The Christian’s Only Comfort in Life and Death: An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism

Theodorus VanderGroe

This two-volume work is a thorough guide to a catechism for the heart that many contrast with the Westminster Confession’s catechism for the mind. Heidelberg’s first question deals with our “peace and comfort in life and death” and emphasizes that we belong to Christ who “assures me of eternal life.” VanderGroe explains, “If ever a poor and needy Christian will need comfort—and then an unusually steadfast and strong comfort—it will be in that hour when he departs into eternity.” He says Heidelberg will help us “joyfully be able to overcome the dark, fearful, and hostile components of death.”

All Things Made New: The Reformation and its Legacy

Diarmaid MacCulloch

MacCulloch argues that Catholicism in 1517 “was not in the terrible state of decay which has formed the foundation of traditional Protestant narratives” and was “in a process of vigorous transformation without Luther’s help. … It satisfied most people.” But MacCulloch also describes a church leadership in decay, with Pope Julius III making “his teenage rentboy lover a cardinal,” and the Council of Trent’s official physician, Girolamo Fracastoro, becoming the first person to name and provide a detailed diagnosis for syphilis, perhaps because “contemporary senior churchmen would have provided Fracastoro with plenty of case studies.”

The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao

Ian Johnson

Johnson shows how the atheistic propaganda that’s been compulsory in schools and mass media since China’s Communist takeover in 1949 has not been able to kill the religious impulse that is part of our human nature. Christianity has exponentially expanded in China, to the chagrin of government officials, but Buddhism, Taoism, and other faiths have also grown. Johnson writes well, and six of his 30 chapters focus on dynamic and courageous Christian activities in Chengdu, home of Early Rain Reformed Church.

Why God? Explaining Religious Phenomena

Rodney Stark

Rodney Stark offers 192 propositions and 87 definitions that are sometimes wise but tend to leave God out of the picture. For example, Propositions 62 and 64: “People convert to a religious group only when their interpersonal attachments to members overbalance their attachments to nonmembers. … In making religious choices, people will attempt to conserve their social capital.” Oh, is that it? Proposition 133 says, “Low-tension religious organizations will typically have declining membership,” and Propositions 183 and 184 are wry: “Men will be more likely to engage in risky behavior than are women” and “Men will be more likely than women to be irreligious.”

Afterword

From its turbulent beginnings with a brilliant but cantankerous German monk, Protestantism has left an indelible mark on history. In Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World (Viking, 2017), author Alec Ryrie’s engaging style whisks the reader through the centuries, bringing to life fascinating characters and complex ideas. At times he tilts toward theologically liberal readings, such as when he writes that Darwinism contradicts no “core Christian doctrine” and blames the Apostle Paul’s “sometimes crude caricature of the Judaism of his youth” for the anti-Semitism promulgated by some Christians. But Ryrie’s galloping overview shows the influence and transformative power of Protestantism, particularly through its emphasis on missions and its support for education, widespread civic participation, and economic development over the centuries. —Rick Matt and M.O.