Books Read: April

20. Rhetoric in Greco-Roman Education - Donald L. Clark. This was a really helpful book in terms of how rhetoric was taught in the ancient world. It also contains a very readable history and theory of rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome.

21. Bitterness - Lou Priolo. Once again Priolo has given a brief and potent account of a topic from Christian living and provided an insightful and practical set of principles for combating a spiritual vice.

22. Union With Christ - Robert Letham. I read this upon a recommendation from a good friend of mine who was under Dr. Letham's preaching at one time. Letham has a really good grasp of Eastern and Western historical theology as well as contemporary reconsiderations of union with Christ. Of modern writers, he makes the most use of Richard Gaffin, who has done several studies on Paul's soteriology, arguing that the ordo solutis (order of salvation) is best understood not in the several distinctions of logical order, but in the concept of union with Christ in his death and resurrection. A fine book, and in simplified, yet careful language.

Books Bought: April

Instead of commenting upon each of the books below, I'm going to group them according to the purposes for which I bought them.

Books 22-27 are purchases I've made to study more carefully the doctrine of the Covenant, and in particular how it relates to children of the Covenant. The first four of these books are specifically upon children coming to the Lord's Supper prior to any profession of faith (paedocommunion), which was a studied and debated topic within the OPC and PCA Presbyterian denominations back in the early 80s. The other two books in this group are related, though quite different. The first is an historical theological study on children in the covenant, and the latter is a sociological study about the impact of individualism upon Western culture in the 20th century.

Books 28-33 are all purchases for school. The Loeb books are either rhetorical treatises (Cicero) or excerpts of rhetorical practices (Seneca). The former are to supplement my instruction in rhetoric classes, and the latter are for me to use in assignments I give to my students. The Legal Analyst is to supplement my knowledge and evaluation of forensic speeches that I assign to my students.

Books 34-38 are all purchases from a citywide libraries' book sale. I bought the lot of them for $9 (plus $5 to get into the sale). I've been wanting to read Chesterton for some time now, hence the purchase. The Copleston volume is a resources for myself and my students should we need it for any research or supplementation. The Great Code is a book I used for a paper in college that I have wanted to revisit for awhile now. The Von Rad commentary was just an amazing find! Any Old Testament Library commentary will set you back at least $50 and this one was in such good condition and by a really insightful OT scholar. The New Science is a fairly important text in the history of rhetoric, not in his own time (17th & 18th c.) but in the 19th century due to its impact upon European intellectuals.

22. The Case for Covenant Communion - Gregg Strawbridge
23. Paedofaith - Rich Lusk
24. Children at the Lord's Table?: Assessing the Case for Paedocommunion - Cornelius P. Venema
25. Feed My Lambs - Tim Gallant
26. The Presbyterian Doctrine of Children in the Covenant - Louis B. Schenk
27. The Quest for Community - Robert Nisbet
28. Cicero On the Orator 1-2 (Loeb)
29. Cicero On the Orator 3 (Loeb)
30: Cicero On Invention (Loeb)
31. Seneca the Elder Declamations I (Loeb)
32. Seneca the Elder Declamations II (Loeb)
33. The Legal Analyst - Ward Farnsworth (kindle)
34. Collected Works: Vol 1 - G. K. Chesterton
35. A History of Philosophy Book Two - Frederick Copleston
36. The Great Code - Northrop Frye
37. Genesis - Gerhard Von Rad
38. The New Science - Giambattista Vico

Books Read:
7. Gilead - Marilyn Robinson. What an interesting and insightful book was this one! I read it upon the recommendation of a friend of mine whom I respect a great deal, and I was not disappointed. The book is written as a collection of letters written by an aging and dying minister to his young son (born of his young wife). There are lots of interesting details about the historical trials of the period in which (and prior to) the letters were written, but much more interesting to me were the insights into how one may appreciate Creation, aging, forgiveness, youth, and a host of other topics of life.

8. Judgments - Lou Priolo. One of the several "practical help" guides I purchased last month. I am very appreciative of Priolo's directness and clarity. He has a good bit of insight into the ways in which sin manifests itself, as well as the ways in which the Bible speaks to changing those sinful beliefs, values, and habits. The "Judgments" booklet deals specifically with "rash and righteous" judgments, helping us to see that judgments are a valuable and necessary part of the Christian life, but also how many "rash" judgments we are prone to make--judging without sufficient evidence, judging things that are not revealed (like motives), and (one that we don't often consider) judging without having the authority to do so. Very helpful.

9. Prophecy and Hermeneutics - Christopher Seitz. This book was also a recommendation, this time from an OT professor from my undergraduate education. I've always appreciated my professor's ability to recommend cutting edge scholarship, and this book seems right on par. The book is immersed in the literature of "introduction to the Prophets," so much of the book will seem esoteric to a layman or beginning scholar. But, once you've gotten through the review of the history of approaches to and interpretations of the prophets, Seitz really shines in undercutting the assumptions that have prevented scholars from seeing the possibilities of theological construction and interpretation of the prophets as they appear in their canonical form. If you have any interest in the difficulties and possibilities of canonical interpretation, or of interpretation of the prophets in particular, this book is one you'll want to have on your shelf.

10. Jonathan Edwards - George Marsden. It took me over two years to finally finish off this book, which was another recommendation by one of my best friends who is also an exceptional student of (and soon to be doctor of philosophy in) history. It is "magisterial," to use an adjective historians seem to be fond of using. I appreciated the amount of detail Marsden gives. Like many biographers who have benefitted from an author's writing, Marsden gives a good amount of exposition of Edwards' major writings alongside the historical setting and details of Edwards' life during those times. I'd probably have some disagreements with Marsden over Edwards' theology, but I really enjoyed getting to know more of Edwards through Marsden's eyes.

11. Heaven, a World of Love - Jonathan Edwards. This is a sermon preached by Edwards, which is included in his collection, Charity and Its Fruits, but which I read as a booklet published in a series called "pocket puritans." It is classic Edwards--Puritan sermon form, powerful insight and development, passionate intellectual apprehension of God's glory. You should read it, and then reread it.

12. Manipulation - Lou Priolo. As above, another in the series of "practical help" booklets. Rather than focusing upon manipulation as a sin committed, the booklet deals predominantly with manipulation as a sin endured, and how one can recognize and "cut off" attempts at manipulation. I found this very helpful on both counts (avoiding my own attempts to manipulate, especially my children) and cutting off attempts to be manipulated (something I admit to succumbing to more often than fending off). Succumbing to manipulation is particularly grievous, since it includes both the act of sin by the manipulator and the entertainment of sin by the one manipulated. This books helps us to shed light in a situation of darkness, and hopefully help a brother or sister (or unbelieving neighbor) stop sinning.

Books Bought:
18. Gregory of Nazianzus Rhetor and Philosopher - Rosemary Ruether. A few friends have mentioned Nazianzus favorably, and I couldn't resist picking up a book on both a Church Father and rhetoric. I've read a bit of it already and the biographical information has been very illuminating. I'll have to ask my friends about Ruether's portrayal of Nazianzus, as he seems a bit of a weak personality in her account.

19. Retrieving Doctrine - Oliver Crisp. I learned about Crisp through an apologetics blog I read. He seems to be a cutting edge analytic philosopher who is also Reformed. So far the only other analytically-minded writer of this sort I've encountered is Paul Helm. I have two other Crisp books that I've procured through the library, but I've only read part of one so far. I like Crisp's clarity and attention to the possibilities of a position or argument. In fact, this is the primary benefit of analytical philosophy viewed as a tool of the mind.

20. Calvin's Ecclesiastical Advice - John Calvin. I've had this one on my list for awhile, and I'm looking forward to enhancing my exposure to one of my favorite theologians.

21. Rhetoric in Greco-Roman Education - Donald Clark. I picked this one up in order to help me formulate some classical rhetorical exercises for my rhetoric classes. I've only read a bit of it so far, but Clark has a nice ability to summarize the classical rhetoricians. We'll see how he does with the details of the rhetorical practices.

22. Richards on Rhetoric - I. A. Richards. Another one I've had on my list for awhile and found on a good sale for a used copy. Richards is an interesting figure in the history of rhetoric, and is a good source for examining how rhetoric relates to the issues of common language linguistics and the efforts of logical positivists of language.

23. Tudor Puritanism - M. M. Knappen. One for the dissertation. It is an early foundational piece of 20th century scholarship on the period. I hope it will also be fun to read.

24. Puritanism and Revolution - Christopher Hill. Same as Knappen, but a bit earlier and a collection of essays rather than a monograph.

25. The Elizabethan Puritan Movement - Patrick Collinson. Collinson is a well-recognized figure and this book is one of the first of the 20th century to revisit the period for modern updating of the historical data. I plan to tackle this one first in the series on recent purchases, after I finish Stone's historiographical book on the period (you'll read more about this one when I do March's book log).

Books Read:
29. 1 Kings: The Wisdom and the Folly - Dale Ralph Davis. This was a book I've used for school and for church. DRD is such an excellent expositor of the Scriptures. He isn't comprehensive, but he is always insightful. He isn't always the most profound, but he's always clear and thoughtful.

30. Shared Life - Donald Macleod. This book was one I picked up for free from one of my pastors at our former church before we moved. I enjoyed this very lucid treatment of a very difficult doctrine of the Trinity. It is a brief treatment, but covers all of the major topics, including practical applications for the doctrine of the Trinity.

31. Cornelius Van Til An Analysis of His Thought - John Frame. I purchased this book some time ago and have just gotten around to reading it. I have a more extensive review at my other blog.

32. A Biblical Economics Manifesto - James Gills and Ronald Nash. I can't remember where I got this book, or how long ago I got it. I wanted to read a short work on economics, and this one is very brief and to the point. The downside is that it doesn't spend much time at all defending the claims it makes. The book is best for someone who is already on board with the book's claims, or is moving in that direction. Otherwise, it would be easy to dismiss its claims as false or unsupported (not that I think this about the claims, but I could see where an opponent would think so).

33. The Heart of Anger - Lou Priolo. Can I just say how incredible this book was?! I've respected Lou Priolo ever since reading his book Teach Them Diligently. A few of the ideas are in The Heart of Anger (an earlier book). I'm so impressed with Priolo's ability to practically apply the Scriptures to parenting. Even if you aren't a parent, this book is full of good insights and practices for growing in sanctification.

Books Purchased:
25. Quintilian on the Teaching of Speaking and Writing - Trans. James J. Murphy. I've had this one on my wish list for some time. The full set of Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory is twelve books packed into four or five of the Loeb Classical Library collection. This book has only three or four books from the corpus, but they pertain most directly to the theory and training of the ideal speaker, which is what I'm most interested in possessing in a hard copy format (the entire Quintilian is available online for free).

26. The Causes of the English Revolution: 1529-1642 - Lawrence Stone. I saw this book and thought it might be interesting, as it was a very inexpensive used copy and seemed to be about the historiography of the period as much as of the period itself. We'll see I suppose. . .

Books read:
21. Surprised by Joy - C.S. Lewis. This is the first time I've read C.S. Lewis' biography. Although it is a bit unbalanced by having two-thirds of the book discuss his childhood and school days, there are wonderful insights into Lewis' temperament, his ideas for his fiction and non-fiction works, and some interesting life tidbits as well. Highly recommended.

22. Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis - George Sayer. I read this as a complement to Lewis' autobiography. It was a good decision, because Sayer gives much more detail and balances out some of Lewis' skewed perspective (particularly of his father). The book has several critical insights, is especially hard on Lewis' brother, but all in all is a positive and upbuilding treatment of Lewis' life and writings. Highest recommendation.

23. Dominion and Dynasty - Stephen G. Dempster. I read this book in preparation for teaching 3/4 of the Old Testament in three different classes this year. The book is a general treatment of the theology of the Old Testament, and in that respect it does excellently. It does not do much in the way of defending its observations in detail, but there are some really good insights and I think the themes it does highlight are important themes to focus on as a matter of internalizing the Scriptures. Highly recommended.

24. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis. This book was, perhaps, the most exciting read because I read it aloud to my oldest boys for the first time. They enjoyed it more than I had expected for being only four and three years old, and we've already begun Prince Caspian as a result of their enthusiasm. It is my favorite time of the day to spend with them.

25. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien. I picked this one up on a bit of a whim, and I had forgotten how much I love the prelude to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy--perhaps even more than the trilogy itself. Bilbo really is quite a hero, and in a way quite different from Frodo's heroism in the Lord of the Rings. I don't see how anyone could walk away from the book without a strong desire to have a friend like Bilbo. He's generous, kind-hearted, witty, and quite stalwart and resourceful in a pinch. He is a knight of miniature stature.

Books bought:
17. Handbook on the Pentateuch - Victor P. Hamilton. I bought this as a supplement for my teaching the Pentateuch this year. It gives good summaries of the major themes and scholarly issues in the books, as well as providing a good bibliography on the various sections of the books.

18. The Meaning of the Pentateuch - John Sailhammer. A tome this one is! I've made it a couple of hundred pages into this book already and it is both intriguing and a bit pedantic. One reviewer mentioned the poor editing of the book, and I couldn't agree more--there is a lot of repetition that should have been excised, and doesn't really add to the flow of the argument. On the other hand, Sailhammer's oddities in interpretation make for an interesting read, and one that stimulates greater attention to the shape of the texts (not just the books, but individual verses and sections) within their larger context of the entire Old Testament.

19. The Minor Prophets - Thomas McComiskey. This is another reference work for my class on the Latter Prophets. It is a big book, and has lots of exegetical and expositional commentary to go with an original translation. I haven't dived into it much yet, so I can't say whether it is a great purchase.

20. Biblical Theology - Geerhardus Vos. I've been meaning to get this book for awhile now, and hopefully it won't collect too much dust before I get around to reading it.

21. Dominion and Dynasty - Stephen G. Dempster. See the above for my comments on this book. I think this is one of the best short treatments of a comprehensive topic I've read in awhile. Even if you don't agree with everything in the book, it is a fine read.