Books
January 20, 2012
More books emerge than I have time to keep up with, but our friend Rob Ventura can help us here with sample chapters from forthcoming titles from Reformed Heritage Press (see his blog, http://books2look4.wordpress.com/).
I've just finished reading Peter Enns' new book, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn't Say About Human Origins (BrazosPress). Here are two quotations:
"...the scientific evidence we have for human origins and the literary evidence we have for the nature of ancient stories of origins are so overwhelmingly persuasive that belief in a first human, such as Paul understood him, is not a viable option." (P.122).
"Admitting the historical and scientific problems with Paul's Adam does not mean in the least that the gospel message is therefore undermined. A literal Adam may not be the first man and cause of sin and death, as Paul understood it, but what remains of Paul's theology are three core elements of the gospel: 1. The universal and self-evident problem of death 2. The universal and self-evident problem of sin 3. The historical event of the death and resurrection of Christ. These three remain; what is lost is Paul's culturally assumed explanation for what a primordial man had to do with causing the reign of sin and death in the world." (123-124).
O my! Tell me again, how does this differ from nineteenth century liberalism? Tear down the foundations because I want to put on a new roof!
On another level entirely, Bryan Chapell's The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach (Zondervan) is self recommending. Outstandingly helpful
