Reviews

John Piper, Future Grace: The Purifying Power of the Promises of God, rev. ed. (New York: Multnomah, 2012)—A Thorough Review

by on September 13, 2021 | 29 Comments

Pastor John Piper is well-known for his role in sparking the “young, restless, and Reformed” movement, mainly through his emphases on God’s sovereignty and serious expository preaching. There are no doubt numerous present members of Reformed churches who ended up there because of initial investigations of Reformed theology that began with hearing or reading John Piper. Personally, Piper was my first exposure to a thorough and biblical explanation of predestination in some of the appendices of the 2003 edition of Desiring God, which I was told to read shortly after becoming serious about my faith. Continue reading →

Kingdom Through Covenant—Round Two

by on August 10, 2021 | 12 Comments

Kingdom Through Covenant is a massive work of biblical theology written from a Baptistic perspective, now in its second edition.1 My very first attempt at public writing was a review of KTC’s first edition, which I did while in seminary, and which Dr. Clark very graciously posted on The Heidelblog. With more experience, I have often looked back with acute awareness of that review’s weaknesses and wished I could redo it. I am thankful for the chance to review the second edition on the same platform with hopes to improve my comments and assessment concerning this work. Continue reading →

Book Review: Young, Restless, And No Longer Reformed

by on March 30, 2020 | 14 Comments

Austin Fischer, Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed: Black Holes, Love, and a Journey in and out of Calvinism (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2014). § Young, Restless, and No Longer Reformed is about Austin Fischer. No matter what the author’s intent was, it . . . Continue reading →

A Review Of The New Anglican Catechism And What It Says About The State Of Anglicanism

by on March 25, 2020 | 18 Comments

As I emerged out of Southern Baptist evangelicalism in 1980–81 John Stott and J. I. Packer were two of the most influential writers in my journey out of Baptist evangelicalism. Hitherto my theological staples had been things on the order of Navigators Bible study materials and Rosalind Rinker’s book on hearing voices from God. I am not entirely sure how I found Stott’s Basic Christianity and Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Back then we had a Christian bookstore downtown, where I mostly bought contemporary Christian records (e.g., Larry Norman and Barry McGuire). Perhaps the manager directed me to them? Those books were a Godsend. They were thoughtful, intelligent, gracious and thoroughly evangelical in the best sense of the word. They were gospel books. They pointed me away from myself and my experience and toward Christ. In the summer of 1981 Packer’s Knowing God was a major influence in my embrace of Reformed theology, piety, and practice. Continue reading →

Review: Reformation Worship: Liturgies From the Past For The Present

by on April 4, 2018 | 11 Comments

Unless you are a member of a congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (RPCNA, “the Covenanters”) or another similar denomination, in all probability the way your congregation worships today is not much like the way Reformed and Presbyterian congregations worshiped in the 16th and 17th centuries. If, however, you are like most other P&R Christians, you probably are not aware of that discrepancy. You might assume that the way your congregation conducts its public worship is the way the P&R churches have always done but, in fact, that assumption would not be justified. Continue reading →

Review of J. I. Packer, Puritan Portraits

by on November 24, 2015 | 16 Comments

J. I. Packer is a significant figure in a variety of circles. He is one of the last voices representing that generation of British evangelicalism that had roots in the Reformation, that was articulate, warm, and evangelical in the best sense of . . . Continue reading →

Kingdom Through Covenant: A Review (2)

by on June 27, 2013 | 45 Comments

This is part 2 of a two-part review of Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom Through Covenant (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012). The review is written by Harrison Perkins. He grew up in the south and attended college in Alabama. He began . . . Continue reading →

Kingdom Through Covenant: A Review (1)

by on June 26, 2013 | 18 Comments

With this post we begin a two-part review of Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom Through Covenant (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012). § It is difficult to know what the best way to review such a large book is (778 pages plus . . . Continue reading →

Muether on Van Til: A Review

by on August 31, 2012

John Muether, Cornelius Van Til: Reformed Apologist and Churchman (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008). Audio Interview with John Muether It is hard to overstate the influence of Cornelius Van Til on confessional and conservative Reformed theology since the early 20th century. I’ll use . . . Continue reading →

Black and Reformed: A Review

by on April 14, 2008 | 1 Comment

This is an important book for at least a four reasons. First, it is the first book of its kind demanding and giving compelling reasons why white Reformed Christians should think about and pay attention to and learn from the experience of . . . Continue reading →

Review: The Story of Christian Theology: By Roger E. Olson

Intervarsity Press, 1999. 652 pp. $34.99

by on May 16, 2007

Historical theology is an important part of the process of deciding who we are, what we believe and consequently how we will behave. For confessional Protestants, the past is not absolutely definitive, since all theologies besides God’s revealed word err, but its . . . Continue reading →