Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 28:76 (Spring 2024)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JODT 28:76 (Spring 2024) p. 67

Book Reviews

Fight the Good Fight: Reclaiming Biblical Fundamentalism, ed. Richard Bargas. Grand Rapids: IFCA Press, 2024. 129 pp., paper, $12.84.

The world needs more fundamentalists. The phrase might be shocking to many, considering how the world and other segments of Christianity usually speak in regards to fundamentalism. The assertion is true, however, and this book makes a powerful case for it in a brief and accessible way. In this book, the reader will find:

• helpful definitions that will seek to draw the reader to embrace biblical fundamentalism as opposed to cultural fundamentalism;
• a call to defend biblical truth and to be resolute with regard to theological fundamentals;
• helpful sketches of history from a number of aspects that reveal how the church got to where it is today and what is the pathway forward;
• a warning against always trying to find the middle ground;
• a call to forsake cultural fundamentalism, legalism, and unbiblical separation (i.e. the things that are typically imagined when thinking of fundamentalism); and,
• a call to the theological equipping of the church and a deepening of biblical literacy.

The church at large must embrace the principles of this book if believers are to continue to stand in an age when so many are misled and unsettled by every wind of doctrine and the cunning deceitfulness of mankind. The world needs more of this kind of fundamentalism.

— Kenn Chipchase
Pillar Fellowship (Jeffersonville, IN)

JODT 28:76 (Spring 2024) p. 68

A Biblical Case for Cessationism: Why the Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit Have Ended by Tom Pennington. Douglasville, GA: G3 Press, 2023. xiii + 184 pp., paper, $18.99.

As the title suggests, this book presents a case for “cessationism,” defined as “the Holy Spirit no longer sovereignly gives individual Christians the temporary sign gifts, also known as the miraculous gifts. . . . We do not believe that God is still speaking audibly as He did in the Old and New Testament eras. We also do not believe He is giving revelation through visions and dreams, or even prompting believers through inward impressions and feelings” (pp. 3, 19). Alternatively, continuationists “believe the miraculous gifts either continued unabated since the birth of the church at Pentecost or waned during most of the church age but were restored in the twentieth century” (p. 4).

Tom Pennington, pastor at Countryside Bible Church, actually broadened his scope to include the charismatic movement. The author aptly demonstrated that, regarding the miraculous sign gifts, such as tongues, healings, and mirac...