So many books, so little time…
I must say that I am pleased with some recent additions to my library. One is the new book by Thurman Wisdom, A Royal Destiny. Dr. Wisdom was the dean of BJU’s School of Relgion during most of my years as a student there. He is writing about the theme of the Kingdom through the Scriptures. The subject is interesting enough in itself, but Dr. Wisdom’s style adds a little spice to the topic. Here is a little gem from the introduction, concerning the number one law of language, Context.
The magistrate who keeps order in the world of language is Context. No word can live – really live – without Context, and those that try have to spend their lives incarcerated in dictionaries. [p. xiv]
The note is witty, but the point is profound, no?
I also picked up Gordon Fee’s commentary on 1 Corinthians. I should say his “massive” commentary, it runs 840 pages. [And it has footnotes!! Have I ever mentioned how much I hate endnotes?] Fee has some serious issues, however. He is a feminist, so he gets 1 Cor 11 wrong. I read somewhere that he is Assemblies of God, so I am sure he gets 1 Cor 12-14 wrong as well.
Mainly, I bought the book because Fee proposes a unique interpretation of 1 Cor 8-10 that Tom Constable largely follows in his Expository Notes. Since Constable got it from Fee, I wanted to read Fee. Fee goes on for 134 pages on these three chapters! Although I am wary of those with unique interpretations, I am quite interested in Fee’s view of meat offered to idols. I think his argument makes a lot of sense and I plan to blog on it some in the future.
My friend Chris Anderson blogged about Dever’s book, The Deliberate Church, a while back. I decided to buy it as well. I am still trying to figure out why some are so enamoured with Dever. Some of his other work has been somewhat underwhelming to me. So far, however, although there are things that I criticize in this book, there are some solid practical ideas for biblical pastoral leadership and ministry. I am looking forward to reading more in the next few weeks.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
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