Reading and Readers

Reading and Readers

By Terence TanReligion & SpiritualityChristianityArtsBooks
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Reading and Readers episodes

  • Two Years Old!

    Today, according to the BBC, "There are currently around three to four million podcasts internationally, but just over half of those have more than three episodes, with only 720,000 podcasts comprising more than 10 episodes."
    Well, not to brag, but the podcast you are listening to has 70 episodes and is today two years old!
    Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host of Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. But not today. Today we take a Behind the Scenes look at the world's number one podcast dedicated to Christian book reviews.
    A Developing Relationship
    I still remember the first year of podcasting. It was like jumping off a cliff. Exhilarating. Scary. Fun. I juggled with web hosting, podcast hosting, microphones, headphones, figuring out a workflow that worked and flowed with my already busy, busy, life.
    Now that I've just passed the second year, 70 episodes in, the feeling is different. It's like how the first year of romance drives boys and girls crazy, puppy love. It's when the first year goes on to the second year, that the relationship is challenged. This podcast, Reading and Readers, is it a Covid-induced fling or a long term, life-long, serving?
    I've lasted years and still going strong. I still love to read and I still love to share what I read.
    I've even got an idea for a special 100th episode. I have a special personal book in mind. And I can't wait to review it for the 100th episode. My only fear is that my review doesn't do the book justice. At the pace I'm going, the 100th episode will be in 2024. I don't want to say anything beyond the 100th but I'm thankful I still love what I'm doing in Reading and Readers.
    Wisdom For 2 Year Olds
    For today's special episode, I'll do something simple. I'll read a portion of Proverbs 2. Then I will use what I just read to reflect on podcasts and book reviews. What better way to celebrate the podcast's second anniversary than to do a reading first, followed by thoughts from the reader.
    Before I begin, a trigger warning. If you are one of those poor souls who throws a fit whenever someone takes a passage of Scripture and starts talking about it or applying it without first expounding on it, then be warned.
    I'm not expounding, or preaching or even teaching here. So I don't intend to connect the dots. This is a devotional reflection. And I think this is a perfectly acceptable way to grow as a Christian, which is to read Scripture and ponder how Scripture relates to work, family, ministry, technology, society, all things in all creation including a podcast where I review Christian books for you.
    So let us open the Good Book.
    Proverbs 2:1–15 (ESV)


    My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.
    The passage is entirely about God's words and God's commandments. There are conditions with rewards, if you do this, you will gain, you will know every good path. Take heed, it is God who gives knowledge and wisdom. Beware of falling in with evil people their paths are crooked.
    One Book Man
    A man calls out, "I am a one-book man. I only read the Bible because that is all a person needs to be wise."
    And he quotes Scripture in support. The final chapter, final sections of Ecclesiastes, 12:11-12 reads:
    The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
    My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
    Does that mean that the man was right. It is good to be a one-book man? Sounds like false piety to me. It sounds praise-worthy but it is not. How can I reconcile Proverbs 2, Ecclesiastes 12, with Reading and Readers, the podcast and its goals?
    Spurgeon To The Party
    I'd like to invite a dear old friend to speak on this issue. He is Charles Spurgeon. Let me read from his "Lectures to My Students". He has a chapter on commentaries. What he says on commentaries I will later extend to Christian books. But first let's hear from Charles Spurgeon on commentaries:
    In order to be able to expound the Scriptures, and as an aid to your pulpit studies, you will need to be familiar with the commentators: a glorious army, let me tell you, whose acquaintance will be your delight and profit. Of course, you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that you can expound Scripture without assistance from the works of divines and learned men who have labored before you in the field of exposition. If you are of that opinion, pray remain so, for you are not worth the trouble of conversion, and like a little coterie who think with you, would resent the attempt as an insult to your infallibility. It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others. My chat this afternoon is not for these great originals, but for you who are content to learn of holy men, taught of God, and mighty in the Scriptures. It has been the fashion of late years to speak against the use of commentaries. If there were any fear that the expositions of Matthew Henry, Gill, Scott, and others, would be exalted into Christian Targums, we would join the chorus of objectors, but the existence or approach of such a danger we do not suspect. The temptations of our times lie rather in empty pretensions to novelty of sentiment, than in a slavish following of accepted guides. A respectable acquaintance with the opinions of the giants of the past, might have saved many an erratic thinker from wild interpretations and outrageous inferences. Usually, we have found the despisers of commentaries to be men who have no sort of acquaintance with them; in their case, it is the opposite of familiarity which has bred contempt.
    Did you get all that? Commentators are a glorious army. People who have laboured before us in the field of exposition. The problem in Spurgeon's time, more than a hundred years ago, was for people to follow novelty of sentiment rather than accepted guides. How is it that what he says then is so applicable to us today?
    Anyways, I skip a bit and Spurgeon continues:
    who will deny the preeminent value of such expositions as those of Calvin, Ness, Henry, Trapp, Poole, and Bengel, which are as deep as they are broad? and yet further, who can pretend to biblical learning who has not made himself familiar with the great writers who spent a life in explaining some one sacred book? Caryl on Job will not exhaust the patience of a student who loves every letter of the Word; even Collinges, with his nine hundred and nine pages upon one chapter of the Song, will not be too full for the preacher’s use; nor will Manton’s long-metre edition of the hundred and nineteenth Psalm be too profuse. No stranger could imagine the vast amount of real learning to be found in old commentaries like the following:—Durham on Solomon’s Song, Wilcocks on Psalms and Proverbs, Jermin on Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, Green-hill on Ezekiel, Burroughs on Hosea, Ainsworth on the Pentateuch, King on Jonah, Hutcheson on John, Peter Martyr on Romans, etc., and in Willett, Sibbes, Bayne, Elton, Byfield, Daillé, Adams, Taylor, Barlow, Goodwin, and others on the various epistles.
    As I have said before, more than once, how privileged we are that there are top minds, spiritual giants, who give their life to study, in some cases, one book. How privileged we are to be able to tap on a life-time of learning. And do you recognise the illustrious authors that Spurgeon casually throws about? I don't. Because God has blessed not just one generation with gifted writers. God has seen fit to bless every generation with gifted writers to equip the church in its own time and setting. We have Dale Ralph Davis, Walter C. Kaiser Jr., D. A. Carson, just to name a few of the authors I have read and reviewed.
    One Friend Man?
    To the one-book man I ask, "Are you also a one-friend man?" Do you only need one friend, and one friend alone, whose name is Jesus? Well, Jesus calls his disciples his friends and we sing what a friend we have in Jesus.
    We can have many friends but only one friend has authority over us. He is God. Similarly, we can have many books but only one book has authority over us. That is the Bible. So this helps to explain the making of many books in Ecclesiastes.
    What about Proverbs 2 which clearly says wisdom and knowledge come through God's Word. So why waste time reading other books?
    I suggest to you that the making of many books within Christians is a physical manifestation of Proverbs 2. If we were to pile up all the Christian books, books written by believers to glorify God, the pile would tower to the heavens, demonstrating how seriously, how fervently, we treasure God's Word that we would spill so much ink and give so much time to wisdom and knowledge that ultimately stems from God.
    As Spurgeon says, these books do not have authority over us, but they offer great value. Faithful books are friends of the faith.
    All Books Not Just Commentaries
    And not just commentaries.
    Whether it's a comic book Action Bible or a funny novel of a soul-searching pastor or a systematic analysis on the theology of Lord of the Rings. A good Christian book in some way lead us to wisdom, righteousness and justice and equity, to every good path.
    When a community of believers come together, receiving and treasuring God's Word and commandment, isn't it the most natural thing, having received wisdom and knowledge to sing it, draw it study it, and write it to share with fellow seekers? Doesn't this holy activity deliver us from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, men whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways?
    So I reflect on Proverbs 2.
    As a reader, I read to the glory of God. Reading and interpreting what I read with a Christian worldview.
    As a podcaster, I create to the glory of God. I use the technology and reach that God has given to the people of my generation to be blessed and be a blessing.
    As a book reviewer, I review to the glory of God. I serve the community of believers, the authors, publishers and readers. My hope is in some small way my podcast can lead you to times of refreshing through a good book found.
    It's only two years. I hope you will join me in seeking, treasuring and sharing the wisdom, knowledge and understanding God gives.
    A heartfelt thanks from me to all who listen to Reading and Readers. I hope the podcast and the book reviews are as profitable to you as they have been to me. God bless you. Bye bye.

    23 min
  • Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: New Clues for an Old Problem by Kenneth Berding

    After nearly two thousand years, finally the answer we have all been waiting for arrives. The question is, "What is Paul's thorn in the flesh?" And the answer is found in today's book.
    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 "Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: New Clues for an Old Problem" by Kenneth Berding. 280 pages, published by Lexham Academic in February 2023. It's available in Amazon Kindle for USD19.99 and in Logos for USD26.99.
    I got this book for free from Lexham Academic to review. They have no input in today's review.
    Mystery Novel and Author
    Long time listeners to this podcast will know that I love a good mystery novel. The detective finds clues, invites the readers to solve the mystery, and the story steadily moves towards that big reveal.
    In this book, we look at a real life mystery, what is Paul's thorn in the flesh? And our detective is Kenneth Berding.
    Kenneth Berding, according to Amazon, is:


    Professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University where he has served since 2002. He teaches courses such as Life & Letters of Paul, Principles of Interpretation, Biblical Greek, Romans, and Apostolic Fathers.
    It is as if everything he taught prepared him for this book. When tackling a narrow subject like Paul's Thorn in the Flesh, I don't want a guy who is obsessed about this one mystery for 50 years of his life. He only has tunnel vision.
    I want someone who is aware of the broader picture, someone who knows Paul, his life and letters, someone who can survey the nearly two thousand years worth of attempts to crack the mystery.
    I want someone qualified and, on paper, Kenneth Berding is abundantly qualified.
    Qualification is one thing, can he pique the reader's interest? Can he banish the fog of incomprehensibility surrounding a topic that belongs more in seminary than in the public? And crucially, can he convince us that nearly every commentary is wrong and that his solution truly best explains this verse:
    2 Corinthians 12:7–9 (ESV) So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
    Nobody Knows
    Before I read this book, this is my interpretation: We don't know what is Paul's thorn in the flesh. Nobody knows. It is a mystery that will forever remain a mystery. And you know what? It is good that we don't know. Because this thorn in the flesh can represent any one of your pain, your suffering, your trial, your temptations, it can mean anything you want it to mean because, by God's great Providence, Paul has left it undefined.
    That's what I understood. I taught this because I believed it.
    Then along comes Kenneth Berding. He shatters all my presuppositions, and says that my interpretation is wrong. Wrong in the first premise. He makes this astounding claim that the Bible and other sources gives us enough clues to solve the mystery.
    So let's open the book, "Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: New Clues for an Old Problem" by Kenneth Berding.
    Pain Oh the Pain
    He begins with this introduction:
    Imagine with me a first-century house-church meeting. The apostle Paul is addressing a new group of Jesus followers that has recently sprung up as an extension of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. Paul is passionately exhorting the assembled group about their need to view one another as brothers and sisters in the family of God. He is twenty minutes into his talk when suddenly—and without warning—Paul’s face grimaces, his hand moves rapidly to the side of his face just in front of his ear, he collapses into a sitting position, his breathing quickens as he leans forward, eyes shut, fighting to hold back the groans working their way out of his throat. The matron of the house rushes forward along with a half dozen others. She cries out, “Brother Paul, are you OK? What’s happening? What’s wrong?”
    Is that a great introduction or what? If this was a movie, the opening scenes shows the ending. What I just read, a snippet of a longer story, is Berding's solution to the problem, namely Paul's thorn in the flesh is a terrible pain, possibly intermittent, which he experiences in his face, perhaps around the ear or eyes.
    This is the big reveal. And he gives it to us in the first page. The rest of the book is a carefully written, methodical and enjoyably series of engaging and convincing arguments. And he needs those arguments because everyone else thinks it's impossible.
    In Chapter 1, "Why We're Skeptical", Berding gives a list of imminent scholars. Let me read the shorter comments from this list.
    • C.H. Dodd says, "Diagnosis is impossible."
    • F.F. Bruce states bluntly, "... no certainty is possible."
    • Colin G. Kruse writes, "However, the plain fact is that there is simply insufficient data to decide the matter."
    • Gordon D. Fee writes, "“Finally, even though we have no way of knowing what the infirmity was, Paul continued to be plagued by a physical problem, even after seeking relief from God.”
    • David E. Garland writes, "In the end we must accept the fact that we will never know for certain what Paul’s stake in the flesh was."

    I'm glad to read that all of these guys agree with me. Berding is against the consensus. And he knows it.
    Nobody Knows But Many Guesses
    In chapter 2, he gives us a list of people and their solutions. Tertullian says it's a pain of the head. Lightfoot suggests epilepsy. Ramsay says malaria. Chilton thinks shingles. These are just some of the people in a long list who think it's a physical ailment.
    Then we have another long list of those who think it's not something physical. Basil of Caesarea suggests the thorns are trials in ministry. Aquinas says sexual temptations. Luther says temptation to anger. Calvin plays it safe and guesses temptations of various kinds.
    For the scholar, this is a great chapter! You have footnotes after footnotes. The last item in the list is citation number 99!
    Yet Berding writes for the everyday Christian. Remember the introduction, how the story draws us in. He is writing with the everyday Christian in mind.
    When I read the two lists, in the back of my head, I was thinking why is it you have some who say its physical while some very strong theologians, I'm looking at Aquinas, Luther, Calvin think it's not physical but spiritual.
    I quote Berding here:
    When “sharp-pointed object in the flesh” (a literal English translation of the Greek skolops tē sarki) got translated as stimulus carnis meae into Latin, the subsequent use of that Latin translation opened the door to psychological and spiritual interpretations (such as sexual temptations or spiritual distress). This is because stimulus in Latin is more commonly used metaphorically for “incitement” or “stimulation” than is the Greek skolops. Don’t forget that the Latin translation of the Bible was the preferred version for both western priest and scholar for more than a thousand years, so such a translation carried the potential of wielding a far greater influence than was justified.
    I have spent more time than I should on the first two chapters. Mainly because I enjoyed them so much and I have not even reach the main section of the book. The clues!
    Clues
    As I said earlier, the big reveal is given, the rest of the book is presenting the arguments for it. That would be chapters 3 to chapter 11, which cover clues from the historical context, clues from the book of Job, clues from the literary context and just on the literary context, there are three chapters.
    A masterly three chapters where he goes from the, here I simplify so that you can get the gist, he first unpacks the sentence, then the paragraph, then the chapter. He zooms in at the centre and steadily expand outwards.
    Moving on, in the other chapters, we have clues from the Suffering of Jesus, clues from Irenaeus and Tertullian, clues from Galatians and a whole chapter on clues from miscellaneous sources.
    I have learned so much from these chapters. Not just on the content but in the approach. If anyone ever wants to write a book or article to persuade readers on a point of view, or forget about writing, if you just want to be a clearer thinker, I highly recommend this book.
    He is gentle and respectful of differing opinions. He is not desperate to win your approval. He lays out the case, without any appeal to the emotions, he just communicates as clearly as he can the significance of these clues, trusting that the reader is intelligent enough to connect the dots.
    Let's look at one of those clues. From chapter 5, "Clues from the Literary Context (Part 1)", Berding states that the word Paul uses to describe his thorn in the flesh is a word that evokes a face-punch.
    I quote:
    Most of our translations translate the word with general terms, such as “torment,” “trouble,” “harass,” “buffet,” “beat,” or “hit.” This general usage is possible in certain contexts, but these renderings of kolaphizō mask both the word’s initial evocation and most common usage.
    Normally that would be the end of it and we readers would have to take the writer, the expert's, word for it because you don't know Greek. I don't know Greek. He knows Greek so he must be right.
    But Berding does not just want us to take his word for it. He wants us to understand so he explains. I quote at length, and I hope you can get a sense of the teacher's soul in Berding.
    Some words are more general but can be particularized using additional words if a speaker or author wants to limit the application of the word. In English, words like “hit” or “punch” are such words. But there exist other words that can be used generally, but still evoke certain associations even before being employed by a particular author in a particular sentence, because those words commonly have been used in particular ways in the past. That is, for some words, if you could ask people to define a word, even without a sentence, they would normally associate the word with a part of the body, because that is how those words are most commonly used. For example, in English, when you hear the word “stub,” you initially associate it with someone’s toe. When you hear the word “spank,” you normally think of a person’s rump. When you hear the word “slap,” you customarily associate it with one’s face. Without a qualifier (like “finger” for stub, “leg” for spank, or “arm” for slap), such words are of a category that a listener will initially associate with a particular part of the body unless the author uses additional words to instruct otherwise. Kolaphizō seems to be such a word. Its most common association appears to be with the face.
    Organisation
    Next I want to talk about the organisation of this book. It is just simply brilliant. In the very beginning of the book, he introduces us to twenty criteria that we must consider to solve the murder, I mean, mystery. He shows us from the Bible, from the clues, how these criteria come about.
    For example, when we see that the word used Kolaphizō then what we gather is whatever this thorn in the flesh may be, it is impacting Paul's face (as a part of his head). That is Criterion number 7.
    From the clues, he extracts a set of criteria. And crucially, these criteria will narrow our list of suspects or possible solutions to a particular category.
    The Excitement of Reaching the Ending
    I want to explain the sense I got from reading this page-turner of a book.
    Coming back to the mystery movie idea. If you give the reveal away in the beginning of the movie, then the excitement is the events that lead up to the reveal. Tom Cruise dies. Oh my goodness. That's not possible! He is the star of the show! And you watch the rest of the movie to see how the impossible happens.
    When it comes to Paul's thorn in the flesh, we come to this book thinking, "It's simply not possible to know what it means. We don't have enough clues or data."
    Berding does his reveal. He claims it's a face-related disease, something like Trigeminal Neuralgia Type 1. We don't quite believe it. It's a guess, maybe even a good guess, but surely there is no way he can pull it off and make an overwhelming support for it.
    Throughout the book, it is as if he says to us, "I have nothing up my sleeves. I'm not doing any tricks. No appeals to the emotions. No great leaps of faith. Just twenty criteria drawn from different categories of clues."
    You could say some of his points are a stretch, and Berding often reminds us that by itself, the individual points do not mean much, but when taken together as an accumulated whole, it is no longer a just good guess but a very likely conclusion.
    At the end of the book, he brings out the twenty criteria we have extracted and collected as we processed the clues from history, from the Bible, from what the Apostolic Fathers said and so on. We are convinced that any solution should meet these twenty criteria.
    And he gives us three tables. For the first table he lists the non-physical solutions like maybe the thorn in the flesh is a demonic attack or it is Paul's experience of psychological pressure. Next, he lists the physical ailments like malaria or epilepsy, which seem to make better sense of the data. Lastly, he lists seven face-related diseases, any of which could be what Paul experienced in his day.
    Everything is so methodical, everything is so well put, it is a masterly piece of work.
    So What?
    At this point I can imagine Professor Berding taking a bow to the thunderous applause of admiring readers. Then someone in the back row asks, "So what? How does knowing what Paul experienced make any different to me, to us, today?"
    The professor has fully anticipated that question and gives us one more chapter, the last chapter, that addresses the implications of everything we have learnt. He goes through the implications of each item in the twenty criteria, but the title of the chapter says it all, "A Fuller Portrait of Paul". That is ultimately what we gain and the more we know who Paul is, the more accurate we can know what he is thinking when he wrote the epistles and the more accurate we can interpret his words for our spiritual gain.
    My final thoughts on the book. I got this book, wanting to be educated on this very narrow topic. I was open to changing my mind. I was educated and I changed my mind, I just did not expect the book to be so well-researched, so well-written, and thoroughly enjoyable. I have said it often in this review that this book has made me a better reader and thinker. I want to approach every problem in the Bible the way Berding has done so here.
    Thanks to this book, I will be reading Paul's letters being mindful of Paul's excruciating pain. Imagine suffering from an ailment that feels like being punched in the face, or pierced with an ice pick, over and over again. Then imagine saying this:
    Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
    How can it be? And Paul directs us over and over again, only through the power of Christ.
    This is a Reading and Readers review of "Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: New Clues for an Old Problem" by Kenneth Berding. 280 pages, published by Lexham Academic in February 2023. It's available in Amazon Kindle for USD19.99 and in Logos for USD26.99.
    I got this book for free from Lexham Academic to review. They have no input in today's review.
    If you enjoy today's book, be sure to subscribe to this podcast for more book reviews. You can also visit readingandreaders.com and leave a note of encouragement through the contact form. Thank you for listening. Bye bye.
    Book List

    • "Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: New Clues for an Old Problem" by Kenneth Berding. Amazon. Logos.

    32 min
  • Dad Tired and Loving It: Stumbling Your Way to Spiritual Leadership by Jerrad Lopes

    A man comes home from work and flops on the coach. His children runs and jumps all over their father, but he remains motionless. His lovely wife comes over and asks, "Dead tired?" And the man says, "Dad tired." Fathers everywhere, how is fatherhood going for you?
    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 "Dad Tired and Loving It: Stumbling Your Way to Spiritual Leadership" by Jerrad Lopes. 192 pages, published by Harvest House Publishers in September 2019. Available in Amazon Kindle for USD12.99 and for USD3.99 at Faithlife, only in March.
    Every month, Faithlife has a new free book to offer along with a long list of deeply discounted books. The free book for March is No Reason to Hide: Standing for Christ in a Collapsing Culture by Erwin W. Lutzer. Normally, I consider the free book as an assignment, or a challenge, and I'll just read what ever Faithlife gives me. But as I scroll down the list of titles, this title just pulled me in. Dad Tired and Loving It. I'm a Dad. I'm tired. And I would love to hear someone tell me how they are loving it.
    So I pulled the trigger, got the book and finished all 192 pages to tell you all about it today.
    Who is the author, Jerrad Lopes? Let me read the biodata from his website:


    Jerrad Lopes is a best-selling author, international speaker, and host of the Dad Tired Podcast; downloaded over 5 million times by men from around the world.
    Lopes has become one of the most influential voices in the men's ministry space and has been featured on Focus on The Family, The Hallmark Channel, The Mike Huckabee Show, along with many other media outlets.
    ​Through his speaking and Dad Tired ministry, he has partnered with thought leaders like Gary Chapman, Paul Tripp, John Mark Comer, and many more to equip men for the sake of the Gospel. He and his wife Leila live in South Carolina with their four children.
    Towel Boy
    What is this book about? Let me read a long excerpt from the introduction and I'll get to my thoughts. I quote:
    When I was a junior in high school, I landed my first-ever job at a local gym in town. I have to admit, as a sixteen-year-old boy, it sounded pretty cool to tell your peers that you worked as a gym employee. I never really told them exactly what I did at my job; I just wanted my friends to imagine that it was something amazing. In my mind, I hoped they pictured me lifting weights and teaching other people how to get in the best shape of their lives.
    The truth is, I was a towel boy.
    My job was to collect the nasty, sweaty, used towels from around the facility, throw them in a giant bin, wash them, fold them, and then hand them to the members as they walked in the front door.
    It was far from glamorous. In fact, most of the time it was completely disgusting, and I spent the majority of my shift trying not to vomit. But I was determined to convince my friends that I had the best job in the world—and, more importantly, that I was an expert in physical fitness.
    I wasn’t an expert in physical fitness, however. I was a towel boy.
    I didn’t possess the skills to get my friends in shape, but I could offer them a clean towel.
    Sometimes when I tell people I run a ministry for young dads, I secretly hope they think I’m an expert in parenting. In my mind, I imagine they look at me as a young father who has wisdom well beyond his years.
    The truth is, when it comes to parenting, I’m a towel boy.
    This tells us what to expect from the book.
    The tone is a I'm one of the boys, I'm just like you, I'm just a towel boy. So it's an invitational tone. Not a master-to-student but student-to-student conversation or rather a dad-to-dad talk.
    Your friend calls you up for coffee. You head over to meet. And over cups of coffee, he tells you a story. While you are still laughing, you didn't realise but your guards are down. Then your friend slips in a Biblical truth. Tells you about Jesus. Tells you that he knows how hard it is to be a good dad, a good husband. But God. He tells you about God. And you thank him for it.
    That's the whole book. That's how every chapter is.
    Color-Blind
    Let's take chapter one as an example. The chapter title is Color-Blind. Lopes tells us how watches videos of color-blind people who put on special glasses, and now they can see in colour. Then he tells us of his disappointments that despite all the test and eyeglasses, he still can't see in colour. He can't see the world as it should be. And he writes, "Sometimes I think none of us can see the world as it should be." And with that he segue ways to the story of Genesis, the Fall, Jesus, the Lord's Prayer and he closes the chapter with a personal note to the reader.
    Sometimes as tired dads, it can seem like our only objective is to survive the day. There have been many nights where I’ve laid my head on my pillow and tried to think about what I accomplished as a parent. It often feels like I spend most of my days saying “No!” or “Don’t touch that!” or “Not right now.” When I zoom in to the daily moments of my life and parenting, I am often discouraged. My guess is that as a dad, you’ve probably felt the same.
    As a follower of Jesus, I am convinced that there is more to parenting than simply surviving. If we get lost in the chaos of dirty diapers, grumpy bosses, and overflowing dishwashers, we’ll lose sight of the bigger story of God’s redeeming work around us. We’ll forget that God is relentlessly at work fixing the brokenness of our hearts and equipping us to be part of that same work in the lives of our children.
    If we miss that story, the rest of this book is pointless. On the other hand, if all you gain from this book is a bigger picture of the gospel and God’s work throughout the world, it will be worth it.
    The nine chapters in the book are divided into three equal parts.
    • Part 1: The Kingdom of God Around You
    • Part 2: The Kingdom of God in You
    • Part 3: The Kingdom of God Through You

    Honestly, I don't think the three part division really matters. The chapter titles don't say much. What can Football Jerseys (that's the title for Chapter 3) and Squirrel Food (the title for Chapter 6) tell you? But the subtitles, they reveal the substance behind the fun stories. The subtitle for chapter 3 is "What's the Goal of Parenting?" At the end of the chapter he says this to you:
    Your kids ultimately don’t need to have the best report card in their class. They don’t need to excel at a sport or master an instrument. Ultimately, your kids need Jesus. May we be fathers who aren’t just passionate about good things. May we be passionate about eternal things. Running toward anything else is running toward the wrong end zone.
    Dumb and Dumber, Again
    When I read reached the last chapter, as I read the first sentences, I laughed out loud. Not because he said anything especially funny. The last chapter's title is "Headed to Aspen" and that title, which sets the scene for the entire chapter, comes from a scene from Lopes all-time favourite movie, Dumb and Dumber. This is the second time in less than a month, I have two pastors referencing Dumb and Dumber. The last writer who did it was Pastor Kees Postma and his book, "The Retreat".
    If I read a third Christian book that somehow references Dumb and Dumber, maybe it's a sign that I need to re-watch it. Maybe I am directed by divine providence by all these books to learn something profound from the movie. If I make Dumb and Dumber my favourite all time movies, I too can be a best-selling writer like Kees Postma and Jerrad Lopes.
    For Dads
    Alright, I finished the last chapter so I want to share my thoughts on Dad Tired and Loving It: Stumbling Your Way to Spiritual Leadership by Jerrad Lopes.
    This book does not tell me anything new. But sometimes, oftentimes, what we need is not to learn something new, but to be reminded of eternal truths. The Gospel.
    What Lopes offers is the Gospel in the hustle and bustle of being a dad. Yes, we know that Creation is Fallen but did you know that fatherhood is likewise fallen. Yes, we know that the World needs Christ the Redeemer. But did you know that as a father, as a dad, you need Christ the Redeemer.
    Are there are many Christian books for dads? I might be wrong but I imagine there is a bigger book market for mothers than there is for dads. I could be wildly wrong here.
    Would this be a good gift for a new dad? Yes! A Father's Day gift? Yes! Or a spontaneous gift for your brother, your friend, a buddy who really needs encouragement as a dad. Yes!
    If you are buying a book for someone, especially if that someone is not a reader, you want to get him something that is easy to read.
    Lopes begins his sentences saying, "Last year, something happened...", "Once my family did this...", "I remember when X, Y, Z happened."
    It's stories after stories. Easily digestible. Often amusing. Told with a purpose, he directs you to a Biblical truth. The first chapter is, "Why the Gospel Changes Everything", the second chapter is, "How Your Marriage Points Your Kids to the Gospel", the third chapter is "What's the Goal of Parenting" and so on. It's not preachy, it's story telling. Stories after stories. And many would like that. I know many people around me, who are not readers, who would appreciate getting this book as a gift.
    Not For Me, Why?
    And if you are listening carefully to what I'm saying, you will sense that I think this is a book for other people and not for me. I actually struggled with reviewing this book because it's not a bad book but I personally didn't gain as much from the book as I think I should.
    And that troubled me. Is it because I'm deeply suspicious of sermons, and hence books, that are made up overwhelmingly of stories? But I enjoy 27 Servants of Sovereign Joy, which is a collection of mini biographies. Is that because I'm impressed by great feats of heroism, sacrifices of great giants of the faith? No, I don't think so because I truly believe that God loves all creatures big and small. Jesus said that the whole world will remember the widow and her copper coins, and what he said came to pass.
    So why am I struggling with this fun, insightful and sincere book? Somehow the lessons are not sticking to me. And as I reflect, I think I have somehow conditioned myself, and this is not necessarily a good or a bad thing, it's just me reflecting on myself here, I have somehow conditioned myself to separate what the Bible says and what Man says.
    And I make such a sharp distinction, I put up all sorts of guards cause don't want to be sucked into the story, unless it's such a good story told so well that my guards just come down.
    What does all this mean? If I hear a sermon or read a book, and let's say this personal story or anecdote is not true, it's an exaggeration, hyperbole, or a bald-face lie, do I gain anything from the session? If it's a Bible-saturated exposition, even if the illustration is flawed, but the truth remains true, I am convicted of that truth.
    With today's book, Lopes tells me of God and Jesus, and everything he tells me is true, and he does draw upon Scripture, but much of the space is taken up by personal anecdotes that I end up listening to wonderful, amusing stories, but nothing convicting reaches me.
    I know he sincerely wants to encourage me, comfort me, challenge me, Lopes desires to draw me to Christ, but because of who I am, this book not for me or for the reader who over-thinks, or over-analyses and thus ruins a perfectly good movie, or as the case may be, a perfectly good book.
    If you are a dad, a tired dad, why not give this book a try. You might end up loving it. The stumbling towards spiritual leadership. And if you are not a dad, give this book to a tired dad.
    This is a Reading and Reader's review of "Dad Tired and Loving It: Stumbling Your Way to Spiritual Leadership" by Jerrad Lopes. 192 pages, published by Harvest House Publishers in September 2019. Available in Amazon Kindle for USD12.99 and for USD3.99 at Faithlife, only in March.
    Speaking of tiredness, there is one book that is coming out next month that I would like to read: "On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living" by Alan Noble. That book may make a good companion or comparison to today's book. It's coming out next month, I hope to read it and review it soon.
    Before that, I have another book to get to. It's honestly a thorn in my flesh. Tell you more about it next time. Until then, bye bye.
    Book List
    • "Dad Tired and Loving It: Stumbling Your Way to Spiritual Leadership" by Jerrad Lopes. Amazon.Faithlife.

    25 min
  • The Sacred Us: A Call to Radical Christian Community by Justin Kendrick

    In a world that celebrates individuality and autonomy, too many of us struggle to form deep, meaningful relationships. Loneliness is the norm, rich friendships are rare, and the church is no exception. We long for real community but often don’t know how to get there. What will it take to develop healthy friendships?
    That's the description from today's book.
    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 Sacred Us: A Call to Radical Christian Community" by Justin Kendrick. 240 pages, published by David C. Cook in September 2022. Available in Amazon Kindle for USD9.99 and in Faithlife for February it's at a deep discount of USD4.99. The free book from Faithlife is "40 Prayers for Lent: Prayers for Your Church and Small Group" by David Clowes. I didn't want to review a prayer book and I thought in the list of discounted books, this book, "The Sacred Us" to be the most pertinent to the church today.
    Justin Kendrick is the Lead Pastor of Vox Church, which he founded in 2011 with a small group of friends on the doorstep of Yale University. It's a young church in the least-churched region of the US that has grown to multiple locations. So its apparent success is explained in this book. Vox Church has three core values:
    1. Jesus at the Center
    2. Intentional Community. There are 7 key elements to an intentional community.
    3. City Mission

    Why am I spending so much time on Vox Church? Have they sponsored this podcast? No. It's because after I finished reading this book, I realised that the 7 key elements of Vox Church's core values are the 7 chapters of today's book. So I guess today's book is a required reading for membership classes at their church.
    Is the book any good for the rest of us? Let's open the book.
    The first three chapters gives the background and the need for radical community. The three chapters are:
    1. Friendly but Friendless
    2. The Theology of Us
    3. Re-Churching Your Life

    The next seven chapters are the seven key elements of Intentional Community, the core of the book. 4. Proximity Provides Opportunity 5. Vulnerability Creates Connection 6. Discipleship Sets Direction 7. Fun Amplifies Grace 8. Mission Drives Adventure 9. Sacrifice Matures Love 10. Boundaries Sustain Growth
    The last chapter, Chapter 11, is titled "A True Friend", where Kendrick concludes the book with a final call to the reader to join him in radical Christian Community. He gives a powerful exposition of Leviticus 14:1-7, directing the reader's attention to Jesus Christ. He shows how all 7 elements can be linked to Jesus.
    Proximity Provides Opportunity. He writes, "Jesus led the way by coming as close to us as supernaturally possible."
    This is how I'll do today's book review. I'll do the Good, the Bad and the Conclusion. I'll take one good chapter, one bad chapter and wrap the whole review. Each chapter begins with some introductory quotes, followed by the main text and ends with a few reflective questions.
    The Good
    My pick for a good chapter is Chapter 4, the first element in his list of seven. Proximity Creates Opportunity.
    He quotes in the beginning, Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
    The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.
    Now, for some of us, you are already convinced that physical presence is needed. You, like me, are convinced that online can never replace the physical, convinced not just from our experience of joining the chorus of praise and sitting side by side listening to the word preached, but convinced from the Old Testament assembly, the New Testament letters to the churches and the end times vision of the people gathered from every tribe and every tongue.
    That's not how Kendrick writes this chapter. Kendrick has lived out a more radical, unorthodox, counter-cultural and mildly invasive form of community.
    He writes:
    For most people today, the idea of being consistently present and available to other Christians feels pretty unrealistic. Take a few moments and consider the potential disruption it would cause to your schedule. You have your career, and you’re finishing up school. You’ve got young kids, and you still get together regularly with your friends from college. You have family commitments. Your son plays travel sports. You have a lot going on.
    Later he writes:
    When my wife, Chrisy, and I moved to Earl Street in the Westville section of New Haven, Connecticut, we were in our late twenties and already had two kids. We had just started our first church, but we’d been experimenting with living in intentional community for nearly ten years. Our family bought a house with a small backyard, and some friends we knew bought the house next door. Soon, friends from our church owned the houses in front, back, and on both sides of ours. I know that to some people, this might sound like a nightmare—and it certainly came with its challenges. But in that season of life, at that stage in our church, this experience was integral in teaching us the importance of proximity.
    We took down the fence. We invited people to take their kids on the swings in our backyard anytime. Before we knew it, proximity took on a whole new meaning. I would often get home from work and find thirty people in our backyard. Kids were running around. Someone was cooking on the grill. We would spontaneously start a game of Wiffle ball or football.
    And this is just an introduction to the Kendrick community experiment. He shares bits and pieces of those years in the chapters ahead. I like how the chapters are mildly flavoured by these anecdotes.
    Flavoured in the sense that he has experiences and stories that most of us do not have.
    Mild in the sense the stories do not over-power the content.
    For Kendrick is not calling for us to tear down our fences, and buy a hot tub in the backyard for neighbourhood baptisms. He wants us to move in our own ways from our own circumstances towards a community.
    You can see his heart in the questions he ask. Question 3 in the chapter is:
    Examine your living situation. Do you live alone? With friends? With family? Find one or two new ways you can use the space where you live to create greater opportunities for spiritual relationship. Should you host a small group? Should you rent a room?
    So even though Kendrick has lived what some of us would call a crazy life, and I invite you to read how that part of his life turned out, he does not present in this book a model.
    When a mountain climber tells us of his journey up Mount Everest, we gain life lessons from his experience. He does not call us to climb Mount Everest. Rather we learn to prepare for the journey, persevere and triumph.
    In this book, Kendrick presents characteristics and outcomes. Proximity Creates Opportunity. Fun Amplifies Grace.
    The Bad
    Fun Amplifies Grace is Chapter 7 in the book and it is my pick for the Bad Chapter. And I first of all, I want to say that it is a hard topic. I have heard John Piper criticise the idea that church should be fun. He qualifies, he explains but it is in response to a felt need from a fun-obsessed culture.
    So I was looking forward to seeing how Kendrick would support the idea of fun in the community.
    He starts the chapter with a prank. And maybe I'm a stick in the mud, but it's a prank that he and the friend he pranked think is funny, but I don't. So when we have different ideas of what is fun, that's not a good start.
    He gives biblical support from Proverbs 17:22, a cheerful heart. Proverbs 15:30, a cheerful look. Okay. Cheerful, joy and fun can be related. But it's still a stretch. I hope to see more substance.
    Kendrick describes how animals have fun, and Romans 1:20 does say that God's invisible qualities are seen in what has been made. To me, that's still a stretch. Let's read on.
    He writes:
    He's [God] is described in 1 Timothy 1:11 as the "happy God"...
    I don't ever remember reading "Happy God" in my Bible so I checked. In the ESV, it reads the blessed God. And that's also how it's translated in the NET, HCSB, NIV and NLT. And I checked in Biblehub for more translations, and none of their translations says "Happy". So I am not happy because he seems to stretch the word so that it can say what he hopes it means. It wouldn't be so bad if he said that the Greek word covers a multitude of meanings and he takes the view that it means happy here. But that would be too much work for the general reader. He is after all not writing for scholars or seminarians. He is writing for the Average Joe.
    But then, that means the Average Joe, would think that having fun is biblically supported on a verse that does not exist.
    Kendrick then paints a scenario from the Bible, Jesus, after the resurrection, calling out, "Do you have any fish?" And Kendrick asks us to see this as Jesus being playful.
    In another story, again after the resurrection, Jesus meets the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and he disappears. Kendrick writes:
    Finally, he opened their eyes and they recognized him, but as soon as they did, he disappeared. What was he up to? Once again, I'm pretty sure he was chuckling to himself. He was having fun. God has a sense of humour.
    I want to say that I believe God has a sense of humour. I believe fun is from God. I believe as Martin Luther did, in the quote to this chapter, Martin Luther wrote, "If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there."
    What I was looking for was solid biblical foundation. And what I got was a desperate clenching of straws.
    To his credit, Kendrick does go through the Bible. We have Abraham and Sarah laughing, Jesus making wine at a party, and he even manages to present a strong gospel message in this chapter. Because Fun Amplifies Grace. And fun and joy, he argues, is not boxed up in the individual, it's for the community. Biblical joy is a community experience.
    So as you can tell, there are positive parts to this chapter. And you may read this chapter and say, "I don't see the problem, I think he makes great points and has abundantly proven his case." I disagree. I still think you need a lot more to say on the pulpit that the Bible wants us to have fun. Have joy yes. Be blessed, yes. Have fun, the concept needs to be qualified so that we can distinguish the world's fun and Gospel fun. Spurgeon's fun. Piper's fun. Church fun. And I don't think this chapter has done enough to show us that distinguishing mark, that peculiar sense of fun, that God delights in.
    The Conclusion
    I have done the Good, the Bad and now the Conclusion.
    Kendrick got into this Intentional Community, this life together, having experienced it in a visit and then taking bigger and bigger steps to a radical Christian community.
    The way he writes, it is not "I read this, now I do", it's more of "I do, I experience, and I confirm by reading the Bible". That sounds harsh but I'm describing how the book reads. And even if it's true, there is nothing wrong with Christians doing and testifying that what they do is in accordance with the Bible.
    I just think that sometimes in the desire to confirm something good, he stretches the Bible to say what it does not say with the confidence that Kendrick says it does. Just like the Fun Amplifies Grace. It is not a good case study for hermeneutics.
    On the other hand, there are parts where I appreciate Kendrick tying in theology with practice. One notable example is how he explains God is a community. He explains the Triune God. And this is who God is. And from who God is, this is who we are and how we are to behave.
    And I wish he did more of that.
    And this is my main criticism of the book and with the entire approach. The approach is very much in line with the spirit of the age. Pragmatic and results focused. The seven elements all describe results. Vulnerability Creates Connection. Discipleship Sets Direction. Mission Drives Adventure. These are all result statements.
    It does not help us understand what the church is. Actually, although I say church, and Kendrick is thinking about the church, he is often describing community.
    Taking his words, God is a community. That is true. It is also true that God is Love. God is Just. God is Almighty and so on.
    So it would be a mistake to reduce God to just a community.
    I suggest in the same way, when we read this book, we should read this as describing one aspect of the church. The church is a community. But the church is also more than that.
    The church is the Bride of Christ. The church is the Royal Priesthood of Believers.
    The Bible has many more images of the church. Kendrick does unpack what it means for the church to be the body of Christ. But overall, it's too focused on the community and thus needs to be supplemented by other books or other aspects, otherwise you are at risk of a lopsided, distorted church.
    Let me explain using contrast.
    A famous book about church is "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church" by Mark Dever. And as I list them compare them with what you have heard from The Sacred Us. The nine marks are:
    1. Preaching
    2. Biblical Theology
    3. The Gospel
    4. Conversion
    5. Evangelism
    6. Membership
    7. Discipline
    8. Discipleship
    9. Leadership

    "That's not fair! If you put it that way then are you saying there is only one way of writing about church?"
    That's precisely my point. I think we should read more. And my go to book on the church is "Strangers and Sojourners" by Gregg Allison. I have found his book to be the most helpful and most clarifying in that I can think about church properly. I can recognise that Kendrick's approach to church is in what are the results. The telos. And the tension I experience when I read his book is I think of the church from what it is.
    Does that mean that you and I can't gain from Kendrick's book? Not at all. I think he has achieved most of what he set out to do. He aims to call us to a radical form of Christian community. Many have done so before, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Francis Schaeffer, and I welcome the many experiments and testimonies and lessons that we can learn from our brothers and sisters as they wrestle with obeying the Word.
    This is a Reading and Reader's Review of "The Sacred Us: A Call to Radical Christian Community" by Justin Kendrick. 240 pages, published by David C. Cook in September 2022. Available in Amazon Kindle for USD9.99 and in Faithlife for February it's at a deep discount of USD4.99.
    If you have not done so, please subscribe to Reading and Readers, a podcast where Reading Provides Opportunities and Readers Create Connection. Thank you for listening. Bye Bye.
    Book List
    • "The Sacred Us: A Call to Radical Christian Community" by Justin Kendrick. Amazon. Faithlife.

    36 min
  • The Retreat: A Lighthearted and Humorous Story About a Soul Searching Pastor by Kees Postma

    Before I became a Christian, I thought Christians were not free to have fun. After I became one, I've been having the fun of my life. Somehow, strangely, as a Christian I have freedom to have fun. And in today's book, the author brings out the funhouse mirror so that we can poke fun and laugh at ourselves.
    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 Retreat: A lighthearted and humorous story about a soul searching pastor" by Kees Postma. 197 pages. I don't know who published this book, that information is not listed in the Amazon page. But it was published in January this year. It's available in Amazon for USD3.99.
    Challies, "New and Notable Christian Books"
    Normally I would never come across this book. I don't know the author. I read many far too serious books. And I didn't even know I needed this until I read it, that I needed a lighthearted and humorous story about a soul searching pastor.
    All thanks goes to Tim Challies and his blog. He has this monthly "New and Notable Christian Books", where he lists around 8 or 10 newly published books. I always look forward to his list for the unexpected gems. And that's where I got today's book. So go to challies.com.
    Hero's Journey from Holland to Ireland
    Back to the book. According to the author information in Goodreads:


    Kees Postma (1982) is a pastor and church planter. He and his wife and four kids live in the rural Northern part of Holland called Friesland where he pastors a Baptist church. Next to that he works for European Christian Mission, helping churches plant new churches. His favorite movie of all time is Dumb and Dumber and he loves the harmonies of the Everly Brothers, the thought provoking lyrics of Andrew Peterson and the fact that he is and always will be a sinner saved by grace.
    This is a lighthearted book so I will take a lighthearted approach for this review. This is also a spoiler-free review.
    I can tell you that this is a hero's journey, where the hero is a pastor.
    My fall took place in slow motion, away from the sight of others. No adulterous relationship with a church member or a financial scandal. No public outburst of anger or straying from sound theology. No, knowledge about God replaced knowing God. Academically intellectual Christianity replaced my times of prayer and my long walks in the Dutch forests interacting with the Most High. The ministry became a burden, people became a burden, and the cracks grew bigger and bigger.
    Pastor Case Parker needs help. And where do pastors go when they need help? They go to a pastors retreat, of course. And the book follows Pastor Case and his motley crew of fellow pastors as they travel from Holland to Ireland, to find something, someone, to help them in their hour of pastoral desperation.
    Big Bang Clergy
    We sometimes wonder whether the author is revealing far more than he intended. I remind you, the author of this book is himself a pastor. And he reveals the sub-culture of the pastoral ministry. The closest pop culture reference I can think of is this is the Big Bang Theory for pastors.
    It's full of insider humour. In the Big Bang Theory we have jokes about science, science fiction, gaming, comics and all things in geekdom.
    In the Retreat by Kees Postma, we have jokes about denominations, hermeneutics, rituals and all things in Christendom.
    Listen to this. Pastor Case and his fellow pastors are on the plane heading to their destination:
    In Row 14, two of my Dutch reformed brothers have started an exegetical and hermeneutical debate on the application of Psalm 121. "Let me ask you this, Brother Vincent. Do you think we can still wholeheartedly pray Psalm 121, traveling at 30,000 feet? After all, we are not lifting our eyes to the mountain, but we are looking down on them."
    That may be too much theological geek for you. I thought it was funny. And if the insider, sometimes slapstick, humour is what Big Bang Theory and this book have in common, then satire is where they differ.
    Satire
    I have this quote from G.K. Chesterton:
    A man is angry at a libel because it is false, but at a satire because it is true.
    And as we read this book, we will laugh, maybe not laugh out loud, we will smile knowingly whenever Postma winks at us, we get the joke, it is nice to be in on the joke. But it is satire.
    Pastor Case observes and records his thoughts. And it's funny but it's true. I mean, it's funny because it's true.
    It can be uncomfortable as we see how Pastor Case squirms as he justifies certain actions. Or when we see the flaws and foibles of his fellow pastors and the people around them. It is sometimes cutting edge humour, cutting to the heart because it is uncomfortably absurdly true.
    So in that sense, there are moments in the book, where you wonder, "Hmm... what do I think about this? Why am I laughing?" Am I supposed to agree cause I don't know what to think. And that I think is humour at its best.
    Simultaneously Saint and Sinner and Narrator
    Another feature of the book, and it is a feature, is the untrustworthy narrator. The narrator, Pastor Case, is sincerely reflecting on his past. He is honestly recording his observations. But he is also trying to justify himself. He is using the measure of the world, not the Bible, to interpret the world. We are reading, the inner thoughts, of a man who is simultaneously saint and sinner.
    For example, when Pastor Case is reading the reviews on the retreat, he makes this conclusion about the pastor in charge of the retreat:
    Funnily enough, I can't find anything about Cornelius online. Google, Instagram, YouTube, even the more debatable online platforms, none of them have any of this modern monk's sermons or seminars. Not even a biography of some sort. This makes me question if he is as good as other shepherds say he is. If you're going places as a spiritual giant, you should invest in online visibility, shouldn't you? Otherwise, you will never go global! What's the point of preaching if others can't praise you for it?
    Cue laugh track. Also cue cringe. We do think like that even though we shouldn't, and it's absurd we should even think in this way, hence why we laugh when our thoughts are outed in this book.
    Pastor Cases' companions are an unpredictable bunch. I don't want to say too much, this is a spoiler-free review, but Postma's all time favourite movie is Dumb and Dumber. And there are certainly scenes in this Christian book written by a pastor and church planter that would fit in a Dumb and Dumber movie. And that's a sentence you probably never heard before.
    I won't give you the context behind this paragraph, you'll have to puzzle it out or read the book for yourself. I'm quoting this because I like how the paragraph ends. And it's a sample of the zingers Postma throws at the reader:
    Although my co-workers knew about my acrophobia (fear of heights) and bathophobia (fear of depths), they had decided to save the best for last. The only alternative was to turn around and suffer in silence, walking all the way back. But since I suffer from monophobia (fear of being alone) as well (you'll never see me at prayer meetings in church for that reason) I decided that wasn't a viable option.
    So here, the jokes are thrown as an aside. And it throws us off guard. He confronts us as Christian who take pride at our immediate access to God through prayer, Christians who celebrate the formation of the church, and yet at the same time, make prayer meetings a scary place for the monophobic.
    Make It A Series
    When the book ends, I wish it didn't because I wanted to read more. I wanted more of Pastor Case. I wanted to know more about his best friend. What did he say to his wife? How did his church in Netherlands welcome him from his retreat? Did he ever own up to Father Henry on what happened that first night?
    Thank goodness, in the epilogue, Postma tells us there will be a sequel. The title is: "The Heaven and Earth Conference: The Wondrous Diary of An Ordinary Pastor". I don't know when it will come out but I'll definitely get it when it's out. I think this could be the beginning of a series. At least I hope so.
    There are lots of material in Christendom to mine. More awkward truths for us to laugh at ourselves.
    For fun, let me throw some ideas for future books.
    We have Book 1, "The Retreat". We will have Book 2 "The Heaven and Earth Conference". Maybe Book 3 can be titled "The Church Family Camp" or "The Vacation Bible School" or "The Christmas Concert". Many long time Christians can imagine the possibilities for humour and tragedy.
    And if dysfunctional get-togethers have lost their charm, Kees Postma can try 'dark humour' or perhaps more accurately, morbid humour? What about "The Funeral" or even worse, more deadly than a funeral, "The Split". Can our hearts take it if a satirist takes a hand at church splits?
    Kees Postma, if you are listening, I hope you continue to write a whole series. Show us how our conflicts are sometimes, maybe it has always been, absurd.
    Make us laugh so that we do not cry.
    Make Us Laugh, So That We Do Not Cry
    In the epilogue, Postma comments on the source material for this book. He writes:
    I would love to say that every similarity between you, your church, and your shepherd is based on mere coincidence, but maybe you've recognized a little bit more than you hoped while reading this book. Maybe you don't have the gift of exaggeration that I have myself, maybe your can't appreciate the satire. But I hope you will be able to read between the lines to discover a nugget of truth here and there.
    And that's why I think you should read this book. Sure, it's entertaining. It's lighthearted. But as is true for all great fiction, especially ones written by Christian authors, it is soul-enriching.
    I just had a thought. When John Bunyan writes Pilgrim's Progress, it's obvious that the reader is in that journey. For we are all pilgrims. I just realised when Kees Postma writes The Retreat, the reader is in need of a retreat, for the reader is also soul-searching alongside the hero of this journey. Read this and laugh, so that you do not cry.
    This is a Reading and Readers review of "The Retreat: A lighthearted and humorous story about a soul searching pastor" by Kees Postma. 197 pages. Available in Amazon Kindle for USD3.99. Once again, special thanks to Tim Challies for bringing this book to everyone's attention. You can and should visit his website at challies.com.
    The next book I'll review is the Faithlife Free Book of the Month, "The Sacred Us: A Call to Radical Christian Community" by Justin Kendrick. I've just finished it and you can listen to my thoughts on it soon.
    You can get this book for free from faithlife.com. Another website, logos.com has their own free books. The February free book is The Broadman Bible Commentary on Matthew and Mark. My church is going through an expositional series on Mark, so I told my pastor about the free commentary. So, tell your pastors.
    In the Logos free book page, there is a list of discounted books. 10-12 discounted books. I bought one book, "Puzzling Passages in Paul: Forty Conundrums Calmly Considered" by Anthony Thiselton. Looking at my schedule I don't know whether I'll get to review this book.
    But I put it out here so that you know there are good resources at good discounts out there. And if you like that, subscribe to Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Thank you for listening. Bye Bye.
    Book List
    • "The Retreat: A lighthearted and humorous story about a soul searching pastor" by Kees Postma. Amazon.

    24 min
  • After God's Own Heart: The Gospel according to David by Mark J. Boda

    The future King David is foreshadowed in the ending of the book of Ruth. Thousands of years later, a blind man calls out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Who is David? Why is this name so important in the Bible and in my life and yours? Find out in today's book.
    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 "After God's Own Heart: The Gospel according to David" by Mark J. Boda. 208 pages, published by P&R Publishing in June 2007. P&R stands for Presbyterian and Reformed. Today's book is available in Amazon Kindle for USD7.99 and free in Logos.
    Yes, it's free but only for January. By the time this podcast is published, there will only be less than 2 days left in January. And if you did not subscribe to this podcast, you might have missed the free book deal. Oh no! So subscribe to this podcast. You never know, you might just hear about a book that you never considered reading that would convict, refresh, and inspire you in your Christian walk. That is the aim for this podcast.
    Author
    So coming back to the book. "After God's Heart" is written by Mark J. Boda, who is the Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Looking at the catalogue of books he has written and edited, I see a commentary on Zechariah from the New International Commentary on the Old Testament series, a commentary on Haggai and Zechariah from the NIV Application Commentary series and another book that stands out is "Return to Me: A Biblical Theology of Repentance" from the New Studies in Biblical Theology. The NSBT is one of my favourite series. According to his biodata in Amazon, Boda has written 12 books and edited 19 collected essays, and you can clearly see a strong emphasis on the Old Testament.
    And this is important because today's book, "After God's Heart: The Gospel according to David" is not the story of David. It includes the story of David, which we can read in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, these three books covers the life of David, but this book is more than that. Let me list the thirteen chapter in this book and just by reading the title of the first chapter, you will know what to expect from today's book.

    • Chapter 1: David and Biblical Theology

    If you don't know what is Biblical Theology, just hold on, you will get a sense of it and I will explain soon.
    • Chapter 2: David, Abraham, and Ruth

    Consider this, what does David have to do with Abraham and Ruth? Abraham and Ruth in their lifetime didn't even know of David's existence. Of course, David is the descendent. But if you were asked to write an essay on the title, "David, Abraham and Ruth" what would you write?
    What would you write if you were given the following chapter headings.
    • Chapter 3: David and Anointing
    • Chapter 4: David and Covenant
    • Chapter 5: David and Rule
    • Chapter 6: David and Faith
    • Chapter 7: David and Justice
    • Chapter 8: David and Unity
    • Chapter 9: David and Worship
    • Chapter 10: David and Temple
    • Chapter 11: David and Faithfulness
    • Chapter 12: David and Sin
    • Chapter 13: David and Messiah

    You have heard how the chapters are arranged by themes but I want to stress this is Biblical Theology. And how I love it so. Let me explain by saying what this book is not.
    The Way Not Taken
    Let's say I was assigned to write an essay on David and Worship. Okay, let me think, David plays the lyre with the sheep and later for the troubled King Saul and in the Psalms, he sings to God. Let me write about how music soothes animals, and psychological or spiritual effect of music on troubled souls, and what I write how the lyrics in the Psalms are so different from the lyrics in modern music today. Everyone loves a good trashing on Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). So three sections, all related to David and Worship, all interesting and relevant today.
    That's not Biblical Theology. Biblical Theology requires us to scour the books of the Bible to determine what each book says about the topic. Does Leviticus talk about how music soothes the animals? Oh dear, when animals are mentioned in Leviticus is not about soothing them but about sacrificing them. And if we move the essay towards a discussion on Contemporary Christian Music, we can, it is possible, but through Biblical Theology, you need to show that this is what this book says, directly or indirectly, but your eyes are looking at the Bible, and not so much with what is wrong with the world today.
    Biblical Theology with David
    So, let's try again but let's invite Professor Mark Boda to write the essay. The title is "David and Worship". What does he write?
    He divides the essay or chapter into five parts.
    • David Brings the Ark into Jerusalem
    • David Initiates a New Phase of Worship
    • Musical Worship
    • Implications
    • For Further Reflection

    Boda does not assume the reader is familiar with the story. He explains how David put the Ark on the cart, how Uzzah touched the Ark and died, then David placed the Ark at the home of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom was blessed, David didn't wanted the blessing, so he tried again, now doing it the right way, according to the instructions God had given the Levites. David dances on the streets of Jerusalem. Saul's daughter didn't like that. And David had choice words to say to her. The background is helpful for those who don't know the story.
    If you are new to the Bible you will like this. The best part is if you are familiar with the story, and even familiar with the entire Bible, Boda has something for you too.
    In the second part, he explains, he lists, how David's worship shows continuity from Moses time. What Moses did in Exodus and Leviticus, David also did in 1 Chronicles.
    But Boda also shows how David innovated. He introduced new elements: musical instruments, new sacred objects, new sacred personnel, and new functions to the Levites.
    I've always been told that our modern worship team are our Levites. But -- hey! -- it was David who first commissioned them as singers and musicians. And I like this. I like seeing how the Bible tells me things which are in plain sight.
    When God instructed Moses, He never said anything about music for the sacrifices. How to sacrifice, what to sacrifice, when to sacrifice, yes, but never the soundtrack. So David innovated. Doesn't this give us license to innovate?
    Boda writes:
    the breadth of musical media in David’s new phase of worship challenges us to remain open to new ways of worshiping God. For some it is easy to equate praise with the use of organ, piano, and choir, to identify true worship with these modes. For others, however, it is just as easy to equate worship with the use of drums, guitars, and worship teams and to see no value in any other forms of worship. David’s new phase of worship certainly stretched his community to adopt new modes of worship, but underlying all of this there was strong evidence of joy (1 Chron. 15:16, 25), showing a people who fully embraced the new forms.
    Christians have strong opinions of worship. And the worship debate is as old as time. So it's nice to read a new argument drawn from Scripture.
    I also note that this is a P&R book, a Presbyterian & Reformed publishing house. You would think they are church-organs-only or Psalms-only type of people. It is books like this that show the Biblical basis to decide whether drums are in or out.
    I Got A Question For You
    The last part of the chapter is the Further Reflection. Two to three questions, sometimes a bit more, to spur some thought. I like the open-ended nature of the questions. A small group could read this book and come together to discuss the answers to the questions.
    Or, you can read this book on your own, come across an interesting question, ponder on it, and bring it up in your next conversation with a fellow brother or sister in Christ. You could ask them, "What do you think about this?"
    Let me read a portion of Question 3 from the worship chapter. It's a long question, I'll just read the second half of it:
    It is interesting that although the majority of psalms in the Psalter are psalms of Disorientation (lament), most Christians find they rarely express their heart to God using the language that is found in the laments, that is, asking God questions like “why?” or “how long?” Try to broaden the ways in which you speak to God, even in some time alone with God today. If you are a worship leader in a church, reflect on the ways in which you can incorporate the laments into the worship of your church in the coming month.
    The way the question is phrased shapes the Christian way of life. He nudges us for time alone. He nudges the worship leader to include the laments. You have read the chapter, now do it. You know what the Bible says, now do it.
    Even the 'comprehension' questions are tough! Question 4 in Chapter 2 goes like this:
    I once heard a sermon that contrasted Boaz and the kinsman-redeemer as the contrast between Christ and the law. What is wrong with the logic of this sermon?
    If you don't even know how to begin to answer this question, that's what the chapter, what the book, is for.
    Past and Future King
    Boda doesn't just bring us to the past to the times of Abraham, Moses and Ruth: when a Davidic Kingdom then would be a dream too good to be true.
    Boda also brings us to the future: when the great kings of Israel and Judah are but near-forgotten memories, as enemy nations occupy the land, the temple, the throne that God said would never end. In chapter 13, Boda blitzes through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Haggai and Zechariah, showing us how David lives on in those books, ultimately in Jesus Christ.
    Boda is a Professor of Old Testament. His expertise and love for the subject shows in this book. "After God's Heart: The Gospel according to David" goes beyond the lifespan of David, beyond his 70 years in this life.
    As Boda tells the story of David through the millennia, it only makes us grow in awe at the wonderful Providence of God, the God above all History. On a more practical level, this book helps us to make sense of the frequent reference to David, allusions in Abraham, Moses and Ruth, generations before he was born all the way to unbelievable prophecies that King David will rise again.
    The Gospel According to the Old Testament Series
    When I finished the book, I realised that there is something missing in the book. If the intent was to do total Biblical Theology with David, then the New Testament was peculiarly left out.
    For example, there is no exposition of Blind Bartimaeus calling, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Nor is there any elaboration on the most cited Psalm in the New Testament, which is "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."
    I chose my words carefully. I said there was no exposition, no elaboration. There was Scripture reference, and a slight mention. But these New Testament verses are so rich especially in the fulfilment of the Davidic prophecies that I was surprised.
    Was Boda, the Old Testament professor sticking to his lane? Or was he keeping it in the Old Testament to make the scope manageable, otherwise we would have double the page count?
    I sought to answer the question by reading the preface and introduction and I saw my mistake. I skipped the series preface because the series prefaces is always kind of the same, right? Well, no.
    This book belongs to the series titled, "The Gospel According to the Old Testament". That's the name of the series.
    And the series aims to:
    1. to lay out the pervasiveness of the revelation of Christ in the Old Testament
    2. to promote a Christ-centered reading of the Old
    3. to encourage Christ-centered preaching and teaching from the Old Testament

    So I'll just be quiet now and take this podcast as a reminder myself to always read the preface first.
    My rushed reading, the fact that I sensed the Old Testament was overwhelming the New Testament showed that Boda achieved the aims of the series.
    Conclusion
    In conclusion, "After God's Heart: The Gospel according to David" is a good introduction to Biblical Theology. If you have ever wondered what is the big deal about King David, why do Christians from all around the world bother about a long-dead king in a faraway land? This book answers that question using history, law, songs and prophecy, organised through themes with straightforward application and thought-provoking reflection questions.
    If you will ever do a study on David, and you should, because David is all over the Bible, then this is, for you and your small group, a must-have resource.
    This is a Reading and Readers Review of "After God's Own Heart: The Gospel according to David" by Mark J. Boda. 208 pages, published by P&R Publishing in June 2007. Today's book is available in Amazon Kindle for USD7.99 and free in Logos in January. And I know there is less than 2 days of January left, so what are you waiting for?
    And if you like to hear monthly reviews of free Christian books, subscribe and stay tuned for February's free book, coming soon. Bye bye.
    Book List
    • "After God's Own Heart: The Gospel according to David" by Mark J. Boda. Amazon. Logos.

    25 min
  • For Us and Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church by Stephen Nichols

    What was the most important battle in history? Would you say a battle in Ancient Rome, or Ancient Egypt, or perhaps a battle in World War 1 or 2. What if I told you that the most important battle in history was a battle not fought with swords and spears or guns and tanks but it was a battle fought with words. The battle for the person of Jesus.
    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 "For Us and Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church" by Stephen J. Nichols. 176 pages, published by Crossway in August 2007. It's USD10.99 in Amazon Kindle but it's free from Faithlife for January.
    Author
    Reading from the author's page: Stephen Nichols is the president of Reformation Bible College, chief academic officer for Ligonier Ministries, and a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow. He holds a Ph.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is host of the podcasts 5 Minutes in Church History and Open Book. He is author of more than twenty books, including Beyond the 95 Theses, A Time for Confidence, and R.C. Sproul: A Life and coeditor of Crossway’s Theologians on the Christian Life series.
    Today's book, "For Us and Our Salvation" was written in the wake of the Da Vinci Code, the novel by Dan Brown. The book that was adapted into a Tom Hanks movie got a lot of people excited about the Council of Nicea and Chalcedon. The atmosphere was there was this great revelation, a two thousand year old conspiracy sudden broke, and the true story of Jesus was finally told.
    Except the book and the movie was a fictional story built on creative non-biblical and non-historical plot devices that were sold as the gospel truth.
    While it is true that there were disputes on the identity of Jesus -- from the very beginning until today! -- just because something is disputed doesn't mean it's a 50-50, even odds, on what is the true story. Isn't that how the serpent fooled Eve? He did not outright say God was a liar, he just suggested, "Did God really say that?"
    In order to clear up disputes on who Jesus was, Christian leaders came together to settle the matter once and for all. They did that in Nicea to give us the Nicean Creed. A couple more councils later, they assembled in Chalcedon to give us the Chalcedonian Creed. Because they felt, as we also do, that it is important to get Jesus right.
    Let us open the book.
    The Special Sauce
    This book has a unique format. The book is worth buying and reading because of the way Nichols organises the book. See if you can detect that unique feature this book offers.
    It begins with:

    • Acknowledgments
    • Introduction: "Who Do People Say That I am?": Christ's Crucial Question
    • Chapter 1: In the Beginning was the Word: Christ in the Early Centuries
    • Chapter 2: In Their Own Words: Select Documents from the Early Centuries
    • Chapter 3: The Triumph of Athanasius: The Battle for Christ at Nicea
    • Chapter 4: In Their Own Words: Select Documents from the Fourth Century
    • Chapter 5: The Wisdom of Leo the Great: The Battle for Christ at Chalcedon
    • Chapter 6: In Their Own Words: Select Documents from the Fifth Century
    • Epilogue Jesus: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

    In Their Own Words
    The unique feature is entire chapters dedicated to giving us the original words.
    In this age of fake news, where everyone can spin any short video clip or quote to say anything they want, I've become more appreciative, sometimes more demanding, to see the primary source. I want to read what they wrote and not what you say they wrote.
    The trouble is we don't have the time and sometimes the brain to gather, filter and read the primary sources. In the appendix to this book, Nichols shares some primary sources for further reading. You can read the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, the first series has 14 volumes, the second series also has 14 volumes. You could read all the primary sources on the Nicene and Chalcedon council or you could read the next best thing.
    This book is the next best thing. Nichols selects and extracts and frames the text in the theological and political context. The politics tells us who are the good and the bad emperors, who are friends, who are enemies and who were friends who became enemies. The theological context tells us the finer details of the argument, details that are important but sometimes not easily understood.
    Nichols tackles the question of "Who is Christ?" by writing for the modern reader while pointing to the ancient writers. Actually, he goes beyond pointing, as I have told you, half the book are quotes from the ancient writers.
    Nichols has written a book that does not assume the reader knows the background nor necessary the scholarly interest. For example, he writes:
    A fundamental doctrine of Platonic philosophy conflicts with the doctrine of the incarnation. For Plato, matter is bad, while the ideal is good. The body is bad, while the soul is good and pure. In Greek a catchy little jingle catches this well: Soma toma. Translated, it means: “Body, tomb.” If they’d had bumper stickers, this saying would have been on the chariots of the Platonist philosophers.
    Soma Toma. Catchy jingle, isn't it? You will probably remember that phrase long after this podcast has faded away. Stephen Nichols will later turn his talent of finding catchy little jingles into a podcast. If you haven't done so yet, I recommend you listen to Stephen Nichols' "5 Minutes in Church History". Listening to him there helped me looked forward to reading today's book.
    I tell you this to assure you that if you ever wanted to know about the Council of Nicea, Council of Chalcedon, the controversies and creeds for the Trinity and Christ - Truly God, Truly Man, Stephen Nichols is a good guide.
    He knows that reading the primary sources can be intimidating. Every ancient text is preceded by an introduction, and he explains how the introduction works:
    Introductions to these texts provide some information on the context of these selections. Notes are also included to help contemporary readers get a better handle on tricky points in these ancient texts. These samples are but the tip of the iceberg of the rich literary legacy of the early church. The early fathers went to great lengths to see that the church thought and believed properly about the person of Christ, so that it in turn accurately and persuasively proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
    You never feel like you are reading someone else's love for ancient word puzzles. It is always tied to the importance of 'accurately and persuasively proclaiming the gospel of Christ'.
    Still Powerful A Thousand Years Later
    For example, remember 'soma toma'? Ignatius has something to say about that.
    He [Jesus] was baptized by John, really and not in appearance; and when He had preached the Gospel three years, and done signs and wonders, He who was Himself the Judge was judged by the Jews, falsely so called, and by Pilate the governor; was scourged, was smitten on the cheek, was spit upon; He wore a crown of thorns and a purple robe; He was condemned: He was crucified in reality, and not in appearance, not in imagination, not in deceit. He really died, and was buried, and rose from the dead,
    Written nearly 2000 years ago. And we can still feel the force of his words.
    Let's hear from another author. Tertullian!
    ... if the worker were imaginary the works were imaginary. On this principle, too, the sufferings of Christ will be found not to warrant faith in Him. For He suffered nothing who did not truly suffer; and a phantom could not truly suffer. God’s entire work, therefore, is subverted. Christ’s death, wherein lies the whole weight and fruit of the Christian name, is denied although the apostle asserts it so expressly as undoubtedly real, making it the very foundation of the gospel, of our salvation and of his own preaching.
    Still Damning A Thousand Years Later
    We don't just read the words of the great defenders of the faith. We also read the words of the heretics. Is it right for us to call them heretics. Maybe they were misunderstood. Not so, their own words condemn them.
    This is a letter from Arius to Eusebius of Nicomedia, written around 319AD. I quote:
    To his very dear lord, the man of God, the faithful and orthodox Eusebius, Arius, unjustly persecuted by Alexander the Pope, on account of that all conquering truth of which you also are a champion, sends greeting in the Lord.
    Arius believes he is unjustly persecuted. But I wonder who believes that they are justly persecuted. That was the greetings. A few paragraphs later, Arius writes:
    We are persecuted, because we say that the Son has a beginning, but that God is without beginning. This is the cause of our persecution, and likewise, because we say that He is of the non-existent.
    Do you hear the error? If you hear it, is it a big deal? Perhaps everybody got bent out of shape over nothing. Nichols does a splendid job explaining the importance of these doctrines, my summary is this: If Jesus had a beginning, then he is not God. He would at most be a demi-God. Nearly God. Nearly infinite. And nearly infinite is not infinite, nearly God is not God.
    Let me jump to the practical implication of this. If Jesus is not God, then you cannot worship him, you can honour him, but you cannot worship him. Because we can only worship God, to worship another is to commit idolatry and idolatry is a sin.
    Of Two Minds
    If you are familiar with apologetics or church history, you would be familiar with Arius and Athanasius. That famous controversy was settled in Nicaea.
    In contrast to Arius, most are not as familiar with Apollinarius, Nestorius or Eutyches. I was of two minds on which to choose, so let's talk about Nestorius.
    Nichols writes:
    As Cyril listened to Nestorius, he heard him saying that Christ is two persons, two “he’s.” What Cyril wanted to hear was that Jesus was one “he,” one person. Nestorius so stressed the humanity and divinity of Christ that he veered very near to saying that the two natures are so distinct in Christ that Christ is a divided person, a human person and divine person, that Christ is two “he’s” and not merely two natures. Nestorius would even point to specific instances in the Gospels where the human Jesus was present and to other places where the divine Jesus was present. For Nestorius, it’s not Jesus Christ is. Instead, it’s Jesus Christ are, which is both grammatically and theologically incorrect.
    Before this, I never really understood Nestorianism, but thanks to Nichols, now I do. And so I appreciate how Nichols explains these sometimes subtle differences in a clear manner. Do you? Or do you grow weary at what seems like theologians splitting hairs, I repeat myself.
    Some bishops in the council of Chalcedon felt as you do. They didn't want to hear more of this. They just wanted to go home.
    They had grown weary of the intricacies of debating Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism. This group simply did not want to engage the matter of relating the two natures of Christ. Instead all they wanted to do was to reaffirm the Nicene Creed, suspending the discussion of how the two natures come together. The second group disagreed. They saw the dangers in not trying to somehow express, in language true to Scripture, how the human and divine natures relate in Christ. If not dealt with decisively, this group argued, then even more complex and subtle views would keep popping up. Now was the time to deal with this issue and complete the trajectory started by Athanasius and the Nicene Council by offering a statement of the orthodox view of Christ’s humanity and deity.It would take some work, this group acknowledged, but it was well worth the effort. The second group won out over the first, and the council pushed on.
    And thanks to them, we have the Chalcedonian Creed, which I think is a wonderful piece of writing.
    Following, then, the holy fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is to us one and the same Son, the self-same perfect in Godhead, the self-same perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man; the self-same of a rational soul and body; co-essential with the Father according to the Godhead, the self-same co-essential with us according to the manhood; like us in all things, sin apart; before the ages begotten of the Father as to the Godhead, but in the last days, the self-same, for us and for our salvation (born) of Mary the Virgin Theotokos as to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten; acknowledged in two natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;
    It goes on. I think this creed, and the other creeds, are meant to be read out loud. When you read it, it's just squiggly lines on paper. But when I read it out loud, there is a sense of declaring Truth to the Universe.
    Jesus is truly God and truly man. Acknowledged in two natures, unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably.
    I have not yet mentioned Leo the Great. In this book we read the letter from Flavian to Leo asking for advice on how to handle these controversies. And we read the reply from Leo to Flavian, a seven page letter which is printed in full in this book. It's known as the "Tome", and it shaped Chalcedonian creed.
    Read For Yourself
    And this just reinforces what I've been saying. There is a difference between Nichols telling us, or me telling you, versus you reading for yourself what Leo the Great wrote and seeing for yourself how familiar the words are that later appear in the final creed.
    And if you ponder it for a moment, you appreciate the urgency, the intensity of the moment. The emperors. The bishops. The words flying around.
    Basil of Caesarea wrote:
    To what then shall I liken our present condition.
    Later he continues:
    See the rival fleets rushing in dread array to the attack. With a burst of uncontrollable fury they engage and fight it out. Fancy, if you like, the ships driven to and fro by a raging tempest, while thick darkness falls from the clouds and blackens all the scenes so that watchwords are indistinguishable in the confusion, and all distinction between friend and foe is lost. To fill up the details of the imaginary picture, suppose the sea swollen with billows and whirled up from the deep, while a vehement torrent of rain pours down from the clouds and the terrible waves rise high. From every quarter of heaven the winds beat upon one point, where both the fleets are dashed one against the other. Of the combatants some are turning traitors; some are deserting in the very thick of the fight; some have at one and the same moment to urge on their boats, all beaten by the gale, and to advance against their assailants. Jealousy of authority and the lust of individual mastery splits the sailors into parties which deal mutual death to one another.
    There is more. But I have probably read too much.
    Settled and Never Settled
    I have two more reasons why more Christians should read this book. Especially if you are a nice Christian. Who loves peace. At any cost.
    The book will impress upon you the need for Truth and the willingness to fight for it. Especially in the life of Athanasius. If you want the life story of Athanasius, you can read a short biography in John Piper's "27 Servants of Sovereign Joy", a book I reviewed two episodes ago. What Nichols books offers over Piper's book is a study on the controversies themselves.
    And what I wish more people would know is this: any one of us can be a heretic. Meaning, it doesn't matter how nice you are, how sincere you are, it doesn't matter how much you love God and Men, you and I can still be a heretic because we believe in the wrong things about God. If you believed that Jesus had a beginning, you are a heretic in the eyes of Athanasius, Nicaea and churches today.
    Is it possible that you and I are heretics in a belief that we hold? I say this not to drive fear and doubt into your heart, but to drive you and I to the Bible. To constantly check whether our faith corresponds to the Truth revealed in Scripture.
    Because regardless of what you believe, you know there are false teachings out there. The heresies that Nicaea and Chalcedon settled were never settled, the heretics talk still spread like gangrene until today.
    In the epilogue titled, "Jesus: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" , Nichols offers a sobering summary of what has happened since those early church times. And he tells us frankly, he warns us, "The church is always one generation away from getting it wrong, from taking a misstep."
    And if you need a book to make that point clear, today's book is as good a book as any.
    This is a Reading and Reader's review of "For Us and Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church" by Stephen J. Nichols. 176 pages, published by Crossway in August 2007. It's USD10.99 in Amazon Kindle but it's free from Faithlife for January.
    The next review will be the free book from Logos. That's After God's Own Heart: The Gospel According to David by Mark J. Boda. This book is one volume in the "Gospel According to the Old Testament" series. This free book offer will end with January, so if there is even the slightest chance you might read it or refer to it, just get it. And, God willing, after a week, you can listen to my review to know whether the book was worth that one click of the button. Until then, bye bye.
    Book List
    • "For Us and Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church" by Stephen J. Nichols. Amazon. Faithlife.

    33 min
  • Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology with the Maker of Middle-earth by Austin M. Freeman

    Do you love the Lord of the Rings? Doesn't everyone? Do you love Systematic Theology? Of course! Then today's book is perfect for you.
    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 "Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology with the Maker of Middle-earth" by Austin M. Freeman. 432 pages, published by Lexham Press in November 2022. It's available in Amazon Kindle for USD19.99 and Logos for USD23.99.
    I don't know much about Austin M. Freeman other than what is in Amazon. He is a lecturer at Houston Baptist University and a classical school teacher. He has a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, which explains a lot. Because a certain Professor Kevin Vanhoozer is from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as well. But we will come to that in all good time.
    Tolkien the Public Theologian
    Today we are talking about Tolkien, a man who really needs no introduction. He launched the fantasy genre! Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Game of Thrones and many more fantasy novel could be blamed or traced to J.R.R. Tolkien.
    He is the author of The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy of books that Peter Jackson directed into a trilogy of movies. That worldwide success soon led to the filming of another Tolkien book, the Hobbit, a single book which Jackson stretched into a trilogy of movies. And last year, Amazon launched Rings of Power, a TV series of this fantasy adventure.
    Why has the Lord of the Rings, a book series that began in the 1930s, so capture the imagination of readers and viewers around the world across generations. This could be your great-grandfather's favourite book. Is it the plot, the characters, the world-building? Tonnes of ink has been spilled over decades analysing the film from all angles.
    But maybe, just maybe, the reason why Tolkien's world is so lasting is because it has so much resonance: there is something in that mythical world that perks up the realities of this present world. Maybe the reason Middle-earth pulls us in is because we are, by virtue of how God made us, attracted to Truth. Truth with a capital T.
    Today I am not reviewing Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, I am reviewing Tolkien Dogmatics by Austin Freeman. This is how the book's description begins:


    J. R. R. Tolkien was many things: English Catholic, father and husband, survivor of two world wars, Oxford professor, and author. But he was also a theologian. Tolkien’s writings exhibit a coherent theology of God and his works, but Tolkien did not present his views with systematic arguments. Rather, he expressed theology through story.
    And that is the premise of this book. Tolkien was a public theologian conveying theology through story. Freeman has scoured the literature, his gaze pierces books, letters, talks and journals, to reconstruct Tolkien's theology into a systematic form. And when I say systematic, I mean systematic in the technical, theological, seminary textbook sense.
    Structure
    The book begins with a chapter titled Prolegomena that presents the background, scope, use and methodology. Then we have:
    • Chapter 1: God
    • Chapter 2: Revelation
    • Chapter 3: Creation
    • Chapter 4: Humanity
    • Chapter 5: Angels
    • Chapter 6: The Fall
    • Chapter 7: Evil and Sin
    • Chapter 8: Satan and Demons
    • Chapter 9: Christ and Salvation
    • Chapter 10: The Church
    • Chapter 11: The Christian Life
    • Chapter 12: Last Things

    These chapter headings are what you would expect from a Systematic Theology textbook, so when I first saw this I eagerly anticipated how Freeman would fit the Lord of the Rings as well as Tolkien's other writings, into these categories.
    The book ends with a couple of resources.
    We have a glossary of names and terms from Tolkien's fiction, just in case you don't know who are the Valar, they are the angelic rulers of the world. Or the Maiar, they are the lesser angelic spirits. Everyone knows, that Saruman, Gandalf, and the Balrog he fought in the Mines of Moria, they are all Maiar. (I'm joking, I didn't know that before I read this book.)
    We have a Bibliography which is divided into two sections Tolkien Sources (nearly 60 sources from Tolkien's own words, sometimes edited by his son Christopher Tolkien) and Secondary Sources (more than 200 sources from scholars, mostly on Tolkien, sometimes on theology apart from Tolkien).
    And no self-respecting textbook on systematic theology would be without indices. We have a name index, subject index and Scripture index.
    Theology From Mythology
    Now that we understand how the book is laid out, I want to spend some time challenging the entire premise of the book.
    Systematic Theology textbooks exist because we want to know what does the Bible say about specific categories or headings of God, Creation, Sin, Man, Jesus, Salvation, Holy Spirit, End Times. So I would read Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology or Millard Erickson's Christian Theology or Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics to better understand, let's say, Jesus Christ. I will know Bavinck's conviction because he tells me directly what he believes in his book Reformed Dogmatics.
    This is not so straightforward with Freeman's book. I read this book to know Tolkien's conviction, not through Tolkien's direct thoughts on these topics, but mostly through Freeman's compilation, selection and stringing together of Tolkien's writings.
    This is an audacious task.
    Perhaps this is an everyday task for the literature critic to reconstruct the man or woman behind the book, but I would be very careful to reconstruct J.K. Rowling's faith from the Harry Potter series or draw a line from the religious zealots in Battlestar Galactica to the personal faith of the creators of the show.
    So how far can we take Freeman's premise? First, that we can know Tolkien's belief from his stories. Second, that doing this, we can know God, for knowing God is the ultimate purpose of systematic theologies.
    Freeman takes the challenge to the premise seriously. In the Prolegomena, there is a section titled "Scope and Use of This Book" and "Methodology".
    The critical difference between J.K Rowling and Battlestar Galatica versus J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Rings is Tolkien's faith truly undergirds his world. Tolkien believes that God is the Creator and that Men are created in the image of God, therefore we are sub-creators.
    Tolkien's faith is real, it is true, it corresponds to reality. That is why his underlying faith has resonance with readers and viewers in the real world. His elves and orcs makes our present reality more real.
    Let me quote Freeman:
    Many critics have tried to account for the effect a good story has on us with terms like “literary belief” or “willing suspension of disbelief.” But Tolkien demurs. We instead become successful sub-creators, making a secondary world that other minds can enter into. There are then things which are true within that world -- that is, which accord with its laws. That is why we believe it when we are inside it.
    As I read the book, I continually asked myself whether we could apply the methods Freeman uses here to Greek or Norse myths or Fantasy or Science Fiction stories.
    If you want to go in depth into the methodology, Freeman states upfront he does not have the space to explain but he invites readers to read Kevin J. Vanhoozer's book "Is There Meaning in this Text?" I have reviewed a different Vanhoozer book, "Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends" which you can check out in Episode 50.
    Special (Author's Only) Revelation
    Now, assuming you can for the moment accept the premise and purpose of the book, let's go to a rather revealing chapter, chapter 2.
    Let me read the second paragraph of this chapter:
    This chapter will be broken down into two major sections based on these divisions. We will first deal with general revelation -- here, with how much Tolkien believes pagans might know of the true God apart from Scripture. We will next address Tolkien’s views on special revelation in Scripture and his attitudes toward the Bible, then specific extraordinary revelations such as dreams and visions, and finally his views on the (perhaps) supernatural provenance of his own work.
    We have general revelation, special revelation, and supernatural provenance or origin of Tolkien's own work. This entire chapter is good but I will skip to the last part which is the sensation one.
    I'll quote the section at length:
    This section explores Tolkien’s views on one aspect of an extracanonical special revelation addressed to the world: his own writing. While grading student exams one day, Tolkien wrote down ten fateful words without any clear meaning behind them: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Whence did this sudden impulse come? Tolkien seems to have explicitly admitted he believed his work to have been inspired in some sense.
    In a letter from 1971, two years before his death, he recounts a strange visit. A man had come to see him with some old pictures which seemed to have been made to illustrate The Lord of the Rings ages before it was written. The man wanted to know whether Tolkien had drawn inspiration from such images. When Tolkien revealed he had never seen them before, the meeting took a strange turn. His visitor asked him whether he believed he had really written the whole work on his own. No, Tolkien had answered, not anymore. Tolkien then tells his correspondent that he has never since been able to believe that The Lord of the Rings was purely his own invention. Recognizing that this is a somewhat alarming and possibly arrogant conclusion, he reasons that God after all uses quite imperfect instruments all the time.
    We must make clear from the outset what Tolkien did and did not believe here. He did not believe his fiction was true in the primary world, though he did believe it was not entirely false. He did not believe he was writing Scripture, or some special basis for a new religion or teaching. He did not believe his work ought to be considered “inspired” in the same sense as the Bible or the church’s teaching. But he did seem to eventually believe that he received large portions of it from God by the ministry of angels operating on relatively normal authorial processes -- that is, not by means of an Islamic angelic delivery, but in a more subtle and synergistic manner.
    Authors often describe the creative writing process in this way: "The characters have a life of their own. The story wrote itself." It's said so often it's become cliche.
    But this matches with Tolkien's experience:
    He [Tolkien] says he no longer “invents,” but instead waits until he seems to know what really happened. This sort of independent development is a large impetus for his conclusion that parts of the story seem revealed through him rather than by him. He deliberately chose to work with archetypal motifs, and sometimes characters intrude out of narrative necessity. But he describes the full characterization of Aragorn in tones of awe as a revelation.
    I am still fascinated by the idea of theology through mythology. I can't let go. If we take Tolkien's impressions of divine revelation seriously, then we are compelled to ask, "Do we listen to him as a 'prophet'?". Yet both Tolkien and Freeman strenuously deny writing Scripture.
    Is it proper to credit God as the writer's muse?
    Bavinck never suggests that the hand of God was on him while he was writing Reformed Dogmatics. On the other hand, many are convinced that the hand of God was indeed on Handel when he composed Messiah.
    Let us, just for a moment, accept that God intended Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings for God's Divine Purpose. While saying that 'God intended for this to happen' is true for any author, Christian or not, for any piece of literature, fiction or not, let us assume God intended something special for Tolkien and Lord of the Rings, hence why Tolkien felt the story was revealed through him rather than by him.
    Let us explore, for a minute!, the divine purpose, for a divine purpose is worth teasing out, worth speculating on.
    I take my cue from what one Tolkien scholar, Claudio Testi, wrote:
    Tolkien’s characters live in a world that is chronologically pre-Christian but metaphysically Christian. That is, he has sub-created a fictional world in which Jesus Christ will one day become incarnate.
    Where do myths come from? From a Christian point of view, all myths are man-made, in the sense, they are fictional, they are stories, they are not materially real. We will not dig up the bones of a Medusa, or a Pegasus, or a Fairy. Men as sub-creators, created these myths.
    Christians recognise many or all(?) of these myths as pagan, non-Christian, because they convey a belief antithetical to the faith. If we wanted to be harsh, we could say they are lies inspired by the father of lies.
    On the other hand, if, big if, God positively wills Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings, then we have a sense that myths can be good, even if they are not real. They convey Truth even though the people never existed and the events never happened.
    Just like the Parables! The Parables in the Gospels are not materially real, we will not dig up the remains of the Prodigal Son or the Samaritan Man or the Sower, but the Parables powerfully convey Truth.
    Where does that leave us. Is God speaking Truth through Tolkien to us?
    Roman Catholic
    I found the solution to this question in Tolkien's Roman Catholicism.
    First I want to say that Freeman is very even-handed on Tolkien's Roman Catholic beliefs even as Freeman is a Protestant. Freeman doesn't shy away from them, it is a necessarily important part of Tolkien's conviction, and we can see that in his devotion to the Catholic faith in marriage, in parenting and his letters. Although Tolkien never speaks publicly as a theologian, Professor Tolkien of Oxford University has thought deeply of his faith and is not shy on expounding on them on specific occasions.
    Tolkien rejects the worship of Mary but insists she was sinless and ascended to Heaven. He believes the Roman Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, which is the bread transforms into the body of Christ and the wine transforms into the blood of Christ. And while Tolkien remains friends with C.S. Lewis the Anglican and other Protestants, he truly believes that the Roman Catholic church is the one true church of Christ, if only his friends would come to their senses.
    So I commend Freeman the Protestant for not feeling the need to educate the reader on the errors of the Roman Catholic church. He trusts readers would know enough of the difference and their positions. This makes this book a comfortable read for both Roman Catholics and Protestants. Unless you are a Roman Catholic who wished Freeman wrote more positively, or a Protestant who wished he wrote more negatively, you will probably be disappointed that Freeman doesn't go far enough.
    The good news is that once Freeman presents these Roman Catholic doctrines, then it's easy for us to think about how to receive this book of derived systematic theology and also Tolkien's musings that the stories were revealed through him rather than by him.
    Myth: Christian vs Pagan
    It's obvious when I say it and it is a repetition of what has been said, but this is the way to read this book: We should not read Tolkien or Tolkien's Dogmatics to establish our faith. We can learn from Tolkien because he writes as a Christian. His faith informs his fiction. He has bluntly said so in interviews.
    What this books shows us is how some men are gifted sub-creators. The Egyptians, Greeks, Indians and Chinese have their own Creation origin stories. These stories came about to fill the gaps on what they didn't know of the One God and His Creation. Even within the Christian Church, people have created sub-Christian beliefs, contrary to the Truth. Making things up to make things better.
    Contrary to Tolkien. Freeman quotes Priscilla, Tolkien's daughter who describes her father's belief:
    without our lives being seen as a journey to God, our artistic or other talents will come to nothing.
    In medieval Middle-earth, we have a modern day myth. Tolkien's myth informs by revelation. In knowing God, God the Father, who will send the God-Man in the future, Tolkien creates a world that co-exists with that revelation.
    And it is fascinating how the story, the people and the events in Middle-earth can shed light on that revelation.
    Have you ever read any Systematic Theology which considers Humanity in light of Elves, Men, Hobbits, Dwarves and Orcs?
    Have you read anywhere a chapter on Angels which compares Gandalf and Sauron?
    Have you studied temptation from the perspective of Frodo, Galadriel, Boromir, Gollum? How they failed and triumphed when tempted by the one ring?
    One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
    And a curious side-effect of writing fiction is because it is fiction, Tolkien is free to speculate on angels and demons, heaven and hell, without having to run the theological gauntlet.
    Who Is This Book For?
    And that leads me to the question who is this book for. If you don't feel a thrill in your heart when I mention Hobbits, Gandalf, Gollum and the one ring, then this might not be the book for you.
    Some of you might look at the cover of this book and think, "Hmm... I know a guy who loves Lord of the Rings. He is not a Christian. Maybe after reading this book. He will be more willing to consider the faith."
    Nope, that's not going to work. The idea is good, but not with this book. Not a Systematic Theology. You might want to try with another book, "Walking with Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings" by Sarah Arthur. I never knew this book existed until Freeman cited it here. In fact, I never knew there was so much research from all angles on all things Tolkien until I picked up Freeman's book.
    Now, on the flip side, some of you may think, "Hmm... I know a girl who loves theology, Systematic Theology, she just goes on and on about Augustine, Bavinck, and Calvin, but I would like her to have a bit of love for Aragorn, Bilbo and Saruman. Maybe this is the book for her."
    Nope, that's also not going to work. Freeman freely assumes you know the main story, the people, the significance of the Ring and spoils the ending every few chapters.
    You see, you will not fall in love with Tolkien's stories by reading Tolkien's Dogmatics. You fall in love with Tolkien's stories by reading his stories or you could try watching the Peter Jackson movies with your friend. If the movies can't pull him or her, then I can't see how this book could. Unless your friend is someone like John Piper or some really serious theological geek. That goes wild-eyed at the prospect of reading another Theology book.
    Eagle's Hymn
    Ideally, this book is for those who love theology and Tolkien. The one who needs to be validated in their love for both; to read what Freeman writes here and give thanks, "I knew there was something really deep and spiritual here but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was."
    Let me end with this quote from the book.
    Tolkien also offers a picture of the new heavens and the new earth in his own poetry and prose. He is in fact at his most eschatological (and biblical) when he writes of an Eagle that sings a hymn over the rescued city of Minas Tirith. It is here quoted in full, with biblical allusions footnoted:
    And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell. And before the Sun had fallen far from the noon out of the East there came a great Eagle flying, and he bore tidings beyond hope from the Lords of the West, crying: Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever, and the Dark Tower is thrown down. Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, for your watch hath not been in vain, and the Black Gate is broken, and your King hath passed through, and he is victorious. Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life. And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed, and he shall plant it in the high places, and the City shall be blessed. Sing all ye people!
    Freeman's footnote traces the eagle's hymn to multiple Scripture references such as Revelation 22:5, where it says, "And night will be no more. They will need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light."
    Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life.
    This is a Reading and Readers review of "Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology with the Maker of Middle-earth" by Austin M. Freeman. 432 pages, published by Lexham Press in November 2022. It's available in Amazon Kindle for USD19.99 and Logos for USD23.99.
    The next book I will review is by Dr. Stephen Nichols, "For Us and Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church". It's a Free Book from Faithlife. Only free available for January. So you can read along with me or you can listen to my review first. Until then, bye bye!
    Book List
    • "Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology with the Maker of Middle-earth" by Austin M. Freeman. Amazon. Logos.
    • "Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings" by Sarah Arthur. Amazon.

    37 min
  • Year End Reflection 2022

    RR62 Draft
    Hi, my name is Terence and I'm your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you except for today. Today, I ask the question, "How did I get here?" I look back at the books that I have reviewed that have influenced my worldview, my actions, my affections, my life.
    Not Best Books of 2022
    This is not a best books of 2022 episode. I have not yet mastered the skill of ranking books. If forced to, I would choose Cur Deus Homo by Anselm of Canterbury because one can't go wrong with a thousand year old classic. And if you restricted me to books published in 2022, then I've only five books to consider out of the 30 books I reviewed this year.
    I'm not doing a best books of 2022 episode. I'm doing a reflection. I'm recognising that there are 'flash in the pan' books. Books that were so good when I first read them but had little lasting influence. On the other extreme, there are books that was just okay but unexpected led to long term changes.
    I'm looking for such long term changes. That is why I'm not restricting myself to books reviewed in 2022. If Reading and Readers continues for ten, twenty years, you will hear through my year end reflections how I have grown through the books, how one book leads to another, and how books are not just the filling of the mind but can lead to habits and pleasures.
    In today's episode, I will talk about books that have encouraged a Christian habit, books that have formed a Christian worldview, and finally and most significantly, books that unexpectedly change my way of life. The keyword being unexpectedly.
    Books That Encouraged A Christian Habit
    Books that have encouraged a Christian habit. It's a habit that begins with the letter 'M'. We all know it's good for you but somehow think it's a habit for the super-holy-edifying-walk-on-water-people-sanctus. It's not meditation, it's memorisation.
    In last year's reflection, I shared how Chris Wright's book, "Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit" was helpful especially how he describe John Stott and his habit of praying the fruit of the spirit every morning. Before the book, I had memorised Galatians 5:22-23 but I didn't see how it could help me in maturing as a Christian.
    I am not disciplined enough to pray it everyday but I have found it helpful to pray it when I need to. Sometimes it's before breakfast, sometimes it's before I sleep, often it's before I am on the verge of saying something I shouldn't say. Instead of biting my tongue, I recite in my heart, "Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control." And wouldn't you know it, self-control is what I needed the most.
    Then in October this year, I read Andrew Naselli's book, "Romans: A Concise Guide to the Greatest Letter Ever Written". What impressed me the most was that he memorised Romans. I tried that before but gave up half way through. So challenged by Naselli's success, I attempted once more to memorise the greatest letter ever written.
    Nearly three months later, I have only managed to memorise Romans chapter 1. But that is because after memorising Romans chapter 1, I decided to memorise 2 Timothy because my need for it was more urgent. I was preaching on 2 Timothy and I knew if I had the letter in my head it would benefit my study and ultimately the church. And if you have never done this before, I invite you to try it.
    If you are going to teach on a verse, or a passage, try memorising the whole chapter. The act of memorising will make you familiar with layout of the land. And every commentary you read will make more sense because you are never lost in the details.
    And lest some think I am bragging, I am not. Chris Wright shared on John Stott's daily prayer as an encouragement to all. Andrew Naselli only mentioned memorising Romans because he wanted to thank his youth group for the challenge. I am so far away from Stott's maturity and Naselli's achievement, that the reason why I share my meagre success is simply to encourage you, dear readers in the habit, and to thank these servants of the Lord for their encouragement.
    Books That Formed A Worldview
    Next, books that formed a worldview.
    Have you asked or gotten this question before, "Can I read or watch or listen to this book or movie or song?"
    The best answer I got is from Tony Reinke's book, "Lit!". "You can read anything you want as long as you hold to a Christian worldview." Which if you think about it is the same as Henry Ford saying of his cars, "You can have any colour you want as long as it is black."
    Because you hold a Christian worldview, you will filter out books you should not read. Because you hold a Christian worldview, you will interpret or learn to interpret anything you read or watch or listen to from the Biblical lens.
    Does that mean you can listen to edgy, aggressive rap like Eminem or bloody, violent war movies like Gladiator? Glad you ask. Because those are the examples included in Kevin Vanhoozer's book, "How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends". If you want more details on how to interpret Eminem, or Gladiator, or the many, many examples in this book, you can listen to Episode 50.
    I read that book and applied the tools to do cultural hermeneutics, tools that take every cultural artifact, whether a building or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a text and bring out the World Behind the Text, the World In the Text and the World in front of the Text.
    For example, I'm reading Tolkien Dogmatics by Austin Freeman and I am conscious when Freeman speaks of the World Behind the Text. Behind the text we have Tolkien's belief in revelation, Tolkien claims the story came by revelation rather than by his creation. Freeman writes what Vanhoozer would label the World In The Text, the world of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, has revelation for example the prophecy of the Return of the King.
    Do we need cultural hermeneutics to enjoy books? No. You don't need to be steeped in knowledge of wine to enjoy wine. You don't need to distinguish sweetness, acidity or alcohol to savour wine. But the knowledge, the categories help you process the flavours and in its own way increases the pleasure.
    So rather than the boring question of "Can a Christian enjoy this or that?", we ask the more interesting question of "What is here for the Christian to enjoy?"
    When I put forward who I am as a Christian first, I realise there is more freedom to enjoy. And the beautiful thing is we can grow to have a Christian worldview.
    Just to complete my reflection on forming a Christian worldview, I'll add another book from Episode 35, "Redeeming Our Thinking About History" from Vern Poythress.
    Now whenever I consider historical events, I try to tease out God's purposes in those events. I speculate on God's purposes, not to gain certainty, but to continue to be mindful of God's hand.
    It's like going to a mystery theatre. I am not sure that my guesses are correct but that is not important because I am certain that all the pieces will come together to a dramatic conclusion.
    And this is not just casual armchair musing. This has pastoral effect. The other day I was trying to comfort someone who was going through very difficult trials. Trial after trial. What comfort can one give? There is much to offer from Scripture but the one I offered then was the truth that God's purposes will stand. No one could tell David Brainerd that his short life will lead to a missionary movement. No one could tell Adoniram Judson that his suffering will lead to a nation saved. But we can tell all believers that God's ways are higher than our ways, and that while we live, we keep on guessing, keep on wondering, knowing that we will all be surprised at the end, when the credits roll, the curtain calls, and all applause goes to God, who is Director of all.
    So whether it's books or culture or history, I am thankful for the books that I have read have helped me form a Christian worldview.
    Books That Unexpectedly Changed My Life
    Lastly, let's talk about a book that unexpectedly change my life. I stress on the word unexpectedly. You should prepare yourself for a surprise.
    When you pick up a Christian book, you can expect it to change your Christian way of life. When you read a book titled, "The Possibility of Prayer", you can expect to have a stronger prayer life.
    Last year, when I picked up John Dickson's "Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History", I expected to be informed. I didn't expect to spend the year laughing out loud in my commute to work or pondering deeply on the Maid of Holland, the Ashanti Empire or the White Rose of Germany. My life is all the richer because of John Dickson's book but alas it's not because of John Dickson.
    Let me explain.
    I enjoyed Bullies and Saints. And you can listen to my review on that book. There was a historian by the name of Tom Holland who was not a Christian, who did not ridicule Christianity but credited Christianity for civilisation.
    Let me read from John Dickson's book:


    Holland has not had a "Damascus Road" experience. He is not a believing Christian. He has just come to realise that he -- like many atheist and agnostic Westerners -- is ethically Christian. In a controversial article announcing his shift in thinking, he explained:
    Today, even as belief in God fades across the West, the countries that were once collectively known as Christendom continue to bear the stamp of the two millennia old revolution that Christianity represents. It is the principle reason why, by and large, most of us who live in post-Christian societies still take for granted that it is nobler to suffer than to inflict suffering. It is why we generally assume that human life is of equal value. In my morals and ethics, I have learned to accept that I am not a Greek or Roman at all, but thoroughly and proudly Christian.
    It is fascinating when a non-believer declares himself, "in morals and ethics, a thoroughly and proudly Christian."
    Who Is This Guy?
    So I looked him up. Tom Holland has a podcast with some guy who I also didn't know Dominic Sandbrook. What is this podcast about, "The Rest is History"? I can't remember what was the first episode I listened to. I thought it was good. So I subscribed, which meant I got notified of new episodes.
    I listened to a few, a few became many, and many became, dare I say it, a daily experience. They don't publish daily unless it's for a special series but when I got into them, I had 200+ episodes to catch up with.
    Through Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, I got introduced to many books, including Sandbrook's "Adventures in Time" series, many podcasts like Empire, Battleground: Falklands and the World War 2 podcast, "We Have Ways to Make You Talk". Yet there is something special about "The Rest is History".
    It's not just their choice of topics. One day, I'm shedding tears because of a heroic pigeon, yes, pigeon the bird! Another day, I'm listening to the prostitute(?)-turned-Christian Empress Theodora of Byzantium who built the first hospitals for the poor. Another day I'm listening to a three part series on Australia Prime Ministers, a four part series on the American Civil War, a five part series on London.
    The Most Awesome Road Trip
    The topics are fascinating but it is the hosts that make the topics come alive. Tom and Dominic enjoy each others company. They exchange wits, they have their own in-jokes. They are experts in their sphere of history, both have written multiple bestselling books, and yet are transparently curious, so humble to learn from others. They are simultaneously podcaster and audience, because when one shares a fascinating fact, or plot twist, the other gasps.
    It feels like being on a road trip with two smart and witty fellows. I listen to them on the commute and I sometimes just sit in my car in the parking lot just to finish the episode. And my colleagues must be wondering what am I doing laughing or listening so intently.
    And who knew history could be so fun! In the news, history seems to be re-written as we speak. Angry people, pulling down statues, screaming at everyone. Before I have time to take a breath, rebut or even question, it's already an established creed.
    So it is incredibly refreshing to listen to Tom and Dominic, not because their politics matches mine. They make fun of both Biden and Trump. They make fun of both Boris and Corbyn. But their fun is good natured fun. Not cruel and not out to score points with a mob.
    Maybe I'm biased because of the way they handle Christian history. Neither are Christians. Although Tom Holland is a lot more receptive to Christianity than Dominic Sandbrook. These are guys who are quite willing to admit that Christianity has done some good in the world, something that used to be a lot easier to just accept, yet they are equally able to point out the really bad apples, and that's all I want from secular historians or any person, believer or non-believer.
    Christian Worldview
    Before their podcast, I didn't know that the word slave came from the Slavs, a people who are the ancestors of today's Central and Eastern Europeans. Maybe the Slavs should seek reparations. A dollar every time someone uses the word 'slave' in a movie, song or tweet.
    So I listen and ask, "How can I bring a Christian worldview into this?"
    There were slaves in Old Testament and New Testament times. For some, slavery is exclusively associated with the African American experience. Yet, history shows us that it's complicated.
    It does not diminish the evils of black slavery to recognise that there was white slavery, the Slavs. It does not diminish the evils of the African American experience to acknowledge that Brazil had more slaves than any other country. It does not diminish the evils of Western slave traders to say that it was Africans who invaded other Africans to capture slaves to sell to the West and also to the East. It does not diminish the evils of Christian slave owners to affirm that it was Christians like William Wilberforce and Christian theology like "All men are created in God's image" that overcame slavery.
    When it comes to evil, Christians understand evil better than the atheist, the secularist or any other religion. We understand evil because God defined it, God denounced it, God will judge it. But if we only knew what is evil, we would be a sad lot. It's like knowing what is cancer but know not the cure. Christians are a blessed people because we know evil, and we know good. God has saved us from evil, from slavery to sin, and called us to a holy calling, by the grace God has given us in Christ Jesus.
    Can we tease out God's purpose in all this? Dare we talk about a plan to bring out good from evil? I don't dare. At least not today. That's not the purpose of today's episode. In today's podcast I want share my growth as a Christian to encourage you. Because of the books I have read, I have gotten to be more intentional in having a Christian worldview and in pondering on God's purposes in all things.
    Before I go to the conclusion, I just want to say that I've enjoyed The Rest is History so much that I want to announce I have just, only just, recently become a card-carrying member of the Rest is History Club. If I had Netflix, DisneyPlus and Amazon Prime in one corner and The Rest is History in the other, I would pick The Rest is History. I learn more, laugh more and come away more educated after every episode. And since I value them so highly, I thought it was only proper to put my money where my mouth is and give them cold hard cash.
    So that's my year end reflection. Next year, make a resolution to read more good books.
    Why?
    First, you can be encouraged into a habit one book at a time. If I manage to memorise Romans by next year, it's only going to give me a rich annual dividend for the rest of my life.
    Second, through books, you can form a Christian worldview. Instead of Superman's X-ray vision, you have the far superior Christian true vision, the ability to see reality as it really is.
    And third, through books, you never know what you are going to get. One book, whether bad, average or good, may lead you to a whole new world of pleasures, experiences and relationships.
    I can't wait to see what God will reveal in the new year ahead.
    This is Reading and Reader's year end reflection. And if you would like to support this podcast, please visit www.readingandreaders.com and buy me coffee. And thanks to every one who has bought me coffee, meaning you have sent over cold hard cash. Your support means so much and helps keeps me and this podcast going. Have a Happy New Year and see you in 2023! Bye bye.

    38 min

About Reading and Readers

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A podcast where I review Christian books for you.