Details: Written by: Dale Appleby; Created: 22 November 2014

Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible. DC Parker. The British Library/Hendrickson 2010. ISBN 9780712358033

One of the moving experiences I remember well is seeing Codex Sinaiticus in the British Library some years ago. What it is, why it is important, and how it got to the Library is told in this very interesting book.

In one way the book is the report and promotion of the collaboration of four groups in the research, and making available to the world, of Codex Sinaiticus. The project came together in 2005 when the Archbishop of Sinai, the British Library, the Leipzig Library and the National Library of Russia, St Petersburg agreed to collaborate in making their different portions of the Codex available to the world.

This book is a report of the collaboration and an introduction to the Digital Project which now has the whole of the Codex viewable by anyone with access the World Wide Web [codexsinaiticus.org].

Details: Written by: Steven Daly; Created: 22 November 2014

Essential reading for Essentials readers: Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need To Know, by J. I. Packer.

My title overstates my position. I do not think J. I. Packer’s new book is literally essential reading. Nevertheless, I would like to heartily encourage you to buy this little volume (totally 175 pages and 8 chapters) and read it carefully. It is wonderful little book and a great resource to have at hand.

J. I. Packer’s new book is several things at once, and it is hard to answer the question ‘what is this book about’ succinctly. In the Preface, the author tells us at some length that his book is about catechesis—“… intentional, orderly instruction in the truths that Christians are called to live by, linked with equally intentional and orderly instruction on how they are to do this.”

However, the book is not really about catechesis. The author does not provide us with a defence of catechesis as a teaching method in comparison with other teaching methods, nor even an outline as to how to conduct catechism classes. Indeed, beyond the Preface there is hardly any discussion of the concept of catechesis at all. I understand from others that catechism classes traditionally revolve around the memorization of answers to set questions, such that Christian doctrine is memorized and understood according to set wordings. But I have no direct experience of this myself—having been raised in a non-church family and having been discipled since conversion in churches that concentrated on small group Bible studies augmenting weekly expository Bible preaching sermons—so my questions about catechism, and its place in discipleship, were left largely unanswered.

Details: Written by: Neil Walthew; Created: 22 November 2014

Gps: God's Plan For Salvation
Allan Chapple Aquila Press 2014 ISBN 9781922000965
Reviewed by Neil Walthew

Allan Chapple's book, 'GPS - God's Plan for Salvation’ is a guidebook or map to the whole sweep of salvation history presented to us by God in both the Old and New Testaments. It is the product of many years of teaching the big picture of the Bible and as such is a very accessible book for the person who has never read the Old Testament in detail and who wants to know more so as to understand the New Testament better, through to the person who would want to use the book as a resource to teach others.

In the introduction Allan makes it clear that he sees the Bible's centre of attention is Jesus. The Bible is the word of God about the works of God. Three words to sum up the Bible are Creation, Covenant and Christ. So having set the centre, Allan's book now begins by taking the Old Testament, literally in your hands, and showing the relative parts that make up the Old Testament, later Allan will do the same with the New Testament. He then makes a simple diagram of the Old Testament using events around entering and leaving the land either from or to Babylon/Assyria and Egypt. The books of the Old Testament, significant Old Testament figures and dates are then placed on this diagram.

Details: Written by: Ben Underwood; Created: 22 November 2014

Christ Died For Our Sins
Edited by Michael R Stead ISBN 9781921577185
Barton Books, 2013
Reviewed by Ben Underwood

This book of essays on the atonement has been produced by the Doctrine Commission of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. As Philip Freier remarks in his introduction, 'The Doctrine Commission reflects the theological diversity of our church’ (2), and if that leads you to expect some theological tussling in the book, you would not be misled. However, in publishing these essays the Commission wishes firstly to highlight the unanimity shared by its members on substantial points regarding the atonement (2). And the points of agreement articulated are substantial: that the atonement is grounded in God's love, not his wrath; that Father and Son are united in the atonement; that sin makes the atonement necessary, that the atonement demonstrates God's justice; that it depends on more than Christ's death; that no single image is sufficient to encapsulate it (2-3). The commission wishes also to identify clearly points of difference and to model respectful dialogue over those differences (142).

The most contentious point is penal substitutionary atonement, the idea that Christ's suffering and death was our deserved punishment diverted onto him by God, and this disagreement is the subject of a dialogue between John Dunnill and Peter Adam in a dedicated chapter of the book. Aside from the debated differences over penal substitution, there are also conflicting views expressed about the universality of the benefits of Christ's atonement, and whether the wrath of God has any proper place in an account of God's action in the atonement.

Details: Written by: Marty Foord; Created: 02 October 2014

Marty Foord reviews Michael Bird's Evangelical Theology.Zondervan 2013. 912 pages. ISBN 0310494419
Michael Bird writes books faster than I can read them! In his latest publication, Evangelical Theology, Bird has turned from his usual work in NT studies to the discipline of systematic theology. It arrives amidst the release of several other significant systems of theology by the likes of Michael Horton (The Christian Faith), Gerald Bray (God is Love), and John Frame (Systematic Theology). Bray and Frame have produced their systems of theology late in their career, whereas Bird has authored his early on in his career.

Putting ‘Evangelical’ Back Into Theology

Why has Bird written Evangelical Theology? In his words, “I do not believe that there is yet a genuinely evangelical theology textbook” (11). Quite a claim! For Bird, a truly evangelical theology is one “that has its content, structure, and substance singularly determined by the evangel [Gospel]” (11). This is magnificent. Not only is it evangelical more importantly it is Scriptural. Bird’s desire for a Gospel-centred theology follows in the vein of the Gospel Coalition, recent theologians such as John Webster and Peter Jensen, and ultimately goes back to Martin Luther who said the Gospel is the “principal article of Christian teaching, in which the knowledge of all godliness is comprehended”.¹
But what, for Bird, characterises a Gospel-centred system of theology? He uses a five step method (81-82). Firstly, Bird provides a careful and helpful definition of the Gospel as the proper subject of theological prolegomena. Secondly, he seeks to show how the Gospel relates to the traditional topics in a system of theology. Thirdly, each of the major topics is then elucidated via a “creative dialogue between the sources of theology”, which he has defined as Scripture, tradition, nature, and experience (62-76). Next, the elucidated topic is then to be practically applied; the topic is to be lived out. And finally, the Christian is then encouraged to go back and follow the same five-step process in light of what has been learned by living out the doctrine.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible

Book Review: Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need To Know

Book Review: God's Plan For Salvation

Book Review: Christ Died For Our Sins

Evangelical Theology

Putting ‘Evangelical’ Back Into Theology

Another Reason to Keep on Preaching the Scriptures