Christian Dogmatics: Reformed Theology for the Church Catholic

ed. Michael Allen & Scott Swain

Sixteen articles by 12 scholars provide a panoramic overview of contemporary Reformed understandings. They wrote to build up churches, and lay readers will find the articles accessible. Half (especially the ones by the editors and John Webster) are excellent, others are so-so, and Oliver Crisp’s article on sin is offensively flippant. The authors take positions on many disputed topics, and almost no one would (or should) agree with everything here—but at its glorious best, Christian Dogmatics will make you want to worship the Triune God.

Bishop J.C. Ryle’s Autobiography: The Early Years

ed. Andrew Atherstone

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) wrote tracts and preached powerfully in 19th-century England. He also dictated this autobiography in 1873, not for publication but for his children. In 1975, a third-hand version came out, but this beautiful scholarly edition, with comprehensive footnotes and many archival photographs and paintings, is the first publication taken directly from Ryle’s manuscript. Ryle tells of his childhood, his time at Eton and Oxford, his father’s tragic bankruptcy, and his first three parishes. The literary artistry of his tracts is absent here, but the narrative holds up well: His story shows God at work.

Guardrails: Six Principles for a Multiplying Church

Alan Briggs

How can a Christian carry out Jesus’ command to make disciples? He needs “guardrails”—core principles that will keep him on track. Briggs enumerates six of them. Discipleship must be reproducible. Anyone and everyone you disciple should be able to do the same for someone else. Reproducibility requires simplicity and adaptability—but genuine discipleship must also be holistic and regular. You can’t disciple someone in a single hour any more than you can get in shape in an hour. To keep people coming back, discipleship should be positive. Briggs’ conclusion: Find people hungry for God and start discipling them!

Family Worship Bible Guide

ed. Joel Beeke et al.

To “encourage family dialogue around God’s Word,” the faculty of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids prepared this guide. It offers two or three paragraph-length discussion starters about each of the Bible’s 1,189 chapters. Designed to be helpful for heads of household unsure of their ability to lead family worship, it will also inspire those who have been leading family worship for decades. This is not a commentary so much as a worship aid, doing for the Bible what a hymnal does for sacred music. It helps nourish family godliness with teaching that’s theologically solid and devotionally moving.

Afterword

David Powlison’s Good & Angry (New Growth Press, 2016) is Biblical and wise in its treatment of a universal problem. He shows how anger reveals itself in different ways: Some fiery outbursts and days of depression have anger roots. Powlison also shows how mankind’s basic stance is anger toward God: Christians have experienced new life, but we still deal with seeds of that anger. Importantly, he shows where much current Christian teaching misses the mark.

In Prevent, Survive, Thrive (BenBella Books, 2016), breast surgeon John G. West offers clear, straightforward advice on breast care for women and men (yes, men can have breast cancer). He cuts to the heart of the confusion over screening mammograms (when to have them and how often) and treatment options. Although he says women should know pros and cons of various paths, he also offers frank advice—“What I’d Tell My Daughter”—at the end of each chapter. —Susan Olasky