This is a summary of recent books read by Martin Davie, compiling his evaluations. In this edition:
Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther: Restoring the Church by Wallace Benn
Superb expository commentary on Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther in the tradition of J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. Highly recommended for anyone preaching or teaching on these three books, equally valuable for personal devotional study or use in home groups. Great new resource.
Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme
Go-to book for anyone wanting an overall picture of the life of the medieval parish church and how it developed over the Middle Ages. Invaluable to evangelicals wanting a good understanding of the context for the English Reformation. Recommended for all students of English church history.
Piercing Leviathan: God’s defeat of evil in the book of Job by Eric Ortlund
An important study of the Book of Job for serious Bible students. Ortlund explains why a reading of Behemoth and Leviathan as symbols of cosmic chaos and evil makes better sense of the text than viewing them as a literal hippopotamus and a crocodile. He also shows us how to read Job as a literary whole in which God addresses Job’s complaints about God’s administration of creation. Invaluable for anyone preaching or teaching on Job 40–41. Also helpful to understand contribution of Job to a Christian response to the problem of evil.
Beyond the Odds: Providence in Britain’s Wars of the 20th Century by John Scriven and Tim Dieppe
Offers an account of recent British military history that allows for the providence of God/his intervention in events, often in response to prayer. Fascinating study that would make a good starting point for thinking about how God acts in history, and good text for a Christian to share with a non-Christian who is interested in military history.
X-Out-Loud: Emerging Ex-LGBT Voices by Various (The Core Issues Trust)
The claim that is regularly made on behalf of the LGBT community by bodies such as Stonewall and the Ozanne Foundation, a claim which is tragically now echoed by many in the Church of England, is that no one who is LGBT can possibly change their identity or behaviour and that to attempt to do so will inevitably end in misery and probably attempted (or actual) suicide. It is on this basis that that the recent ‘Cooper’ report from the Ozanne Foundation is now proposing that all attempts to help people to change (even if they themselves ask for such help) should be made a criminal offence.
To read the full reviews click here.
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Martin Davie is a research fellow with the Latimer Trust. He is the author of several books including LLF a concise introduction and review. You can find Martin's books here .