Reviews

Reviewed by P. C. Kemeny, Biblical and Religious Studies, Grove City College Christian Smith, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame, is a prolific scholar. His works span a wide range of topics, including liberation theology…

Reviewed by Garrett Trott, Librarian, Corban University Abraham Kuyper’s understanding of life was flavored by the sovereignty of God. A statement he made at the inaugural convocation of the Free University summarizes it well: “In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which Christ, who alone is sovereign,…

Reviewed by Andrew F. Bush, Missiology and Anthropology, Eastern University Can the global Christian community, divided by its thousands of denominations and regional trends while also challenged by the increased vigor of other religions, be a source of healing to a world wracked by war, poverty, disease, and injustice? This daunting question is the basis…

Reviewed by James R. Skillen, Geology, Geography, and Environmental Studies, Calvin College Over the last 20 years, evangelical Christians in the United States have become increasingly active in national debates over environmental protection. From action to protect the federal Endangered Species Act from revision in the mid-1990s to the statement “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call…

Reviewed by Roger Ward, Philosophy, Georgetown College At first glance this text seems eclectic. Fiddes places critical post-modern philosophy in conversation with Christian doctrine and uses both as a basis for a constructive theology that incorporates the wisdom literature in Ancient Israel. According to Fiddes, our contemporary setting, which he describes as the late-modern context,…

Reviewed by Tracy J. Trothen, Religion, Queen’s University In this very effective and much-needed book, religious studies scholar Rebecca Alpert convincingly argues that religion must be part of the interdisciplinary sports conversation. Through a case study exploration of what she calls “the interconnections” between sports and religion, Alpert aims to introduce students to the growing…

Reviewed by Ryan McIlhenny, History, Providence Christian College Within the last few decades Christian intellectuals have spent many a conference paper and journal article articulating the relationship between their faith and their professional work as scholars. While I enjoy the occasional rehearsal, I find myself, as a historian, more often bored with the question almost…

Reviewed by John W. Hawthorne, Sociology, Spring Arbor University As a sociology professor and administrator serving several Christian universities over the last three decades plus, I have been fascinated at how institutional ethos varies from school to school. A university may be celebrating a centennial, yet the hiring of people who “fit,” the priorities placed…

Reviewed by Kristina M. Kays, Psychology, George Fox University Paul Moes and Donald J. Tellinghuisen present the value of exploring psychology through five theological lenses. These respected Calvin College psychology faculty suggest that human nature is best understood through an analysis which combines theological underpinnings and psychological assumptions. Exploring Psychology and Christian Faith: An Introductory…

Reviewed by Debra Paxton-Buursma, Education, Calvin College Everyone loves stories of transformation, especially when recounting crisis-creating contingencies that line the fabric of life. Despite human capacity and faith-filled living, change and loss lodge in our lives threatening the stability of our core beliefs, logic, and practices. When crisis hits, we often find the doctrine of…

Reviewed by Cody R. Hawley, Communication, University of South Florida When George Gallup dubbed 1976 the year of the evangelical, he foreshadowed and promoted an increased evangelical involvement in politics. Jimmy Carter, with casual talk of his born-again faith, established its relevance in the public mind and reporters were often scrambling to understand this apparent…

Reviewed by Karen D. Youmans, University Honors Program, Oklahoma City University The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) of Jacobus de Voragine, while not always revered for its artistry, stands unquestioned as one of the single most influential literary works of the late medieval period. Completed sometime between 1260 and 1298, the year of the Dominican friar’s…

Reviewed by Daniel R. Miller, History, Calvin College This is a book about voices crying in the wilderness. It describes “progressive evangelicals,” more specifically a small but vocal group of writers and academics and popularizers such as Jim Wallis, James Skillen, Tony Campolo, John Anderson, and others who promoted their ideas in publications such as…

Reviewed by Jonathan Huggins, Chaplain, Berry College Kevin Vanhoozer is Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. His 2006 book, The Drama of Doctrine, was a well-received articulation of Christian theology that made use of the theatre as a controlling metaphor. That work was written for academic theologians and…

Reviewed by Kelly M. Kapic, Theological Studies, Covenant College How should one react to the following claims? “Jesus was an ingrate” (68); or “‘ingratitude’ is one of Christianity’s great contributions to Western civilization, precisely the contribution Christianity made to the formation of modernity” (225). Such lines, scattered through this volume, may strike the reader as…

Reviewed by Kent Dunnington, Philosophy and Religion, Greenville College The ideas in God and the Multiverse are important for thinking Christians to consider, but this book is written at a high level of specialization and picks up in the middle of a scholarly conversation. The conversation is about whether we have good reasons to think…

Reviewed by Gregory S. MaGee, Biblical Studies, Taylor University Richard Hays, Dean of Duke Divinity School, has a long track record of thinking creatively about the Apostle Paul’s appropriation of the Old Testament in his writings. In his latest book, Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness, Hays explores similar tendencies among the…

Reviewed By Henry Hyunsuk Kim, Sociology and Anthropology, Wheaton College Most people regardless of their religious affiliations are familiar with aphorisms such as “the giver is more blessed than the receiver” and “it is better to give than to receive.” Perhaps for some persons whether biblical exegesis or eisegesis was employed is a salient issue.…

Reviewed by Chris Willerton, Language and Literature, Abilene Christian University Lundin’s Beginning with the Word will serve both experienced and less-experienced readers who work at connecting modern literature and theology with modern theories of art, language, and culture. Lundin links theorists like Ferdinand de Saussure, Jean-François Lyotard, and Hans-Georg Gadamer with writers such as Frederick…

Reviewed by Dennis L. Sansom, Philosophy, Samford University R. Scott Smith primarily argues that the supposed fact-value split (that is, between scientific truths and religious-ethical truths) is philosophically unfounded because it rests on the mistaken notion that we do not have direct cognitive access to reality. Consequently, the many ethical theories and approaches that presume…