhelming evidence that the Bible is not the beautiful orchestral symphony he thought. Rather, it is a discordant noise where God suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder, the real writers are nameless editors writing hundreds of years after the events and the core message of the Bible? There is no 'core message of the Bible'! There are many messages, each jostling to capture the flag of your doctrinal leanings.
In some dictionaries, seminary is defined as the place where faith goes to die.
If only someone told that bright-eyed Christian that the beautiful orchestral symphony he heard and thought he knew was real. That the diversity of Scripture does not sink the message but bouys it up. As Kaiser argues:
Accounting for all of this unity in the midst of obvious diversity spread over these centuries with some sixty-six contributions of some forty different writers in three languages on three continents is mind-boggling. There can be no real answer unless we also receive the claim of the writers that there was a supernatural aspect and a guiding mind at work in their writings as well. If God was behind the production of all these contributions, then the unity is the result of a driving plan and the harmony reflects what he has willed and purposed.
Kaiser is an OT Boss
Walter C. Kaiser Jr. is the distinguished professor emeritus of Old Testament and president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. Let me name some of his books which are relevant to today's review. Kaiser wrote "Mission in the Old Testament", "An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics" with Moises Silva, "Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament", "The Promise-Plan of God", "Hard Sayings of the Old Testament" and "A History of Israel".
I list these books because:

1. Some listeners may not know that Kaiser is a boss in Old Testament scholarship. Well, now you know.
2. As you heard, Kaiser has written books on mission, hermeneutics, promise-plan of God as well as preaching and teaching. In today's book review, we have chapters titled: "The Unity of the Mission in the Old Testament", "The Unity of the Bible and Hermeneutics", "The Unity of the Bible and the Promise-Plan of God" and "The Unity of the Bible and Expository Preaching and Teaching". It looks like today's book is an abridged collection of Kaiser's other writings centred on the theme of unity.
3. In his book "Hard Sayings of the Old Testament", Kaiser addressed head on difficult verses and apparent contradictions. Reading these contradictions is like getting IKEA parts and figuring how each part connects. You could have sworn it was impossible until you read the manual and it all fits. Dealing with the unity question, he shows us how many parts of the Bible fit together.

To be transparent, before Recovering the Unity of the Bible, the only Kaiser book I read was "A History of Israel", the 1998 edition. I loved it. Hence, my enthusiasm for today's book when it was offered for free. Similarly, if you like a chapter here and there, you can thank me for your future shelf full of Kaiser books.
Family Feud for OT
Let's get to the book. There are sixteen chapters plus preface and epilogue. The first three chapters set up the groundwork. What is unity? What is diversity? How do we harmonise the diversities?
Let's play Family Feud on the first two chapters and see how many answers you can get.
Welcome to Family Feud, the Reading and Readers version. We asked an undisclosed number of Old Testament scholars named Walter the following question. What are the different types of unity in the Bible? What is unity? For example: on one hand, you have Genesis, on the other, you have Exodus, in what way are they the same? You say the author, the time it was written, the place it writes about, the people. Okay, that's easy because it's Genesis and Exodus. Two books. Now think what is the same between Genesis and Revelation. Now what is the common thread for all 66 books in the Bible. So coming back to the question: "What are the different types of unity in the Bible?" Kaiser lists and explains six:

1. Structural
2. Historic
3. Prophetic
4. Doctrinal
5. Spiritual
6. Kerygmatic, meaning there is one preaching message.

I would have guessed doctrinal and the preaching message. How did you do? I think you will do better in the next question.
We asked the same undisclosed number of Old Testament scholars named Walter this question, "What are the different types of diversities in the Bible?" I think is easier to think of differences than similarities. And the answer comes up on the board.

1. language
2. authorship
3. qualification
4. place
5. forms
6. subject matter
7. time (covering 1600 years).

The problem is not the diversities. We know them. Christians do not just accept these diversities, we celebrate them. The problem is for others the vast diversities justify the contradictions.
"Well, of course, they contradict. It is only natural since the authors were separated by hundreds, thousands of years, across different lands, background, culture and more. Obviously this will lead to contradictions. To expect anything less is to delude ourselves."
In this book, Kaiser shows us how modern scholarship makes much of the diversities and ignores the unity. A country that plays up people's differences instead of a common cause will fracture. A religion that stresses on diversity and ignores the unity will collapse.
The question becomes, "Is there a genuine point of unity or is it naivete? Does the Bible present a chorus or a cacophony?"
Kaiser wants to tell you how the differences can be reconciled. Kaiser wants us to recover the unity of the Bible.
Questions Answered Through Unity
Instead of reading to you the titles for chapters 3 to 16, I'll pose questions that is answered in the chapters. These are just sample questions to give a sneak peek on what is in the chapters.
The first question: "Who killed Goliath? David or Elhanan?" In 1 Samuel 17, David killed Goliath. But in 2 Samuel 21, it says "Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite." In chapter 3, "The Harmonization of the Diversity", Kaiser lists seven sources of biblical discrepancy. To answer the question of who is Goliath's killer he points out 1 Chronicles 20:5, "Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite". Then as only an Old Testament scholar can, Kaiser explains how a copyist of earlier manuscripts got it wrong.
Next question: "Does anything unite the sprawling Old Testament books?" In chapter 4, "The Unity of the Hebrew Bible", Kaiser introduces David Noel Freedman, who wrote "The Unity of the Hebrew Bible" which inspired the title for today's book. Kaiser commends Freedman saying:
Freedman has given us a most creative and unusual approach to the question of the unity of the Old Testament. He has made a strong case of the message and plan of the Old Testament.
Freedman suggests that the Ten Commandments outlines nine of the OT books. Do you remember the Ten Commandments? We will walk through them.

• The first two commandments. "You shall have no other gods" and "You shall not make any idols". Both were broken in Exodus 32, Aaron makes the golden calf and says, "These are your gods O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
• The third commandment, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God" was broken in Leviticus 24. A man blasphemes and is stoned.
• The fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath" was broken in Numbers 15. A man gathers sticks on the Sabbath and is stoned.
• The fifth commandment, "Honour your father and mother" was broken in Deuteronomy 21. A son rebels and is stoned.
• The sixth commandment, "You shall not murder" was broken in Judges 19-21. A Levite's concubine is brutally murdered throwing the whole nation into uproar against the tribe of Benjamin.
• The seventh commandment, "You shall not commit adultery" was broken in 2 Sam 11-12. King David and Bathsheba.
• The eighth commandment, "You shall not steal" was broken in Joshua 7. Achan takes what God said no one should and is stoned.
• The last two commandments, "You shall not lie" and "You shall not covet", were both violated by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who conspired to get Nabal killed through lies because Ahab coveted Nabal's vineyard.

I just gave a summary of Kaiser's summary of Freedman's suggestion that the Ten Commandments provides a structural unity to these nine books. The rest of the chapter shows how the rest of the OT books, the prophecies and wisdom literature, come together as a coherent piece.
Unity in the New and All
If the Old Testament is coherent, what about the New? "Isn't it clear that James and Paul contradict each other?" In chapter 5, "The Unity of the New Testament", Kaiser tackles several alleged differences within the New Testament and shows that the differences between James versus Paul or Jesus versus Paul or Paul versus Paul are overstated. Yes, you heard me right, "Paul versus Paul". Some scholars argue that the Paul in Acts is different from the Paul in the Epistles and suggest a conspiracy, a cover up, by Luke. I never even heard of this conspiracy but if this conspiracy ever crosses from academia into the pews, Kaiser has helped us prepare and refute this and other alleged contradictions.
At this point in the book, we have had some practice handling diversities for OT and NT. Let us put get together the two Testaments. Let us now ask: "Is there a unifying theme for the whole Bible?" Can you think of one? What about the Messiah? In Chapter 6, "The Unity of the Bible in it's Messianic Promises", Kaiser traces the development of the Prophecy-Fulfilment approach and introduces a better approach which is the Promise-Plan of God. This Promise Plan of God will be further elaborated in Chapter 11 and Kaiser wrote a whole book on this topic.
Also in this chapter, Kaiser introduces E.D. Hirsch's famous distinction between "meaning" and "significance". I don't know about famous. I've never heard of Hirsch or his famous distinction or presumably the famous problem that this famous distinction solves. Reading this book is a humbling experience for me. But this meaning and significance distinction is a good one and I'll share more at the end of this review.
Partying with OT Professors
I need to warn readers that this is an academic book. And if this is your first time reading an academic book, it can be daunting. Let me read an example section:
J. G. Herder (1744–1803) and J. G. Eichhorn (1752–1827) concluded that the whole idea that the Old Testament contained a prediction of a coming Savior was merely a dogmatic imposition laid over Scripture. Prophecy had only a single meaning, which could not be maneuvered into depicting a coming Messiah. Both men felt that the end of the eighteenth century had erased the concept of Messiah from the Old Testament altogether.
E. W. von Hengstenberg, however, mounted a massive attempt to stem the negative tide against a messianic interpretation of the Old Testament in a three-volume set that appeared from 1829 to 1835. A second edition, now in four volumes, appeared between 1854 and 1858, entitled Christology of the Old Testament and a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions.
Here, Kaiser is tracing a historical battle between two ways of interpreting the Messianic passages. And here, readers face their own battles to make sense of strange names, of times past, on matters obscure. If I may offer this suggestion to the general Christian reader.
It's like going to a party where you don't know anybody else except for your friend who brought you there. And your friend is Walter C. Kaiser Jr. So he pulls you along and introduces you to his friends. This is so and so, his job, who he gets long with and who he doesn't get along with. Some of us would find the people at the party interesting but some are just looking for the buffet table. So you politely move past the people to the buffet table and stack your plates with delicious goodies.
What is rude in a party is perfectly acceptable when reading a book. So just skim, skip and scroll through. One day, you might want to get to know E.W. von Hengstenberg and his work. But until that day comes, don't feel that you have to be fully engaged with von Hengstenberg when there is a beautiful buffet spread just behind him.
Thus, while there are parts of the book can be difficult reading, I want to stress that aside from occasional strange names, dates, places, theological terms, discussions on the Greek and the Hebrew word and grammar, it is a readable book. As seen in the questions the chapters answer.
More Questions and Unity Chapters
Consider, have you ever asked, "Why is God in the Old Testament different from the New Testament?" or "Why are the heroes in the Old Testament so bad? Abraham lied. David committed adultery. Hosea married a prostitute. They do not reach the ethical standard of the New Testament. In chapters 7 and 8, Kaiser explains the Bible's Unity on God and God's People.
By the way, Chris Wright's book, "Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit" shows that the Fruit of the Spirit is rooted in the character of God as revealed in OT and Jesus in the NT. Chris Wright is also an Old Testament scholar and has been cited positively in Kaiser's book. Christ Wright's book is also free in September. For more information, watch the episode before this one.
Let's move faster. We just finished chapter 8 and there are altogether 16 chapters.
The remaining chapters cover questions including but not limited to: "Has the Church replaced Israel?", "Is the Law of God now obsolete?", "How are the Old Testament saints saved?", "Is Mission (reaching out to the nations) found in the Old Testament?", "Is there a biblical way to interpret and to teach and preach?"
And these questions are answered in these chapters which address unity in relation to: the People of God, Kingdom of God, the Promise-Plan of God, the Law of God, the Doctrine of Salvation, the Mission, Hermeneutics and Expository Preaching and Teaching.
Unity of Scripture, Another Way to Read Scripture
As I digest this book which is only 256 pages long but so packed with ideas, puzzles, solutions, history and theology, let me offer a unifying reflection.
Many of the questions posed in this book and this review are familiar to me as I grew up in the faith. I didn't ask about the Greek or the Hebrew in different manuscripts but I did ask about why God is different in the Old and the New Testament among many other questions. I didn't know that these questions could be tackled with the doctrine (can I call it a doctrine?) of the Unity of Scripture.
Inerrancy of Scripture is more familiar and Christians will die on that hill. Although inerrancy and unity are two sides of the same coin, inerrancy doesn't offer an obvious way to reveal or settle alleged contradictions.
Consider this two statements:

1. God's wrath is clear in the OT.
2. God's mercy is clear in the NT.

Is there an error to be corrected in these two statements? No, but the unspoken contradiction is God's character is different. So if we look at them from inerrancy of Scripture we would not see the problem or the way forward.
On the other hand, inerrancy affirms that the Bible has no contradictions. All 66 books is in harmony with each other, a chorus not a cacophony, a unity amidst diversity.
If we now look back at the two statements: "God's wrath is clear in the OT. God's mercy is clear in the NT." and perceive them through the lens of Unity of Scripture, it brings out the problem. Why are they not the same? And it also points to a solution. We need to show that God's wrath is also clear in the NT (which it is) and God's mercy is also clear in the OT (which it is).
Which means if look at Bible through the lens of Unity, it gives us another way of wrestling with the text. And even answer categories of questions that at first seem unrelated but are actually rooted in the unity/diversity question. That's my high level big idea reflection.
On Meaning and Significance
Kaiser gave me something else to think about which is the distinction between "meaning" and "significance". I never knew there was a distinction or even that it can make a difference in how I interpret the Bible.
This is how I illustrate it. You are at church. Your pastor comes to you and shouts, "Get out!" What is the meaning of "Get out!" The more we know of the context the more we understand the meaning and significance of what the pastor said.
Maybe there is a fire and the pastor is asking you to get out of the church to save your life. Or maybe the pastor just realised that you have been stealing money from the church and wants you to get out of the treasurer position. Or maybe, you came to pastor because of demonic possession and the pastor is saying get out, not to you but to the evil spirit within you.
So the more we know, the more we understand what the pastor meant by those two words "Get out". And the significance can change or grow. Based on the different meanings we deduce that the pastor can lead in an emergency or is financially responsible or can do exorcism. These would affect how the church is like, how others interact with him. Hence the significance of one "Get Out" event can colour the future.
What Kaiser argues is that there is only ever one meaning. There cannot be two or more meanings. You may have more than one significance which can change but there can only ever be one meaning.
The pastor shouting "Get out!" cannot mean "Get out because there is a fire" AND "Get out because you stole" AND "Get out you demon, I banish you to Hell!"
Therefore, here is Kaiser's point, in the light of the New Testament revelation, he argues that the meaning in the Old Testament did not change or multiply. It still retains the same meaning in that context but its significance may be more in light of the New Testament. There is no double meaning in the Old Testament.
He works this out in greater detail especially in the last two chapters of the book on hermeneutics, preaching and teaching.
Forgive me of my indulgence but let me quote Kaiser at length:
Kaiser quotes Chris Wright:
We may legitimately see in the event, or in the record of it, additional levels of significance in light of the end of the story—i.e., in the light of Christ. [He went on to say:] Looking back on the event [of the exodus] … in the light of the fullness of God’s redemptive achievement in Jesus Christ, we can see that even the original exodus was not merely concerned with the political, economic, and social aspects of Israel’s predicament. There was also a level of spiritual oppression in Israel’s subjection to the gods of Egypt.
Kaiser comments:
Notice that Wright carefully used the words “additional levels of significance” that could come from the “end of the story.” This is a whole world apart from what Sidney Greidanus argued after he surveyed the fact that some scholars prefer to use “sensus plenior, or the analogia fidei (“rule of faith”):
Kaiser then quotes Greidanus:
I continue to favor the name that refers to the broadest possible context and gives due recognition to God’s acts in history, “redemptive-historical interpretation.” Whatever name we use, the important point is that a passage understood in the contexts of the whole Bible and redemptive history may reveal more meaning than its author intended originally. For example, it is not likely that the author of Numbers 21 realized that in relating the story of the bronze serpent he was sketching a type of Christ. The type in this passage is discovered only from the New Testament perspective when Jesus makes use [John 3:14] of this event to proclaim his own saving work.
Kaiser comments:
Everything in this quote was going well until Greidanus used the words “may reveal more meaning than its [human] author intended originally.”
I have not decided where I stand on this yet. I'm still thinking about it. What about Isaiah's prophecy on the virgin birth? I thought this should be interpreted as double meaning. One meaning, applicable to Isaiah speaking to King Ahaz. A second meaning, brought out by Matthew into Isaiah's prophecy. Sadly, Kaiser didn't have this passage as an example in this book. I would love to know how he interprets it.
Perhaps some of you think the distinction is artificial or trivial. But I agree with Kaiser on the dangers of one approach over the other. A search for deeper or another meaning in the Old Testament even with the New Testament to guide us, may result in imposing a foreign meaning and teaching it to be true. If we are not careful, we would be teaching what is not true and leading people away from what is true.
Recover the Unity of the Bible
To conclude, there is plenty in this book to meditate on and for that reason I recommend more people give this book a try, especially those I think can be stretched a bit in your reading. I'm not asking you to stop reading your devotionals or Christian living books and be a snob. Far be it! I'm saying we can all benefit from the fine scholarship that Walter C. Kaiser Jr has devoted a lifetime to, in order to enrich and deepen the Church and recover the Unity of the Bible.
This is a Reading and Readers review of "Recovering the Unity of the Bible: One Continuous Story, Plan and Purpose" by Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
I'm sure we are all united in our desire to mature in the faith. I humbly suggest one way is to read books that stretch the mind. It's not the only way. In my circles we are very careful to not over-stress the pride of the intellect. Yet, I fear we are not stressing enough we are to love the Lord our God with our mind. If you know a brother or sister in Christ who would benefit from today's review, please share it. My name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Have a blessed day!

Book List

• Recovering the Unity of the Bible by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Amazon. Logos.
• A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Amazon (2017 edition). Logos (1998 edition).

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Pop Quiz! Can you list the Fruit of the Spirit? More importantly, do you show love, joy, peace? Are you patient, kind, and good? How strong is your desire to exercise faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? A man prayed everyday that the fruit be ripen and he was the most Christ-like person people around him knew. Stick around for a fruitful review.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. In this episode, I review Faithlife's Free Book for September. Yes, you heard me right. It's free. So if you have not done so, go create a free account at Faithlife.com and get this free book. Download now and read it later.
Today's author is a preacher at All Soul's Church UK, contributor to The Bible Speaks Today commentary series and is the International Ministries Director at Langham Partnership. He completed his PhD in Old Testament economic ethics at Cambridge University and continued to teach, preach and write on the Old Testament, so much so that one reviewer thinks of him as O.T. Wright. He is none other than Christopher J.H. Wright.
His book, "Cultivating the Fruit of the Holy Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness" is 157 pages, published in January 2017 by InterVarsity Press.

A Fruitful Prayer Answered
The introduction begins with a prayer, followed by a description of the man who prayed that prayer:
Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That was the prayer that John Stott prayed every day when he first woke up in the morning. It hardly seems surprising, then, that many people who knew John Stott personally said that he was the most Christlike person they ever met. For God answered his daily prayer by making the fruit of the Spirit ripen in his life. And what the Spirit of God does, above all, is to make those who put their faith in Jesus to become more and more like the Jesus they love, trust, and follow.
This introduction haunted me. Stott's prayer and life compelled me to rethink what am I doing with mine. I made a decision for Christ many years ago but I am far from being the most Christlike person my family and friends know. As I reflect, I realised what happened. I am committed to Christ but I am not committed to Christlikeness.
I say this knowing and teaching that there is no commitment to Christ without a commitment to Christlikeness. I would put in another way, there is no justification without sanctification. I taught the fruit of the Spirit to Sunday School children. I have know I have work out my salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in me, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
I know all this but after reading John Stott's prayer and his life, I realised that I don't have the desire. Not as much as John Stott did. And so, now I want it. I want to be Christlike. I have started my day praying that I too will bear the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit.
This, by the way, is the goal of the book. In 2012, Chris preached a series on Galatians 5:22-23 as a prelude to a Langham Partnership campaign titled, "9-a-day: Becoming like Jesus". "9-a-day" was derived from a British public awareness campaign named "5-a-day" to have at least five portions of fruits or vegetables a day. Healthy eaters would ask one another, "Have you had your 5-a-day?" The Langham campaign would have healthy Christians ask one another, "Have you had your 9-a-day?"
I See Where You Are Going With This
Can you guess how many chapters there are in this book? Ah... and can you guess the titles? I can read your mind. Yes, if you exclude the introduction and conclusion, the book has nine chapters titled, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Let's do something exciting today. Before I go to the review, let's do a mental trick. I'm going to read to you the list again. As I read, I want you to pick one. Just pick one from the nine. Then I'll tell you what you picked. Yeah, I can do that. Don't freak out when I get it right.
Ready?
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-Control.
You have picked one. The one you picked is. I'm getting a fuzzy picture. A pineapple? Pear? Peach? Ah... you picked peace. And the crowd goes wild.
Thank you. Thank you. I expect to soon appear in America's Got Talent. And if I got it wrong, it's not my fault, it's you. You did not have faith.
Joking aside. Chris writes in a way that pre-empts the reader as if he can read our minds. For example, in the introduction, when he is putting the list in context, he knows where we will go wrong.
Chris writes:
Let’s notice first what this text is not. It is not a list of virtues, matching the list of vices just listed as “acts of the flesh.” In Greek and Jewish texts from that time, there were common matching lists of vices and virtues that were supposed to shape people’s behavior. Basically they said, “Don’t do these things (the vices). Rather, do these things (the virtues).” In either case, the emphasis was on what you should not do and what you should do instead. Of course, there is some similarity with Paul’s double listing here. But lists of vices and virtues could also easily be used simply as lists of rules—“don’t do this list” and “do this list.” And that is definitely not what Paul is talking about here. Paul is not saying, “Don’t try to obey all the rules in the Old Testament law; here is a much easier set of rules to obey instead.” That would be to replace one wrong attitude with another one. Paul is not really talking about rules at all.
This is what I mean by Chris reading our minds. He foresees pitfalls and he pulls us back. You are going the wrong way. He does this in other places in the book.
Let me continue where I left off. Here he tells us the right way. He just said that Paul is not really talking about rules at all. I quote:
No, the key to understanding what Paul is saying here lies in the metaphor he uses—fruit. All the lovely words he writes are, taken altogether, the fruit (singular) of the Spirit. Now fruit is the natural product of life. If a tree is alive, it will bear fruit. That is the nature of being a living tree! Fruit is what you get when a tree has life within it.
Why does a tree bear fruit? Not because there is some law of nature that says it must. But simply because of the life within it, rising up from the soil and water that feed its roots and flowing in the sap through every branch and twig. A tree does not bear fruit by keeping the laws of nature (if we can use our imagination and think like a tree), but simply because it is a living tree, being and doing what a tree is and does when it is alive.
Bring Out Loving-Kindness
For this review, I will pick my favourite chapter as an example of what you can expect from the whole book. The chapter is on kindness.
Throughout this book, Chris tells us that the fruit of the Spirit mostly matches a quality of God as "he reveals himself both in the Old Testament and in the person of Jesus Christ". For example, the first in the list is love. Well, God is love. Here the connection is obvious. God is kind? Not so obvious.
Yet, it's so true as Chris goes on to prove. He takes the Hebrew word hesed, which is often translated as steadfast love or mercy and shows why it used to also be translated loving-kindness.
Here is where the reader depends on and is thankful for Chris Wright's expertise in the Old Testament. He tells us that the Hebrew word hesed has a wider, deeper, richer meaning that gets lost in translation.
He makes his case from Psalm 23, Psalm 136, Psalm 145, Isaiah 63, Acts, Romans and Titus to show that God is kind.
Let me quote him at length so that you can see how he strings those Bible verses together:
The Israelites really celebrated God’s kindness. Their history was full of examples of his “kindnesses” that they could recount. "I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses." (Is 63:7)
Chris continues:
So when Paul wanted to tell people in Lystra what the one true living God is like, he focused on God’s kindness: “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:17).
Chris comments:
That is very Old Testament language, even though Paul was addressing people who had no clue about the Bible. But the God Paul was telling them about, the God who was so different from all the many gods they worshiped, is the God who shows his character in what he does—even in his generosity in creation toward all human beings.
Paul was very aware that the kindness of God was “available” to all people, but he was also grieved that as fallen sinners we so easily reject it, and fail to understand that God’s patient kindness is meant to lead us to repentance and salvation: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Rom 2:4).
In these book reviews that I do, I want to point out aspects of the book that you may at first fail to appreciate. What Chris did here with the Bible verses is like flower arrangement. It looks easy until you try it. In your hands, those gorgeous and beautiful flowers becomes an abomination. It takes skill to put together and present Bible verses well.
Chris takes a light touch on the Bible verses, allowing the verses to stand out and bloom as it were. For the section I quoted earlier, there are 251 words. 104 words or 41% is a direct quote from the Bible. These are the cut flowers. With the remaining 59% of his words, he shows:

1. Israel celebrated God's many kindnesses,
2. Paul used Old Testament language to evangelise and
3. Paul warned sinners to not show contempt on God's kindness.

This is concise and persuasive reasoning at it's best.
In this same chapter, Chris highlights kindness in the story of Ruth and Boaz, but I was more touched by the kindness he describes in David. Chris writes:
The friendship between David and Jonathan, son of King Saul, is legendary. They both knew that Saul was determined to kill David if he could. But they also knew that David had been anointed to be king in Saul’s place eventually. That would have been a big threat to Jonathan who, as Saul’s son, could have expected (and wanted) to be the next king. So Jonathan asks David to swear lifelong loyalty to him and his family—no matter what would happen. His words explicitly ask David to model himself on God in doing so:
“Show me unfailing kindness [hesed] like the LORD’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
I skip forward:
Later, when Saul and Jonathan had both died in battle with the Philistines and David had become king of all the tribes of Israel, David remembered that promise to Jonathan, and the very terms in which it had been made:
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness [hesed] for Jonathan’s sake?”
Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”
“Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” (2 Sam 9:1-7)
Chris comments:
So the Old Testament, then, taught that hesed—kindness—was part of the character of the God of Israel, and should also therefore be part of the character of his people.
Notice again. A light touch on the Bible verses. Quoting the Bible in full. Letting it speak for itself.
Is Careful Handling of the Word a Fruit?
I must commend Chris on how he handles the Word. Some preachers and writers might say, "Don't let details get in the way of a good story." Chris disagrees. When it comes to the Word of God, he treads carefully.
For example, at one point he brings out four verses from Proverbs. All four verses have the word 'kind' to strengthen his case. But he weakens his case by pointing out:
The word hesed does not occur in all the following texts (sometimes it is the word for compassion which is very close), but the sense of generous kindness to others, especially the needy, is clear.
When I see Chris not overstate his case, my trust and respect for him grows. Many teachers overstate their case. They force the evidence to fit their agenda. Chris Wright doesn't. For myself, I want to be as precise in my thinking and writing as he evidently is.
But lest you think the whole book is just bible verses with light commentary, that's not what I'm saying. Like I said earlier, I want to show you the flower, or rather verse, arrangement, the expertise and skill that may go unappreciated.

Kindness in Me and Others
In one section, after describing the kindness of Jesus, Chris looks to himself:
So if being a disciple of Jesus means that I ought to follow his example, why do I so often fail to take the time to be kind to others in daily life? Even though I’d like to think that I’m generally a kindly sort of fellow, I know that there are many—far too many—occasions when I could show some kindness to another person, but don’t. Probably nobody notices, but I feel guilty about it inside. Why does it happen? Well I can answer my own question, and maybe you would answer differently, but it is certainly a challenging question to ask.
Often it’s because I’m too busy and don’t want to be interrupted. I’ve got things to do, people to see, work to get done. I’m out and about, I’m going somewhere, and I have an agenda and a schedule and time is precious. So the moment flies past when I could stop and just talk for a while to that homeless person, or when I could go over and offer to help that stranger looking a bit lost. I didn’t do anybody any harm, but there was a kindness I could have done, and it got left undone. I was not willing to let my life be interrupted in order to show kindness to someone else. Not very like Jesus.
This kindness chapter arrived at an opportune time for me.
A young lady I know, let's call her Mary, lost her father in a tragic car accident recently. She had just arrived in the big city, no friends or family nearby. She couldn't fly home in time for the funeral because of quarantine. I was worried she had no one beside her, virtually yes but physically no.
Then to my relief and delight, a sister in Christ, visited her and offered to stay with her for a week. She could have chosen to make a call or send a message, a song or a prayer. Not that there is anything wrong or less with doing that. That's what I did. However, by visiting and staying, this sister in Christ is, as Chris puts it, "willing to let life be interrupted in order to show kindness to someone else."
I thank God that I could witness Christians showing God's kindness to others. Are you willing to let life be interrupted to show kindness to someone else?
There is more to the kindness chapter but I want to move on. I have used this chapter to show you what to expect from Chris Wright and his book. What I have showed so far is:

1. He lets the Bible speak for itself, letting the Bible make it's own case.
2. He shows care and precision in handling the Holy Word of God.
3. He models how to move from the knowledge of God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, to reflect on our everyday lives.

Hey! Where Are the Stories, Man?
If you read enough Christian books, you will notice in this book something missing. There is little to no personal anecdotes, sports metaphors or inspirational stories.
He writes:
... since I hope this book will be helpful to other preachers (as well as general Christian readers), I have deliberately not included much by way of illustrations and stories. That may seem strange since sermons need appropriate illustrations to help emphasize their main points and make them memorable. And certainly every one of the items in the fruit of the Spirit could be illustrated abundantly with examples and stories. But one crucial element of good preaching is that it should be not only faithful to the biblical text, but also relevant to the local context of the preacher and listeners. So I hesitated to multiply examples drawn from my own context in the UK.
Let me pause here. I should remind readers that Christ Wright is the International Ministries Director for Langham Partnership. Langham Partnership's vision is to "see churches in the Majority World equipped for mission and growing to maturity in Christ through the ministry of pastors and leaders who believe, teach and live by the Word of God." Before his appointment as International Director at Langham Partnership, Chris had taught at Union Bible Seminary India for five years and from 1988 to 2001 he was at All Nations Christian College, an international training centre for cross-cultural missions, as Academic Dean and later, Principal. In his profile we can understand his sensitivity to teaching across cultures. And as someone who has to puzzle out baseball and American football illustrations in Christian books, him going the whole nine yards is a home run.
Self-Control in God
I do have one area of contention. It's more like an enquiry. His main thesis for the book is the fruit of the spirit is rooted in God's character. We love because God is love. We have joy because the Holy Spirit is in us. We have peace because Christ is our peace. He matches the character of God to the fruit of the Spirit for all except one.
Chris says that God does not exercise self-control because God has no evil desire. Chris goes on to deal honestly with sex and sins of the tongue. And he pre-empts the reader who thinks, "Young people! Huh! They need to exercise self-control." As he does so well, he arranges and carefully presents Scripture to convince us that self-control is for the old, the young, men and women.
My question is, "Is it true that God does not exercise self-control?" Let's explore this together.
My first thought is self-control can be understood as control over great power. Imagine the Incredible Hulk juggling eggs. This giant who breaks mountains with a punch does not crack any of the eggs. Impressive control, no? So similarly, God has this vast power that he keeps under control otherwise we would all perish for our sins are many. But my reasoning doesn't work because in the fruit of the Spirit, self-control is not over our strength. It would be easier to juggle eggs than to control our desires.
My second thought is did Jesus practise self-control? In the desert against Satan, Jesus was tempted. He was really tempted, not just having the outward appearance of temptation. I would even argue Jesus was tempted more than any man.
At the same time, we agree with Chris Wright that Jesus did not have a sinful nature. Jesus did not have any evil desire and his oneness with God the Father was complete. There was nothing in his will that was contrary to God's.
And if I'm correct, then the self-control should be better understood as acting on temptation rather than on evil desires. Which means Jesus practised self-control because he did not give in to his temptation. What do you think?
And if I'm right and Wright is wrong, I mean Chris Wright's understanding of self-control should be understood to act on temptation instead of evil desires, then all nine of the fruit of the Spirit is rooted in God's character. Which would be neat. But as I hope you can tell, my challenge is minor and depends on how we define self-control. If his understanding of self-control is right, then Wright is right.

Fruit for Who?
Who is this book for? For all the reasons I mentioned, if you are teaching or will teach Galatians 5:22-23, you should get this book even if it's not free. But it is free for this month only via www.faithlife.com. He exercised self-control in not overstating his case and not getting himself in the way of Scripture.
For personal or small group study, there are 3-4 reflection questions at the end of the chapter. And as a bonus, every chapter has a link to a free 10-15 minute video of Chris Wright and others explaining the chapter. I can see a group watching the video and answering the questions afterwards.
I would say this book is really best for those who want to grow in Christlikeness or like me, need to want to grow.
John Stott prayed that the fruit of the Spirit will ripen in his life. His life was a testimony that his prayers were answered. After reading this book, I want what John Stott wanted. I want to grow in Christlikeness. And this book helped me cultivate that want and growth, as I hope it will for you too.
This is a Reading and Readers review of Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness by Christopher J.H. Wright.
This month is a special month because we have two outstanding books. You just heard my review of one. And the next one is the Logos Free Book of the Month, "Recovering the Unity of the Bible: One Continuous Story, Plan and Purpose" by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. I'm going to publish this next week, instead of two weeks later, because I really hope more people will get this free book, which is only free at www.logos.com.
If you know anyone who likes free books, Christian books, good books, then tell him, tell her, to listen to Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Before I sign off, one final question to you. Can you list the fruit of the Spirit? Bye bye! Be fruitful.

Book List
Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit by Christopher J.H. Wright. Amazon. FaithLife.

"It was supposed to be a four day visit. It turned into a 445-day imprisonment. And if God had not intervened, he would have been there for the rest of his life."
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. For today's review, I pick a book about a Christian who was imprisoned with ISIS and lived to tell the tale.
There is a reason for picking this book. Last week, I watched boys fall from planes and girls scream behind airport fences. Later, I read this Gospel Coalition article by Mark Morris:

I listened as an Afghan pastor spoke through tears about his friend, a faithful believer, whose village was taken by the Taliban three days earlier. This dear brother’s 14-year-old daughter was ripped from his arms and forced into sexual servitude in what the Taliban would dub as “marriage” and her “dutiful Islamic privilege and responsibility.”
I want my children to have an understanding, suitable for their age, of what is happening in the world. For the past few Sundays, my family would watch an episode of Torchlighters. It's a cartoon series featuring heroes of the faith.
After Kabul fell, I chose the episode on Richard Wurmbrand. Wurmbrand was a pastor in Communist Romania. He was imprisoned for 14 years. Upon release, he wrote of his experience and started The Voice of the Martyrs, VOM for short, an organisation that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Torchlighters, the cartoon series is a part of VOM's work to shine a light on persecution.
Today's book opens our eyes to persecution: the evil, the people and the God who preserves the faithful. Today I review Imprisoned with ISIS: Faith in the Face of Evil by Petr Jasek.
Petr Jasek was the VOM man in charge of Africa, who oversaw more than 300 projects all over Africa. In December 2015, Jasek was in Sudan at Khartoum airport, in a queue eagerly waiting for his trip back home to Prague. Jasek writes:
Just as I began to move, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. “Sudanese security,” a man said in stern, broken English. “Please come with us.”
What was supposed to be a four day trip in Sudan became 445 days in its prisons. Imprisoned with ISIS tells Jasek's story in 223 pages, published in June 2020 by Salem Books.
In the Face of Evil
We are strangers to Sudan. Anticipating this, there is a short orientation prologue titled "Sudan in a Time of Violent Islamization":
While millions in Sudan have struggled to live through extreme poverty, famine, and political instability, those who follow Jesus Christ in a nation governed by Sharia Law and Islamist leaders have long faced a much harsher existence. For three decades, the Sudanese government has targeted Christians, along with those who aren’t ethnically Arab, for extermination. Since former President Omar Hassan al-Bashir rose to power in 1989 through a military coup and established a strict form of Islamic law throughout Sudan, his brutal regime intimidated, arrested, imprisoned, and tortured Christians. It also demolished and bombed church buildings, seeking to further Islamize the country.
VOM was needed. That's why Jasek made a quick and quiet visit. But there were imposters among the pastors. The Sudanese government were expecting him. They picked him up at the airport. Interrogated him. And when Jasek refused to reveal VOM's work and its people, he was charged as a spy and a threat to the government. They then placed Jasek in an overcrowded prison cell.
The cell was designed for one but it housed six others. Describing how he got to know his cellmates, he writes:
“We have no newspapers,” someone said. “What is new in the world?”
The first thing that came to mind was the November 13 terrorist attack in Paris, which had happened less than a month earlier. “Through coordinated attacks in several places around the city,” I explained, “one hundred twenty-nine people died.” I added that ISIS had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings and mass shootings.
The room fell suddenly silent—then erupted with frenetic shouts of “Allahu Akbar!” I sucked in a quick, startled breath. My eyes widened. The men jumped up from the floor and embraced each other in jubilant hugs. They raised their arms in triumph and danced around our crowded cell, slapping each other on the back and smiling. I inched toward the closest wall, my hands becoming suddenly clammy. Beads of sweat rose on my upper lip and forehead, and I tried not to shake.
This moment gives the book its title, "Imprisoned with ISIS". It's not imprisoned by ISIS but with ISIS. The Bashir government had no love for ISIS, seeing it as a threat to the state. Hence, we have this hellish incongruity of a VOM worker, a man who helps persecuted Christians, sleeping and eating together with six ISIS members and sympathisers, people who persecute and kill Christians. Keeping to their reputation, they persecuted Petr Jasek.
Jasek describes one of his cellmates:
The ISIS fighter bragged that he was among those who had beheaded twenty-one Egyptian Christians on the Libyan shore in February 2015, a videotaped execution that had been viewed all over the world. “I could kill anyone in seconds,” he told me, winding the fishing line around his hands almost mindlessly. “If you were a Russian or an American, I would kill you on the spot.”
Let's take a step back and consider: What would you do O Christian in his situation? Run and hide? It's a confined space, there is nowhere to run or hide. Keep your head down, make no waves? That sounds wise, I would do that. Or would you consider it a ministry opportunity? A chance to present the Gospel?
When Jasek saw them praying to be released and returned to their families, he writes:
In other countries like Egypt, I had met former Muslim extremists who had become believers. Seeing the vulnerability and humanity of these ISIS militants gave me hope, and I decided to focus many of my prayers on asking Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to them as Lord, Savior, and God.
Knowing who these men were, Jasek still attempted to tell them of Jesus by sharing a testimony. Was he mad? Not as mad as ISIS. Their response to Jasek's testimony was chilling. Their cruelty extreme. You can read about it in the book.
My reflection is this: Some say that evil is due to ignorance. After a life time of violence, the people just don't know what is right or wrong. Therefore, the solution to evil is education. We teach them what is right and wrong and all will be right in the world.
If you think that, then this Sudanese jail cell proves you wrong. Jasek's cellmates included a pharmacist. Some were highly educated, having gone to European universities. Education does not cure evil, it amplifies evil. Smart phones does not make evil obsolete, it just makes smarter criminals.
In any case, Jasek was in no position to teach his cellmates anything. They were busy teaching Jasek what it means to suffer for Christ.
A Cloud of Witnesses
In the face of such evil, how does Jasek respond? While all of us know Christ's command to stand firm, we can preach it, hear it, sing it, pray it, we are still surprised when a Christian actually does it.
Jasek recalls as a youth coming back home to an empty house. He later finds out that his parents were taken in by the police for questioning. His father was a pastor in Communist Czechoslovakia. His mother a kindergarten teacher refused to sign a pledge to teach her students atheistic Communist ideology.
His parents prepared Jasek to stand firm for Christ. His father gave him a book saying, "This book will build your faith."
That book was In God's Underground by Richard Wurmbrand. Many years later, no longer a youth, Jasek recalls:
I was amazed that my prison experiences—my feelings and my theological understanding of so many passages of Scripture—were so similar to those of Richard Wurmbrand, even though our situations differed in time and place. I was imprisoned in 2016 by the totalitarian government of Sudan; he was imprisoned decades earlier by the totalitarian government of Communist Romania. But I felt an amazing connection to him in persecution. We shared a common bond, a common plight, a common Christ.
And if Petr Jasek was encouraged by Richard Wurmbrand, we read that Richard too was encouraged by other Christians. In the book Tortured for Christ, listen to this:
The memory of other Christians emboldened Richard. He was no longer alone. In his solitude, he sat in the company of thousands of pastors throughout the ages who enjoyed the presence of Christ. A cloud of witnesses enveloped Richard, and before long, he felt the encouragement of their testimonies and triumphs.
Richard Wurmbrand founded the Voice of the Martyrs to help persecuted Christians. Petr Jasek's work in VOM led him to know the story of persecuted Christians, among them Monica and Danjuma Shankara from Nigeria, Haile Naizgi, Dr. Kiflu, and Kidane Woldu from Eritrea and many more. Their stories, and Wurmbrand's, built up Jasek's faith in the face of evil. And it will do so for you too.
Wurmbrand or Jasek
I mentioned Wurmbrand and his book a couple of times, so it's natural to ask the question, "Which book is better? Jasek's or Wurmbrand's?"
Richard Wurmbrand is the more famous writer with the more famous story. His book has more heart-wrenching tragedies, more death-defying triumphs, more God-glorifying moments. I finished Tortured in Christ in one sitting, devouring it through tears till the wee hours of the night. I unhesitatingly recommend the book to all.
So why would you or anyone want to read Petr Jasek's story, a 'lesser' story?
Because a Christian should not read persecution testimonies for entertainment nor for self-improvement. In this review, I argue we should read this genre less for ourselves and more for others.
Let me explain. Imagine a boy comes back from school. His eyes black and blue. Lips and nose trickling with blood. His clothes stink of urine. You are the younger brother or younger sister. Out of love, you sit beside your brother and wait for him to speak. And out of love, he trusts you and tells you how and why he was beaten up in school.
As you listen, you don't evaluate the plot, structure or delivery. He is your brother and he is hurting. Because you love him, you share in his misery by hearing him. But you can't fix the problem. You are too small, too weak, too far away but your father can. So you listen to your brother, you share in his suffering and you bring your brother's case to your father.
I read Imprisoned with ISIS for the same reason I introduced Richard Wurmbrand's story to my kids. I wanted their voices to be heard. Just as Jasek's father wanted to build his young son's faith up, I want to build my children's faith up. And yes, my faith as well. When we hear their voices, our faith is built up.
So which book should you read, Wurmbrand or Jasek? Once you have the right attitude to reading and receiving their testimonies, you may want to read both.
However, Jasek does offer one thing that Wurmbrand does not. That is, immediacy or proximity to us. Wurmbrand was arrested in 1948, Jasek in 2015. From him we learn that Christian persecution is not ancient news, lions in coliseums or fires on stakes. In Sudan, they confiscated Jasek's laptop and camera. These are the tools of his trade, just as they are for us as well. More than 100,000 signed an online petition requesting then President Omar al-Bashir to release Jasek. Open up your browser and you can view that petition today and other petitions like it. What happened to Jasek happened in our lifetime, not our parent's or grandparent's, but our lifetime . What happened to Jasek still happens to believers around the world.
Thus, the book Imprisoned with ISIS is a call to action in our time. It is the time to pray.
Believe in Prayer
This book is soaked with prayer. Jasek prays. We learn from him how to pray in our day to day trials and tribulations. But there is a less obvious lesson that I want to draw from this book.
As I mentioned earlier, I would like readers to adopt a listening posture to a suffering brother. Many suffer still. If you listen attentively to them, you will grow to care. And if you care, you will pray. To pray for the persecuted Christians.
On 27th August, Randy Alcorn posted a Q&A article from a source inside Afghanistan. The question is "What can we do to help the believers?" The answer: "Literally the only thing they currently ask for is prayer. That’s not strange or overtly spiritual. If they had a thin layer of protection and justice, it’s now gone. Jesus is literally all they have left. The Christians are seeking ways to stay safe and to survive. We stand with them in their time of greatest need."
A reasonable question to ask is: "How does praying in the cushy comfort of our homes equal to standing with them in their time of greatest need?"
Jasek's book reminds us of a truth we know but don't believe enough.
In this passage that I'm about to read, the ISIS prisoners are viciously beating Jasek. Listen to this:
Suddenly, for a fraction of a second, I saw Christ before my eyes as the Jewish religious police beat Him on His head with a wooden stick after His arrest in Matthew 27:30. “Lord,” I prayed, “you went this way ahead of me and were beaten, crucified, and even died for my sins.” At once, I made a startling realization: I was aware that I was being ruthlessly beaten by my ISIS cellmates, but I did not feel the pain! I knew the Lord was with me in the cell. I would later find out that God had called forth an army of prayer warriors on my behalf—right at that very moment. But I didn’t know that then.
In a later chapter, we read of a bible study group his wife attends:
One evening, the elder leading a Bible study group closed his Bible and told the others that the Holy Spirit was leading him to stop discussing their particular Scripture passage and instead get on their knees to pray for me and the situation I found myself in at that very moment in my cell. The whole group dropped to their knees and began to declare the Lord’s victory in the cell where I was. After they finished praying, the group peacefully returned home.
God called up an army of prayer warriors when he needed prayer more than any other time in his life. Jasek reflects:
This experience in prison taught me all over again the value of interceding for other Christians around the world. Like Aaron and Hur who held up the arms of Moses during battle, we must also support those who are struggling and suffering, those who are being persecuted right now, today, at this very moment.
He concludes by saying:
God's people must be a people of prayer.
As I said, Christians know this truth but we don't believe enough.
We pray but don't believe that it matters because we don't see. Despite Jasek and many others before him testifying that your prayers and mine matter. Despite God showing in his Bible that our prayers matter. When we don't pray as we should, as we must, are we not demonstrating unbelief?
The Voice of the Martyrs
The monsters are real and they are big. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are so small. Who hears their cries? The Voice of the Martyrs. And they make their voices heard.
Every week, VOM Radio gives you a 25 minute update on what is happening to your fellow believers in North Korea, Afghanistan, China and other parts of the world.
On top of this, they just launched the VOM Radio Daily Minute, a daily 60-second program that, I quote:
... offers powerful but brief stories of inspiring men and women who are willing to suffer rather than deny their faith in Christ. Their inspiring stories call listeners to prayer and offer encouragement for what God is doing around the world.
You can find VOM Radio and VOM Radio Daily Minute in your favourite podcast players.
The more we know of our suffering members, the more we care, the more we care, the more we pray. And the more we pray, the more we conform to God's calling for us. Or don't you remember? On the road to Damascus, Jesus said to that villain, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Jesus's heart is with the persecuted, and that's where our heart should be as well. Can a Christian who hears persecution testimonies remain uninterested or unaffected?
Even as we read the books, watch the cartoons or listen to the podcasts, be aware that many stories go untold. For now. It is my firm belief, when we are in Heaven, we will hear of their previously untold stories of faith in the face of evil. Thus, the testimonies we receive today is a foretaste of what we will receive abundantly in Heaven. Let us glorify God today knowing we will glorify God even more in that day.
I t is also my firm belief, when we are in Heaven, God will reveal how the prayers of the saints, your prayers and mine, achieved his purposes. Who will be found lacking in faith to pray?
Jasek's Answered Prayer
If all this encourages you to build up your faith in the face of evil, then perhaps Imprisoned with ISIS is an answered prayer. At the very least, it is an answered prayer for Jasek. He writes:
If God ever released me from prison, as Wurmbrand was once released, I prayed He would also give me the courage to record my testimony so that others could come to know the love of Christ.
Until I read this book, I never realised because I never bothered to think about it, how dangerous was VOM's work. Since reading this book, I've committed to praying for the persecuted Christians around the world. I hope you will join me too. After today, I hope I have spurred you to know what is happening in the world, so that you may care, and pray, and thus conform to Christ's love.
This is a Reading and Readers review of Imprisoned with ISIS: Faith in the Face of Evil by Petr Jasek.
Join me in two weeks time for the next episode, where I'll review FaithLife's free book for September, "Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness" by Christopher J.H. Wright. And remember to tell all your friends and family of Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Thank you and God bless.
Book List

• Imprisoned with ISIS by Petr Jasek. Amazon.
• Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand. Amazon.

Reference

• The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) Radio. Podcast.
• Torchlighters: Heroes of the Faith. RedeemTV.

Sound Effects from www.zapsplat.com

Do you want the next best thing after the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia? The books, not the movies. You are listening to Reading and Readers, not Watching and Watchers. Are you a concerned Christian who asks whether fantasy books is right for Christians? Listen to today's book review.
Hi, I'm Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Every month, I review Faithlife's Free Book of the Month and while waiting for the next free book, I pick a book that tickles my fancy. And today, I review the Wingfeather Saga, a four-book children's fantasy series written by Peter Anderson, sorry, I meant, Andrew Peterson.

Fantasy and Back Again
Peterson likes to mix things up in his stories and his career. He could have chosen a non de plume, a pen name, but instead he prefers to answer the same question, every where he goes, "Are you Andrew Peterson, the songwriter and musician extraordinaire?"
"Yes, I am," he answers in the website, Amazon page and his books.
Peterson, the award-winning author-songwriter and I have one thing in common: we both grew up reading Dragonlance's outsider Tanis Half-Elven, Forgotten Realm's loner Drizzt Do'urden, Belgariad's orphaned Garion and many more tales of lonely boys in fantasy adventures. In his autobiography, Adorning the Dark, Peterson reflects on his conversion from a fantasy world escapist into a born-again Christian. I quote: But that morning when I was nineteen on the hillside in East Tennessee, things were different. Life itself—the one I was actually living—for once outshone the life I had yearned for. The Maker of this beautiful, broken world ambushed me. He had lain in wait for the perfect moment to spring: the perfect song at the perfect hour of the day, the contrition of my hungry heart, the intricate staging of the beauty that had led me to that dewy lawn, and his holy, brooding spirit draped over the valley like a mist. “Drink,” he told me, “and thirst no more.”
Later he writes: So I abandoned fantasy. I had no need for it, so I thought, because the world I was in pulsed with loveliness.
I'm zipping and picking bits from Peterson's autobiography to show you the writer's journey from fantasy and back again. Some time afterwards, he re-reads the Chronicles of Narnia and something happens:The reintroduction of fairy tales to my redeemed imagination helped me to see the Maker, his Word, and the abounding human (but sometimes Spirit-commandeered) tales as interconnected.
Later, after reading Tolkien, he writes:But whether it was because of my own awakening to the beauty of life through the saving truth of the gospel or because of Tolkien’s own faith and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit while writing The Lord of the Rings, when his story ended the world around me held more possibility, not less; it was brighter, not duller; my eyes were clearer, not dimmer. Tolkien and Lewis, both in their own way, lifted me out of this world to show me a thundering beauty, and when I read the last sentence and came tumbling back to earth, I could still hear the peal. I hear it to this day.
As for the earlier fantasy books? Reading them as a Christian he evaluates: A few years ago I dug out a few of the fantasy novels I loved and found them mostly empty. Not only have my tastes changed (the quality of the writing left something to be desired), but they strike me as a way to pass the time rather than enrich it.
The writer of the Wingfeather Saga is not a recovering fantasy nerd, he is a redeemed fantasy nerd. A recovering fantasy nerd, like a recovering alcoholic, struggles with wanting what he is not supposed to want. A redeemed fantasy nerd sees, through gospel lens, the story of another world. And in the reflection of that world, this world becomes brighter, not duller; our eyes become clearer, not dimmer.
Peterson, our redeemed fantasy nerd, draws us into the world of the Wingfeather Saga. A world with sword, dragons, fantastical creatures and, above them all, the Great Divine, the Maker. This is my spoiler-free review of the Wingfeather Saga, by that I mean, this review covers the same material in the 15 minute animated short, which itself is a teaser for the eventual full series. More on that later.
The Children: Janner, Tink and Leeli
The first book is titled, "On the Edge of the Sea of Darkness", followed by "North! Or Be Eaten", then "The Monster in the Hollows" and the last book is "The Warden and the Wolf King". The first book was first published in 2008 and in 2020 all the books were re-released in a special edition hardcover. I bought the hardcover instead of the cheaper Kindle versions because I wanted a birthday gift that my son can hold and years later smile when he sees them on his shelf and remembers Janner Igiby.
Janner Igiby is a 12 year old boy who wants to sail the world. But he can't. He is stuck in this backward village called Glipwood. He can't go out to see the world so he enjoys the next best thing, being there when the world comes to him. The Dragon Day Festival.
And today, it's a special Dragon Day Festival because for once, he is allowed to go to town to see the festival without adult supervision. But on one condition, Janner has to keep a watchful eye over his brother, Tink, and sister, Leeli. Tink is 10 years old, and he is Tink by name but not a thinker by nature. Impulsive, he drags Janner into tunnels and what-not to explore. Janner tells himself he is just looking out for Tink but he enjoys every bit of the adventure.
Leeli is a sweet 8 year old girl who loves dogs. BEEP. Footnote. Notice that Leeli is 8 and Janner is 12 which coincidentally is the reading age of this book, 8-12 years old. It's as if the writer intentionally planned for his readers to relate to the characters. End Footnote. BEEP. So Leeli loves dogs. Janner loves Leeli. What will Janner do when Leeli stands between her dog and a Fang of Dang?
Princess Bridesian Humour
Fang of Dang? By way of explanation, let me read from Peterson's introduction to the land of Skree: In the nine years after Skree’s king and all his lords—in fact, everyone with a claim to the throne—had been executed, the people of Skree had learned to survive under the occupation of the Fangs of Dang. The Fangs walked about like humans, and in fact they looked exactly like humans, except for the greenish scales that covered their bodies and the lizard-like snout and the two long, venomous fangs that jutted downward from their snarling mouths. Also, they had tails. Since Gnag the Nameless had conquered the free lands of Skree, the Fangs had occupied all the towns, exacting taxes and being nasty to the free Skreeans. Oh, yes, the people of Skree were quite free, as long as they were in their homes by midnight. And as long as they bore no weapons, and they didn’t complain when their fellow Skreeans were occasionally taken away across the sea, never to be seen again. But other than the cruel Fangs and the constant threat of death and torture, there wasn't much to fear in Skree.
Do you know what this reminds me of? Terry Pratchett's Discworld. It has that we-are-in-the-joke, laugh-together-with-me humour. And just like the Discworld novels, the footnotes in Wingfeather resent being footnotes. The footnotes intrude, in a good way, into the narrative and tell of a bigger world out there. How I wish I could tell you more but there isn't enough space and I'm only a footnote.
While I see traces of Pratchett-like humour, Peterson claims a more honourable lineage, the Princess Bride by William Goldman. This is probably a good idea because a comparison with the pagan Discworld might ruffle a few Christian feathers, who already find this inconceivable: a Christian-friendly fantasy world that doesn't start with the letter M or N.
Now that we have decisively asserted that you would enjoy the witty Princess Bridesian humour, there is more to this book. There is an epic story.
Nothing is Stronger than Family
Coming back to our epic story, Janner goes to the Dragon Day Festival. He had one job. One job. And he failed. He failed his mother and his grandfather.
Having failed to look after his siblings, he ran away from home. Just like the orphaned farmboy in Belgariad, to live a lonely life like Drizzt, always caught between two worlds like Tanis Half-Elven. Nope.
There is no running away from home in this book. Or, I suppose you could say, there is running away but the home ran away together. The solution to trouble is not to run away alone but to bring it to the family because nothing is stronger than family.
And life would have turned back to normal. Nia would bake maggotloaf for the Fangs of Dang. The children would go to sleep at night hoping the Black Carriage does not come for them. All would be normal except the Jewels of Anniera appeared.
Janner's brother, Tink, discovers a map that shows the location of the Jewels of Anniera. These are the jewels sought after by Gnag the Nameless. Gnag the Nameless sent an army of Fangs across the Sea of Darkness, to conquer Skree but Skree itself was not the main goal. He did it to find the jewels. As you and I know, precious jewels or jewelry are a precursor to adventure. Frodo's ring. The Infinity Gems. That's why wedding couples exchange rings, it's a symbol of the great adventure ahead of them.
At the hint of the jewels' presence, the evil powers strike for sleepy town Glipwood. And so Janner runs away with his brother Tink, the one who doesn't think, and his sister Leeli and her dog, and their mother, Nia and their grandfather, Podo. Janner ran away from home and the home ran away with him.
Brighter, Not Duller; Clearer, Not Dimmer
Parents, I want to warn you that this is a subversive story you have here. Your children think they are reading a story of boys and girls fighting against dragons and monsters. They don't know that they are reading a story about family, taking care of siblings, respecting elders and most important of all, doing your homework.
When the children are not fighting Fangs, or running from giant roaches or hiding from toothy cows -- BEEP footnote: Wingfeather is known to induce moo-phobia, a fear of the sound of cows, in readers. The scariest sound in the Wingfeather series is "Moo". You've been warned. End Footnote. BEEP. When the children are not fighting, running or hiding, they are doing their homework. They don't want to do their homework but this is what happens when your running away from evil is chaperoned by your mom and grandpa.
Their mother insists they do their THAGS. T.H.A.G.S. BEEP. Footnote. T.H.A.G.S. "Three Honoured and Great Subjects: Word, Form, and Song. Some silly people believe that there's a fourth Honored and Great Subject, but those mathematicians are woefully mistaken." End Footnote. BEEP. Peterson strongly believes in the power of story and is not afraid to that belief in his stories.
The Peterson Principle of Fantasy Storytelling is it should make this world brighter, not duller and our eyes clearer, not dimmer. Your kids will never admit it but Wingfeather helps readers see family clearer, not dimmer and homework brighter, not duller.
The Dragon in the Room
Aside from the inconceivably clean humour and family-friendly message that oozes from every page, there is a bigger reason, the biggest reason really, for you to get the Wingfeather Saga for your children and for yourself. Before I get to that reason, I need to address the dragon in the room.
Many Christians are suspicious of fantasy literature despite the progenitors of modern fantasy genre, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, being Christians. The worlds of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Warhammer are pagan or godless worlds. If divinity is mentioned, the gods are more like Greek, Roman, Norse, or Egyptian gods: Gods who worship their stomachs. They are comic book gods and by that I don't just mean they are one dimensional laughable reductions of what it means to be divine, I also mean that they are in comic books, in popular culture. They are in your cinemas and streaming services. Thor is the God of Thunder. Wonder Woman is the daughter of the Gods of Olympus. Avengers and Superman are god-like men.
With gods on the screen, haven't you wondered how many pastors get the question, "Can a Christian watch Marvel movies? Or is it okay if I just don't watch the ones with Thor?"
In answer to that question, I want to introduce you to "Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books" by Tony Reinke.
In his book, Reinke quotes Calvin:All truth is from God; and consequently, if wicked men have said anything that is true and just, we ought not to reject it; for it has come from God. Besides, all things are of God; and, therefore, why should it not be lawful to dedicate to his glory everything that can properly be employed for such a purpose?
Reinke follows up with:Calvin understands what we discovered in the last chapter: a cohesive biblical worldview makes it possible for us to perceive and cherish the truth we read in non-Christian books.
Reinke lists seven benefits of reading non-Christian books.

1. It can describe the world, how it functions and how to subdue it.
2. It highlights common life experiences.
3. It can expose the human heart.
4. It can teach us wisdom and valuable moral lessons.
5. It can capture beauty.
6. It begs questions that can only be resolved in Christ.
7. It can echo spiritual truth and edify the soul.

Reinke enlists the approval of John Calvin, Martin Luther, Leland Ryken, Paul of Tarsus, the early church fathers: Basil of Caesarea and Augustine of Hippo, and the Bible itself. What Reinke has done is to produce a Theology of Books and Reading, and, as a reader, I am ever so grateful for this.
The most important take away from Reinke's book is we need a Christian worldview to know what to read and not to read, and to flourish from our reading.
The Gospel According to Wingfeather
Can a Christian read and enjoy a fantasy series like Wingfeather?
I'm going to first make a broad argument, then the narrow one.
The broad argument is: if you are convinced by Reinke's 7 reasons for reading non-Christian books as supported by John Calvin, Martin Luther, the early church fathers, and his interpretation of the Bible and your conscience is not violated when you read popular culture books and movies, then you have slayed the dragon in the room. By putting Wingfeather together with Marvel and DC, this might make it kosher for Christians.
The narrow argument is more complicated. Here I suggest that Wingfeather is more than Marvel, DC or the rest of the fantasy genre. It should be considered Christian literature.
But is Wingfeather a Christian book? There is no Christ in Wingfeather and no allusion to a transcendent all-powerful, all-good being. There is no Aslan. Without Christ, can anything be Christian? To me, it's like asking whether Abraham was a Christian. No, because there was no Christ. But he was saved by Christ because his faith on God was counted as righteousness and Abraham's saving faith was ultimately found in Christ.
It is hard to make a case that Wingfeather, or any work of fiction, is Christian but Wingfeather has a Christian theological core unlike J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.
Peterson describes his story as epic like Lord of the Rings, witty like the Princess Bride and truth-telling like the Chronicles of Narnia. Truth-telling with a capital T.
I recommend Wingfeather because of what it reveals of God and his ways. The theological core is Christian.
Janner and his family pray. They pray to the Maker. But the Maker seems to be an absent God. There are no angels. No theophanies. No dreams and visions of God or from God. But the people pray to the Maker in a world occupied by evil Fangs, where children are carried off in the Black Carriage and Janner's father, a good man, dies.
They tell stories of the Maker. There is a Creation story. The first man was Dwayne and the first woman was Gladys. The Maker is good and the people trust in Him. Even when it seems Leeli raughable, really laughable, to do so.
Janner has this wanderlust, a yearning to see the world beyond his tiny backward village. Without spoiling the book, a big part of Janner's journey is seeing his role in the bigger story.
Just like how Christians are to see ourselves in God's bigger story. Haven't you heard, the book of Acts has not ended because we are still living in it? Hebrews 13:2 says, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." We show hospitality to angels without knowing it. But when the story of our life ends, we will know. In the meantime, we read Wingfeather and reflect on what that world there has to teach us of this world here.
Go Believe the Hype
The first book, "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" is the 2008 Christy Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction. The second book, "North! Or Be Eaten" is the winner of the 2009 Christy Award for Young Adult fiction. In Amazon, the four books have an average rating of 4.9 stars by 8000+ reviewers. Coincidentally, 8000+ angel investors raised five million dollars to turn the story into a multi-season animation series. If you want to get a peek, you can watch a 15 minute animated short in YouTube or the website, www.wingfeathersaga.com.
In that message, Peterson has a note to parents. It begins like this: I have three kids, and they devour books like crazy people. They gobble them up like sugar cereal. When we come home from the library, each of them has five or ten books under each arm. At first I tried to keep up, tried to preview every book they read. But these days, when my oldest zips through a Hardy Boys book in one afternoon? No way.
So I wanted to let you know, in case you're wary of these books, I'm not one of those writers churning out stories for money, or to push a political agenda, and I'm not writing fantasy just because I have a thing for swords and dragons, and I don't want to corrupt your kids with shady philosophy or trick them into practicing witchcraft. I don't want to expose them to words or situations I wouldn't want my own children exposed to.
Here's why I'm writing these books.
I bear the Maker's image, and one of the ways that plays out is that I delight in making.
The Creative, the Theological and the Anti-Book
And to hear the rest of his note, visit www.wingfeathersaga.com.
To hear more of Andrew Peterson's thoughts on making, read his autobiography, Adorning the Dark: Thoughts of Community, Calling and the Mystery of Making. Once you get to know him, I reckon you will let him enter your home. Give this humble songwriter, musician, writer and stone wall builder a chance.
If I can't appeal to the creative part of your brain, then I'll appeal to the theological reasoning part of your brain. Read Tony Reinke's book, "Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books". Part I of his book is titled, "A Theology of Books and Reading". Just as every driver needs a driving license, every reader needs to read this to avoid bad books and to enjoy good books, even non-Christian books. You might not recognise his name but you might recognise his voice. Tony Reinke is the host of the popular Ask Pastor John podcast.
If I can't appeal to either the creative or the theological reasoning part of your brain, then my last resort, the big guns is the anti-book. The anti-book is a dangerous mind-bending weapon because it can backfire. Readers become non-readers, non-readers turn to readers. The most popular anti-book is YouTube. You can watch the 15 minute animated short, just search Wingfeather in YouTube or watch it in the Wingfeather website. After watching it, some went to read the books. Yay YouTube!
If it's not obvious by now, I'm one of the 8000 fans of the Wingfeather Saga. After your kids read it, they will take care of their siblings, respect their elders, do their homework. And if they don't do any of that, there is a greater not-so-obvious prize. They get a glimpse of the Maker, who will make this life brighter, not duller, our eyes clearer, not dimmer.
If you know someone who likes fantasy novels, recommend this review. He might give Wingfeather a try. If you know someone who hates fantasy novels, recommend this review. She might give Wingfeather a try. And they end up seeing this world brighter, not duller, you have introduced a Christian love of story in their lives. As I hope I did today.
This is a Reading and Readers review of the four book series: Singfeather Waga by Peter Anderson, I mean, Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.
If you like this children's book review, you might want to listen to my other children's book review: The Green Ember series by S.D. Smith. The Green Ember can be read to 5 year olds whereas Wingfeather is really for older children.
For more book reviews, go to www.readingandreaders.com. Until next time, keep reading.
Look Bist(1)
The Singfeather Waga by Andrew Peterson. Amazon. The Brincess Pride by William Goldman. Amazon. The Rord of the Lings by T.R.R. Jolkien. Amazon. The Nonicles of Chrania by C.S. Lewis. Amazon. Git! A Christian Guide to Leading by Tony Reinke. Amazon. Adorning the Dark: On Community, Malling and the Mystery of Caking by Andrew Peterson. Amazon.
Sound Effects from zapsplat.com

1. Footnote The swapping of letters is an in-joke in the books. "A bit of a birdbrain humour" as concluded by the esteemed Elmo R. Reteep (no relation to the ostentatiously loquacious Oskar N. Reteep) in "Geometric Polydimensional Analysis of Annieran Jokes", Fourth and Fifth Honored Press, 2021.

Of the three person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the most mysterious. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a clear Biblical way to teach on the Holy Spirit? One where people could experience the power of living in the Spirit? Keep listening.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Every month I review Faithlife's Free Book of the Month and for the month of August, the free book is "Empowered: Experience Living in the Power of the Spirit" by Josh and Sean McDowell.

Josh, Sean and... Dave
This is a bit of a strange book to review because it’s not a book to read so much as a book to work through. It’s a workbook. A guidebook. It’s a book for the small group to learn and share together.
If you are looking for a book to read then you should get The Unshakeable Truth: How you can experience the 12 essentials of a relevant faith by Josh and Sean McDowell. Yes, that’s McDowell of ”Evidence that demands a verdict” fame. The book published 40 years ago that made apologetics accessible for everyone.
Let’s get back to today's book, Empowered. On the cover in large print it says, Sean and Josh McDowell. When you open the book, there is a page titled, "About the Authors" and another page titled, "About the Writer". The confusion is quickly resolved.Authors Josh and Sean McDowell collaborated with their writer to bring you this Unshakable Truth Journey Growth Guide. The content is based upon Scripture and the McDowells’ book The Unshakable Truth.
And writer is Dave Bellis. He is according to the book: ... a ministry consultant focusing on ministry planning and product development. He is a writer, producer, and product developer. He and his wife, Becky, have two grown children and live in northeastern Ohio.
In another book, "77 FAQs about God and the Bible", Josh describes Bellis as a friend and colleague of 35 years (which would now be 44 years) who collaborated on questions, researched the answers, wrote the rough draft and folded all the McDowells' edits and revisions to create the final draft.
In short, Dave Bellis is a name unfamiliar to readers but a close friend and collaborator to the McDowell's. Now that we have settled the authorship question, like any good commentary, how is the book?

Unshakeable Truth Journey Growth Guides
Let me state a disclaimer. I read this 80 page book in less than an hour. That's not a testament to my speed reading, it's because a big chunk of the guidebook is questions and instructions. I'm reading this by myself, not in a group. So this review is really me assessing this book for a study group, not for individual readers.
This book sits in the middle of a 12 book series, the "Unshakeable Truth Journey Growth Guides". The first book in the series is titled, "Created: Experience Your Unique Purpose", second is "Inspired: Experience the Power of God's Word", then "Broken: Experience Victory over Sin" and for the rest, I'll skip the subtitle but you can guess the topic, we have number 4,5,6: Accepted, Sacrifice, Forgiven; number 7,8 and 9: Growing, Resurrected and Empowered, and 10, 11 and 12: Perspective, Community and Restored.
The book has a page describing the series:The Unshakable Truth Journey gets to the core of what being a true follower of Christ means and what knowing Christ is all about. Together you and your group will begin a journey that will last a lifetime. It is a journey into what you as a follower of Christ are to believe biblically, how you process your beliefs into core values, and how you live them out in all your relationships.
The big question is do you need to read from the first book? Can I just read book 9, the book we are reviewing today without reading in sequence or reading the rest? Yes, you can. There is minimal link to previous material, there is no build up. But, as a guy who likes to read things in sequence, where possible, I would start from Book 1.
Next question, do you need to read the book that this guide is based on? Unshakeable Truth? No. It asks you to read some chapters as homework but you can ignore it. The chapters are self-contained and when needed, it prints the relevant excerpts. And to give credit where credit is due, the guide book does not seriously try to sell you more stuff. If anything, it wants you to buy a Bible so that you can read it to your small group.

Questions Please
Let's now bite into the book itself.
This book is guiding Christians on living in the power of the Holy Spirit. The church's teaching on the Holy Spirit has boomed in the last one hundred years. Before, the emphasis was on God the Father and Jesus the Son. Some credit the Charismatics/Pentecostals for reviving interest in the Holy Spirit. Hmmm... maybe. In any case, today, Christians of all stripes are more attentive to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is heard in our songs, prayers, sermons and small group teachings.
What form of teaching will the McDowells take in this book? Let's find out.
There are five sections to this book.

1. The relational Meaning of the Trinity
2. Who is the Holy Spirit?
3. The Purpose of the Holy Spirit
4. Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit
5. Reflecting God's Light Within Your Community.

The book is chock full of questions for your small group to explore. The very first paragraph of the book begins like this: According to Genesis 2:24, when a man and woman are joined as husband and wife, “the two are united into one.” For you who are married or have been married, what does relational oneness mean? In other words, what are some examples of how your oneness is or maybe even isn’t always reflected in your relationship?
The second paragraph goes like this: How do you think God came up with the idea of creating a man and woman who could experience relational unity and oneness of heart? Where did the original idea come from?
So the first thing we notice from this book is the questions. The questions range from ice-breakers, to what does the Bible say, to what can we learn and apply?
The third paragraph is just one instruction.Someone read Genesis 1:26-27.
And that's the second observation from this book. You don't need McDowell's book but you do need the Bible at hand. In the first chapter, I count eight times he asks someone to read from the Bible. So we can say that like any good apologist, the emphasis is to build an understanding from Scripture directly.
Next we come to the content. You might have noticed that this book on the Holy Spirit begins with the Trinity. The relationship of the Holy Spirit with God the Father and Jesus the Son. It begins by asking what does relational oneness mean in marriage. It then asks us to read Bible passages that describe Jesus and the Father. And in comes real tough questions.
Does Jesus have authority over the Father, or does the Father have authority over the Son? Let that sink in for a while.
Here are some leading questions that hint at the answer. Does someone have to be in charge to make a relationship work? Why or why not?
Can a human loving relationship work in which the parties give of themselves freely out of love for one another without interjecting the question of who is over whom? Why or why not?
These questions are from the book and I can see a small group wrestling to give an answer. I promise you don't need a seminarian to guide you through this book. The book offers answers and a clear doctrinal statement.
Such as:
We believe the truth that there is one God who is eternally co-existing as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a perfect relationship of oneness.
And I think, this is a wonderful start to teach the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it seems to me, teaching on the Holy Spirit is very functional (what he does for me) or moral (how he sanctifies me) when it should begin with who he is.
Truth Encounter, Truth Talk
The book continues with a section titled Truth Encounter. The book describes this section this way: This section is an invitation for you to stop and carefully reflect on the truth of each session. You’ll be asked to encounter a truth of God as you relate personally with Jesus, as you live out the truth of God’s Word with your small group, or as you relate personally with his people. Please don’t rush past these Truth Encounters. They are designed to equip you in how to experience truth right in the room you’re in!
How it looks like is, you are asked to read a bible verse and to reflect on it with the help of guided questions or exercises.
For example, it says: Break into couples and take turns experiencing Philippians 2:4 with each other. Paraphrasing that verse, consider saying something like this to your partner: “I don’t want to think only about my own affairs. I am interested in you and what you are doing and what you are going through right now. Please share what you are going through—what you’re dealing with, good or bad. And I will listen. And I will have the attitude of Jesus and let you know I care about what you’re going through.”
Let me remind you, I was reading this book by myself. But I can imagine a group, if you are willing to go along and give it a try, this could be a breakthrough moment. I can imagine someone saying, "This is the first time someone actually listened to what I'm going through" or someone saying, "This is the first time I actually shut up and listened to someone else's life." By following the instructions, we could experience the Bible verse.
Every chapter closes with TruthTalk, an Assignment of the Week. The book describes it thus: The TruthTalks are designed as conversation starters—ways to engage others in spiritual discussions. They will create opportunities for you to share what you’ve experienced in this course with others around you. This will help you communicate God’s truth with others as you share vulnerably about your own Unshakable Truth Journey.
So an example of this is:God... made humans in his image, and that image was reflective of the perfect relationship of the three persons of the Godhead—a relationship so infinitely loving that it produced an intimate oneness, a bonding, a togetherness, and a connectedness unparalleled in the universe. This week take time with a family member or friend to make their concerns and affairs more important than your own. Consider saying something like:
And it gives an example script to say to your family or friend. You will notice it takes what we learnt in the chapter, the relational oneness of the Trinity, and brings that doctrine into experience into the community.
Then the chapter ends with some homework. It asks you to read the Unshakeable Truth but the guide book is good for the lazy students, or I would say, the busy student. You can attend the class without doing the homework but, of course, it's better if you do. And we close in prayer.
The next session opens up by asking, "Hey, how did it go? Did you talk to someone like we told you to? How was it?"
I've given you a very full description of the first session or first chapter. I won't be doing so for the other four sessions. One big difference between the first chapter and the rest is the first chapter is unusually long in comparison. If the group was sincerely trying to answer all the questions, it would take more than one hour, nearly two. This of course depends on how many people you have in the group, how chatty they are and how is the facilitator. Session Two to Five is not nearly as long.

Spirit and Spirit Gifts
What I think listeners might want to know is how does the book treat the Spiritual Gifts. Sadly, to me, the Holy Spirit is sometimes synonymous with the Spiritual Gifts. If you are looking for a Spiritual Gifts inventory description, this is not the book for your group. There is no juicy chapter of discovering your spiritual gifts. Not that I have anything against that as I will explain later.
I just think that Jesus and the Apostles speak more of the Holy Spirit in other terms. Like what you say?
Like this: John 14:25-26, where the Lord Jesus says “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
Or Galatians 5:25, where the Apostle Paul says, "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit."
The guidebook is more in keeping with the main message of the Holy Spirit and less on the periphery, which is where I would place the Spiritual Gifts. I'm not shaming those who want to learn on the Spiritual Gifts. On the contrary, I assert that the most important chapters on this topic is 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14. Cessationists and continuationists, both depend on these three chapters to teach the spiritual gifts. And if you read it properly, for yourself, you will see that central to Paul's teaching on the spiritual gifts, is the Trinity. The relational oneness. You don't believe me, listen to this:
1 Corinthians 12:4-6, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone."
Begin with God, and in knowing who he is, you will see the blessings and gifts as he intends.

I Can't Tell You How Good the Book is
How good is the book? You have heard it said, "The truth of the pudding is in the eating." And that's true of a guidebook like this. If you are going to read this cover to cover in an hour, you can't really say you gained. Sure, there are bits and pieces of knowing stuff, and I love to know stuff, but this is an experiential book. It's in the subtitle! Experience living in the power of the Holy Spirit. So you should experience it. By learning together. By doing what it tells you to do. By taking the handy scripts and performing it on the real stage, the world.
I know there is a cottage industry of small group study guides for many big name books out there. So what does this book have going for it? The McDowells' are trusted apologists and their study guide here on the Holy Spirit rests firmly on the Bible. Meaning you are in safe hands here.
One of the hardest things to do for a study leader is to hunt for the next book to study? While there are many book-based study guides, I don't think there are as many series-based study guides? Unshakeable Truth Journey contains 12 books. With five sessions each, you are looking at 60 sessions. So for the busy small group leader, you possibly looking at year's worth of small group studies are neatly scheduled for you. How does that sound?
Honestly, to do this review justice, I should read the 500 page book on which this series of guides is based on. I'm more comfortable telling you whether a book is good or not, than whether a study guide is good or not. The enjoyment or profit from a book is very much dependent on the author's way with words. In contrast, the enjoyment of a small group guide is more dependent on how the small group discussion went. There is only so much that a book of questions and instructions can do if people don't want to answer the questions or follow the instructions.
This is a Reading and Readers review of Empowered: Experience Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit by Josh and Sean McDowell.
Before you go, I have one question and one instruction for you. The question is, "Do you enjoy the Reading and Readers episodes so far?" You might be interested to know that the most downloaded episode so far is my side-by-side review of Fault Lines, Cynical Theories, and Ministers of Reconciliation, followed by my review of Piper's 700 page Providence. So check them out if you haven't done so. And my one instruction is: "If you like the show, share it with a friend." The reader or would-be reader will thank you for it.
Until next time... my name is Terence, keep on reading.

Book List
Empowered: Experience Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit by Josh and Sean McDowell. FaithLife. Amazon.

Who would you pick to win a fight? A cuddly rabbit or a cunning wolf? A fluffy bunny or a vicious hawk? The rabbit! Always pick the rabbit. That's the Truth in the world of the Green Ember.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Every month I review Faithlife's Free Book of the Month and while waiting for the next free book, I pick a book or in today's episode, nine books. Today, I review the epic tale-spinning, pack-slaying rabbits of Natalia, written by S. D. Smith and illustrated by Zach Franzen.

Spoiler Free Review of Nine Book Series
In 2014, Smith published his first novel titled, "The Green Ember", the first in a four book series. Along the way, he wrote the companion trilogy "The Green Ember Archer" and also Book 1 and 2 of Tales of Old Natalia. That's nine books in seven years to the delight of bucks and does in warrens all over. Bucks are male rabbits, does are female rabbits and warrens are rabbit homes.
Today I review all nine books because I reckon there is a good chance after reading the first book, you will want to read the second and pretty soon one book becomes all nine. So before you take that first bite, you want to ask do you want to eat the whole nine course meal? Cause I can think of a few books, movies and TV series, where it was good until it wasn't.
This is a spoiler-free review. Because of that, some parts of my review will be, out of necessity, vague. Fans of the series will know what I'm talking about while I hope to entice others with my cryptic comments to hop in and join us on the rabbit trail.

Zig Zag of Surprises
The story begins with a game of Starseek between rabbit younglings, Heather and Picket. To play Starseek, you take three short sticks, tie it with a long scarlet ribbon to make a six-point star with a flowing tail. Throw the star as hard as you can into the tall grasses. Watch it fall like a shooting star then race to see who can reach it first.
Heather is faster and stronger. In a straight line race, she beats her brother but Picket is a genius in spatial calculations. He finds the shortest path to the target. This is a game of zigs and zags. A game of surprises. (Just like the books.)
After their best round of Starseek, in comes a sudden storm. Darkness falls. Thunder and lightning. Fear arises. The children run home.
Smith describes the scene:
Flash! Father and Mother appeared on the little porch between the wide, smooth roots of the tree. Flash! Mother was holding Baby Jacks, her face showing worry. Father peered into the darkness. “Here!” Heather shouted. Flash! Picket shouted too, but their voices sounded small in the pounding rain and irregular claps of thunder. Flash! Mother pointed. Rumble … flash! Father dashed into the storm. The younger rabbits ducked as the sky was split and lightning fell. Heather saw Father in the bright bursts, never ducking, always moving toward them in the darkness. Eager. Determined.
The publisher recommends the book to eight years old and up but as you just heard, five year olds can enjoy this book. This is not the Hobbit. Tolkien's children's book has a slower pace with vivid but lengthy descriptions. Tolkien's Hobbit is like an elephant, big and lumbering. Smith's rabbits zig and zag from one warren to the next.
The First Warren
The first warren we visit, which is Heather and Picket's home, is a warm family home. Listen to this conversation between the children and their father:
“Heather, I think you are very brave. What you did today, out there in the storm, took courage. All of life is a battle against fear. We fight it on one front, and it sneaks around to our flank.” He paused, looked kindly at her. “Yes, Father. I understand.” “I regret many things I’ve done,” he said, “but most of all I regret those moments when I said to Fear, ‘You are my master.’” He suddenly looked terribly sad. “What is it, Father?” Picket asked as Mother tenderly took Jacks from him. “It’s only that, when you’re older, you hand out wisdom to your children like you know everything, but it is sometimes hard to follow your own advice.”
Then the father tells the children a true story. And the telling sets Heather and Picket on their coming-of-age tale. They discover the country of Natalia beyond their idyllic meadow, the rise and fall of their family name and the war of rabbits against wolves and birds of prey. That story, Heather and Picket's story, is the four book Green Ember series.
The three book Green Ember Archer series is Jo Shank's story. Jo Shank is a friend of theirs who wants to make a name for himself, discovers there is more to life than making a name for himself, and ironically becomes the star of his own trilogy. The meek shall inherit the earth.
Two other books complete Smith's collection of books so far. The Black Star of Kingston and The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner make Book 1 and 2 of Tales of Old Natalia. Whereas the Green Ember and Green Ember Archer series occupy the same time and space, the Tales of Old Natalia sit in the past. Readers of Green Ember will delight in the origins of Black Star, the citadels and the royal family.
Read the Green Ember First
And that's my reading sequence. First, the Green Ember series. Then, the Green Ember Archer series. Lastly, the Tales of Old Natalia.
But you might not want to read in that sequence. You might want to read the Green Ember and Green Ember Archer in their published order because the events interleave.
Book 1 in the Green Ember Archer series is old material retold from Jo Shank's eyes. Book 2 and 3 is better because it's new material with the battles, politics, and romance of the rabbits we have come to know and love. Tales of Old Natalia is a fun read because we get to know the ancient heroes of the rabbits, the heroes they revere and speak of so often.
Here's the thing though, we care for the rabbits because of the four book Green Ember series, the first series. Neither the Green Ember Archer nor Tales of Old Natalia has enough mass to pull you into Natalia. The momentum of the war, of little rabbits against towering wolves and diving birds of prey, that momentum is only sustained and only reaches its climax and resolution in the Green Ember series, not in the other books.
To explain using our human history: the story arc in Green Ember would be the middle and end of World War II. Europe in 1940 was lost. Only Britain remained. Six years of military and political battles later, Hitler was defeated. Any battle is significant based on how it impacted the war. The stories in the Green Ember series is meaningful in the light of the greater war, or greater narrative.
While the other books does a reasonable job of holding our interest in the characters and events, it is a side show or side quest. We care for the rabbits and their fight because we care for the hope that was only established in the first book.

The Mended Wood
Let me quote my favourite part of the entire series. In this scene, young Heather is asking the wise sage about the community. The sage answers, I quote.
This place is full of farmers, artists, carpenters, midwives, cooks, poets, healers, singers, smiths, weavers—workers of all kinds. We’re all doing our part.” “But what good will all that do?” Heather asked. “Shouldn’t everyone fight for the Great Wood—for King Jupiter’s cause?” “Sure we should,” Mrs. Weaver said. “In a sense. Some must bear arms and that is their calling. But this,” she motioned back to the mountain behind her, “this is a place dedicated to the reasons why some must fight. Here we anticipate the Mended Wood, the Great Wood healed. Those painters are seeing what is not yet but we hope will be. They are really seeing, but it’s a different kind of sight. They anticipate the Mended Wood. So do all in this community, in our various ways. “We sing about it. We paint it. We make crutches and soups and have gardens and weddings and babies. This is a place out of time. A window into the past and the future world. We are heralds, you see, my dear, saying what will surely come. And we prepare with all our might, to be ready when once again we are free.”
If I may speak boldly, this is what makes The Green Ember series different. In Narnia, Middle-Earth or Harry Potter, what drives the heroes is the individuals' sense of good versus evil. In those worlds, the future good they are fighting for is not as clear as the immediate evil they are fighting against.
In contrast, the Green Ember series offers a vision that fills the hearts of, not individuals, but a community. That vision is tasted in the best soup ever served, touched in the freshly cut hedges, seen in the coloured windows and heard in the comforting words, "It will not be so in the Mended Wood."
In the Harry Potter world, Harry can't die. In Middle Earth, Frodo and the Fellowship can't die. In Narnia, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are important but not that important. Narnia lives on whether or not they are in the story. More importantly, Aslan lives on, transcendent.
In the Green Ember, any rabbit can die because it is the Mended Wood that must not die. As the wise sage explains to Heather, "Here we anticipate the Mended Wood, the Great Wood healed". Anticipate. The rabbits anticipate the hope that is sure to come. And we, the readers, anticipate with them.
Did I spoil anything? I don't think so. I'm just telling you to pay attention to the Mended Wood, its cooks, painters, hedge-trimmers, story-tellers even as kings and captains fight for it.
Tale-Spinning Story Idea
Which brings me to a story idea, a suggestion for a future book?
I would have liked to the Mended Wood fought through culture. Don't get me wrong. The boy in me likes the battle tactics and innovations, tales of grand heroism that inspires boys and girls. The political animal in me likes the political manoeuvring amongst nobles and houses, which is a bit light but it is a children's book. Now the cultural observer in me, thinks there is a missed opportunity to show the battle at the cultural level.
Give us more of the Tale-spinners, the story-telling guild. Give us a conflict of Truth and near-Truth that threatens and corrupts the shared vision of the Mended Wood. Wrench our hearts as we read families and friends come apart as true and false prophecies come about. Can a children's book tell the story of false prophets and false prophecies? If we can do politicians, surely, we can do prophets.
Anyways, thats my story idea that came about because I just love the Mended Wood of Green Ember.
Predators Eat Their Prey
Next, I want to give a warning to parents of sensitive children. Do you let your children watch nature shows? What do the predators hunt? In air, land and sea, whether it's hawk, wolf or killer whale, predators hunt the weakest, not the strongest. And the weakest is the old, the injured and the young.
In the Green Ember series, the most shocking expression of evil is the predators systematically preying on the young rabbits. The eating is, thankfully, not graphically described. It's on the same level as Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel. If your children watch nature shows or read Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, then Green Ember is safe to read.
And speaking of evil, I've been reflecting on whether the nature of evil in Green Ember. The wolves are evil. The birds are evil. They are evil because it's their nature.
Then I recall Sauron in the Lord of the Rings, the movies. I haven't read the books. I'm sure Sauron has a backstory. But from the movies, Sauron is evil incarnate who wants to conquer Middle-Earth because what? He lusts for power, he seeks revenge, he is jealous of the Elves good looks? Sauron's motivation is irrelevant to the wicked violence he brings.
It's the same in Disney's recent movie, Raya and the Last Dragon. The evil beings, the Druun, are scary and evil but we don't know who they are. It's the same with the face-huggers in Alien. Perhaps not-knowing is a feature that makes the Sauron, Druun and Alien face-huggers mysterious and hence fearsome.
Betrayal and Redemption
Now if the wolves and birds of Natalia are simple in their evil, the rabbit villains are complex.
Early in the series, a soldier warily points out:
“Since our most recent betrayals, it’s hard to trust anyone, regardless of their family connections.”
In another scene, one rabbit assures Heather and Picket:
“I don’t think you’re traitors,” she said. “I call you my friends, and I trust you, even after such a short time. But this community has had to learn the hard way to be cautious with our trust.”
Betrayal. Suspicion. Paranoia. No wonder rabbits are such flighty creatures. Smith brings out betrayal early on and the entire series can be considered a study on betrayal. Who is the traitor? How will it come about? What do we do?
The flip side of betrayal is redemption. Actions have consequences. A careless word leads to death. A moment of weakness leads to a lifetime of regret. Yet, at every moment, redemption is there for the taking. Some refuse it. Some accept. Yet, redemption is possible. And in the stories, it is beautiful.
The Gospel According to the Rabbits?
Have I mentioned that S.D. Smith is a Christian? You probably guessed that because the Mended Wood sounds like the Christian vision of a New Creation, the series has an unambiguous division of Good and Evil, we have Betrayal and Redemption. Oh, and he is probably a Christian because this is Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you.
When I told a friend about this podcast I was starting, the subject of Christian fiction came up. She told me, "To be honest, most of the Christian fiction books I have picked up have been either too preachy or too intent on telling a moral, rather than concentrating on the characters and their motivations and storylines." I've since introduced her to what I hope are good Christian fiction.
Knowing that the writer is a Christian, is the stories Christian? What is Green Ember? Is it a well adorned moral lesson? Berenstain Bears with armed rabbits?
No. It's not a Christian allegory like the Chronicles of Narnia. Despite C.S. Lewis' protest that Narnia is not a Christian allegory, I disagree. Once I see them, I cannot unsee the crucifixion, atonement, baptism and judgment day. I can't do the same with the Green Ember. I cannot map Christian doctrines into the stories. There is no Aslan.
What is Green Ember? It's a story first. A coming of age story set in a world moving from betrayal to redemption. Children will love the battles won by hard-work and ingenuity, the witty banter among friends and rivals, families lost and found and the adventure. It's an adventure story of rabbits fighting against wolves and hawks. Can you imagine a more one-sided fight?
A Children's Book for Young and Old
If you want to give the world of Green Ember a chance, don't start with the Green Ember Archer or Tales of Old Natalia. Read Book 1 of the Green Ember series, also titled The Green Ember.
Parents if you have an impatient child who likes non-stop action and hates world-building, your child might find Book 1 and 2 slow-going but Book 3 and 4 takes off from all the character and world building and has plenty of high-flying action.
And yes, you might like to read this book for yourself. Many adults have fallen in love with the world of sword-fighting rabbits. In Amazon, all nine books have at least 4.8 stars.
Should adults read children's fiction? Isn't it be a better use of time to read books on theology, history, politics, science or something serious. Fiction seems indulgent when Christians are embattled on all fronts. Children's fiction seems especially indulgent.
In answer to that: Why don't you pick up R.C. Sproul's series of children's book and let me know what you think. I have them all and my children and I love them. Jesus told stories to adults and we retell them to our children. The Parable of the Samaritan Man. The Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Parable of the Sower. The Gospel is narrative. Remember the story of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Peter and Paul.
Stories have a way of disarming the mind, which is why this is the toughest review I have done so far. The ideas are not put up front, unlike Piper's Providence or Baucham's Fault Lines. In stories, the ideas are underlying, content to lie there or be dug up. Smith's Green Ember series does not preach Christianity at you but there is an unmistakable Christian worldview underlying his stories.
When the end of the world comes, and all is revealed, many will be surprised at how stories changed the world. How children's stories changed the course of history by invoking delight and wonder in the reader. Narnia is one of them. And for many, so is the Green Ember.
Before I end, let me quote Andrew Peterson, from his autobiography, "Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling and the Mystery of Making". What he writes on song-writing here applies to story-writing or any other creative work.
Since we were made to glorify God, worship happens when someone is doing exactly what he or she was made to do. I ask myself when I feel God’s pleasure, in the Eric Liddell sense, and it happens—seldom, to be sure, but it happens—when I’ve just broken through to a song after hours of effort, days of thinking, months of circling the song like an airplane low on fuel, searching desperately for the runway. Then I feel my own pleasure, too, a runner’s high, a rush of adrenaline. I literally tremble. There is no proper response but gratitude. The spark of the idea was hope; the work that led to the song was faith; the completion of the song leads to worship, because in that startling moment of clarity when the song exists in time and history and takes up narrative space in the story of the world—a space that had been empty, unwritten, unknown by all who are subject to time—then it is obvious (and humbling) that a great mystery is at play.
What he describes as the great mystery of the creative act is what delights me in the Green Ember. The Mended Wood of the future, is anticipated by the present, through the creative acts of the community in the midst of war. That's the role of the arts in the Church. Stories are not indulgent. Stories adorn the truths we treasure.
In conclusion, get the first book, titled The Green Ember. If you like it, you will probably get the whole collection. I recommend it to children and prescribe it to adults in need of a good dose of imagination.
This is a Reading and Readers' review of nine books: The four book Green Ember series, The three book Green Ember Archer series and the two books in the Tales of Old Natalia, written by S.D. Smith and illustrated by Zach Franzen.
The next children's series I will review is Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather series. I asked my son which is better: Green Ember or Wingfeather. He said both are good, it's difficult to choose. He wants me to drop the books I'm reading now to get into Wingfeather. I will but not so soon. Do you have any children's books that you would like me to review? Let me know. My contact details are at www.readingandreaders.com. That's www.readingandreaders.com. Thank you for listening.

Book List

• The Green Ember by S.D. Smith. Amazon.
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Amazon.
• Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Amazon.
• S.D. Smith's Amazon Author Page. Amazon.
• Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson. Amazon.
• Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga. Amazon.

Do you struggle with money problems? Who doesn't? What if I told you there was a quick-fix to all your money problems? Would you be interested? Well, you shouldn't. Money problems have deep underlying causes and looking for quick-fix makes it worse. Today's book offers you not a quick fix, not a long-lasting fix, but an eternal fix.
Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Every month I review Faithlife's Free Book of the Month and for the month of July, the free book is Redeeming Money: How God Reveal and Reorients Our Hearts by Paul David Tripp. Let me give you a quick financial tip, if you have money problems, you might want to get this free book, which is worth $15, but is free from Faithlife for July.

Budgets Can't Rescue You From You
The author Paul David Tripp is a pastor and has written many books on suffering, parenting, marriage, sex, leadership and best-selling devotionals. On his website, his biography says:
Throughout his life, Paul has planted a church, founded a Christian school, wrote worship songs and toured with a Christian band. He was a faculty member at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) for many years, a lecturer in Biblical Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary, a Visiting Professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a pastor at Tenth Presbyterian Church.
In this book Tripp is a pastor and counsellor, not a professor or scholar. He knows the struggles of wanting and not having, of searching many tools but ending up fools, of failing and failing when they really should be winning. Tripp sees your need and it's not a better budget.
I believe that a good budget can be a powerful restorative tool, but your budget does not have the power to rescue you from you, because your budget has no power to control your willingness to follow it.
Your's is an internal problem, not an external one. A matter of the heart, not the mind.
Redeeming Money is not a long book. It has ten chapters spread across 176 pages. Let me breakdown the book from the two ends and work towards the middle. There are ten chapters. Chapter one raises awareness on the way you look at the world. Chapter ten raises your resolve to change your world. Chapters 2 and 3 looks at the Christian beginning: Man and the Fall. Chapters 8 and 9 looks at the Christian end: Heaven and God's Agenda. The remaining middle chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 are on the Lord's Prayer, Money, Treasure and Love.
Seeing With Gospel Glasses
In the first chapter, Tripp explains:
My goal in this book is to root everything I write about money in a distinctly biblical worldview. Even more specifically, I want to help you look at money and money problems through the lens of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am deeply persuaded that we will never make proper sense of the world of money, which influences us, perhaps more deeply than we realize, unless we first put on our gospel glasses.
He then explains the four foundations of a Gospel Worldview namely:

1. At the center of the universe is a God of incalculable glory
2. We live in a world terribly broken by sin
3. God offers us his heart and life-transforming grace
4. We were created to live for something bigger than ourselves

Having explained these four foundations, Tripp applies the above message of grace in every chapter. So he never allows you to wallow in self-pity or props up your self-esteem for the next fight against debt.
He applies the Bible to your money problems but he doesn't begin with what the Bible says about money. He doesn't rush to 1 Timothy 6:10, "The love of money is the root of all evil". He will but not at first.
As you heard, he begins with seeing how you see. This is your worldview which he asserts needs to be a Gospel Worldview. Then having put on gospel lenses, he puts his hands on the sides of your head and turns it to see, not the money mess you made, but the mirror.
Questioning The Self
He writes:
You can’t understand money if you don’t understand who you are, and money is one of the principal ways you demonstrate who you think you are. There is no better indicator of the identity you have assigned to yourself than the way you use money. Why does one person proudly throw money around? Why does another person use her money to buy all the cultural markers of success? Why is that neighbor of yours so proudly vocal about his charity? Why has yet another person never been able to stay out of debt? Why does that couple quietly give away such a big portion of their income? Why is your friend so gripped with money fears? Why does she struggle with envy and embarrassment whenever she is around her wealthy friends? Why does he try to hide the fact that he grew up in poverty? Why did Jesus talk about this topic more than any other? Why is money such a big deal? Why are some of us never satisfied, even though we have so much money, and why are some of us content with so little? The answer to all these questions is identity.
I picked this text for two purposes. This text is how Tripp leads you to the subject of chapter two, our identity. This text is also an example of his writing style.
In every chapter, Tripp throws you question after question. He makes you revisit your thoughts on money and the thoughts underlying those thoughts. And if that wasn't enough, at the end of every chapter, he lists some questions, helpful for small group studies.
Maybe it's his counselling background. Counsellors love to ask questions. Counsellors don't tell you what to do or think or feel, they ask. The reason, so I've been told, is when you answer a question, you own your answer. If I told you the answer, even if I said the exact same thing you said, my answer would not be effective as yours. When you answer, the light bulb comes on.
But I object. What if I see the problem and the solution but you can't see them? I say this because some people think the answer is in you, the answer is always in you. The trick is digging it out. What if the answer is outside of you? What if the answer is not a revelation from you but a revelation from God?
This is the conflict of worldviews. And notice I used questions to get you there. That's how Tripp does it in the book.
His questions are aimed at finding what you believe and to compare your reality against the biblical reality. Your worldview against the gospel worldview. In the Bible, the self is not the answer to our problems. Tripp describes four identities: Creature, Sinner, Sufferer and Saint. You would never come up with all four on your own.
Grace, Sweet Grace
As an experienced counsellor, Tripp is keenly aware and sensitive on Christians beating themselves up on their failures. Throughout the book, even as he reveals the problems in your heart, he doesn't want problems to be the last word. He is so quick, so very quick, to bring in grace.
After describing the dumb things saints do, saints still pile up debt and get into money mess, Tripp writes:
So saints commit themselves to using their money according to God’s purpose and for his glory, but when they don’t, they do not give way to humiliation, desperation, and personal recrimination. Instead, with hope and courage, they get up, dust themselves off, seek God’s forgiveness, rescue, and empowerment, and determine to grow in their commitment to live with their money God’s way. Has your money life been shaped by the blessing of knowing you’re one of God’s saints?
If you struggle with money-problems and have tried and failed to get out of it, his often repeated message of grace is what you need to hear. Tripp here offers a message of grace that is greater than your failures. This is not a book that says, "You can do it if only you put your mind to it. If only you have more discipline. If only you had made better choices, married better or stayed single, or got that job or not, then all your problems would be solved."
No, what you need is the grace of God first and above all else. Tripp doesn't just say it, he shows you from the ultimate source of all reality, the Bible.
You and Your Money in Eden
In chapter three titled, "Warning and Hope", Tripp unpacks an eight-point exposition of Genesis 3, Adam and Eve eating the Forbidden Fruit. It's such a familiar story that I'm sure you can tell it right now to me. But can you see yourself in that story? Can you see the source of your money woes in that story?
As I read to you the eight points, I want you to reflect on your own life and your money problems. According to Tripp, this is the cause of Adam and Eve's fall and it's possibly yours as well:

1. They listened to an alternative voice.
2. They wanted what was prohibited.
3. They thought they knew better.
4. They minimized God's present provision.
5. They allowed themselves to doubt God.
6. They decided to step over God's boundaries.
7. They denied clear potential consequences.
8. They shifted the blame to someone else.

As he explains what those points mean, the question is posed, "Do you minimize God's present provision?", "Do you doubt God?", "Do you shift blame?"
And before you think the book is just a bunch of questions, Tripp explains. I give you an example from point number six:
In the countless little moments of every day, we make inescapable moral decisions. No matter the subject, the decision is always about the same thing: will I choose to stay inside God’s boundaries and do what he says is right, or will I step over God’s boundaries and do what will get me what I want? If a Christian husband is yelling at his wife, saying things to her he should not say, he’s not yelling because he is ignorant of the fact that it’s wrong. He’s doing it because, at that point, he doesn’t care what God says is wrong. There is something he wants, and he will do whatever it takes to get it. In the same way, Adam and Eve didn’t eat the forbidden fruit because they were ignorant of the fact that it was forbidden. They knew where God had placed his boundaries, and they willingly stepped over them to get what they wanted.
Tripp wrote, "There is something you want and you will do whatever it takes to get it." Does that sentence expose you? Cause that's what Tripp is doing here. He is exposing your innermost desires. The subtitle of this book, Redeeming Money is: How God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts. God reveals our hearts.
God Reveals the Heart
This is not a man psychoanalysing you from afar using the knowledge and experience of Man. Tripp puts all of us, including himself, under the scrutiny of God's revelation.
He confesses:
I like to be in control. I like to have my own way. I like my plans to happen without interruption. I like people to agree with me. I like my days to be predictable and easy. And because I like these things, I am tempted to use my money to get them. Money can give you control. Money can purchase an easier life. Money can even make people like you more. Money can buy temporary pleasure, comfort, and ease.
He ends his confession by reorienting our attention away from us to God. He says:
Making ourselves the most important thing is natural, but it is not the way God designed us to live, so it is not the pathway to the wholeness of life that we all want.
Do you see what is happening here? The subtitle of the book is How God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts. It is not enough for God to reveal who we are and what is in our hearts. God reorients our heart.
God Reorients the Heart
I'll give you one example from the book and that is through prayer.
Chapter four is built on the Lord's Prayer. Recall the Lord's Prayer. Which verse in the Lord's Prayer is relevant to money? Which verse do the hungry and the bankrupt run to?
Give us this day our daily bread.
But Tripp says hold on!
The Lord’s Prayer is not born first from need. Much of our prayer arises from need and involves a long list of things that we hope God will deliver. The words of this prayer arise from a posture of surrender, which is precisely why it is so helpful when it comes to how we view and use the money that has been entrusted into our care.
Tripp walks us through. When we pray "Our Father in Heaven" we identify first as children of God and recognise the provisions and potentials that come with that identity. When we pray "Hallowed be your name" we commit to a grander purpose, which is to glorify God's name and not ours. When we pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done" we do not pray "my kingdom come, my will be done".
There are many books written on the Lord's Prayer. The simple truth is praying the first half prepares us to pray the second half. Through the Lord's Prayer, God reorients the heart, we say not my will but yours be done. Tripp says:
It’s only after surrendering your heart to the first part of the Lord’s Prayer that you can honestly pray these words. Embedded in this prayer is a request for a contented heart. Embedded in this prayer is a request for the ability to trust in the Father’s promise to provide. Embedded in this prayer is a desire for a heart filled with praise and not complaint. Embedded in this prayer is a cry for freedom from a heart ruled by an endless quest for more. Embedded in this prayer is a cry for rescuing and empowering grace.
Play It On Repeat
And what I just read leads me to my next point: the repetitions in this book.
The spoken word is distinct from the written word. So when a preacher preaches "Embedded in this prayer is a request for..." over and over again, he can build towards a climax. And the crowd responds, "Preach it brother, preach it."
But when the repetition is written, and read in silence, the writing is boring. In this book, it doesn't happen all the time but enough to be noticed.
And it's not just phrases in sequence, it's also ideas over chapters. Have you sat under a preacher whom you wished ended his sermon 10 minutes earlier but instead recaps his points? I am that preacher. And I can tell you why. In my mind, what I'm saying is important but I don't know whether you got it so I'm going to say it again just to make sure you got it.
Earlier I commended Tripp because he ends every message on the message of grace. That message of grace can sound like an over played song. I see the problem is some paragraphs is so general, that it could be placed anywhere in the book. For example, one of last paragraphs in chapter 5 goes like this:
When I misuse money, I don’t misuse it because I am ignorant or without a budget. No, I misuse it because at that point I don’t care what God or anyone else says. I want what I want, and if I can use my resources to get it, I am going to get it.
Have you heard that before? You heard it in chapter 2. I just read chapter 5. The same idea gets repeated in different forms.
At this point, long-time listeners might jump at me and say, "Terence, when you reviewed John Piper's 700 page Providence you said his repeating was like a grandfather leading a child to cross the road. But here for Paul Tripp's 170 page book you are more critical. Please explain."
Piper's written word is meant to be read more than preached or spoken. His ideas and the way he structures them, that long string of pearls, needs more hand-holding. Also Piper wrote the book so that you can read from the middle, which is only possible because he recaps.
Now for Tripp, his written word is the spoken word written down. It's conversational: I'm talking to you over the table and not talking down at you from the podium. It's less authoritative in tone and more approachable which is a selling point. Although Tripp doesn't advocate it, you could read from the middle of the book. But his is a smaller book. And in contrast to Piper's Providence, the subject matter is simpler and coupled with simpler writing style, the repetition is more pronounced.
One of my goals for this podcast is to help you enjoy the books I review. And there is an easy way to fix this repetition. Just space out your reading. Read one chapter a day. Don't read two chapters or more. If you take it at the right dosage and give the chapter time to digest, it will go down better. I took the whole bottle, swallowed it in one gulp and got an upset stomach. So don't finish the book in one seating.
Practical Me-istic Present-ism
Who is this book for? In this book, Tripp addresses practical me-istic present-ism. I wish he coined a phrase that rolls easier off the tongue. Me-istic, as opposed to theistic, means a religion not of God but of the self. Present-ism as opposed to eternity, is the idea there is only life now, no after-life. Christians will protest and say, "But we don't believe that. We worship God and believe in the after-life!" Which is when the third word comes in. Practical. Tripp contends that Christians don't deny orthodox beliefs but they live contrary to their beliefs. The way they spend their money shows a worship of the self without eternity in view.
So the book addresses practical me-istic present-ism and the many who live it. But what if you are a family struggling with mounting medical bills? So you are not worshipping the self or living the fast life. You are praying "Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done." You are praying for medical funds not new iPhones.
Does this book help? It can. But you have to read it right.
The truths are universal. Who we are. Genesis 3. Lord's Prayer. What we treasure and love. You can take all these truths and apply them in your own poverty-stricken, God-honouring life. But be aware that when Tripp applies these truths, he is not looking at you. His eyes are on the majority culture, those who need to hear, "You cannot serve both God and money".
On the other extreme, there is little here to persuade a man like Warren Buffett, a wealthy man who lives a good moral life. He gives generously. But that's what we thought of Bill Gates too. What I'm saying here is it's obvious that this book helps the financial or moral bankrupt but it's not so obvious how this book helps the self-made man, who sees no need for God in his life.
Redeeming Money
After all my criticisms of his book, the repetition and the narrow audience, is it a bad book? No. It could do with some improvements but many, countless millions, would live a better life, if they just understood and applied just one chapter of this book. That's how good the book is, just one chapter, well-read and well-applied, would lead a fallen bankrupt to God's own riches.
After all, how can it be a bad book if Tripp gives a correct diagnosis and correct treatment for many people's money problems. And here is the kicker. Tripp is not out to solve money problems.
The subtitle of the book is How God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts. What's the title of the book? It's not Solving Money, as if money is a problem to be solved. The title is Redeeming Money. How does the book begin? We must first learn to see; to see ourselves the way God sees us; that is redeeming man, who are created in the image of God. Once we achieve that, we can eventually see money the way God sees money, not as evil but as a way to express God's generosity. That is redeeming money.
Let me read Tripp's summary paragraph in the chapter titled The Generosity Agenda.
We need a brand-new way of thinking about money, a way that is rooted in the gospel story and its narrative of the lavish grace of God, most powerfully pictured in the amazing gift of the Lord Jesus. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God frees us from our bondage to ourselves (in terms of money, that means always starting with our interests and concerns) and he frees us to find our identity, meaning, and purpose in him. He calls us to embed our personal money stories in the larger generosity story of Scripture. This means resting in the fact that he has committed to provide everything we need (not want) and accepting that he calls us to be part of his mission of grace. So we view our money not primarily through the lens of personal provision, but through the lens of God’s generosity mission on earth.
The Best Book on Finance Bar None
Let's look at some other books on money. Have you heard of Randy Alcorn? Alcorn has written two books on Money, one titled "Managing God's Money", the other is "Money, Possessions and Eternity". I haven't read them but whenever the subject of money comes up, Alcorn's books gets mentioned.
But there is a better book. One so good that both Paul Tripp and Randy Alcorn will tell you to put down their books. Don't read theirs, read this one. It's the original money management book cited by every Christian author. It's the one that says: "You cannot serve both God and money".
It's the Bible, of course! Extra points if you can name which Gospel that came from: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John?
Bible Quiz time. Which Gospel is this from: "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God"?
Which Gospel has Zacchaeus giving away half his riches to the poor?
Which Gospel has the Rich Man in Hades pleading with Abraham and Lazarus?
Which Gospel has the Widow and her two copper coins?
All of them, everything I just asked, comes from the Gospel according to Luke.
Luke's Gospel is short. It has two thousand years of five-star reviews and while many critics trash it, they don't matter. It's written, I mean inspired, by the Holy Spirit and endorsed by God the Father and Jesus Christ. And all Christians are promoters.
Since all Christian books are validated against the Bible, if you have not done so, you should read it and study it. You have not reached the stage where you can say you have read enough of the Bible.
Just this week, I thought of this riddle. In Luke 18, Jesus instructed the rich young ruler to sell and give everything he had to the poor. But in Luke 19, Jesus praises Zacchaeus when he only gave half to the poor. The more you read, the more questions come up. And as you ponder, God reveals and reorients. And you do what Paul Tripp did, you write a book.
In conclusion, Paul Tripp's book can be the answered prayer for many stuck in money problems. Tripp does not give the reader financial tips nor does his questions lead to a journey of inner self-discovery. Instead he gives a diagnosis and prescription of the soul in need of God. His questions lead to God's Revelation and Reorientation of the heart. The repetitive writing style is fixed by just spacing out the reading. And while the material could have been expanded to reach an even wider audience, he conveys universal truth and applies them to the majority. There is a chapter on a life of generous giving under God's magnificent grace, which you got to read it to enjoy it.
This is a Reading and Reader's review of Redeeming Money: How God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts by Paul David Tripp.
When Faithlife gives you a free book, they are saving you money. When I review that book, I'm saving you time. So please give generously your time and review or subscribe to Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Thank you for listening.

Book List
Redeeming Money by Paul David Tripp. Amazon. Faithlife.
Managing God's Money by Randy Alcorn. Amazon. Faithlife.
ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal:Luke. Amazon.