Leitourgia

The arts, as with other cultural issues, are often subject to scrutiny among Christians. From early iconoclastic debates to Zwingli’s artistic purge, Christians tend to be uncertain about the role of music and the arts in the church. Such debates are intensified by controversies over music and the so-called “worship wars.” Jeremy Begbie attempts to assuage these fears in his new book, A Peculiar Orthodoxy: Reflections on Theology and the Arts (Baker Academic, 2019). A celebrated artist and theologian, and perhaps the leading scholar in the intersection of theology and the arts, Begbie asserts that orthodox theology—particularly trinitarian theology—can be applied in peculiar ways in the arts, lending itself to a unique and beautiful expression of faith. Begbie’s book is a series of interrelated essays, some of which focus on theological foundations, and others which apply his thesis to music. As a pianist, Begbie draws on musical case studies as opposed to visual or theatrical art...

Among evangelical preachers, many views on the homiletical process exist. These issues surround the theological and biblical underpinnings of what a sermon is meant to do, which informs interpretation, application, and proclamation. In Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today (Baker Academic, 2018), Scott Gibson and Matthew Kim gather four respected preachers: Bryan Chapell, Abraham Kuruvilla, Kenneth Langley, and Paul Scott Wilson, each offering their take on how the function of a sermon informs its preparation. First up is Bryan Chapell, author of the celebrated preaching book Christ-Centered Preaching. In Chapell’s redemptive-historic view, he submits that all sermons are centered on Christ—not in that they mysteriously conjure Jesus out of each passage, but that each passage somehow points to God’s saving revelation in Christ. Next, Abraham Kuruvilla presents the christiconic view, maintaining that periscopes must be considered with respect to their original ...

Many Christians tend to be afraid of the Old Testament. Typical reasons include its confusing nature or irrelevance. These lead to a deeper issue: a distrust that the Old Testament is capable of addressing modern issues, especially when it seems to be rife with controversy. This is the problem that Tremper Longman III seeks to address in Confronting Old Testament Controversies: Pressing Questions about Evolution, Sexuality, History, and Violence (Baker Books, 2019). Longman, a respected Old Testament scholar, presents four of the most controversial subjects regarding the Old Testament and its relevance to life—evolution, homosexuality, historicity, and divine violence—and makes a biblical, theological, and historical case for each issue. Longman’s writing is not for the faint of heart. It is heavily academic in nature, requiring a basic knowledge of the literature and state of Old Testament scholarship. He drops large theological and biblical words and expects the reader to unders...

In this much-needed book, theologian Christian Hitchcock develops a vision for singleness and the church. Recent evangelical tendencies, argues Hitchcock, view singleness as a problem rather than an asset, a curse rather than a blessing. Drawing from her own experiences as a single Christian woman, Hitchcock skillfully combines personal reflection, historical evidence, and biblical-theological support to claim that single persons are themselves a theologically significant group. Hitchcock begins by tackling the problem of singleness head-on. She describes the perception of the “problem of singleness,” from pop culture to the Marriage Mandate Movement. In her view, American evangelicalism views marriage as the most desired social institution, under which nothing can compare. Most of her examples come from her experience as a student and professor at small Christian colleges, which have a notorious tendency to inflate issues of marriage. Hitchcock then turns to three figures from chu...

Crossway’s new ESV Prayer Bible (2019) is designed to be a simple devotional Bible that allows readers to join in the prayers of past saints who read the same text. Rather than being filled with study notes, this Bible includes an occasional prayer, written by Christians from the Church Fathers to the twentieth century. The single-column, lay-flat design lends itself to an uninterrupted, devotional reading experience. The prayers are delineated in centered, sans serif font and are not overly distracting. Perhaps most useful in this edition is an author index, with illustrations and brief biographies of the prayer authors, along with the references and sources for their prayers. It appears that the desire to retrieve ancient spirituality is gaining popularity, as this follows Thomas Nelson’s Ancient-Modern Bible (2018) and similar books. By itself, this is not an overly special Bible. It is a basic, cloth-bound Bible with the occasional prayer. But I can see how its use can allo...

Thomas Nelson, 2019. Now in its third edition, The NIV Maxwell Leadership Bible  (Thomas Nelson, 2019) continues the legacy of respected leadership expert John Maxwell. For Maxwell, every Christian has influence to lead others. Thus, it is imperative to study the Bible in order to determine biblical principles for leadership. This study Bible offers general study notes, along with articles, breakout sections, excerpts from Maxwell's work, biographies, and notes on mentoring and leadership influence. This newly updated edition uses the NIV translation in the ComfortPrint typeface, making it incredibly legible, even at a smaller text size (10 pt). The layout is two-column and lays flat, which is important, given the larger size of this Bible. Apart from Maxwell's occasional notes and leadership profiles, there is little salient exegetical information. For that reason, this Bible would serve as an excellent devotional aid but should not be considered as an academic study res...

Abingdon Press, 2019. Most preachers burn out. So claims celebrated homiletician and preaching professor David Ward. Ward contends that, while preaching is a life-giving activity, most practices of it lead to exhaustion and life waste. In his new book, Practicing the Preaching Life  (Abingdon, 2019), Ward sets out to paint a practical theology of preaching that spiritually forms preachers and brings renewal, not only to preachers, but to their listeners as well. Ward, as a student in the New Homiletic, draws heavily on Augustine and Aristotle, who view preaching as a means to embed virtues within the preacher. He begins by establishing a correct theology of preaching: what makes good preaching "good"? What are the offices of the preacher? From there, he moves toward practical applications, including weekly sermon preparation routines and sermon forms. Ward's approach to preaching practice, however, diverges from traditional books that either offer homiletical theory...