books on the Bible

In light of Primer Issue 01’s focus on the doctrine of Scripture, here’s an annotated list of recent books on the Bible, from the basic to the more stretching.  

Primer itself is written for pastors.  The first four of these books would be great to give to anyone interested, the first couple are especially suited to read and give away, the third and fourth great to recommend to believers. The last three would be a great help for pastors to dig deeper…

Andrew Wilson. Unbreakable: What the Son of God Said About the Word of God. 10Publishing, 2014. (78 pages)

-         A nice compact version of the argument John Wenham made years ago (see his Christ and the Bible): the best way for Christians to know how they should treat the Bible is to see how Jesus treated his Scriptures. Admirably draws out quite a full doctrine of Scripture from Jesus’ teaching: the Bible is clear, authoritative, coherent, sufficient and so on.

Barry Cooper. Can I Really Trust the Bible? The Good Book Company, 2014.

-         Similar length to Andrew’s (81 pages), but broader in scope. Starts where Andrew does with Jesus’ view of Scripture, and branches out to look at questions around the formation of the canon, the transmission of Scripture etc. Lots of fantastic little asides on questions people ask/objections they raise.

Kevin DeYoung. Taking God at His Word. Nottingham: IVP, 2014.

-         Like Andrew, Kevin works through the attributes of Scripture: it is authoritative, sufficient, clear. The differences are: this one is more in depth (138 pages) and aims to see what the whole Bible says about the Bible, rather than simply what Jesus says about the Bible. Less suitable for non-Christians, ideal for Christians who enjoy a read.

Michael Ovey and Daniel Strange. Confident: Why We Can Trust the Bible. Christian Focus Publications, 2015. 

-         A book of two halves: The first half (Dan) has some very helpful reflections and ideas on how to make an authoritative Bible plausible and appealing in a sceptical culture. The second half (Mike) carefully meditates on the Gospels and what they reveal both about God’s word and about human nature and our posture towards Scripture. That is, if Andrew shows us what Jesus says about the Bible, Mike adds in what Jesus says about us. The result is that we are rightly encouraged to be more self-suspicious and humble before God’s word.

Ward, Timothy. Words of Life: Scripture as the Living and Active Word of God. Nottingham: IVP, 2009 (186 pages).

-         Tim’s book gets round to the attributes of Scripture (ch3) but starts by thinking about the foundational role God’s word plays in salvation history (ch1) and by arguing that the Bible is best seen as God at work, it is his speech-act (ch2). The pay-off is that the attributes of Scripture become inevitable: God’s word is true, coherent, authoritative and clear because God doesn’t lie or contradict himself but is the sovereign Lord who communicates perfectly.

Frame, John M. The Doctrine of the Word of God. Phillipsburg, N.J: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2010.

-        Kevin de Young describes this as beginner level (unusual for a book that is 684 pages long!). Mike and Dan put it in the advanced category. They’re both right in a way. Frame writes beautifully clear books, but the size and some of the detail and quirks are more stretching, so it’s probably somewhere in the middle along with Tim Ward.  Comprehensive and comprehendable. Definitely one for the pastors shelf.

Coming soon:

Don Carson ed., The Enduring Authority of the Scriptures. (1256 pages)

-         Take John Frame, double it, and you have this book, coming out in April 2016.

According to the blurb: In this volume thirty-seven first-rate evangelical scholars present a thorough study of biblical authority and a full range of issues connected to it. Recognizing that Scripture and its authority are now being both challenged and defended with renewed vigor, editor D. A. Carson assigned the topics that these select scholars address in the book. After an introduction by Carson to the many facets of the current discussion, the contributors present robust essays on relevant historical, biblical, theological, philosophical, epistemological, and comparative-religions topics. To conclude, Carson answers a number of frequently asked questions about the nature of Scripture, cross-referencing these FAQs to the preceding chapters.

You can browse much of the book here. The FAQ, starting at page  1157(!), looks terrific.

Preaching in step with the Spirit: Spurgeon on how not to be boring.

“The surest way to maintain variety is to keep to the mind of the Holy Spirit in the particular passage under consideration. No two texts are exactly similar; something in the connection or drift of the passage gives to each apparently identical text a shade of difference. Keep to the Spirit’s track and you will never repeat yourself or be short of matter; his paths drop fatness.”

From Lecture 5 of Lectures to My Students.

The tyranny of the dominant theme

There is a fascinating moment in Don Carson’s commentary on John’s Gospel (pp 439-440). While discussing the mention in 12:27 that Jesus’ “soul is troubled” by the prospect of the cross, he gives a writer called Nicholson a bit of a spanking.

Nicholson, you see, is convinced that John’s portrayal of Jesus emphasises how intent Jesus was to go to the cross. As a result he concludes that Jesus could not experience any anguish at the thought of what lies ahead, only determination to go through with it. And for that reason he suggests that Jesus’ heart is troubled not on his own account but because he is concerned over whether the disciples will stay firm.

“Methodologically” Carson says “Nicholson is aligning himself with those who establish a tyranny of the dominant theme.” That is, those who decide a biblical author has one major theme or perspective and then find ways to screen out contrary evidence or other themes. Hence the verdict: “Nicolson’s effort to establish a tyranny of the dominant fails to listen to the minor chords, and descends into reductionism.”

Critical scholars are often more explicit about this – and have ways of explaining the contrary evidence: either it’s traditional material that the author cites but doesn’t really agree with (why then, you have to ask, do they cite it?!), or has been inserted later by an editor with their own theological agenda. 

Evangelicals of course won’t adopt those approaches but I wonder if we aren’t still prone to impose the tyranny of the dominant theme. Emphasis on the main point of a sermon or the main purpose statement of a biblical book has brought a really helpful focus to many a preacher, myself included. Occasionally, though, that leads us with Nicholson to offer readings that are less plausible. More often it simply means that we are in danger of being reductionistic. There is a danger that we likewise fail to listen to or expound the minor chords.

one angle on pastoral ministry

Teaching John 10 the other day I was reminded of an old training session I ran on the importance of Bible teaching and leadership to the church.

To make that point I laid out the theme of shepherds and sheep and came up with a spin on the Two Ways to Live diagram which looked a bit like this:

two ways to graze

Working through that for a moment…                                         

      1.      God gave shepherds to his people Israel. Moses (M) and Aaron were shepherds who cared for the flock and taught them God’s ways. (Numbers 27:17, Psalm 77:20).

 

      2.      Moses’ prayer for the people was that Joshua and others would continue to serve as shepherds for the people so that they would not be “sheep without a shepherd.” Tragically the rest of Israel’s history is a crisis of leadership as they constantly find themselves with absentee or wicked shepherds who feed on the sheep rather feeding them. For their part the sheep wander and stray. (Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 10:21, 23:1, 50:6, Ezekiel 34:1-10, Zechariah 11)           

 

      3.      In light of this God promises to send a shepherd – a Davidic shepherd – and indeed to come himself to be the shepherd of his people. When he does the injured will be healed, the strays will be found. (Ezekiel 34, Isaiah 40:10-12, Jeremiah 31:10, Micah 2:12-13, 5:4-5).

 

      4.      Jesus comes as the shepherd, a Davidic shepherd king, God himself in fact, to rescue and gather the sheep, calling them by name and laying down his life for his sheep. (John 10, Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 2:25, Zechariah 13:7 as picked up by the gospels).

      5.      Until his return he has appointed under-shepherds who are to care for his sheep, to feed them and care for them with the same gentleness and care that Jesus does. He is the chief-shepherd, they are his sheep, but church elders serve under him to care for a feed the flock. (John 21:15-19, 1 Peter 5:1-4).

      

      6.      One day we will be with our chief shepherd. We will enjoy his provision fully and forever – pasture and protection and provision. The lamb at the centre of the throne will be our shepherd. (Rev 7:17).

Two things struck me afresh looking through that:

First: what an awesome responsibility and calling it is to be an under-shepherd. Shall we run through that line of succession again? Moses, Joshua, God himself in the person of the shepherd king Jesus, and then the local church elder.  

Second: the model for our pastoral care must be the true shepherd who gives his life for the sheep and not the false shepherds who feed off the sheep and use their power to pursue greed, to indulge their desires and satisfy their needs for attention and prestige and power.