Book Reviews -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Michigan Theological Journal
Volume: MTJ 04:1 (Spring 1993)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous


Book Reviews

Donald A. Spencer, Hymn and Scripture Selection Guide: A Cross-Reference Tool for Worship Leaders. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1993. 315 pp. Cloth-bound.

Pastors, have you ever struggled to find just the right hymn to and a service or one which is suitable to your sermons text? Worship leaders, have you ever been asked to “put the rest of the service together” after only receiving a text or a topic? Donald Spencer has provided an invaluable tool for busy pastors who don’t have the time to scrutinize the hymnbook but desire to select appropriate hymns for the sermon and for worship leaders who desire to order a worship service around a particular text or topic.

Spencer has analyzed each of the the 432 hymns in this book into four different sections. In the first section there is an alphabetical listing of each hymn along with Scripture passages that are directly related to that hymn. Also included in this listing is a brief phrase describing the subject of each hymn. The second section is a listing of 14,137 Scriptural passages in their biblical order. The third section is a topical index with 2562 topical references. The fourth section is a simple alphabetical listing without any further notations.

This reviewer appreciates the hard work put into the book and the ease with which it can be used. He only wishes that there could have been more hymns included in the analysis. Anyone involved in the planning of a worship service will find this a valuable tool.

Robert G. Winter
Michigan Theological Society

Larry Dixon, The other Side of the Good News: Confronting the Contemporary Challenges to Jesus Teaching on Hell. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1992. 216 pp. Paperback.

Dixon, an associate professor at Providence College in Manitoba, Canada, has succeeded in producing a truly readable book about the negative side of the hereafter. The book is comprised of six chapters. The first chapter raises the need for the study and highlights the importance of the biblical doctrine of hell. The second chapter discounts the various theories of universalism with their respective imbalances as to the character of God and the nature of salvation. The third chapter provides an exceptional and understandable critique of annihilationism, including some of the modern proponents of that position. The fourth chapter broaches the subject of the finality of death, discounting any theories of post-mortem salvation. The fifth chapter is a non-technical examination of Jesus’ teaching concerning hell, concluding that Jesus did indeed teach a literal hell, the various figures of speech nothwithstanding. The sixth and final chapter s...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()