The Forgotten Trinity

I picked up this book and figured it would do exactly what I wanted, biblical exposition for the One Being of God and the defense of the three Divine Persons...I was exactly right. James White does a great job defending the obvious, the deity of Christ, which is just an extension of what Athanasius had to fight for against the Arians as we today have to against the Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses. For the first half of the book White gives, in my mind, a complete defense of Christ being God. He then moves on to what I found very interesting and thought provoking and that is the defense of the Holy Spirit being divine. I didn't need persuading, but was very much enriched by this one volume text on the subject by one of my favorites. This book is one that you will find as a very easy read and one that you will also not be able to put down if you have ever had to defend the Deity of our Lord.

I agree with White that most of us cannot defend the Trinity or much less define the Deity biblically. If you fall in this category please don't hesitate and grab this defense of our great and glorious God. Link to Buy

A Journey in Grace

This book is one that most have not heard of and probably will never get the recognition it deserves. This is a novel about a fictional seminary student named Ira Pointer. He goes to an interview to be a pastor at a local church and is confronted by one on the search committee that asks, "Are you a Calvinist?" Pointer, not knowing what a Calvinist is, but knows by the way the question was asked it can't be good, responds by saying, "Of course not!" The rest of the book is a dedicated search for Ira to find out what Calvinism is and what Calvinism isn't. He searches and finds those who hate Calvinists and also those we would refer to as hyper-Calvinists. I found this book to be very well done so that the read is easy yet in depth on the theological topics. Richard Belcher not only shows the greatness of Calvinism and the beliefs therein, but also shows some of the dangers that it can lead to, and really serves for us the warnings that can come about.

Do not let this be a book that you forget about or never read. I have given this book out to those who have never been exposed the Doctrines of Grace and, whether they agreed or not, enjoyed the honest assessment of the theology. It is really like the book, The Five Points of Calvinism, but in novel form. I found the book to be very good in describing limited atonement but lacking in the area of unconditional election. But, overall Richard Belcher should be commended on this work. Link to buy

John MacArthur New Testament Commentary

I have found this to be of utmost use for my biblical learning. This set is done very well and very well written. The set is not very technical like Keil and Delitzsch or The New International Greek Testament, but is very readable, and you almost get the sense of MacArthur's commentaries to be really like his sermons on these subjects. If I had to compare these commentaries to any other I would compare them to the great Calvin Commentary set. The commentaries are set up to be readable and technical when need be. Unlike some other commentaries, you very well just sit down and read through these like a book, which I find very useful. The only drawback that I have found is that in places I wish MacArthur would be technical, he sometimes is not. The other thing to watch out for is that MacArthur used to hold to the view that Jesus Christ was not always the Son (eternal Sonship), and they have yet to correct this error in reconstructing the commentary of Galatians. Conversely though, MacArthur does NOT hold to this view anymore and has publicly shown his reversal of this false view. You can read his reversal here. As far as theological persuasion, MacArthur is dispensational, pre-mill, pre-trib, cessationalist and 5 Point Calvinist.

Beyond that I would highly recommend this commentary set for everyone, layman and clergy alike. Link to buy

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

This is definitely the best of the best. It is very detailed in its explanation of the key, if not all, the Greek words in the New Testament. It details not only the literal explanation of the word, as one might be used to in Strong's, but also gives you the uses in the Old Testament, Theological Nuances in the Septuagint, The Concepts of the word in Judaism, The Use in Classical Greek and Hellenism and then finally the use of the word in the New Testament. The amount of information can truly leave you breathless and seem sometimes very inadequate. I find it sometimes very hard to follow as one that does not know the Greek language but also find it to still be a very good resource as I try and understand the usage of the words in their intent not just their literal meaning. This work is number one in its field and cannot be beat in breadth and depth of information on the words used by God's appointed writers for His word. I would highly recommend this to layman or clergy alike, to the Greek philosopher or plain speaking American, like myself. It has been a very useful, yet trying, work in my library. Know also that their is both an unabridged and an abridged volume of this work. I would get both, so that when you have less time to look at a particular word you can take a gander at the abridged. Link to buy

The Potter's Freedom

I must put this book at the top of the list as one of the most thought provoking and honest books on the Doctrines of Grace that I have ever read. It was designed to be a rebuttal to Norman Geisler's Chosen But Free, but ended up being not only a great rebuttal but also a great defense of historic Calvinism. It is very readable where needed but also very skillfully exegeting where needed as well. James White has become one of my favorite authors because of his skills of being able to speak to those who don't know Greek fluently but able to still make his point through the Greek text. I have read some who know the Greek but cannot explain it very well and I have also read those who can write very well but do not know the Greek. White treads down both these paths: very well written and fluent in the Greek.

White in this book gently, yet forcefully, directs the reader down Geisler's wrong assumptions or just plain wrong arguments against Calvinism but doesn't seem to "hold it against Geisler" yet corrects where there needs correction and explains further the Calvinist stance on the "five points."

If you are one that needs better description on the Doctrines of Grace, please pick this book up. It will enlighten the stance taken by the Calvinist; which is God is completely sovereign all the time. Link to buy book

Contending for Our All

This is the fourth book in the "Swans" series but the only one from the series that I have read. I first heard the sermons on these same men from Piper and thoroughly enjoyed them so I decided to pick up the book. It was a very quick read and really just a book that introduces these men, as one would expect from a 200 page book. The men in the book that are covered are Athanasius, John Owen and J. Gresham Machen. Piper did a good job introducing these men so that one would want to read more about them or read their actual writings. Piper's sermon was what initially got me interested in reading more from Owen, which I have very much enjoyed. The one thing that I didn't expect that I enjoyed was the application of the book, or how we could learn and grow from these men, not only by what they read but what they were dealing with. Athanasius with the Deity of Christ, Owen and Atonement, and Machen and the modernists. Again, Piper didn't get into really the meat of the issues but introduced them well; which is what I feel this book was designed to do. I would definitely pick up this book if you would like to be introduced to these men, or if you have read much about them and need a quick reminder of what was once learned. Link to buy book

New Site; Please Bear with us!

Decided to start our own blogspot dedicated to the reviews of books and of commentaries. Hope you enjoy and hope this will aid you in your discernment in reading. Please feel free to comment and feel free to add any additional books for consideration of our reading pleasure. May God bless!

When Skeptics Ask

I liked this book for it's easy readability on some tough questions. If you are starting to share your faith or even thinking of going into the ministry you will get these questions asked of you.

Good book to get the thought process started on these different issues regarding God and Christianity. The book does exactly as the title appears and for that I would recommend it. The only reason that I wouldn't recommend it highly is because of Geisler's false views on God's sovereignty. If you need a complete rebuttal on his views, which were expressed in Chosen But Free, take a look at The Potter's Freedom.

But overall, good simple read that will definitely start to clear up some questions.