A very nice article from Jonathan Aitken over at American Spectator celebrating the 350th ‘birthday’ of the BCP:

Last year, this column and the world celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This year brings the 350th birthday of another magnificent monument of early modern English—the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). All who savor the riches of our common linguistic heritage should rejoice in its commemoration. For the BCP’s combination of spiritual wisdom and literary beauty gives it a following far beyond the ecclesiastical frontiers of Anglicanism, Episcopalianism, and the Church of England that originally commissioned it.

The BCP was the creation of Thomas Cranmer, a Tudor statesman blessed with a genius for the writing of prose bordering on poetry. A court favorite of King Henry VIII, who made him Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer compiled the various prayers, collects, and orders of worship that eventually emerged as the 1662 prayer book. However, before it could be published in its final form its principal author was burned at the stake for his Reformist sympathies during a period of Catholic repression.

Although these power struggles have long since been forgotten, Cranmer’s majestic command of the English language lives on. In the words of his leading biographer, Diarmaid MacCulloch: “Millions who have never heard of Cranmer or of the muddled heroism of his death have echoes of his words in their minds.”

These echoes of Cranmer’s gift for language ring down the centuries because he had a perfect ear for cadences that are both beautiful and eternal. He wanted “a mere ploughboy” to be able to remember the BCP’s most powerful phrases. He did not hesitate to borrow from the finest spiritual writers of his time such as Miles Coverdale, an early translator of the Psalms, and Archbishop Reynolds, who authored the prayer of General Thanksgiving. Yet the most sparkling gems of the BCP were Cranmer’s own compositions such as:

Read the rest.

Found this thorough critique this morning. Well worth the time to work you way through it. In particular you will note how DeYoung restates the author’s stated premise(s) (demonstrating respect for Bell and his ideas as well as good “listening” skills – both necessary in a discussion), evaluates the author’s evidence (in Bell’s case DeYoung notes the dearth of citations – biblical and historical), challenges the author’s arguments and throughout presents – and supports – an alternative theological point of view. DeYoung, not Bell, demonstrates the proper way to “do” theology.

Love Wins, by megachurch pastor Rob Bell, is, as the subtitle suggests, “a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived.” Here’s the gist: Hell is what we create for ourselves when we reject God’s love. Hell is both a present reality for those who resist God and a future reality for those who die unready for God’s love. Hell is what we make of heaven when we cannot accept the good news of God’s forgiveness and mercy. But hell is not forever. God will have his way. How can his good purposes fail? Every sinner will turn to God and realize he has already been reconciled to God, in this life or in the next. There will be no eternal conscious torment. God says no to injustice in the age to come, but he does not pour out wrath (we bring the temporary suffering upon ourselves), and he certainly does not punish for eternity. In the end, love wins.

Bell correctly notes (many times) that God is love. He also observes that Jesus is Jewish, the resurrection is important, and the phrase “personal relationship with God” is not in the Bible. He usually makes his argument by referencing Scripture. He is easy to read and obviously feels very deeply for those who have been wronged or seem to be on the outside looking in.

Unfortunately, beyond this, there are dozens of problems with Love Wins. The theology is heterodox. The history is inaccurate. The impact on souls is devastating. And the use of Scripture is indefensible. Worst of all, Love Wins demeans the cross and misrepresents God’s character.

Read the rest.

CNN reports that Bell’s new book, “Love Wins,” was central to the decision made by Zondervan Publishing to part company with Bell. Mark Tauber, Sr. VP and Publisher at HarperOne (Bell’s new publisher) said,

The break with Zondervan was amicable. In the end the president of Zondervan made the decision. The proposal came in and they said, “this proposal (for “Love Wins”) doesn’t fit with our mission.”

And, what is Zondervan’s mission?

To be the leader in Christian communications meeting the needs of people with resources that glorify Jesus Christ and promote biblical principles.

Quite a statement about the theology of the book, yes?

I applaud Zondervan for taking a principled stand with the full knowlege of the massive financial hit they’d take by parting ways with Rob Bell.

Rob Bell has been in the news quite a bit lately. And for good reason. Bell, who many of you may know through his Nooma videos, has written a new book entitled, “Love Wins.” Nice title. Of course, Bell often has nice titles, “Velvet Elvis” being another. Sadly, though, his theology – suspect from the start – follows the well-worn path of other “emergent” leaders off the reservation. So, what’s the flap about? Well, Bell finally puts his cards on the table: he’s a universalist. And while I can find empathy for his empathy, I just don’t think the story he tells is better than the story Scripture tells.

Here’s a helpful review of the book by Tim Challies:

Questions matter. They can help you to grow deeper in your knowledge of the truth and your love for God—especially when you’re dealing with the harder doctrines of the Christian faith. But questions can also be used to obscure the truth. They can be used to lead away just as easily as they can be used to lead toward. Ask Eve.

Enter Rob Bell, a man who has spent much of the last seven years asking questions in his sometimes thought-provoking and often frustrating fashion. And when he’s done asking, no matter what answers he puts forward, it seems we’re only left with more questions.

Read the rest.

My goal every year is to read one book a week.  Once in a while I actually hit 52 books, most years, like this one, I don’t.  Actually, I didn’t come close this year checking in at 32 books read, not counting the Bible – which I think ought to be read in its entirety by every Christian, every year.  This was an odd year in that for various reasons I found myself re-reading some books that I’ve read previously.

What did you read this year?  Any surprises?  Any gems?

Bible and Commentaries
The Holy Bible (ESV) – it should go without saying that the Bible is at the top of every Christian’s reading list, but sadly, the American church is in the sad state of shape it’s in because it is often unsaid and, therefore, the Bible is unread. I read through the Bible in its entirety, once.

The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Pillar New Testament Commentary)
By Douglas Moo

The Message of Ephesians
By John Stott

God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul
By Gordon Fee

The Chronological Guide to the Bible
Thomas Nelson Publishing

Sociology/Culture
Solzhenitsyn Nobel Lecture
By Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Hooking Up
By Tom Wolfe

Signposts in a Strange Land: Essays
By Walker Percy

The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior
By Steven Garber

Real Politics: At the Center of Everyday Life
By Jean Bethke Elshtain

The World is Flat [updated and expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
By Thomas Friedman

History
The Apostolic Fathers
By Ed Mark Galli

The Teaching of The Twelve: Believing & Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community
By Tony Jones

The Calvinistic Methodist Fathers of Wales (Volume 1)
John Morgan Jones & William Morgan, translated by John Aaron

Devotional
All I Want Is You
By Sandy Millar

Biography
Pursued By God: The Amazing Life and Lasting Influence of John Calvin
By Chris Meehan

Wilberforce
By John Pollock

Theology
How to Think Theologically
By Howard Stone

Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
By N. T. Wright

Our Heavenly Father: Sermons on the Lord’s Prayer
By Helmut Thielicke

He Shines in All that’s Fair: Culture and Common Grace
By Richard Mouw

Real Christianity
By William Wilberforce

Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Ether Dogma or Disaster (or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe)
By Dorothy Sayers

The One, the Three and the Many (Bampton Lectures)
By Colin Gunton

Experiences of God
By Jurgen Multmann

Missiology
The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society
By Lesslie Newbigin

Christian Mission in the Modern World
By John Stott

General Interest
Paul and Me: Fifty-Three Years of Adventure and Misadventures with My Pal Paul Newman
By A. E. Hotchner

The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin
By Nigel Williamson

Riders of the Purple Sage
By Zane Grey

Bowdrie
By Louis L’Amour

Bowdrie’s Law
By Louis L’Amour

I ran across a fascinating article on Ray Fowler’s blog.  Seems as if the new Kindle software upgrade allows you to not only view your own highlights within the book you’re reading, but the highlights of others as well.  Using the feature Fowler compiled the most highlighted texts in both the Bible and the Koran.  Can you guess the most highlighted biblical texts?  Themes?

See the top Bible verses.

See the top Koran verses.

There’s been a spate of recent critiques of The Shack (three in the last week).  I wonder why?

Most interesting (to me) was Tim Keller’s article offering his impressions of the best-selling book.  Personally, I was pleased to find him articulate similar concerns I voiced when the book came out a couple of years ago.  While I certainly understand the pastoral attraction and emotional appeal of the book, the underlying theology and the soft, cuddly, non-crunchy God who, perhaps, comforts but cannot save, left me disappointed.  So, here’s a snip of what Keller had to say.  By the way, note that Keller references a recent “devastating” review of the book to which I’ve linked – and below I link to another recent review (27 Jan 2010) of The Shack by Al Mohler, and still further below, an older and exceptional critique written by Tim Challies.  Ok, back to Keller:

Over the holidays I read a good (and devastating) review of William P. (Paul) Young’s The Shack in the most recent print edition of Books and Culture: A Christian Review (Jan/Feb 2010.) It was a reminder that I was one of the last people on the planet not to have read the book. So I did. So why write a blog post about it? It had sold 7.2 million copies in a little over 2 years, by June of 2009. With those kinds of numbers, the book will certainly exert some influence over the popular religious imagination. So it warrants a response. This is not a review, but just some impressions.

Sprinkled throughout the book, Young’s story undermines a number of traditional Christian doctrines. Many have gotten involved in debates about Young’s theological beliefs, and I have my own strong concerns. But here is my main problem with the book. Anyone who is strongly influenced by the imaginative world of The Shack will be totally unprepared for the far more multi-dimensional and complex God that you actually meet when you read the Bible. In the prophets the reader will find a God who is constantly condemning and vowing judgment on his enemies, while the Persons of the Triune-God of The Shack repeatedly deny that sin is any offense to them. The reader of Psalm 119 is filled with delight at God’s statutes, decrees, and laws, yet the God of The Shack insists that he doesn’t give us any rules or even have any expectations of human beings. All he wants is relationship. The reader of the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Isaiah will learn that the holiness of God makes his immediate presence dangerous or fatal to us. Someone may counter (as Young seems to do, on p.192) that because of Jesus, God is now only a God of love, making all talk of holiness, wrath, and law obsolete. But when John, one of Jesus’ closest friends, long after the crucifixion sees the risen Christ in person on the isle of Patmos, John ‘fell at his feet as dead.’ (Rev.1:17.) The Shack effectively deconstructs the holiness and transcendence of God. It is simply not there. In its place is unconditional love, period. The God of The Shack has none of the balance and complexity of the Biblical God. Half a God is not God at all.

Read the rest

Mohler wrote this review last week.

Finally, another fine author, and contributor to The Gospel Coalition, Tim Challies has written a thorough and an exceptionally helpful critique of The Shack.  You may view it here.

R. Kent Hughes:

Gossip involves saying behind a person’s back what you would never say to his or her face.

Flattery means saying to a person’s face what you would never say behind his or her back.

Disciplines of a Godly Man, p. 139

A good book, good food, good drink and hunting – can Christmas get much better?

Having long past reached the age where I really “want” anything for Christmas I was delighted when friends gave me gifts this week inspired by conversations and circumstances.

The good book: A Hill on Which to Die by Judge Paul Presseler.  The book was a gift from my staff.  Paul Pressler was at the center of the biblical reclamation of the Southern Baptist Convention from the hands of liberal deconstructionists.  Turns out Dwight’s brother was a once-upon-a-time roommate of the Judge and so the book was inscribed with this note from the author: “To Rev Steve Wood – With deep appreciation for your stand for biblical truth in spite of the opposition.  2 Timothy 3.16-17.”

The good food: Backbone Perleau: Quite simply one of the best dinners I’ve ever eaten.  At our Alpha Overnight Jim Johnston and and I were comparing favorite recipes (all very unhealthy) and this was at the top of his list.  Last night, after our Church 101 class, Jim gave me container of backbone perleau which he’d made earlier in the evening.  Wow!

The good drink: Laphroaig.  Enough said – well, almost.  Laphroaig, along with Lagavulin and Talisker comprise my personal trinity of single-malt whisky’s.  While each is an Islay malt (I guess, technically, coming from the Isle of Skye, Talikser is not properly an Islay malt, though it has similar characteristics) Laprhroaig is the most bracing and explosive of the three.  I lift my glass to the clergy who gave me the bottle, thanks, boys (and thanks to Willi Stewart who introduced me to this fine single malt).

Camo & ammo.  Leave it to a southern woman to know what a guy would like for Christmas.  Liz Bailey, my Secret Santa, delivered the goods with a nice mossy oak breakup fleece and a box of .30-06 ammo.  Oh yeah, she also gave me an interesting little tool called, “butt out” – which is better left undescribed – although, interestingly, there is a video (an unpleasant video) of its applicable usage.

I set a goal this past year to read one book a week.  And, other than the two weeks in Anaheim I did ok maintaing that pace checking in at 48 books read (not counting the Bible – which I think ought to be read in its entirety (at a minimum) by every Christian, every year.  You’ll see comments on most books below.

Bible & Commentaries
The Holy Bible English Standard Version (ESV) – it should go without saying that the Bible is at the top of every Christian’s reading list, but sadly, the American church is in the sad state of shape it’s in because it is often unsaid and, therefore, the Bible is unread.  My goal was to read through the Bible three times this past year – I missed my goal, having read it through 2.5 times.
The Message of 1 Corinthians by David Prior
1 Corinthians by John Calvin
Colossians and Philemon by N.T. Wright
The Message of Colossians and Philemon by R.C. Lucas
On the New Testament (A Book You Will Actually Read) by Mark Driscoll
On the Old Testament (A Book You’ll Actually Read) by Mark Driscoll – both of these books by Mark Driscoll are well worth the read.  They’re short, to the point and very readable.

Sociology
The Way of Ignorance: And Other Essays by Wendell Berry – good book, provocative
Moral Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture by Christian Smith – one of the best books I’ve read.  Can be slow as the material is dense and I’m not a sociologist.

Philosophy/Theology
Longing to Know by Esther Lightcap Meek – another home run book.  Addresses in everyday language the question of how we know what we know.
Who Do You Say That I Am: Christology and the Church edited by Donald Armstrong – a nice collection of articles by various writers addressing the person and work of Christ.  Helpful for those seeking to understand the uniqueness of Christ in our age.
Household of God (Biblical Classics Library) by Lesslie Newbigin – One of my all time favorite books by one of my all time favorite authors.  This was about the 5^th time I’ve read this cover-to-cover.
The Heidelberg Catechism: A New Translation for the Twenty-first Century by Lee C. Barrett III – a nice update of a classic Reformation catechism.  Not worth the money, though – instead, go to the devotional section on this blog and read this year’s devotionals based on the Heidelberg Catechism
Kierkegaard for Beginners by Donald D. Palmer – an ok intro.  Accessible to the Average Joe who wants to know more about an interesting man.
Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions edited by Arthur G. Bennett – an all time favorite.  I’ve read this too many times to count.

Biography
John Calvin: A Heart For Devotion Doctrine & Doxology edited by Burk Parsons – well worth the money.
To Die Is Gain: The Triumph of John and Betty Stam by Mrs. Howard Taylor – interesting story told very tepidly.  Too bad.
Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist by Sam Storms – Good book for the thoughtful Christian wanting to integrate their Charismatic experience with sound theology.
The Yankee Years by Joe Torre – an interesting look into the life of one of the best managers in baseball.

Christianity and Culture
Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church by Michael Horton – Hit book of the year.  Very challenging to the American Christian world.  Must read.
Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church by Reggie McNeal – good intro to “missional church.”  Not much to offer, though, for those who’ve had some exposure to the theme.
No More Spectators: The 8 Life-Changing Values of Disciple Makers by Mark Nysewander – so unremarkable that I cannot even remember 1 life-changing value, let alone 8.
Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth by Jeffrey Satinover – A must read if you wish to engage the cultural question of homosexuality.
Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport: Making Connections in Today’s World by Richard J. Mouw – A bit disappointing.  I was hoping for something more substantial from such an intriguing title and a sharp author.
In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life by Sinclair Ferguson – High hopes based on other works by Ferguson were not met in this book.  It is a fine book, though, and worth reading.
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Timothy Keller – As usual, Keller shines in this book.  Well worth the money.
Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters by Timothy Keller – Very good book and analysis of cultural idolatry.
In the Footsteps of Paul by Ken Duncan – a photo journalistic book portraying images from Paul’s missionary journeys.  A very nice coffee table type book.

History
Note: Genghis Khan is one of my favorite historical figures.  His military accomplishments are unparalleled in history.  The Conn Iggulden books are historical fiction – exceptionally well written.
The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe by James Chambers
Mongol Warlords by David Nicolle – didn’t think to much of this book.  Perhaps it was because I’d read it late it the game on Genghis, but, actually, I don’t think it was well written book.
Genghis Khan: Life, Death, and Resurrection by John Man
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
Genghis: Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden
Genghis: Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden

With the 40^th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon walk I was intrigued by the men who traveled into space.  The Piers Bizony book was a nice treatment of the moon landing.  The Neil Armstrong book was a wonderful portrayal of a seminal figure in American history.  The book, “Magnificent Desolation”, about the life of Buzz Aldrin, was a dismal portrayal of a man whose life is aptly described in the title – don’t waste your money.
One Giant Leap: Apollo 11 Remembered by Piers Bizony
The Last Man on The Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in
Space by Donald A. Davis
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen
Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon by Ken Abraham

General Interest
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell – save your money, here’s the point: successful people are generally not self-made men/women.  They are, in fact, often the beneficiaries of hidden advantageous, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies not generally available to the larger populace.  One interesting observation: it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice in your field to achieve excellence.
Rising from the Plains by John McPhee – on my all time favorite list.  An interesting integration of western geological formation with narrative.  A very good read.
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific  - Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel – fantastic book about a surprisingly interesting topic – also on my “glad to have read” list.
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson – now, my favorite Bryson book.
The Winners Manuel: For the Game of Life by Jim Tressel – good book on leadership and reproducing leaders.
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan – I saw the movie and had hoped the book would be better – it wasn’t.

Note: When I travel – and only when I travel – I read Louis L’Amour books.  He is one of my favorite storytellers and I love the Southwest/High Sierra states.
High Lonesome by Louis L’Amour
Radigan by Louis L’Amour
Under the Sweetwater Rim by Louis L’Amour
The Trail To Crazy Man by Louis L’Amour