This Week’s Book Notes

By Matthew Barrett

Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer. Edited by Joel R. Beeke and Brian G. Najapfour. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2011.

In this new volume Beeke and Najapfour have put together an outstanding collection of chapters on prayer according to the Reformed and Puritan tradition. Najapfour opens the book with a chapter on Luther, the Reformation, and prayer. Beeke follows with a chapter on Calvin on prayer as communion with God. Najapfour also has a chapter on John Knox as a theologian of prayer. Other topics include: William Perkins on the Lord’s Prayer (J. Stephen Yuille), Anthony Burgess on Christ’s prayer for us (Joel R. Beeke), John Bunyan on praying with the Holy Spirit (Michael A.G. Haykin), Puritans on the help of the Spirit in prayer (Johnny C. Serafini), Matthew Henry on a practical method of daily prayer (Joel Beeke), Thomas Boston on praying to our Father (Joel Beeke), and Jonathan Edwards on prayer and the Trinity (Peter Beck). Joel Beeke finishes the book with two chapters, one on Puritan prayers for world missions and the other on prayerful praying today. I like what Sinclair Ferguson had to say of the book, “Many of us feel either infants in the school of prayer or intimidated and beaten down by those who accuse us of being prayer-less but do not teach us how to be prayer-full. But here can be found nourishment, example, instruction, encouragement, and, yes, deep challenge, all in one volume.”

The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission. By Christopher J. H. Wright. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.

One writer who keeps coming up when it comes to the subject of Christianity and missions is Christopher Wright. Wright is International Director of the Langham Partnership International (John Stott Ministries in the US). Previously he authored the book, The Mission of God and now his newest book is called The Mission of God’s People. Like his first book, this second work will not be without controversy, especially over Wright’s expansive view of mission as including care for the planet. I do appreciate how Wright is trying to figure out the connection between theology and mission. In fact, he says, that is the very aim of the book. And since the book is part of the “Biblical Theology for Life” series, biblical theology structure’s Wright’s volume at every turn. I will be curious to see whether or not missions classes in Christian colleges and seminaries choose to make this a new standard text-book or not. Time will tell.

The Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old Testament. By J. Daniel Hays. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.

I am always looking for books on how to better understand the Old Testament, especially the prophets. One book that seeks to do just that is The Message of the Prophets by J. Daniel Hays. Like all the books in this series, the make-up of the book is aesthetically pleasing due to the graphics, pictures, and content organization, making it easy for the reader to use the book as a reference tool. No doubt, Old Testament scholars and students will not agree with Hays on a variety of issues of interpretation. Hays does try, however, to strike a balance between descriptive analysis and theological interpretation. Gary Smith, Professor of Christian Studies at Union University, writes of the volume, “J. Daniel Hays gives the students a front-row seat into the world of the prophets. Students will learn to appreciate the struggles of the prophets, their literature, and their theology, plus gain insight into their poetry and eschatological messages. Hays traces their messages and highlights the key theological themes in each major literary unit in both the major and minor prophets.”

Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals and he also writes at Blogmatics. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two daughters, Cassandra and Georgia. He is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.