Religion Commons^™

The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not A Truly Evangelical Reading Of Scrip By Christian Smith, John Bombaro

Concordia Journal

By making a compelling argument that christocentrism, not bibliocentrism, is the truly evangelical response to theological liberalism and cultural caricaturing, The Bible Made Impossible warrants mandatory reading by all thoughtful Christians and thorough discussion by Lutheran pastors, professors, and seminarians.

Implications Of Brain Research For The Church:What It Means For Theology And Ministry By Allen Nauss, Bruce Hartung

Concordia Journal

It is certainly true that “seminaries and the church’s clergy in the field can certainly become more effective in their ministry as they combine emotion with cognition, work to balance the activity of both hemispheres, become aware of their biases and the virtues of Christ’s model, develop their empathy, translate their theology into meaning, and apply it in their worship and their lives”

Before Nature: A Christian Spiritual Paul Santmire, Beth Hoeltke

Concordia Journal

Throughout the book Santmire ties his and the reader’s spiritual journey together with what he calls the “the Trinity Prayer.”

Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition By Garry Wills, John Helmke

Concordia Journal

Though he does not include a bibliography, the breadth of his reading and frequent quotation of respected authors is impressive. Short chapters and Wills’s crisp writing style make for enjoyable, thought-provoking reading.

Blood And Life: Sermons On The Old Testament By Michael Kasting, Francis Rossow

Concordia Journal

Kasting’s sermons do more than delight—they are “the power of God for our salvation.” I sometimes quip to my homiletics students, “Anyone can write an occasional good sermon; the trick is to write a good sermon time after time.”

Luther’S Works, Volume 75, Church Post Edited By Benjamin G. Mayes And James Langebartels, Paul Robinson

Concordia Journal

Roth reproduced Luther accurately when he had a work by Luther in front of him, but he felt free to include other material in his editions when he lacked something by Luther.

Mark 1:1–8:26 Concordia Commentary By James Voelz, Jack Kingsbury

Concordia Journal

Isagogically, Voelz emphasizes that because a literary approach to the Gospel of Mark takes seriously the story of the narrative as a whole, interpreters ought not feel constrained, as has been and is still the case, to use the text as a “window” to discover matters of history

Dust And Breath: Faith, Health, And Why The Church Should Care About Both By Kend Hotz And Matthew Mathews, Nicholas Fuller

Concordia Journal

Through individual case studies from inner city Memphis, the book illustrates instances of illness that can be connected pastorally with sin and redemption through faith in Christ.

The Scandal Of Having Something To Say: Ricoeur And The Possibility Of Postliberal Preach-Ing By Lance Pape, Dennis Matyas

Concordia Journal

Pape likens the cyclical nature of mimesis to be a spring, building on Ricoeur’s notion of mimesis gaining “altitude” with each cycle.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation Of A Jewish Preacher From Galiee By Bart Ehrman, John Genter

Concordia Journal

The key is to avoid letting the analogies steamroll the critical differences. This is what goes wrong in the opening chapters of How Jesus Became God. More attention is due to the actual religious life of the relevant practitioners in everyday life.

“These Are Written”: Toward A Cruciform Theology Of Scripture By Peter H. Nafzger, Greg Michael

Concordia Journal

Nafzger encourages the church to recognize the limitations of the doctrine of inspiration as the central guide to understanding Scriptures and to move towards an understanding of Scriptures that focuses on a Trinitarian economy of salvation and centers in the Christ event.

God’S Timeline: An Introduction To Theology For Laypeople By Rick Meyer, Joel Oesch

Concordia Journal

In God’s Timeline: An Introduction to Theology for Laypeople, Rick Meyer seeks to engage the reader in a theological journey that spreads across the whole of history, pointing to the presence of God’s divine will as it moves from the garden of Eden to the present church and beyond.

The Outbreak Of The First World War: Structure, Politics, And Decision-Making (Book Review), Mark Mccarthy

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Reviewed Title: The Outbreak of the First World War: Structure, Politics, and Decision-Making by Jack S. Levy and John A. Vasquez. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 305 pp. ISBN: 9781107616028.

Frances Burney's Evelina: A Critique Of The Ancient Regime And Plea For Its Moral Reform, Mary Dengler

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Evelina: Or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World (A Bedford Cultural Edition), ed. Kristina Straub (N. Y.: Bedford Books, 1997).

Dr. Dengler presented this article at the 2014 Southwest Conference on Christianity and Literature, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, November, 2014.

Carolyn Custis James' Half The Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision For Women: A Review Essay, Matthew S. Vos

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women, by Carolyn Custis James (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011) ISBN 9780310325567. 206 pages.

Speculative Grace: Bruno Latour And Object-Oriented Theology, Brent J. Schmidt

BYU Studies

Adam S. Miller. Speculative Grace: Bruno Latour and Object-Oriented Theology.

Perspectives in Continental Philosophy Series.

New York: Fordham University Press, 2013.

Beholding The Tree Of Life: A Rabbinic Approach To The Book Of Mormon, Richard Dilworth Rust

BYU Studies

Bradley J. Kramer. Beholding the Tree of Life: A Rabbinic Approach to the Book of Mormon.

Draper, Utah: Greg Kofford Books, 2014.

The Journey Of A People: The Era Of Restoration, 1820 To 1844; The Journey Of A People: The Era Of Reorganization, 1844 To 1946, Alonzo L. Gaskill

BYU Studies

Mark A. Scherer. The Journey of a People: The Era of Restoration, 1820 to 1844.

Independence, Mo.: Community of Christ Seminary Press, 2013.

Mark A. Scherer. The Journey of a People: The Era of Reorganization, 1844 to 1946.

Independence, Mo.: Community of Christ Seminary Press, 2013.

Mormon Women In Memoir, Angela Hallstrom, Jacqueline S. Thursby, Rosalyn Collings Eves, Amy A. Easton-Flake, Amy Isaksen Cartwright

BYU Studies

Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy, by Stephanie Nielson (New York: Hyperion, 2012)

My Story, by Elizabeth Smart with Christopher Stewart (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013)

Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor, by Jana Riess (Brewster, Mass: Paraclete Press, 2011)

The Place of Knowing: A Spiritual Autobiography, by Emma Lou Warner Thayne (Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2011)

The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith, by Joanna Brooks (New York: Free Press/Simon and Schuster, 2012)

Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, …

Elijah Abel: The Life And Times Of A Black Priesthood Holder, Matthew J. Harris

BYU Studies

W. Kesler Jackson. Elijah Abel: The Life and Times of a Black Priesthood Holder.

Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, 2013.

Brigham Young: Sovereign In America, Roger Terry

BYU Studies

David Vaughn Mason. Brigham Young: Sovereign in America.

Routledge Historical Americans Series. New York: Routledge, 2015.

All That Was Promised: The St. George Temple And The Unfolding Of The Restoration, Bruce C. Hafen

BYU Studies

Blaine M. Yorgason, Richard A. Schmutz, and Douglas D. Alder. All That Was Promised: The St. George Temple and the Unfolding of the Restoration.

Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013.

Saints Observed: Studies Of Mormon Village Life 1850-2005; Four Classic Mormon Village Studies, Todd L. Goodsell

BYU Studies

Howard M. Bahr. Saints Observed: Studies of Mormon Village Life, 1850-2005.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

Howard M. Bahr, ed. Four Classic Mormon Village Studies.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

American Crucifixion: The Murder Of Joseph Smith And The Fate Of The Mormon Church, Alexander L. Baugh

BYU Studies

Alex Beam. American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church.

New York: Public Affairs, 2014.

Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832-1844; Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Histories, 1831-1847, James B. Allen

BYU Studies

I am always delighted to pick up a new volume of the Joseph Smith Papers and find that it continues the same book quality that has characterized the series from the beginning. Every volume is elegantly designed and solidly bound, and the editorial work is outstanding. Most of all, every volume includes documents that are invaluable in understanding and writing about early Mormon history.

Called To Teach: The Legacy Of Karl G. Maeser, Heather M. Seferovich

BYU Studies

Powerful and inspiring teachers can profoundly impact their students, both in this life and in the eternities. Many of us are fortunate to look back fondly on one or two influential teachers who played a critical role in shaping our personalities or careers. Anyone who is a teacher, whether in a formal or informal classroom, or anyone who has had an inspiring teacher will enjoy the educational biography of Karl G. Maeser, written by another teacher, A. LeGrand “Buddy” Richards, a professor of educational leadership in the McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University.

Nels Anderson's World War I Diary, Kenneth L. Alford

BYU Studies

With the centennial of World War I beginning in 2014, Nels Anderson’s World War I Diary, edited by Allan Kent Powell, is a timely and engaging firsthand account of America’s involvement in “the war to end all wars.” This account sees the war through the eyes of a Latter-day Saint private fighting with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe.

The Mormon Image In The American Mind: Fifty Years Of Public Perception, Sherry Pack Baker

BYU Studies

J. B. Haws received his PhD from the University of Utah and is an assistant professor in the Department of Church History at Brigham Young University. His research interests include twentieth-century history of Latter-day Saints and the general public perception of the group. This book (based on his 2010 PhD dissertation) is the winner of the 2014 Mormon History Association Best Book Award.

New Perspectives On 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only, David J. Larsen

BYU Studies

This book contains the proceedings of the Fifth Enoch Seminar, held in Naples, Italy, on June 14–18, 2009. The theme of the conference was “Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek: Mediatorial Figures in 2 Enoch and Second Temple Judaism,” covering topics of intrinsic interest for biblical scholars generally, as well as for Latter-day Saints. The book’s subtitle, No Longer Slavonic Only, refers to an important discovery announced at the seminar. The book of 2 Enoch is also commonly referred to as “Slavonic Enoch” because the text has been known only in its Slavonic translation; now Coptic fragments of the text have been …

Dead Wood And Rushing Water: Essays On Mormon Faith, Culture, And Family, Mark Brown

BYU Studies

Boyd Jay Petersen. Dead Wood and Rushing Water: Essays on Mormon Faith, Culture, and Family.

Sandy, Utah: Greg Kofford Books, 2013.