Book Reviews -- By: Anonymous
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 136:542 (Apr 1979)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous
BSac 136:542 (Apr 79) p. 180
Book Reviews
The Charismatics. By John F. MacArthur, Jr. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. 224 pp. $7.95.
Covering almost the entire gamut of problems made current by the charismatic movement, the great strength of this book is its constant and recurring appeal to the Scriptures, rather than experience. The author, well-known pastor of the Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, displays not only deep loyalty to and careful interpretation of the Word of God but also Christian grace in this carefully reasoned work.
Beginning with the principal issue—is new revelation being given today?—he moves to the basic consideration that must guide all discussion, namely, hermeneutics. Then he deals with the issues of spiritual gifts, baptism of the Spirit, healing, tongues, and true spirituality. The book concludes with important and thoughtful questions to charismatics.
To the reviewer (admittedly a subjective evaluation), highlights of the book included the sections on hermeneutics, uniqueness of the apostles, the description of the church at Corinth, and tests of the filling of the Spirit. Throughout, however, the book demands that the reader interact with the biblical evidence which is always discussed within a proper doctrinal framework.
Again subjectively, this reviewer suggests (hesitantly, lest anyone infer from these suggestions that the book is in any way weak) that in another edition there be additional discussion of Hebrews 13:8; Matthew 8:17 (though there is a helpful footnote); and James 5:14–15.
Armed with this book and with one that deals wholly with the tongues question (which this one was not designed to do; e.g., Joseph Dillow, Speaking in Tongues), any believer would be able to answer biblically, intelligently, and adequately one of the most sidetracking movements of the present time.
C. C. Ryrie
BSac 136:542 (Apr 79) p. 181
Essentials of Evangelical Theology. Vol. 1. By Donald G. Bloesch. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1978. 265 pp. $12.95.
The professor of systematic theology at Dubuque Theological Seminary intends this and a subsequent volume to be a systematic theology enunciating the salient tenets of the evangelical faith. In this volume, the doctrines of God, authority, and salvation are treated. Bloesch claims to hold to the fundamentals of the faith but he admits diverging “from contemporary fundamentalism and evangelicalism wherever I have detected misunderstandings of the faith” (p. x). Many rea...
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