Olasky’s Books For November: Colossians, Calvin, Cosper And More!
(ANALYSIS) “Colossians & Philemon” by Richard Phillips (P&R) is the new addition to the Reformed Expository Commentary series, the best ongoing one I know of. One example of its applicability: In discussing chapter two of Colossians, Philipps explains the apostle Paul’s concern that “though legalism the believer might miss Christ.”
Many books now tell us what to eat or when not to eat, how to observe “sacred times” or generate mystical experiences, but in Christ we sever both our bondage to the world and our tendency to think that a guru’s orders will save us.
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez’s “Calvin for the World” (Baker, 2024) takes an unusual look at John Calvin as “a humanistic reformer whose ecclesiastical and civil polity wanted ‘every resident of Geneva integrated into a caring community,’”
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Rodriguez criticizes parts of Calvinism, but notes that the population of Calvin’s Geneva grew from 13,000 to 21,000 in a decade, and his response created a “legacy of welcoming strangers, resisting tyrants, establishing justice and reaching across borders and cultures in vulnerability and faith.”
Mike Cosper applies the work of political philosopher Hannah Arendt to examine “The Church in Dark Times” (Brazos, to be published Nov. 19). He sees authoritarianism creeping through evangelicalism, with exhibit A the debacle of pastor-dictator Mark Driscoll, central figure in Cosper’s celebrated podcast series, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.”
Good news: Those seduced by power may recognize their error. Eighteen of the 23 Mars Hill elders who backed Driscoll’s firing of one dissident staff member, Paul Petry, later wrote him a letter acknowledging “that you were grievously sinned against …. We enabled a growing trend of misuses and abuses of power.”
Aaron Renn’s “Life in the Negative World” (Zondervan, 2024) proposes that American Christians until 1994 enjoyed a “positive world” where going to church enhanced social status. Thirty years later, after a brief period in “neutral world,” Christians live in “negative world,” where those who advocate Christian understanding are often shunned and cancelled.
Hmmm. As a professor at The University of Texas at Austin from 1983 to 2008, I enjoyed the students but found the professoriate a negative world — and gained tenure only by publishing many more academic articles and books than anyone else.
Christopher Watkin’s “Biblical Critical Theory” (Zondervan Academic, 2024) has specks of gold in its 648 pages. For example, he examines the n-shaped understanding through which some see chapter six of Genesis: “Noah performs to a certain standard and God responds by declaring him righteous.”
Watkins then flips it to a u-shaped dynamic: “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord,” so “Noah was a righteous man blameless in his generation.” The vital point is that Noah gained “grace on God’s free initiative, not because of any good behavior or spark of potential on Noah’s part.”
Michael O’Brien’s “By the Rivers of Babylon” (Ignatius, 2022) features Ezekiel as the protagonist, with cameo appearances by Daniel and Jeremiah — but God is the hero, and prayer to Him is crucial to spiritual development. When Yezekiel (as the Hebrew name goes) asks one leader, Shimeon, to call the exiles to prayer. Shimeon counters, “You and I should pray together now. Then, when we have established the custom, we will invite others to join us, one by one.” Yezekiel is doubtful: “It is a slow method.” Shimeon responds, “but more sure” — and the revival of spirit by the rivers of Babylon begins.
Canadian author and painter O’Brien, born in 1948, has written 17 other works of fiction, including the superb “Island of the World” (2007), which shows how war ruins the life of a child in a remote Bosnian village — but Christ is the Redeemer. O’Brien’s novel “Theophilos” (2010) helps readers understand the culture in which Luke lived: Those seeking instruction folded into plots might like the 2015-2020 InterVarsity series of seven short novels with titles beginning “A Week in the Life of … (Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Jerusalem, etc).”
Briefly noted: In “Decoding the Digital Church” (University of Alabama Press, 2021), Stephanie Martin shows how sermonic storytelling in some evangelical churches from 2008 to 2015 set the stage for the 2016 success of Donald Trump. Tahir Izgil’s “Waiting to be Arrested at Night” (Penguin, 2023) is an Uyghur poet’s memoir of the Chinese government’s genocidal treatment of the predominantly Muslim group in western China.
Marvin Olasky is the author of 30 books, including this year’s Moral Vision and Pivot Points. His foundation awards Zenger Prizes for street-level journalism.