2018ish-2019

More Recent Books Appear At The Top

Finished December 15th. 

I love this series.  I need to read more fiction to maintain a passion for reading nonfiction. I've been reading this series at a rate of 1 book per year. For once, I immediately began book 6. No more non-fiction until 2020!
Finishes December 10th.

Not bad. Budziszewski's knowledge of the history of Western Philosophy is great. His biblical treatment lacks a cogent discussion on the noetic effects of sin, though.
Finishes December 5th.

Not a bad textbook. Rae's strengths are in bioethics. His weakness might be that format in which scripture appears to be attended to after a Natural Theology of some stripe.
Finished November 30th.

Like Rawl's, Gewirth assumes too much. I'm shocked that someone who fought in WW2 would have as positive a view of humanity as him. Gewirth's reasoning isn't without merit, but it is without objective grounding.
Finished November 20th.

This was a difficult read. The Mcat series was a helpful cliff note to understand Rawls. Rawl's greatest weakness is his epistemology. He assumes too much.
Finished November 15th.

If I could summarize the thesis of this book into one sentence, "we must train the few to reach the many."
Finished November 10th. 

A great read. I see this book being used best for discipling new believers.
Finished November 7th.

A great little read on the relationship between the church and state. Sproul continues to impress him in his ability to lift his pen before saying too much.
Finished November 5th.

His essays and case studies are interesting, but his ethics are bankrupt. He argues for both giving chickens personal pronouns and killing babies.
Finished November 1st.

This pairs well with his "Can I be Sure I'm Saved?" booklet. Excellent, concise, and lucid.
Finished October 30th.

I'm prepping for a D-NOW on the topic. This is a great booklet.
Finished October 23rd. 

"If Christ is not Lord of all, he is not Lord, at all." This was just one of these Tozer gems. I loved the book. It was a great read and more applicable to modern day trends than I was expecting.
Finished October 20th.
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Helpful for German phrases. I used it as a supplement to my current theological German class.
Finished October 17th.

This was a great book. Well written, easy to read and deep.​
Finished October 10th.

Meh. I wouldn't recommend it. There are better books on the subject.
Finished September 30th. 

A great short book on the subject. Not the best, but among the honorable mentions that I would still recommend for someone not desiring the overly technical exegesis.
Finished September 25th. 
Finished September 17th.

I don't read enough on parenting. Another great short and solid book. This is probably one of the better installments of the series.
Finished September 12th.

Solid and short. I think I'll pick up Russell Moore's longer "Adopted for Life," soon.
Finished September 8th.

Currently, this is the best book on the subject. Where is shows an absence for the gospel I recommend Andrew Walker's book as a companion volume.
Finished September 3rd.

This books provides great evidence that pastors can and should be models for adoption. I picked it up after my wife recommended it. We are not in the process of becoming foster parents with the intention of foster adopting.
Finished August 29th.
Finished August 22nd.
Finished August 18th.

I was a tad disappointed.  I had the privilege to interview Andrew when I was the director at Ecclesiam, and he was well spoken, thoughtful and informed. I didn't think he gave a thorough enough treatment of the subject, though that may be my expectations speaking and not his intent. I leave room to be corrected. Should he write a second edition, I believe it would be greatly enhanced by expanding the sections on the science and psychology around the subject as well as discussing the history, its incoherence, and adding interactions with others who have written on the topic, such as Ryan Anderson.
Finished August 12th
Finished August 7th.
Finished August 5th.
Finished August 1st. 
Finished July 25th.
Finished July 20th.

It's refreshing to read Spurgeon. 
Finished July 11th.
Finished July 5th
Finished June 30th
Finished June 21st
Finished June 20th
Finished June 14th.

A very interesting read. I have many thoughts. In short, our criminal justice and penal system is very complexly messed up. Also, I make the starkest departure from the author in that there is an objective standard of justice.
Finished June 10th
Finished June 6th.
Finished June 1st.
Finished May 25th.

I will definitely be reading more by Ashford in the future. The only negative thing I can say about the book is that his eschatology seeps in negatively in a few areas. I suspect we have differing views, but that doesn't undo the quality of his book.
Finished May 1st.
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This was a great walk through the passages relevant to parenthood and fathering.
Finished April 13th.
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It wasn't bad. This is only the third book I've read completely  on theonomy, even though I have read large portions of Bahnsen, North and Rushdoony at different times. The overuse of italics was distracting, but the writing is clear and accessible. I wanted to read what this "Cherem controversy" was for myself. After reading his book, I believe Joel's work, though incomplete on the Cherem Principle, and in some places unqualified (or simply underdeveloped),  is still a sophisticated and faithful attempt at dealing with the penology of the Old Testament and its application in our modern day. His contribution has given me some ideas and trails to follow for my own doctoral work on ethics and penology.
Finished April 10th.

A refreshing read. Review coming soon.
Finished April 8th.

This is an important read. It took a couple weeks to work through (partly because I read several books at once). Vanhoozer often buries his topic sentence, which is annoying. He also deals with a lot of philosophical figures like Derrida, which bog down my own attention. 
Finished April 6th.
Finished April 3rd.

I've heard this book described as causing one to be "woke" to lexicography. I agree. Logos=word is simply the reign of the gloss.
Finished March 30th.
Finished March 25th.
Finished March 20th. 

There IS coherence in scripture and typology DOES have a valid referent that proves part of that coherence. 
Finished March 12th.

A weighty read. I have many thoughts, perhaps a review will be in order.
Finished March 6th.

This is probably my favorite of the Crucial Questions series.
Finished March 4th.

Again, Sproul is so clear! I see myself using this book for discipling others in the faith in future encounters. Its short and accessible nature cover all the main tenets of what we need to know about this "who" of the Holy Spirit.
Finished March 3rd.

This short book which was originally a short series of lectures is gold. Confessionally I have always been a trinitarian. But Tozer reminded me that I often live as a practical binitarian. 
Finished March 2nd.

I miss Sproul. His gift is his clarity without being condescending; his simplicity in words without being simplistic.  
Finished March 1st.

​This book was a good reminder of the reality that we are often engaged in spiritual warfare. It also made me realize that we didn't talk about spiritual warfare (or I didn't listen) that much during my time in seminary. 
Finished February 25th.

A great read. Moore & Walker are so clear, thorough and pastoral in their writing. I want to mimic more of their style.
Finished February 23rd.

This book was awesome, convicting, and nourishing. I am resolved to redouble my efforts in the discipline knowing that they require, well, discipline. 
Finished February 16th.
Finished February 8th.
Finished January 30th.
Finished January 19th.
Finished January 12th.​
Finished January 7th.
Finished January 1st.
Finished December 23rd
Finished December 12th
Finished December 1st.
Finished November 24th
Finished November 11th. 
Finished November 2nd.
Finished October 21st.
Finished October 16th.
Finished October 15th.
Finished October 14th
Finished October 13th.
October 10th.
Finished October 5th
Finished October 1st.
​Finished September 30th.
Finished September 24th.
Finished September 22nd.
Finished September 21st.
Finished September 15th.  A great little book. It particularly jarred me how much I took sin for granted in my own gospel presentations. My only critique is their eschatology bleeding through in a couple of places and a few comments made toward culture redeeming that weren't germane. But - I will still recommend it.
Finished September 14th. What an amazing testimony! I had the privilege of seeing Rosaria speak during my undergrad and now I can appreciate that experience all the more. The only thing that felt out of place was her "Psalms only" position in worship. It seemed a bit forced into the story, though it came up later in the book with some conversations. This book does make me wonder why people like Rosaria weren't invited to the controversial Revoice conference in St. Louis, recently. Her  voice should be highly valued and considered. 
Finished September 10th. A pretty good book. A lot of practical advice. I really enjoyed that it was written with both the pastor's wife and pastor's perspective in view.
Finished September 7th. Probably one of the best books on the subject.  He had many challenging and pointed items to draw out. I would like to buy a box of these books to send to many of my friends still in seminary.
Finished September 5th. Very brief. But then again, because of the novelty of transgenderism, there hasn't been a need to discuss was painfully obvious to most. All in all, clear, pastoral, and gospel-driven.
Finished September 4th. A very cogent and concise book on the issue of homosexuality. Allberry was able to interact with all the major arguments for homosexuality without getting bogged down in the details and without doing any injustice to the text.
Finished August 30th. A pure gold mine. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. He does not mince words or sugar coat the call of pastoring. There were many items that call for self-reflection and many more that were insightful and nourishing. 
Finished August 22nd. I hesitated to take up this book because a church I previously attended applied its arguments to a degree I thought was too far; that tainted the water for me and preventing me from reading it for four years. Then I heard of Mark Dever talking about this book in positive terms. Capital Hill Baptist Church, however, and the previous church I attended, applied the content of this book in far different ways and look vastly different.  Thus, I finally picked up the book and read it. Simply, it was great. I agree that our programs often become too big and squelch our vine work. 
Finished August 17th. Great short primer. The weakest section was on application, which isn't surprising, since this is notoriously the weakest area of homiletic textbooks. Even so, I intend to use this book for our church ministry internships.
Finished August 16th. Great book. I am so accustomed to non-fiction that I don't get to enjoy good non-fiction writing. Most of the authors I read are grammatically free from error, linear, logical and ordered but they lack something. Crouch's writing. though, possesses a texture that makes others feel course. Great observations on culture making, power dynamics and how we can steward power while expressing God's image. I highly recommend it and will be chewing on its contents for months perhaps years to come.
Finished August 10th. A full review can be read here.
Finished July 11th. It was "okay." There are certainly flashes of brilliance at places, but about 50 pages could have been cut that did little to advance is overall arguments. To North's credit, I think what he was attempting is truly unique. No on in the field of international relations is seriously thinking about what the bible says to drive our ethic. Mostly, the Christians that are involved want to lay hold of the meta-physic (elevating the dignity of humans is good) but they don't want the epistemology (scripture) that grounds it as objective truth. Thus, much of the field rightly bows to natural theology or seriously mutes the Lordship of Christ. It was good enough to pique my interest to continue reading more political theology.
Finished June 24th. You can read a full review here.
Finished June 17th. Full review can be read here.
Finished June 13th. Although 1984 is quoted and refereed to widely in our culture, I had never read this book. I now see why people will sometimes refer to Orwell as a kind of soci0-political prophet. I think his genius, other than the prowess of his style and command of writing, was in recognizing the trajectories of ideas. Ideas have consequences. Every worldview has an eschatology. 
Finished June 5th. I had first read this when I was perhaps 12 or 13. Lewis' prose is excellent and this particular book is a sobering and clever reminder that we are part of a much grander role of history. That role, nested in the vestiages of time, is headed toward an end, an eschaton, but we remain in the weeds of a great struggle. Lewis absotlutely created a new genre when he wrote this book. In fact, I have begun my own ongoing series themed in this genre and tone. You can read the first one, here.
Finished May 22nd. Full review can be read here.  An easy to follow narrative of a couple seeking to adopt a child. It covers about a million practical little questions you would never think of along the way.
A full review written here.
Another book that we reviewed for an assignment. It's really a short treatise more than it's a book. I had previously glossed it but this time, reading an annotated addition, read the letter that was originally meant to accompany it to Pope Leo. I struck me as solidly "Luther," that is to say, Luther at his best.
A solid treatment of the topic. I read this during probably the most fatigued portion of grad school so I don't expect it got the best attention from me as possible. We wrote a paper over chapters 5 &6, specifically.
Written by my brother-in-law, this is a pretty dark novel. I would liken it to a cross between No Country for Old Men and Wind River.  Full review can be read here.