Listed in the basic order that I read them this year, here are the books that I completed in 2013. By completed, I mean first that I grasped the author’s main point including his most significant arguments, and second, I don’t plan to return to this book again except to refresh my affections or site some relevant piece of research or review a penetrating insight.
I tarried long with other friends this year, but not sufficiently to mark “completed” over the doorpost. Bahnsen’s Theonomy in Christian Ethics, Vlach’s Has the Church Replaced Israel?, MacArthur’s Strange Fire, and Scruton’s Beauty are a few friends whom I should finish conversing with by the end of 2014.
Awards:
- Book of the Year: S. Pearce Carey, William Carey
- Surprise of the Year: David Gordon, Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns
- Worst of the Year: William Lee, Grace Recovered
Scoring:
0 The book was notable for lacking this category repeatedly.
1 The book dipped into this category at times.
2 The book consistently demonstrated this category.
Non-Fiction Categories:
- Weight: Did the book ask and answer the most germane questions about an important topic?
- Research: Did the writer demonstrate a thorough command of the subject?
- Style: Did the theme, vocabulary, and composition represent an enduring standard?
- Logic: Did the book model logic in definitions, formatting, and focus?
- Affections: Was some truth presented powerfully to the affections?
Walker, F. Deaville. William Carey, Missionary, Pioneer and Statesman. Chicago: Moody Press, 1951, 256 pages.
He fills the pages well and several times includes more details than the longer, more esteemed biography by Pearce Carey.
- TOTAL: 8, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 1, A: 1
Carey, S. Pearce, and Peter Masters. William Carey. London: Wakeman Trust, 1993, 419 pages.
If Baptists can be Renaissance men, Carey earned the title. He planted flowers, mastered languages, and preached powerfully in another culture for the glory of Jesus Christ.
- TOTAL: 10, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 2, A: 2
DiLorenzo, Thomas. Lincoln Unmasked. Three Rivers Press, 2006, 223 pages.
Lincoln’s heritage damaged the US because he encouraged the expansion of the federal government.
TOTAL: 6, W: 1, R: 2, S: 1, L: 2, A: 0
Thompson, Jim. Prophecy Today: a Further Word from God? Darlington, England; Webster, NY: Evangelical Press, 2008.
A good set of arguments against Grudem’s view of prophecy.
TOTAL: 8, W: 2, R: 2, S: 1, L: 2, A: 1
Lee, William. Grace Recovered. Light Point Press, 2012, 140 pages.
The arguments by Arminians serve to strengthen many uncertain Calvinists in the making. This is a classic example of really bad Scriptural explanations.
TOTAL: 2, W: 0, R: 1, S: 1, L: 0, A: 0
Gordon, T. David. Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns: How Pop Culture Rewrote the Hymnal. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2010, 186 pages.
The subtitle reveals that Gordon is really aiming at popular culture with similar conclusions on that score as Roger Scruton and Ken Myers. Pop culture is like eating spoonfuls of sugar, and thus its musical issue embodiment is sick as well.
TOTAL: 10, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 2, A: 2
Gordon, T. David. Why Johnny Can’t Preach: The Media Have Shaped the Messengers. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2009, 108 pages.
What is contemporary culture doing to the sensibilities that are necessary for preaching? In 100 short pages, Gordon insightfully demonstrates that much pulpit mediocrity is due to a glut of pop culture.
TOTAL: 8, W: 1, R: 2, S: 2, L: 2, A: 1
Johnson, Paul. Socrates: a Man for Our Times. New York: Viking, 2011, 194 pages.
Johnson’s accessible and yet dense writing style paints a portrait of a great thinker. He implies that Socrates will be accepted by God.
TOTAL: 7, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 1, A: 0
Kimball, Roger. The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2004, 180 pages.
A conservative, learned, and sarcastic critique of the misguided opinions of liberal art teachers.
TOTAL: 7, W: 2, R: 2, S: 1, L: 1, A: 1
Reisinger, John G. In Defense of Jesus, the New Lawgiver. Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2008, 357 pages.
Written as a defense of New Covenant Theology in the face of a Reformed Baptist critique, this work really clarifies the issues under discussion. Convincing.
TOTAL: 8, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 1, A: 1
Malone, Fred A. The Baptism of Disciples Alone: a Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism. Cape Coral, Fla.: Founders Press, 2003, 319 pages.
Started as a Baptist, then Presbyterian, then back to Baptist, Malone tries to show that you can be a consistent Covenant Theologian and a Baptist. He ultimately fails though he does present good arguments against paedo baptism.
TOTAL: 7, W: 1, R: 2, S: 2, L: 1, A: 1
Brooks, Thomas. Heaven on Earth; a Treatise on Christian Assurance. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1961, 320 pages.
A good Puritan work on assurance of salvation with lots of Scripture, lists, and Lordship salvation. As is typical in this genre, he circles the field a lot.
TOTAL: 9, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 2, A: 1
Henry, Matthew. The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955, 144 pages.
Filled with Scripture and application, this is the small, smooth stone that will kill a giant-sized spirit of impatience, hasty anger, coarseness, and self-assertion.
TOTAL: 10, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 2, A: 2
MacDonald, Gordon. Ordering Your Private World. Nashville: Oliver-Nelson, 1985, 267 pages.
Good advice about prioritizing and scheduling, but very little Bible. It became tiresome to us.
TOTAL: 5, W: 1, R: 1, S: 1, L: 1, A: 1
Scruton, Roger. Culture Counts: Faith and Feeling in a World Besieged. New York: Encounter Books, 2007, 108 pages.
High culture deserves our attention since it is the study of “true judgment.” He proves this point with penetrating examples from the arts.
TOTAL: 9, W: 2, R: 2, S: 2, L: 2, A: 1
And my diet of fiction this year was not very broad. But if I’ve only got time for one fiction book, my wife and I chose well. (We read it together.)
Scoring:
0 The book was notable for lacking this category repeatedly.
1 The book dipped into this category at times.
2 The book consistently demonstrated this category.
Fiction Categories:
- Biblical: Did the author honor Scriptural truth or a Christian worldview even if unwittingly?
- Creative: Did the author grip the imagination by inventing characters, situations, or other aspects of reality?
- Style: Did the theme, vocabulary, and composition represent an enduring standard?
- Credible: Were the characters, plot turns, and relationships believable?
- Affections: Was some truth presented powerfully to the affections?
Austen, Jane. Emma. Kindle edition, a lot of pages.
Austen ties her readers with so many fictional cords to the virtues of masculinity, humility, holding your tongue, conviction, and the music of words. Feminists beware.
TOTAL: 8, B: 2, C: 1, S: 2, C: 2, A: 1
You are much, much too hard on William Lee. And if someone is not a Calvinist, he is not necessarily an Arminian. There is a middle way, called the Word of the Kingdom, that totally upsets both Calvinism and Arminianism.
I am too hard on Lee? Check his book and notice how few pages are actually devoted to explaining passages of Scripture. If the discussion is about what the Bible says, he doesn’t take much time to explain the verses. This is the same as Geisler’s Chosen But Free, where he spends very little time actually explaining Scripture.