Second Peter: Shunning Error in Light of the Savior’s Return

Second Peter: Shunning Error in Light of the Savior’s Return. By Zane C. Hodges. Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2015. 142 pp. Paper, $15.00. This commentary is a compilation of writings on Second Peter that were published in Zane Hodges’s newsletter, The Kerugma Message. Hodges spends very little time on introductory matters. But it is […]

God’s Faithfulness to His Promises (Hosea 2:14-23)

The Old Testament prophet Hosea wrote one of the most interesting books in the Bible. God tells this prophet to marry Gomer, a prostitute (Hos 1:2). She would prove to be an unfaithful wife. There are differing opinions as to whether his wife was a prostitute before they married, or became one afterwards. It is […]

The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good

The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good. By Maria Pally. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011. 268 pp. Paper, $20.00. Marcia Pally is a professor at New York University. In this book, she makes the case that there is a growing tendency among American evangelicals to move more toward the left in their […]

Jesus’ Use of Spittle in Mark 8:22-26

Kenneth Yates Editor I. INTRODUCTION Recently, I read a thesis done in 1999 on Jesus’ use of spittle in the healing of the blind man in Mark 8:22-26. The author of the thesis is Sarah Bourgeois and it was completed at Dallas Theological Seminary.1 This healing in Mark is interesting for a couple of reasons. […]

Making Heretics: Militant Protestantism and Free Grace in Massachusetts, 1636–1641

Making Heretics: Militant Protestantism and Free Grace in Massachusetts, 1636–1641. By Michael P. Winship. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, 2014. 322 pages. Paper, $32.50. This book recently came out as a paperback. In it, Winship deals with what is commonly called the “antinomian” controversy of the Puritans in the Massachusetts colony in the seventeenth […]

Killing Jesus: A History

Killing Jesus: A History. By Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2013. 293 pages. Hardcover, $28.00. This book is part of the “killing” series of books written by O’Reilly and Dugard, about the deaths of famous people. Previous titles are: Killing Lincoln; Killing Kennedy; and Killing Patton. They have […]

Only One Way?: Reaffirming the Exclusive Truth Claims of Christianity

Only One Way?: Reaffirming the Exclusive Truth Claims of Christianity. Edited by Richard Phillips. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006. 151 pp. Paper, $12.99. This book consists of six chapters by six different authors. All come from a Reformed background and the material in the book was originally presented at the 2005 Philadelphia Conference on Reformed […]

Abundantly Entering the Kingdom (2 Pet 1:10-11)

I recently did some reading in Church history and one of the things I learned is that 2 Pet 1:10 was often used to teach that a person cannot know if he or she is spiritually saved unless they look at their good works. That is still true today. In this verse, Peter says that […]

Serving God Is Important Work (Haggai 2:2-9)

Most people in Christendom believe there will be a final judgment at which each person will be judged by their works to determine if they will be a part of God’s eternal kingdom. Some think true believers automatically perform good works and these works prove they are believers. Others believe that the good works done […]

Antinomianism: Reformed Theology’s Unwelcome Guest?

Antinomianism: Reformed Theology’s Unwelcome Guest? By Mark Jones. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2013. 145 pages. Paper, $14.48. Mark Jones is the pastor of a PCA church in Canada. Since those in the Free Grace movement are often accused of being antinomian, the title of this book caught my eye. This book, however, does […]