Book Briefs -- By: Jonathan Armstrong
Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 13:4 (Fall 2004)
Article: Book Briefs
Author: Jonathan Armstrong
RAR 13:4 (Fall 2004) p. 211
Book Briefs
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought Robert Louis Wilken New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press (2003) 368 pages, cloth, $32.00
Rarely does a book of such scholarship deliver such a clear (and profitable message to both scholars and ordinary readers. This new book, by the author of the most important earlier work, The Christians As the Romans Saw Them, is a rich and well-argued interpretation of the Christian faith as seen through the minds of early church theologians, bishops and hymn writers. It is not a history, in Wilken’s own words, but an argument about how the early church’s mind worked.
Wilken examines everything from icons to poetry. He correctly keeps his lens on Christ and the Trinity as the central theological focus of the early church. How did these early believers construct a new world, both intellectually and spiritually, morally and theologically? Wilken’s answer will inform, inspire and energize you. Every thoughtful Christian will profit. Robert Louis Wilken is a preeminent early church historian who teaches the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia.
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Diary Of Rivival: The Outbreak Of The 1904 Welsh Awakening Kevin Adams Nashville: Broadman & Holman (2004) 176 pages, paper, $14.99
A century ago, in October 1904, a season of powerful revival touched the little nation of Wales. From very small beginnings in a southern Welsh village this revival spread across the world touching multitudes. The story is told in this new work by a Welsh pastor who has spent several decades researching his subject. Adams is both a historian and an advocate for revival. This warmly-written and easy-to-read work will excite those who pray for such awakening in our time. Recommended both for intercessors for, and students of, revival.
Beyond The Bible: Moving From Scripture To Theology I. Howard Marshall
Grand Rapids: Baker (2004) 136 pages, paper, $13.99
What happens when a premier New Testament exegete seeks to answer the question of how you get from the “then” of the biblical text to the “now” of the listening church of today? The answer is provided in this provocative little book by I. Howard Marshall, one of the most respected evangelical scholars of our time. Marshall develops his approach in 79 pages. A response, in two following essays, is given by
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two equally serious New Testament scholars, Kevin J. Van-hoozer and Stanley E. Porter.
Marshall seeks to develop a hermeneutical way between liberal and...
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