Recent theology books

Ambition: Essays by Members of the Chrysostom Society

edited by Luci Shaw & Jeanne Murray Walker

Though perhaps not morbid, this book’s relentless introspection is wearying. The nine essayists agree that ambition can be a bane as well as a boon. Discussion swirls around anecdotal accounts of ambition in the authors’ lives—an ambitious move from Missouri to California; an Alzheimer’s-suffering parent ambitious to remember something; an ambitious TV talk show appearance. The core question: Is ambition even safe, never mind good? No one really seems to be sure. Better avoid it. Or, as Eugene Peterson’s essay concludes, quoting Peter Forsyth: “Humility is a better equipment than ambition, even the ambition of doing much good.”

Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion?

Bruce K. Waltke

Waltke argues that “finding the will of God” is a pagan notion. It even has a name: divination. In the Old Testament era, God sometimes directed His people by special revelation. After Pentecost, though, He expects us to make our decisions based on familiarity with His Word, a heart protected from wicked influences and attuned to His wise counsel, and a correct reading of His providence. The New Testament never commands us to discover God’s will; it tells us God’s will, which is that we obey His law. Waltke’s work, now revised and expanded, challenges much Christian thinking, but is nonetheless persuasive.

Taking Men Alive: Evangelism on the Front Lines

Jim Wilson

When your eyes are closed, you don’t want light. Before evangelizing, get people to open their eyes. Then give them gospel light. That’s how Jim Wilson reads Acts 26:18, and that’s how he witnesses. The results have been amazing. Wilson’s stories of people being converted motivate evangelism, and his strategies empower it. His advice: Don’t prove God; proclaim Him. Turning the other cheek? That command is for the sake of witness. If you strike back, you won’t see that person converted. Finally, when witnessing, don’t be afraid to use Scripture. So what if the enemy doesn’t believe in your sword?

Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus

L. Michael Morales

Leviticus tells the story of how God’s people, exiled from Eden, can return to His presence. Why all the rituals and regulations? They underscore God’s holiness and the holiness His presence demands. Two problems arise: Moses’ exclusion from God’s presence (Exodus 40:35), and the deaths of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:2). Morales convincingly reads Leviticus as solving these problems through the Levitical approach to the house of God (Leviticus 1-10), cleansing of the house of God (11-16), and meeting with God (17-27). Levitical worship is obsolete today, but Morales demonstrates its significance to those entering God’s presence through a better way.

Afterword

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Herman Wouk is 100, and his memoir Sailor and Fiddler (Simon & Schuster, 2016) examines his literary life, his spiritual journey in Judaism, and his love for Israel. Wouk fans will love this short book, but the uninitiated may be confused by his chronicling of decades of the circumstance and happenstance that shaped him as an author. Wouk’s love for his wife, Betty Sarah, and their three sons shows the joy of marriage and fatherhood.

Lecrae Moore is 36, and his memoir Unashamed (B&H, 2016), written with Jonathan Merritt, has both good theology and the raw detail you’d anticipate in a Christian rap artist’s memoir. Emotionally scarred from an absentee father, violence, abortion, and much else, he mourns his sinful desires and attempts to win God’s favor through legalistic acts. Some Christians criticize him for appealing to secular audiences, but Lecrae sees all of life as God’s sacred territory. —Naomi Inman and Joseph Kesler (graduates of the World Journalism Institute mid-career course)