New Books To Know About
By Matthew Barrett–
Carl Trueman. The Creedal Imperative. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012.
“No creed but the Bible” is a very popular slogan in many churches in the twenty-first century. Christians who adopt such a view typically misunderstand sola Scriptura in serious ways, and instead their view looks more like solo Scriptura. Trueman’s new book makes the case that such a view is unbiblical. He seeks to show why creeds and confessions are not only important but necessary as well. He also explores what the role of creeds and confessions should be in the church today. Here are some commendations:
“It is commonplace among many church leaders to dispute the need for confessions of faith on the grounds of the supreme authority of the Bible. In this timely book, Trueman demonstrates effectively how such claims are untenable. We all have creeds—the Bible itself requires them—but some are unwritten, not open to public accountability, and the consequences can be damaging. Trueman’s case deserves the widest possible hearing.”
—Robert Letham, Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Systematic and Historical Theology, Wales Evangelical School of Theology; author, The Holy Trinity and Union with Christ
“This is an engrossing survey, sparklingly contemporary yet eruditely historical. But it is also an urgent wake-up call, which, if heeded, would deliver Evangelicalism from its current isolation, shallowness, and confusion—and from the autocracy of private empire-builders. Informative, readable, and stimulating all at once.”
—Donald Macleod, Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology, Free Church of Scotland College
G. K. Beale. Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.
Did you enjoy Beale’s New Testament Biblical Theology? If so, you will be eager to pick up this new book by Beale as well as he lays out the methodology he used in his New Testament Biblical Theology. He writes in the Preface, “I have come to realize that no existing book primarily aims to set forth an approach to interpret OT citations and allusions in the NT. Therefore, seeing this need, I have tried to fill that gap with this handbook on the subject. The purpose of this book is to provide pastors, students, and other serious readers of Scripture with a how-to approach for interpreting the use of the OT in the NT. I hope that scholars will also find the book helpful.”
Gabriel N. E. Fluhrer. Solid Ground: The Inerrant Word of God in an Errant World. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2012.
This book is a collection of chapters by a host of different evangelicals defending the doctrine of inerrancy. The chapters are drawn from addresses presented at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology from 1975-2007. Contributors include: James M. Boice, Edmund P. Clowney, Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, J. I. Packer, Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, R. C. Sproul. The book looks to be a very helpful resource for those in the church.
W. Robert Godfrey. A Survey of Church History. Part 1: AD 100-600. Ligonier Ministries, 2012.
The DVD teaching series that Ligonier produces are professionally done and great resources for those in the church. I have previously commended two previous teaching series on the Reformation here. In this new release, W. Robert Godfrey walks us through the first six centuries of the church, introducing us to the major figures, controversies, and doctrinal issues of the time. I imagine Part 2 will follow in the near future. Here is the Introductory lecture to Part 1.
Andrew G. Shead. A Mouth Full of Fire: The Word of God in the Words of Jeremiah (New Studies in Biblical Theology)
Here is the newest release in Carson’s New Studies in Biblical Theology series. Here is the description from IVP:
“I am putting my words as a fire in your mouth; these people are tinder and it will consume them.” (Jeremiah 5:14) In the book of Jeremiah, not only is the vocabulary of “word” and “words” uniquely prevalent, but formulae marking divine speech also play an unprecedented role in giving the book’s final form its narrative and theological shape. Indeed, “the word of the Lord” is arguably the main character, and a theology that is both distinctive and powerful can be seen to emerge from the unfolding narrative.
In this stimulating study, Andrew Shead examines Jeremiah’s use of word language; the prophet’s formation as an embodiment of the word of God; his covenant preaching and the crisis it precipitates concerning the recognition of true prophecy; and, in the “oracles of hope,” how the power of the word of God is finally made manifest.
Shead then brings this reading of Jeremiah to bear on some issues in contemporary theology, including the problem of divine agency and the doctrine of Scripture, and concludes by engaging Jeremiah’s doctrine of the Word of God in conversation with Karl Barth. The prophet’s major contribution emerges from his careful differentiation of “word” and “words.”
Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at California Baptist University (OPS). He is also the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals, and he is the editor of Whomever He Wills: A Surprising Display of Sovereign Mercy, as well as the author of several other forthcoming books.
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