Book Reviews
My Book, Covenant and Commandment
I am pleased that my book, Covenant and Commandment: Works, Obedience, and Faithfulness in the Christian Life, has been published. This issue has been one I have been wrestling with for years. It has good to have it out, although I am certain I will continue to wrestle with the issue. At the heart of the book: I argue that works, obedience, and faithfulness are central to the Christian life. I affirm a traditional and reformational understanding of justification by faith alone. Indeed, I think--following fine thinkers like Henri Blocher and others--that it is only such an affirmation of sola fide that can most adequately ground and substantiate a proper understanding of the necessity of works, obedience, and faithfulness in the Christian life. If that intriques you, take up and read! The book is available at Amazon in the US here. It is available at Amazon in the UK here. You can read the heart of the Introduction here.
My book, Colin Gunton and the Failure of Augustine
I am happy to share that my new book (my dissertation) has now been published with Wipf and Stock. My book is titled Colin Gunton and the Failure of Augustine: The Theology of Colin Gunton in Light of Augustine. In this work I offer a summary and exposition of the thought of Colin Gunton, a prominent British theologian who--sadly--died young just a few years ago. I end up challenging Gunton's understanding of Augustine, so in that sense the monograph is a critique of Gunton. Nonetheless, I was shaped significantly by reading Gunton thoroughly, and I am thankful for his influence upon me. Wipf and Stock has been a joy to work with. I believe the book should be out in mid-2011 or so. Lewis Ayres was kind enough to write the Foreword.
Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy (US edition)
It was a pleasure to have my book, Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy: Engaging with Early and Medieval Theologians published with InterVarsity Press--United Kingdom. And now it is an honor that InterVarsity Press--US has decided to publish the book in the US. It is currently available for pre-order with Amazon. My goal in this book is to introduce readers to key early and medieval theologians (second to thirteenth centuries). Also, I have the goal of asking how evangelicals might benefit from understanding and reading these older theologians. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it.
My New Book, The Gospel and the Mind
At the risk of being self-aggrandizing, I am happy to share that my new book, The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life, will be published this November with Crossway. It is currently available for pre-order at Crossway's web page, and at Amazon. The book is centered in an observation and a question. The observation: wherever the gospel goes the academy follows. That is, there appears to be an inextricable link between the Christian gospel and the flowering of learning. The question: why? When the gospel takes hold in a culture, it inevitably leads to intellectual inquiry, the quest for truth, and a robust intellectual life. If this is true, we should expect that when the gospel loses sway in a culture there is an increased confusion about the possibility of knowledge, and about the importance or even possibility of a viable intellectual life.
Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy: Engaging with Early and Medieval Theologians
This book is scheduled to be published by InterVarsity Press-UK (United Kingdom) in June 2010 (http://www.ivpbooks.com/). I am contributing to and editing this volume, . . .
which consists of eight chapters which look at some of the central theologians of the ancient and medieval eras. While writing my dissertation--doing lots of reading of Augustine--I found that I was learning to think theologically by "watching" Augustine think theologically. From this experience of learning how to think theologically by reading Augustine came the idea for the book--a book that would look at key ancient and medieval theologians, and that might help readers to learn how to think theologically by seeing how key theologians think and theologize. I edited the volume and contributed the chapter on Augustine. Other contributors are Brian Shelton, Bryan Litfin, Gerald Bray, Carl Beckwith, Robert Letham, David Hogg and Mark Elliott. It is due out on June, and now shows up on Amazon.
"The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life"
The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life is my attempt to wrestle through the issues of the relationship between the Christian faith and the intellectual life. It is centered in an observation and a question. The observation: wherever the cross is planted the academy follows. The question: why?
Read more: "The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life"