Reflections of the Kingdom

How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot: A Panic-Free Guide to Having Natural Conversations about Your Faith by Andy Bannister My rating: 3 of 5 stars There are a number of reasons why christians might struggle in talking about their faith; and for the most part, I think the author does a good job identifying most of them in the first three (3) chapters. Perhaps the most significant one that I have encountered, and is missing from this book, is that many christians really don’t have a lot of depth to their faith and they are comfortably fine in their own little bubble with no real desire to learn more about it (or themselves). Regardless, christians are expected to evangelize and this book does have some good general ideas on how to do that; however, it falls down in the specifics that rely too heavily on gotcha moments and logical fallacies (I am looking at you scarecrow). For example … that author makes a huge deal about relative mor...

What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion by Todd D. Hunter My rating: 4 of 5 stars A re-examination of what Jesus meant when He commanded christians to love, and how dogma and tradition can sometimes get in the way of this. Each chapter covers a brief vignette to illustrate slight variations on the theme that can feel a bit repetitive by the end; although this could also be seen as baby steps toward an end goal where some readers are already further along their journey and don’t need as much hand holding or convincing (I am already well aligned how this concept was presented, so it did drag a bit for me). Each chapter title is a good summary of the topic contained there in, followed by a few verses of scripture, an introduction to the personal encounter before diving into a Jesus centric discussion on WWJD, because upon how the author interprets the ministry of Jesus found the the Gospels … and just as important, how such...

Religion: Reality Behind the Myths by Jonas Atlas My rating: 2 of 5 stars I am not sure what I was expecting here (this wasn’t it so this review probably reflects that). While I am not a relies scholar, I have a fair amount of experience with several different religious traditions, to the point of at least reading the scriptures that are generally believed to define them as well as engaging comparative studies of them (in fact I am a fan of Dr Campbell’s work). This is specifically true for the three (3) religions chosen by the author to make his point: Christianity, Islam and Hinduism (which are actually community cohorts and not specific cults or sects like the author seems to imply). This makes his seven (7) rants on how we just don’t understand religion (because there is not common definition that applies to all religions) really strange … especially given that he doesn’t seem to offer any positive representations of what religion is … only what ...

Deconstruct Faith, Discover Jesus: How Questioning Your Religion Can Lead You to a Healthy and Holy God by Preston Ulmer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Some time ago … my cousin asked me if there was anything in my faith that if he were able to prove wrong would break my faith. I took the question seriously and from that point I had a strong understanding of my own core faith. That doesn’t mean that I did not accept traditions outside of that core (of which most christian traditions reside), but that I was open to another way. That was the start of my journey to deconstruct my faith … after which I found myself in the Catholic Church after I reconstructed it. That is a long winded way to say that I can identify with what the author is saying here to some extent … I don’t agree with everything he says and would frequently say it differently (not surprising since he confesses a pentecostal viewpoint); however, he does make an excellent point. The book is a qu...

Isaiah by J Gordon McConville My rating: 4 of 5 stars Part of the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament (BCOT), this book presents a commentary on the book of Isaiah as found in the Christian Old Testament (OT) that targets students of the Bible for the purposes of teaching or preaching. In other words, there is an obvious christological lens by which the author conducts his exegesis. The Introduction provides the original context of the text, including scope, related history, general structure, authorship, language & translation challenges, and related theology. Within each part are chapters that almost correspond 1 to 1 with chapters in Isaiah. Each chapter (64+) has an Overview before a discussion about translation and interpretation that walks through each pericope before it finishes with a theological reflection.  In total you get nearly 800 pages of insight into one of the most influential books of the Old Testament with regards to Chri...