First, please note:  "Second Edition."  This book is written by various members of the Florida College Bible faculty, and was intended as their own textbook to the class "Survey of the Pauline Epistles" which was first offered in 2018.  At that time the book included only essays on each epistle so that it could be printed in time for classes.  But over the years essays on "Pauline thought" were added.  These include Paul's view of God, Scripture, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Humanity, Sin, and Salvation, and several other topics, all taken not just from one epistle but all of them as an aggregate.  Indeed, the first edition anticipated the second and would have been that if not for the time factor.
            Second, do not think "textbook."  That may be an unfortunate description of a book that is far more and will be used often as the reader grows in his knowledge of the Word and begins to teach more.  The second edition opens with the newer essays and lays a good foundation that enhances the essays on the epistles.  Those essays, just as in the first edition, cover each epistle thoroughly with things like date, culture, themes and content, giving you both a new appreciation and possibly even a new viewpoint for each of those books.  This should be thought of as a necessary book for any Bible class teacher.  It can profoundly affect his ability to teach each epistle accurately as he learns its context and purpose.
            As with any collection, the essays are not equal.  Some are better written than others.  But the book is well worth your time and money overall because most are excellent or even better than that.  Just to name a few you do not want to miss:  David McClister on "Paul's View of the Holy Spirit," Tom Hamilton on "Paul's View of the Local Congregation," and Nathan Ward's "Paul's View of Humanity, Sin, and Salvation."  In the essays on each epistle, David McClister will let you know that yes indeed, there is a reason to study Philemon after all.  And leaving any of the others out in this list does not mean that they are not worthy of your attention just that I did not want to list almost every essay in the book!
            From the Pen of Paul is published by Florida College Press.
 
Dene Ward

DeWard Publishing Company has begun a new collection called The Heritage of Faith Library, which they define as "Classic Christian Reprints."  All of these books are old, but all of them have stood the test of time and are still well worth yours.  I just finished reading one of them, The Training of the Twelve.
            First, what should be some obvious caveats.  When you are reading books over a century old as many (most?) of these are, the language will be challenging.  The sentence structure is a bit more complex.  You simply cannot rush through it.  You might need a dictionary at hand for words you have never heard in your life and which may no longer even be in use.  Consider it a learning experience.  Don't read too much at once, maybe 8-12 pages, depending on the length of a chapter or even a section in a chapter.  Then stop and think awhile.  Your critical thinking cannot help but improve.
            So why is this book worth all that trouble?  Suddenly you will see the Gospels as Jesus' method of teaching his disciples instead of a history/biography and/or a defining of the rules of the new Kingdom.  You will understand why Jesus may have chosen the parables he did at the time he did.  You will feel the impact of certain teachings on the disciples themselves.  For instance, even though I knew it and could have told you if you had asked, John 15 and the vine analogy occur the night Jesus was betrayed.  Within an hour or two, If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:6), was no longer theoretical, but painfully real about someone they had known very well for over three years.  I had never thought about that before, completely divorcing this chapter from its context.  This book will help you feel with the apostles the effects of Jesus' teachings in a tangible way.
            Another warning:  Bruce has a habit of paraphrasing and extrapolating.  Keep a Bible handy so you know when one stops and the other begins.  As for the paraphrasing, it is another way of helping you see the impact of Jesus' words and actions on his disciples.  It may or may not be exactly what they were thinking and feeling at the time, but you would never have even considered the possibilities without it. 
            DeWard has other books in this series that are well worth your time.  They are classics for a reason.  A guest writer has already reviewed Albertus Pieters's book on Revelation, The Lamb, the Woman, and the Dragon, and proclaimed it the best out there (see right sidebar for Book Reviews and scroll through it).  And everyone interested in evidences ought to read Haygood's Man of Galilee.  I heard J. W McGarvey's Original Commentary on Acts quoted from as a child.  Go to DeWard.com to find the complete collection of 14.  More may be in the works.  Keep an eye open for them.

Dene Ward

Lydia McGrew has written four evidences books that I know of.  This is the second I have read, and it is every bit as good as the first one.  Her aim every time is to prove that the Gospels are reliable reportage about what happened in first century Palestine with Jesus and his apostles.  Most of her books are accessible to the average reader and this one is no exception.
            Ms. McGrew makes new arguments and revives older ones that have been abandoned to show why we can trust the "four evangelists," as scholars call Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  And she shows without much regret why modern critical scholars, some of whom she names, are "all wet."  Her chapters include things like Undesigned Coincidences, Unnecessary Details, Unexplained Allusions, and Unexpected Harmonies among others, to prove that what the gospel writers have left us is absolute truth, not made up stories.  Some of these are things you and I take for granted, never realizing their value as evidence material.  You will be emboldened by her arguments and ready to face your skeptical friends with new vigor.  And you will learn more about the gospels than you ever have sitting in an auditorium Bible class!
            Testimonies to the Truth is published by DeWard Publishing.
 
Dene Ward

Those of us in North Florida who have been around awhile, know the name "L. A. Mott."  Though he has passed on to his reward, he still might be one of the most respected preachers and teachers in our area, and the entire southeast for that matter.  I have reviewed several of his books before.  This one is the transcription of three lessons he taught in Atlanta in October, 1976, regarding, as the title says, faith as explained and taught in the book of Romans.
            Romans is widely regarded as one of the most difficult epistles.  Part of that is the fact that we spend so much time on "what it doesn't teach" and neglect to let the entire context of the book show us what it does teach.  My husband Keith also does an admirable job with Romans, lessons I have heard over and over, so it was especially interesting to hear brother Mott's approach.  They are very much the same.  While he may barely mention a couple of false doctrines, he spends the majority of his time doing exactly as Keith does—showing what faith is in the context of Romans, not what it isn't. 
            This book is three lessons so I read it in three days.  It is perfectly comprehensible, but the subject matter is not exactly shallow either, so I let each lesson "sit" a day to make sure it jelled.  Otherwise I could have read it in about an hour and a half.
            The last lesson was most appreciated.  Brother Mott deals with the problem of Christians who are "running scared," as he puts it, unsure of their salvation and fretting themselves to death, lying awake worrying at night over whether they are saved or not.  He shows you that this is not the life a Christian should be living, not a life of faith, and tells you how to do otherwise.  I know many who need this.
            Now the difficult part.  Amazon says this book is "temporarily unavailable."  So does Abebooks.  I couldn't even find it on Thriftbooks or Alibris.  You might try calling the Florida College Bookstore, CEI Bookstore, or OneStone.  Even if they don't have it, they might be able to give you a contact.  I hope you can find it, and if you do, enjoy an excellent study.
 
Dene Ward
 

What goes on in the realm of Biblical scholarship never ceases to amaze me.  If you want not just a glimpse, but a complete package tour of the subject, this book will sign you on for a first class round trip ticket.  I have suggested some of the smaller, easier to digest books of Dr. McGrew's before.  This one is more of a project.  Not only is it longer, but, despite several endorsers recommending it to us laymen, I found it to be much more difficult to comprehend.  However, it was worth the effort.  So it takes you three months to get through, and you find yourself rereading several sentences, you will understand more than ever before what those so-called scholars are doing to your Bible and to your Lord.
            Here is the problem:  we always expect liberal scholars to look at the Scriptures as a book of myths and the Lord himself as "just a good teacher."  They have now taken the gospel of John and accused that apostle of not only moving events around in the life of Jesus, but completely making them up and even putting words into Jesus' mouth that he never said.  Supposedly, John did not write exactly what happened; instead, he wrote made-up events that explain Jesus and his theology.  He never really said, "I am the way, the truth and the life," but he became that to his followers, so John put it down as spoken words.  Perhaps the worst part of this, is that even evangelical (conservative) scholars are going along with it.  It has become a sign of idiocy in the Bible scholar world, evidently, to accept John's gospel as "historical reportage" (truth).
            Dr. McGrew uses her skills as an analytical logician to completely pull apart their pathetic (it really is) reasoning.  And I mean completely.  She leaves no stone unturned, to be trite about it, even to the point of, well, tedium occasionally.  (She uses the word herself.)  Because of all her painstaking work, we can know that the Apostle John is writing through "the eyes of the beholder," not making things up.  And to deny her conclusions after her obvious undoing of them, tells tales on the hearts of those who still refuse it, who obviously have their minds made up despite the facts and despite their lame logic. 
            She also includes an appendix that settles in my mind that John the apostle, the Lord's cousin, the Beloved Disciple (and you would be surprised what the liberal thinkers do with those terms) wrote the fourth Gospel.
            Yes, it's worth your time, along with anything else Lydia McGrew has written.
            The Eye of the Beholder is published by DeWard Publishing Co.
 
Dene Ward

It only took about 20 pages into this book before I was thinking, "Ho-hum, do I really need to finish this thing?"  But yes, this looked like something one of my readers might pick up in a Christian bookstore, or even a used bookstore, so I made myself get through it.  Happily, once I hit Part 2 (page 57), things improved in a hurry.
            The biggest thing this book has going for it is its practicality, including detailed lists.  When I write blog posts, many comment that lists help them keep things organized in their minds, so I occasionally use one.  Well, this extremely organized author shares with you every single practical detail in several lists showing how she changed herself from an idle, let-life-happen-around-you wife and mother to someone who does her best to make every minute count toward her goal of becoming like King David—"after God's own heart."  As she says, "I am on assignment from God to—" be a submissive wife, support my husband, teach my children, manage my home, and on and on.  If anything will give you motivation, that mindset certainly will.
            Here is my biggest problem with this book:  Mrs. George seems to think that only by following her rigorous methods can we become women after God's own heart.  Unfortunately, even looking back on my younger years, I can tell immediately that not every one of these specific methods would have worked for me in our home and with my family.  I do highly recommend that you look at her method, but then adapt it to your life, your husband, your children.  I think you can find enough in it to help you do that.
            As for theology, since it is not a theological treatise, not too much bears watching out for.  Here and there I wonder if she even knows what she believes theologically about some things.  From what I could find out about her, she is an evangelical something or other, yet some of her statements don't quite match that.  The only thing that really made me sit up and notice was her list of priorities—family first, then God…  Wait a minute!  Whatever happened to "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me?"  So do be on guard just as policy when you read something.
            My copy is the first edition of this book.  There is an updated version.  Mine includes a study guide at the end, and I cannot imagine that a newer version would not.  With care, it might make a decent discussion group or class. 

A Woman after God's Own Heart is published by Harvest House Publishing.
 
Dene Ward

I received this book as a gift and when I saw the author's name I was so excited that I read it immediately.  Brother Hall is a virtual legend and anything he writes is worth reading.
            First, recognize that this was written as a tribute to his late wife Caneta, "mother of five and wife of 69 years."  That makes everything in it that much more poignant.
            Second, I believe that this should be approached as a classbook.  Brother Hall has added discussion questions after each of the thirteen lessons (see? a teaching quarter) that could keep a class going far more than the requisite 45 minutes most allow and well into the hour that ladies' classes on weekdays usually allot. 
            Third, it is not just a young mothers' book.  Any mother or grandmother can gain from it, as well as others who serve as mentors and counselors for the women who approach them for advice.  We are all mothers our whole lives if we are willing to serve that way.
            The book also contains two appendices.  The first one, written by a teenager (I assume) about how she values her virginity, should be required reading for every teenage Christian, male or female.  Whoever and wherever this young woman is (brother Hall could not find her), she deserves our thanks for her frank and touching essay.
            As I first read through the table of contents on this book I was amazed.  I knew that we have a fair amount of material about Mary, including some logical inferences we can make, but I would have been hard-pressed to come up with 13 lessons.  Brother Hall in his vast experience and knowledge of the scriptures has done far more than I would have thought possible.
            Mary, Model of Motherhood was published by Mount Bethel Publishing.
 
Dene Ward

Tom Gilson has written a modern day version of Atticus Haygood's Man of Galilee.  He certainly gives Haygood plenty of credit, along with several other writers who have used the very personality of Jesus as evidence of his veracity, or as the subtitle states "How Jesus' Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality."  Gilson seems to take things a step further, in an easy-to-read conversational style.
            First, he studies the personality of Jesus in all areas, covering passages you have heard all your life but never thought of that way.  Then he takes on the skeptics, using his method to answer all their challenges.  And finally, he meets head-on the inescapable conclusion of all of this:  Jesus is the only way to God and deserves our complete devotion.  If you have never studied the gospels through this lens, you will be even more convinced of who and what Jesus is after you read this book.
            The end of the book includes study questions for those who want to use it in classes, as well as an eye-opening section on the apocryphal gospels, the so-called missing gospels, which were neither missing nor gospels.  You will agree.
            Too Good to Be False is published by DeWard Publishing.
 
Dene Ward
           

This is, obviously, a work of fiction. Not only that but, as the author freely admits, a woman in Mary's day and time could never have kept a journal.  You didn't go to the store and buy a bound volume of blank paper, let alone a handy ball point pen!  Despite that, the idea of looking into Mary's heart as she lived her remarkable life, full of joy, excitement, bewilderment, fear, and abject sorrow is probably something we have all thought about.  What was it like for this specially chosen young woman to see an angel, to experience a virgin birth, and then to raise the Messiah?  We have all wondered.
            Ms. Bence has done excellent research.  Her little book includes Jewish lore, first century customs in Palestine (yes, that business about the kataluma is correct), and extra-Biblical history that, as far as I could find out, is on the money.  Naturally, she has to make up some of the details.  She gives definite ages for both Mary and Joseph, but both are highly probable.  She makes up names for their parents and siblings, only two of which we know for certain from the Bible (Joseph's father, Jacob, and Mary's sister, Salome).  She also imagines circumstances for Mary's other children—twin sons, an adopted son, and a definite number of two daughters.  Her depiction of John the Baptist as a little boy is humorous, but could be apt.
            More than that, she imagines the conversations and consequences of God's blessing on Mary as she struggles to tell her parents, and then Joseph, about Gabriel's visit, and the things they both must have gone through with villagers who could count to nine and had very long memories.  Then she covers the things you might not have thought about—like Joseph raising a child he knows is not his and how it effects the marriage, Jesus' not marrying which carried ramifications in that culture, and other items too numerous to list.  No, it is not perfect.  Finding a couple of Biblical errors was disappointing after the careful research, but they were indeed few and far between.  A few things seemed far-fetched, even considering the different cultures—like Joseph burying the wise men's gifts in the backyard for a couple of decades when certainly they needed it on the trip to Egypt.  But then you have the heart-wrenching tale (which might very well have happened) of a family member in Bethlehem losing an eighteen month old son to the Roman swords while Mary and Joseph were warned to flee, and the guilt Mary might have carried with her forever since it was her child they were looking for.
            This book is a page-turner and a quick read.  Do not treat it as truth, but as something to consider when you read about Mary and Joseph and all the unrecorded events they might have experienced.  These people were marvels of faith in every way possible.
            Mary's Journal is published by Zondervan Publishing, but you can also find good used copies on all the used book sites.
 
Dene Ward

Maybe it will say a lot if I tell you that the cover of this book looks like something you would pick up on the bookstand at the grocery store.  Both the title and the picture, a decidedly naughty looking woman peering at you over her veil upon which the title is printed, would grab the attention of anyone who thinks they are spiritual but wants an easy read to prove it.
            Let's give Ms. Higgs her due.  As she tells us in her introduction, she researched all these women—you can name them yourself and not miss a one—in over fifty commentaries and used 10 translations of the Bible.  She did work at it.  But it seems to me that she is more an entertainer than a teacher.  Each chapter begins with a fictional account that is supposed to be a modern day equivalent of that particular woman in the Bible.  Immediately following, is her commentary on the Biblical narrative, often interspersed with humor or sarcasm.  She does keep your interest even when, as I did not one fourth of the way through it, you wish you didn't have to finish it.
            Here is my problem with her fictional introductions:  absolutely none of them is applicable to me or anyone I know.  These made-up situations are hardly commonplace.  A couple are downright ridiculous.  And they are too long.  The first one takes up 12 pages when the Biblical narrative itself only takes 17.  A few more run 8 and 12, or thereabouts.  At least one is actually longer than the Biblical portion.  I would far prefer her to use those pages giving me several different modern, everyday applications in the same amount of pages, situations that people are a whole lot more likely to face.  That way she would have come much closer to touching everyone's life.   She does offer discussion questions at the end of each chapter, some good, some so-so.
            Another plus for her:  she got a few of the trivial things correct that many do not.  On the other hand, all those commentaries have led her to make some speculations that she then treats as fact.  I make speculations all the time when I teach, carefully labelling them as such and always saying, "We just don't know for sure."  I do this to make the characters real people with real reactions and real emotions, not some spiritual super-hero(ines) about whom I can then excuse myself by saying, "I could never do that."  When you speculate, you must be very, very careful, and I do not feel she was careful enough.
            My bottom line is:  if you are interested in real Bible study, do not buy this book.
            Bad Girls of the Bible is published by Waterbrook Press.
 
Dene Ward