Book Reviews - Dene's Blog

Book Review: The Jesus Legend, A Case for the Historical Reliability for the Synoptic Jesus Tradition by Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd

9/6/2025 0 Comments

Don't run away because of the title of this book. The authors do believe that Jesus existed and was the Son of God. The aim of authors Eddy and Boyd is to carefully study and ultimately call into question those who do not believe Jesus was the Son of God, or that he even existed. In order to do so, they very carefully distance themselves from their faith most of the way through the book in order to make their treatise as academic as possible. Be aware that this is a scholarly treatise. It is not easy to read, but if you are reasonably intelligent, as I believe my readers are, you can understand it and come away more assured about your own faith.

The first chapter is nearly interminable. Don't run away from that either. Just read a section or two at a time, keeping a dictionary handy. The authors are setting forth not only what they are investigating, but also how they plan to do it. That part does get a little tedious, but I am not sure you will understand what you are reading if you skip it. Once you are past that, it goes much more quickly. In fact, the last half of the book is a breeze after that.

The scholars the authors are speaking about say they are using the "historical-critical" method, which includes a naturalistic (no miracles allowed) approach to everything. Eddy and Boyd show how this method is nothing more than post-Gutenberg Western Academia blowing their own horn as the only ones who are doing it right. They are charged with chronocentrism, ethnocentrism and circular reasoning. "When nothing is allowed to count as evidence against a presupposition, and when nothing is allowed to call into question one's metaphysical commitments, the commitment to the presupposition is, for all intents and purposes, a religious commitment to a dogma…This hardly seems consistent with a discipline that calls itself 'critical' and strives to be…objective and unbiased…in its assessment of evidence." The authors then advocate an "open" historical-critical method, which they believe is much more fair and includes the humility to recognize that they are not the only intelligent ones out there. More than once, Western Academia is scolded for its arrogance. Some of the arguments made by these people to "prove" that the Gospels are no more than myth even I can answer. The fact that Jesus' sermons on the same topic are often "different" in each gospel? I am married to a preacher. He often preaches the same sermons again and again, but he does not use exactly the same words. It depends upon the audience for one thing, and anyone telling the same story more than once will use different words with each telling. It is not a rote performance.

The authors answer every objection these scholars make in their own very scholarly way. At the end, they don their theological hats for a final brief moment and say, "the Holy Spirit, personal commitment, and covenant trust must carry one the rest of the way. If this work has, to any extent helped to clarify the solid historical grounds for this faith response, it has served its purpose." I think it does exactly that.

The Jesus Legend is published by Baker Academics and is also available on Kindle.

Dene Ward

Book Review: Seriously Dangerous Religion

8/4/2025 0 Comments

Let me warn you from the outset—reading this book is a project if you are not a scholar. Having said that, I managed to get through it without too much trouble, and learned some things as well, even though I am not a scholar. It seems to me that this scholar does his best to make this book and its thoughts as accessible as possible for most people.
            The greatest thing this book did for me was to compare biblical faith with other faiths. If you have heard all your life, "We all worship the same God," the author will prove to you that is not so. He goes through many different faiths examining and comparing their "story" as he calls it with the Old Story, the Old Testament, and you will come away knowing that the God you worship is most definitely not The Great Spirit or Allah or any other of the various "gods" based upon their exhibited character, actions, and spoken words.
            He also takes several of the great questions of life and examines all of these religions by the answers they give. What is the world? Who is God? How should we relate to God? Why do evil and suffering exist in the world? In all the exploring you will come away knowing more than ever that our Old Story is the true one, the only one that makes sense.
            If you decide you want to give it a try, do not despair when you pick it up and see how thick it is. The last third is footnotes (many certainly worth reading), bibliography, and various indices. I won't tell you that you will understand everything you read; neither did I. Still, I learned new things and now have a better handle on how to deal with other religions, and their followers. My advice? Read slowly and take notes. Then in a few months, read it again. You will understand more than you thought possible.
            Seriously Dangerous Religion is published by Baylor University Press. It is also available on Kindle.

Dene Ward

Book Review: Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament by Christopher J. H. Wright

7/7/2025 0 Comments

This is the third book in the series I have been reading. I had always known that the Spirit was mentioned in the Old Testament, but never realized how often, nor that there were enough passages to fill a book and even divide into topics.
            The author, Christopher J. H. Wright, covers the Holy Spirit as a creating agent (Gen 1:2, e.g.), as the one who empowers the people of God, especially leaders such as Moses, Saul, and David, as a prophetic spirit who inspires the prophets, and as an anointer. In each section, he fills the pages with more scriptures than you would typically hear in one sermon.
            The last section, on the coming Spirit, leaves me a little unsettled, not certain if what I am hearing is truth stated a little differently than I usually hear or perhaps a few things that might not be truth at all. Be careful there. But the rest of the book is one huge education in the work of the Holy Spirit all the way back to the beginning. As with the others in this series, the author has some strong words for those who would take advantage of people with their unsound use of the scriptures, a refreshing change from many theological books.
            This book is published by the InterVarsity Press, and is also available in a three in one volume, which could save you some money. It is also available on Kindle.

Dene Ward

Book Review: Knowing God the Father through the Old Testament by Christopher J. H. Wright

6/2/2025 0 Comments

This is the second in the set of books on Knowing God written by this author. At first, you might be skeptical. I have heard more than once that the Fatherhood of God is only recognized in the New Testament. This book will completely undo that notion. While it is true that the Jews themselves seldom talked about the Fatherhood of God, the Old Testament itself does speak of God as the Father of the nation of Israel, especially in the Psalms and Prophets.
            Mr. Wright first tells us why the Jews did not often speak of this relationship and, given the cultures they were surrounded by, it certainly makes sense. I won't give it away. But then he takes us through the scriptures one by one and shows that God did consider the nation Israel his "firstborn son" and he its Father, in passage after passage, beginning in Ex 4:22--Israel is my son, my firstborn. From there, he traces all the fatherly attributes of God--love, provision, grace, discipline--until we are virtually overwhelmed with the evidence in front of us. In fact, you might find yourself better able to see the traits of the Fatherhood of God from the Old Testament than the New by the time he is finished.
            I also heartily applaud the way he makes pertinent application and reprimands some of the modern evangelists who seem unable to use figurative language in an appropriate way or who dupe the innocent by their dogmas. He calls them out in no uncertain terms. Good for him.
            Knowing God the Father through the Old Testament is published by InterVarsity Press.

Dene Ward

Book Review: Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament by Christopher J. H. Wright

5/5/2025 0 Comments

I was not sure what to expect with this book. All I knew was that Keith kept exclaiming over it every other page or so when he read it. So I went in expecting great things. And found them.
            People have a habit of treating the Old Testament like it is passé and no longer useful. I know that I grew up hearing so often that it was no longer in effect that I wondered if we really needed to study it anymore. Others must have felt the same because, as a child, I remember men bringing "testaments" to church—small, slim editions of the New Testament only. Oh, and the Psalms too, which I could never figure out since they were in the Old Testament. A friend told me that when her husband preached in a church we will not name, that he was told not to preach any more lessons from "the Old Bible—we don't need it now." Thankfully, I have learned better and I hope the majority of the church has as well.
            This book kept amazing me. Mr. Wright starts in Matthew 1, and manages to cover most of the Old Testament in its first 17 verses. What?   In a genealogy? Trust me, it's there. We have just trained ourselves to ignore it.   As the author says, "…the Old Testament tells the story which Jesus completed. It declares the promise which he fulfilled. It provides the pictures and models which shaped his identity. It programmes a mission which he accepted and passed on. It teaches a moral orientation to God and the world which he endorsed, sharpened, and laid as the foundation for obedient discipleship." That statement summarizes the six chapters, all of which are lengthy, but handily divided into digestible sections.
            My favorite section was probably the one where he proves the Deity of Jesus—by using the Old Testament! It is far more obvious than just the well-known events of John 8 where Jesus ultimately declares, "Before Abraham was, I AM!" It becomes more and more apparent that Jesus very carefully chose his words and actions to parallel passages in the Old Testament that apply to God the Father in order to astound, and even appall, the religious leaders of his day. But then, as God, he had every right to.
            This book has two companions, one each for God and the Holy Spirit. I will let you know how those go too. This one has more than passed muster.
            Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament is published by InterVarsity Press.

Dene Ward

Book Review: God in the Dark—The Assurance of Faith Beyond a Shadow of Doubt by Os Guinness

4/9/2025 0 Comments

Some reviewers ask, "Why would you want to read a book about doubt?" I ask, why wouldn't you want to read such a book since we all have moments of doubt and feel guilty about it? When you finish this book you will understand that you are not alone and that doubt is not unbelief at all. Instead, it can lead to unbelief if it is not handled correctly, and what Christian would not want the remedy?
In this book, Guinness will describe several kinds of doubt. He is so good at this that you will instantly see one or more of the doubts that afflict you. In each case he tells us where the doubt comes from and a Biblical way to overcome it. More than once I experienced a "Well, duh…" moment. The remedy may also come from realizing exactly what it is we doubt—God's power or God's compassion, for example, not necessarily God Himself. We may actually be judging God in our moments of doubt. In all of these, we see ourselves and recognize the path to a surer faith almost as soon as it is defined. An axiom develops as well—feed your faith, not your doubt and you would be surprised how often we do just the opposite.
The Kindle version of God in the Dark that I read was published by Crossway Books.

Dene Ward

Book Review: Invitation to a Spiritual Revolution: Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Paul Earnhart

3/3/2025 0 Comments

            The world has cherry picked through this, the most challenging sermon Jesus ever preached, and turned it into a candy-coated religion. This book will help you feel the impact it must have had on the crowd who listened so long ago on that Galilean hillside. Far from preaching a health and wealth gospel, Jesus tells us that we have to completely empty ourselves, completely trust God for both our physical and spiritual welfare, and be ready to face disapproval and even persecution for doing it. He explains exactly what God's command to love Him and your neighbor means in terms of cost—everything! And it castigates those who would try to qualify these commandments in order to soften their demands.
            The book is laid out in short, easy to read and digest segments. In fact, it might be a good idea to read one at a time, or perhaps two or three that continue the subject at hand, and do some thinking before going on to the next. It certainly lends itself to that method. It could also make an excellent class study with thought questions and discussions, as well as other pertinent scriptures.
            Invitation to a Spiritual Revolution: Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, has been reprinted by DeWard Publishing Company.

Dene Ward

Book Review: The God of the Towel by Jim McGuiggan

1/31/2025 0 Comments

This book sat on my shelf for so many years that I forgot I owned it until one day I was looking for something to read. For a time there, every preacher had at least one sermon on John 13 and every meeting seemed to have two. I thought this was the source for those and I had already heard it about 2 dozen times in a dozen different ways. Boy, was I wrong. Boy, was I wrong!

TGOTT challenged me far more than the Philippians commentary I had started (a good one, too). First, he challenges our view of God and insists that we expand all that we thought of Him: God loves, God is Holy, God Forgives; but these qualities and others extend far above all that we might be able to ask or think.

Throughout, McGuiggan challenges us forcefully with, "So, now that you know, what will you do about it?" No, that statement is not in the book, but it expresses the challenge to comfortable churchgoing, respectable Christianity that we all need to step up to meet.

Chapter headings instruct us that our lives begin and breathe God:
The God Who Loves Humans
The God Who Died
The God Who Majors in Forgiveness
The God Who is Holy
The God Who Loves the Weak
The God Who Acquits Criminals
The God Who Wore a Towel
The God Who Made Yokes
The God Who Permits Suffering
The God Who Came Talking.

TGOTT is packed with scripture, and filled with lessons for everyday attitudes and actions.

It has changed some of my ways and will change more and has given me new expressions to teach old truths.

I wish I had read it sooner. It is still second best to his "Celebrating the Wrath of God," but challenges us on a broader scope.

Keith Ward

Book Review: The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation by Ferrell Jenkins

1/20/2025 0 Comments

Although it might have been popularized a little for the common man before publication, this was originally Ferrell Jenkins's Masters Thesis. In it he does a thorough job of showing us that any interpretation of this sometimes enigmatic book cannot be correct if one does not understand the Old Testament. Revelation contains, the author tells us, 348 quotations or allusions to the Old Testament taken from 24 books in that collection. How can anyone even hope to understand it if he does not realize this and begin by understanding those passages first?
            He then proves the apocalyptic nature of Revelation based upon the apocalyptic books in the Old Testament. After that he discusses the books that John's book refers to most often and how the figures in them were used and understood in their time. Then we see the description of Christ taken from Revelation chapter one and where those come from—the Old Testament! This moves us straight into the titles of Deity in the Old Testament and how they are all used of Jesus in Revelation. Finally we go through the imagery in the Old Testament that is used in Revelation, leading us to the inescapable conclusion that anyone who tries to interpret Revelation without knowing their Old Testament will more than likely get it completely wrong. And right there is the reason the world today comes up with so many fanciful or even absurd ideas when they talk about it.
            This book will not completely cover a study of Revelation—see a previous book review on The Lamb, the Woman, and the Dragon by Albertus Pieters for that—but it is an excellent place to start.
            The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation seems to be out of print. First, try calling the Florida College bookstore and see if they have any at all or any access to one, and at least give them a reason to think about a reprint from Florida College Press. You can also go online to used book sites. Be careful, though. Because it is out of print, many are charging in excess of $50 for a book of less than 150 pages. I did find a few on Goodreads for under $5.00. Also, there seem to be two different covers out there, one with a tree stump sprouting new growth and another with a menorah on the front. They are both the same book.

Dene Ward

A New Year's Challenge

1/6/2025 0 Comments

If you are a regular blog reader, you know that I post book reviews about once a month. Keith has been reading these sorts of things for nearly all our married life as part of his Bible study. He seldom has a book out without his Bible next to it. I decided that if he could handle this sort of reading so could I. However, I did ask for his recommendations. If a book is too heavily into theology and requires a dictionary as well as a Bible in order to understand it, it probably isn't meant to be helpful in a practical, daily way. Those I wanted to avoid. So he has passed along the ones he thought that not only I could read and benefit from, but things my readers could benefit from as well.
            In case something in you shies away from any reading except your Bible, please consider this. The Apostle Paul quotes the poet Aratus of Cilicia in Acts 17:28. He quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12. He quotes Menander, a comic poet (so he had a sense of humor, too) in 1 Cor 15:33: "Bad company corrupts good morals," which might actually have been a quote from a play by Euripides. These are not religious writings, but Paul was able to use them in that way and relate to people of all sorts of backgrounds with them. Yes, we must all be careful of bad influences and things that are just plain wrong. But it is foolish to ignore the things of our culture and somehow think we can refute them.
            So I would like to challenge you. Go to my book reviews category. Read through a few and pick two or three books to read this year. I believe I have given you enough information to make a good choice. Then go to the "Contact Dene" page and send me a thought or two about what you have read. Beginning about August or September, I will start rerunning the reviews of the books I have received the most comments on, copying and pasting your comments at the bottom. I hope this will encourage others to broaden their reading as well. Please give me an identifier of your choice which I will honor when I post your comments, perhaps a first name only, a set of initials, or something like, "Susan from Dallas." If you don't mind using your whole name, I will do that, but only if you say so.
            Believe me when I say that I am not trying to sell books. As the author of 7 or 8, I can tell you that no one writes religious books to make money. Generally you are lucky to break even. I tell you in each of my reviews how to get the book, the publisher and some outlets as well, and if you have a well-read preacher in your family, perhaps you can borrow some of them. Please help me make this an encouraging venture this year.

The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the books, especially the parchments. (2Tim 4:13). Even Paul traveled with books to read!

Dene Ward