Book Review I

Hermeneutics by Henry A. Virkler was the first theology book I had ever read and it turned out to be a great choice. I refer to it now as “Hermeneutics 101” as opposed to Hermeneutics by Milton S. Terry, which I’ll review later.

Initially I was a little disappointed because there seemed to be no explanation whatsoever as to the history behind the introduction and development of Hermeneutics, but this disappointment was quickly replaced by the content provided throughout the rest of the book.

Some might be asking “what even is Hermeneutics and how do you pronounce that?” To answer the latter is simple: her-men-óo-tics. The former question, however, is a bit more complicated to answer but could be summarized as “the practice of interpretation.” Now this practice could be applied to any kind of document, but is traditionally and consistently applied to Biblical interpretation beyond all others.

Don’t let the big name fool you; the book itself is very easy to understand and offers extremely useful tools to interpreting the Bible and is presented in an easy-to-read format. In fact the book itself was originally a booklet that Virkler was using to educate men in his own church. So many people were so impressed with his work that they urged him to publish it.

The book is approximately 260 pages of larger print (according to my printing) and remains a useful and prized possession among the inhabitants of my library. I would recommend the novice and expert alike to give this book a chance. 

Probably the most iconic book in my library and the one I remember most clearly for its sheer quantity of content. It runs approximately 1,200 pages divided into 7 parts which is the reason it took me just over a year to read. 

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem was originally published in 1994, but has since undergone several reproductions and the printing I used had an appendix and glossary added in 2000.

Grudem’s 7 parts include The Doctrines of:

1. The Word of God

2. God

3. Man

4. Christ & The Holy Spirit

5. The Application of Redemption

6. The Church

7. The Future

The Appendices include creeds, confessions, statements, glossary, bibliography, and Scripture memory verses and hymns which can be found at the end of each chapter as well. Each chapter concludes with these things plus relevant questions, terms, etc.

The book is magnanimously packed with so much useful content that one review simply won’t suffice. Reading this book was a highly rewarding journey; I looked forward to my readings in it each day that it was on my schedule and even longed to read more when it wasn’t.

Grudem speaks in plain and simple language. Not one section of his writings are the least bit intellectually pretentious but are helpful, relatable, and understandable by the common lay person.

Out of the 57 total chapters in this book I’m going to put chapter 40: The Perseverance of the Saints at the top of the list of most intriguing chapters. There are very few “boring” chapters or chapters with little valuable content throughout, but chapter 40 is, in my opinion, one of the most abundantly prolific theological sections of the entire book.

Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, there are a number of other resources listed in this book in the way of bibliographies, creeds/confessions, and other extremely useful resources for the scholar and student to have in one place for easy reference.

This book is thicker than the Bible so it’s understandable that there would be a lot of people who would hesitate to begin reading, but once again and in keeping with my 4-night reading structure, it would take only 29 weeks to read the whole book through. Having done so with breaks, I finished the book in about 14 months and found it to be such an invaluable resource that it has inspired me to read other works of the same title by other respected authors.

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem has shaped much of my understandings of Theology in general and has, in simple terms, helped me to understand so much more about my own faith, practices, and doctrines. Had I allowed the sheer size of this work to intimidate me, I would be years behind in my learning and knowledge.

A complete survey of the entire Bible in one book. Many parts of it, as is the case with any survey, it can be difficult to get through. However, the Gospels were particularly exciting and interesting. The book itself is of the highest quality of content. Well thought out, passage by passage, the obvious result of a lifetime of learning. An invaluable asset in any Theologian's library.

 It's always interesting to gain insight into the minds, beliefs, habits, and experiences of antiquity -especially when it comes to the beginning behaviors of the Church. Reading this early middle-age patriarch offers insight into the first stirrings of the Romish Church's traditions, practices, and  superstitions. John of Damascus, living in the 8th century A.D., represents the mindset of an established yet unrefined church. 

Van Til and Berkhof split this book right down the middle. Normally I've found myself to not be a great admirer of either person's writings, but I will say that this collaborative work is an improvement upon one another than what they might have done separately. The content itself  was easy to understand and useful to any Teacher, but very dry. 

This work has its value but it's mostly surface value. What depth exists is not very profound. Morris makes certain assumptions and although some may be safer than others, he moves forward with these assumptions under the premise of proven fact, which is just not necessarily the case and therefore skews subsequent interpretations and teachings. 

True archaeology always feeds the biblical flame of truth and accuracy, and this book serves that doctrine well. 

Very interesting to read an old work such as this. It was also a little challenging because it was written in Old English, using a lowercase, cursive "f" in place of an  "s" and other minor differences that can make a larger impact when trying to read through a document. This particular print was blotchy, which made reading a little more difficult. 

Some portions were unreadable. This particular Publisher has a history of reproduction by facsimile so you will find poorly published reprints of classical works are the norm. The content itself, however, though a little dry at times, was enlightening to read and see what reactions there were to  experiences and the encounters themselves.

Most of the book dealt with exploration of the sea and coasts, interrupted by hostile engagements on the sea. However there was some theological creation value to the book in that it made mention of distances to be found in the south sea, highly disputive of what will be found in modern accounts of the rotund proportions of the earth reported today as well as accounts of actual giants and evidence of giants present in those days.

 This is some of Pratt's early work, which is not his best. I've found that he seems to have peaked around 2013. This book was somewhat on the elementary side, appearing to be directed toward High School Students, but seemingly outdated in its applications for today. Teens and young adults don't behave or think the same way today as they did in the 1970s when  this was first published. I'm an admirer of Pratt's work generally, but  this book was a bit of a disappointment. Still, it may have value for those seeking to outline basic needs of a High School aged audience and adjustments could be made to the applications that would more closely reflect a modern realism.

This is an advanced Hermeneutics book that covers all the norms of Hermeneutical topics and processes, but in greater detail and complexity than you'll find in most modern books. I did enjoy it but it was  challenging to read -just as a book on general interpretive practices of the Bible ought to be. Terry's points and teachings are accurate and  well thought out. It's an obvious culmination of a lifetime of learning.           

Big recommendation for all Rose Publishing aids (charts, timelines, maps, chronology, then/now, etc.). This book is, like the others, highly informative and accurate. Easy to read, user-friendly, well-put together. I recommend all Rose  Publishing Bible aids highly. 

An extremely user-friendly, aesthetic teaching aid or lookup reference for the  learner. Highly informative and accurate. Many different avenues of  learning on certain topics. Chronological flow is generally agreed upon by Scholars. Notes, I believe, are made to identify the difference  between high and low dates of the Exodus and Job etc.

Brief pamphlet listing early church creeds/dogmas/doctrines.

Amazing story of Ron Wyatt in Turkey over several years and multiple visits. A brief yet exciting book that leaves little question as to where Noah's Ark rests. 

Compelling and indisputable proofs of stationary geocentricity. Very simple to understand but difficult for most to accept. Consistent with greater than 200 verses throughout the Bible that define Creation as God describes it.

Informative pamphlet. Offers a very brief overview of the world's religions. It was fun to learn of religions I had never even heard of. Being a pocket guide, it is very small and the explanations not very substantive, so it's more of an acquaintanceship of world religions than it is a thorough teaching.

Brief and to the point pamphlet. Solid evidence and arguments. Great book for the novice learner. Geared toward younger students. 

If you ever feel like you  need to be knocked down a rung or two on the ladder of self-righteous piety, read this book. It will almost sicken the average Believer to read these accounts of past martyrs and then to listen to modern Christians talk about the sacrifices they're making for Christ.

There are many print versions of this book. The one I read was a full-length, fully revised paperback copy that extended well beyond the lifetime of John Foxe. Still, what Foxe wrote was well-presented chronologically  (starting with the Apostles) and moving forward in vivid detail (more  than one might actually want at some points).

The focus is, of course, on the Catholic Inquisition and mentions names of people and places as well as specific dates whenever possible. No Theologian or even an Evangelist may call themselves "well-read" until they have read this book. 

The first 100 pages to this book were thrilling as Vermes describes the history of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the subsequent investigations, preservations,  interpretations/translations, and politics behind the waves of releases  of different documents. The following 500 pages or so are the best  offerings of the scraps of paper they found.

Out of approximately 100,000 documents, only 3 or 4 are of significant substance so as to be able to write about it comprehensively. Much of it can offer insight into the Jewish mindset of that day but only in an Essene sense (which closely mirrors early Christianity) and doesn't have much depth to it. In other words, you read the first 100 pages or so of  the presented fragments and you've basically gained all the insight you're going to obtain for the remainder of the book. All that's left to be entertained by in reading is Vermes' introductions to each new  section or chapter.

This is not a knock on the book; it's good to have a copy of these things on the bookshelf of any Theologian's  library. However it's just not as exciting or as one might expect it to be. If I learned one thing about the Dead Sea Scrolls from this book it's that the whole operation was an absolute scandal from start to finish. The fiasco was so poorly managed that it is convincing evidence of the unreliability of the documents as having not been preserved by God if the 2000 years of concealment weren't enough.