Wednesday Book Reviews for 5-16-18
This reviews below are all dealing with the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. These four books are good reads and will give the reader a solid foundation for the authority of the Scriptures.
Why Believe the Bible?
John MacArthur
We live in a culture that more and more questions authority, truth claims, and traditional beliefs. So what are we to believe about the authority and trustworthiness of a book that is thousands of years old? Is God’s Word truly inerrant? How is it different from other religious texts? Why should we trust its claims?
In Why Believe the Bible?, esteemed Bible teacher John MacArthur asks–and definitively answers–these questions and many more, including
Is the Bible the Word of God?
Can we prove the Bible is true?
How did the Bible come to be?
What does it mean that the Scriptures are “inspired?”
What did Jesus believe about God’s Word?
Who decided which books were part of the Bible?
Skeptics, new Christians, and longtime believers will find in this accessible book clear answers to vexing questions about the book that has arguably had more impact on the world than all other books combined. Includes a Bible reading plan with study tips and an appendix with helpful tools for Bible study.
Biblical Authority, Infallibility and Inerrancy in the Christian Tradition
John Woodbridge
“The unpleasant task of exposing shoddy scholarship can rarely have been taken in hand with so much gentleness and grace as it is in Professor Woodbridge’s response to The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible. A nasty job nicely done. In The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible two young professors tried to show that the best theology before the Reformation and the best Reformed theology since affirms the infallibility of Scripture in matters of faith and conduct but allows it to be incorrect on matters of historical and scientific detail. Professor Woodbridge’s learned review makes it impossible to doubt that this paradoxical opinion is wrong. With courtesy and restraint Professor Woodbridge administers a series of knock-out blows to the confidently voiced claim that factual inerrancy is no authentic element in the historic Christian view of Scripture. Professor Woodbridge brings scholarly integrity and a great weight of learning to the business of setting straight the record, confused by others, as to how Christians through the centuries have regarded the Bible. His monograph is a model of careful analysis and cool, corrective controversy. It advances understanding of the history of thought about Scripture in a way that the more pretentious essay that called it forth quite failed to do.” –James I. Packer
In Defense of the Bible
Edited by Steven Cowan and Terry L. Wilder
In Defense of the Bible gathers exceptional articles by accomplished scholars (Paul Copan, William A. Dembski, Mary Jo Sharp, Darrell L. Bock, etc.), addressing and responding to all of the major contemporary challenges to the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture.
The book begins by looking at philosophical and methodological challenges to the Bible—questions about whether or not it is logically possible for God to communicate verbally with human beings; what it means to say the Bible is true in response to postmodern concerns about the nature of truth; defending the clarity of Scripture against historical skepticism and relativism.
Contributors also explore textual and historical challenges—charges made by Muslims, Mormons, and skeptics that the Bible has been corrupted beyond repair; questions about the authorship of certain biblical books; allegations that the Bible borrows from pagan myths; the historical reliability of the Old and New Testaments.
Final chapters take on ethical, scientific, and theological challenges— demonstrating the Bible’s moral integrity regarding the topics of slavery and sexism; harmonizing exegetical and theological conclusions with the findings of science; addressing accusations that the Christian canon is the result of political and theological manipulation; ultimately defending the Bible as not simply historically reliable and consistent, but in fact the Word of God.
The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism
G.K. Beale
Examines recent postmodern efforts to redefine the traditional evangelical view of scriptural authority and counters with sound logic that supports inerrancy.
Due to recent popular challenges to evangelical doctrine, biblical inerrancy is a topic receiving an increasing amount of attention among theologians and other scholars. Here G. K. Beale attempts vigorously and even-handedly to examine the writings of one leading postmodernist, Peter Enns, whose writings challenge biblical authority. In support of inerrancy, Beale presents his own set of challenges to the postmodern suppositions of Enns and others.
How can the Bible be historically inaccurate while still serving as the authoritative word on morality and salvation? Beale concludes that it cannot, and his work will aid all who support biblical inerrancy in defending their position against postmodern attacks. This is an issue that affects the entire body of Christ.