1996 Issue 7 - Book Reviews: Books by Carson, Miller, Sandlin, And Einwechter - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1996 Issue 7 - Book Reviews: Books by Carson, Miller, Sandlin, And Einwechter - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/3

To (jlorify And

Enjoy

jod:

A Commemoration

Of

The

Westminster Assembly, ed.

by

John L

Carson and

David W.

Hall. The

Banner of

Truth

Trust

,

P. O. Box 621 , Carlisle, PA

17013, 338 pp.

with

index.

$32.95, 1994, hb.

The

answer to the first

question

of

the

Short

er

Catechism has been aptly chosen

as the

title of this volume.

Within

its pages are the addresses

given in 1993 to commemorate

the Wesbninster

Assembly

of Divines

that

was

convened

in 1643.

Divided into three

sections, the various

addresses examine

the

histOly of

that

day, and

provide an overview of

the documents produced

by those men

(The

Westminster

Confession of

Faith, th

e Westminster

Short

er

Catechism,

the Westminster

Larger

Catechism, the

Fann

of

Church

(jovemment and

the

DirectOly

of

Public

Worship).

The final

section

contains the

texts

of commemorative sennons

on the

Sovereignty of

(jod, the

Pre-eminence of Christ and the

Application of Redemption .

Preceding

thse sections David

Hall

provides an excellent

historical

study of previous

commemorations of

the

Westminster

Assembly.

The

volume

concludes

with

an

article

by Jay Adams on

the

Influence

of

Westminster and

some

helpful appendices

.

Each

article is

readable and

provides insights to

the

subject at

hand.

The reader should finish

the

book

being

more

knowledgeable

of

the

faithful

and

arduous work of the men

at

the Assembly

and far more

appreciative

of

what (jod

did

through

those

men .

t would

be difficult to pick

out

the most

important

article in

this

volume.

The

authors have

each

done their

homework and

are

well

qualified

to spe

ak

on

their topics. The

inclusion of

the

sennons

provide

a

practical

balance to

the

book

and

fittingly

remind the

reader of

the

practicality

of

aU Biblical

doctrine.

The

authors of the

various essays

also realize

this.

Thus

,

the reader

will

find points

at which the

essays spe

ak not

only to

the mind but

to the

heart

as

well.

This volume will be valued

by those

who

appreciate

the

documents

produced

by the

Westminster Assembly. The

documents

have

an enduring

quality

. Their quality

is also

seen in

that

th

ey

speak

to many

of

the

doctrines at issue in

refonned

churches today

.

Hopefully those

readers

unfamiliar

with the Westminster

documents

will

be motivated to

a study

of

the

Confession of

Faith

and

its

accompanying

documents.

From Fear to Freedom

(Living

as Sons

and Daughters

of

(jod)

by

Rose Marie Miller,

Harold Shaw Publishers,

Box

567, \. heaton, Ill. , 60189,

1994, 161 pp .

incl.

appendices,

p.6, $9.99. .

From Fear

to

Freedom

is

the

stOly

of

Rosie

Marie Miller, a

pastor's

wife, who was

outwardly

doing

the right

thil)gs

but who

was

inwardly suffering

and

stru

g

gling

with her

stance

before

(jod.

llle

book

opens

with

Rose

Marie meditating at

her daughter's wedding

ceremony. She rejoices

over the

perfect

bride

and

groom,

her Christian

children, her

faithful

Bible

and Catechism

training

of her children,

their

good

looks

and

manners.

All the years

of

hard

work are

bearing

fruit.

Soon

after this, however, Rose Marie

experienced some

family trials

and faced

an

emotional midlife

crisis.

I

did

not

realize

that the

confidence

I had always had

about

my

life

was

not

faith

,

as

I

had

assumed, but

a

reliance on

my own competency, be

it

real

or

imagined.

p

15 She felt

guilty

,

lonely, helpless,

.

abandoned -

as an

orphan - and

yet

she

couldn't

come to

tenns

with her

problem

.

She openly

tells

of conflict

with her husband

Jack

-

pastor

of

a thriving

church

in Jenkintown,

Pennsylvania.

Sh

e studied

scripture

and tried

to

communicate

with her husband

but with little

success

.

Everything

seemed to be

his

fault

- she

was masterful in

her

September, 996

t

THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon

t

2


2/3

blame shifting. Jack embarked

on a study,

of

Qalatians to,

ind

:

some insight

for

dealing with

the tension

in

his

home.

Rose

Malie rehearses her

,

childhood arid

seeks to learn

from it. She

remembered

how ' '

her mother had

suffered

from

emoti,onal and mental problems.

As she delved

into

the

parental

relatioJ1ship

; she saw sin that , .

had never been-dealt with

properly, The problems were '

never even admitted . .Clearly ,

the

sins

o f . . t h e f \ l t h e ~ were

vi

.sited on the

children

unto the : ,

third 'and fourth generationiUn

her and her children). She was ,

dealing with .

sin

in the

same

'

way her parents had - by, ,

suppressiJ1g it,

QY

ig:l1Qrlng it.

In the remaining

chapters, the

authotbegins to slowly comelo '

grips with the

fact

that she

has

tried

to

be independent and s e l f ~

sufficient

and has nol

trusted

in

Christ's p()wer. Qradually, as

she

is

broken again and again ,

by

the Lord, she

sees

His '

sufficteJ1CY

rid

hertotai

i n s u f f i c l e ~ C Y .

She

T ~ a l i z e s

that ' ,

Chrlst's

~

is bouhdless and :

free. It

d o e ~

~ o t d ~ p e i l d o n our

energies

or

accomplishments.'

It

,

is all of Qod's ,grace.

:

Rose

Mllne had to becrilshed

and see nothing good inherself

Then she was ready

for.real

: '

kingdom work . .qo is now

using her

to

speak

alqng

with

h ~ [ Ji-usband in many;churches

ill

America'and abroad as ;

one

beggar offering the bread of ife

to all-other beggar."

A\so,

amazing things have

begun

to

happen in her family as the

children

obserye their ehanged

parents.

This

book is

a very personal ,

a c ~ o u n t

of

Rose

Marie Miller's '

life" t to()k great courage to ,

share these

private deti\i1s'.of her '

stiuggleswith

sin.

Praise,Qod '

for His

victory

in the Millers ' '

lives.

j v1i1J1Y Christians will

be

. , . . 0_ . .

helpeq by

this book.

2:13-17

and' CoL 2:14-17 mean"

(p. 23). This distinction is , . '

helpfuL

be,cause

the

often used '

three-fold division separates the

moral rom civil law,, ' ,

although thedvillawoften

defines

the

moral law.

For

example, from

the civi laws

we

learn

that the breaking of the ,

'A ,Christian e c o n s v u c t i o ~ seventh commandment

includes

Primer by ,Andrew Sandlin. '

incest, bes

,tialitY and

Chalcedon Foundation Box .15 l: h o m ( ) s e x u l i ) y . , ',;

Vallecito,

CA.95251,49.

pp.

Sandlin 's book is p i j . r t i c u l a ~ t y

$3.25,. : ' helpM in ;h,at he begins with '

To many,

reconstruction"

the Bible and with the f a c t ) h a ~

. . . .

r e c o n s t r u ~ o n i s t

thinking flows

has to

do

just With Qod's1ilwfromScriplure;He r n p h a s i i e s

'andpostmillenialism. The author thatcultural

chaAge

canoniy. '

begins at neither pOint.He starts ' ,begiJ1 after stony

Ilearts

ha,ve ,

atthe'

beginniJ1g wiUi

the

'

,.

' , ,

beenuprooted

a n d r e p l a ~ e d w i t h

presupposition thattheB,ibl

e

is hearls that

are

soft toward God's

(lod s

inerrant,

infallible

'word

woM.

Each chapter

conclude$

.

f r o m w h l c h ~ l I docmnemust ' with'obje,ctionsthal a ~ ~ b ~ e ~

.come and on.v/hich allUfe must

raised

to the

subjects covered,

be

lived.

In the remaining

brief thereifl al]ose,

t h ~

a u t h o r d ~ e ~

n d ~ o w t h of Ciod's 'kingdom i

{

, ' '

'

not

go,

intp.

de.ptn

in any

chapte

,

r.

and the

fact

that Christians

are

He is f a ~ t h f u f t 0 the title.,He hilS

to apply GOd 'sword to every ' , written a

primer-an

introduction :

area

of life.

His dear and

precise

writing

is

'

RegardiJ1g Qdd s

lawaJ1d

its

a c ~ o m p a h i e d by' g r a c i o ~ s spirit:,

applicabiliiy

to today,

the

author .

Its

br,evity n i ~ k e s it reader

does

not divide the law into f r i e J 1 d l i t 6 i n l i ~ l s i t i v e ,

threftypes-moi'at; civil aJ1d ' individuafs; ts

SttiptUral

ceremdiliai.Qdd detennineSthe ' faithfulness

m a k e s i f a Y o l u m ~

,

delineation bdweeTl;teinpoTiIt'y , , that

rec6nSthidioniStHan

,','

arid abiding laws. Sandlin . : ;distribute t o t ~ o s e

d e s i r ( ) u s o f

writes:

"CertaJn

'

parts

dnhe law ' leaming th'citsodetytan be , ,

were pointers

'to Chrisl arid his '

recoJ1striJcte


3/3

reconstruction is rooted. Of

course

it

can

be profitably read

by an individual desirous of

learning

about reconstruction.

Church booktables should

provide

space for this

work.

Hopefully

it

will reach a wide

audience and

have

a

positive

impact

on a culture that is bent

on deconstruction.

.. .:

'

.

.. '

, .'

i

Ethics and God s LilW: An

Introduction to Theonomy, by

William O. Einwechter,

Preston/Speed

Publications, RR 4 Box 705,

Mill Hall; PA 17751. 1995,

85pp, incl.

Scripture

index, pb.

This book is a healthy

addition

1

currently available

books on this important topic.

The author provides the

reader

with a concise yet Scriptural

explanation of theonomy. In

ten brief but meaty chapters he

provides

the reader with a clear

presentation

of

many aspects

of

theonomy

[ Ciod'slaw J.

How

is

it definedl How

does it differ

from naturalJawl

Isn t theonomy e g l ~ c l Isn't

the Christian under

grace,

not

lawl These and similar

questions

are

answered in a

pastoral, cogent manner.

Having made his case for

theonomy being

Ciod's

ethical

system

for His

creation

he

24 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t September, 1996

Non-Profit

Org. .

U.S.

Postage

.

PAID

BULK RATE

Pennit No. 1553

Greenville,SC

29602

.

closes

the book with a chapter

that provides several reasons

. why the reader should

embrace

theonomy as the

ethical

system

on which individuals and

societies must stand.

The book

is reader

friendly

in its

brevity,

compassionate

yet

passionate

approach

and in its

well-written

style.

A

bibliography

is

included

so

that

interested readers

may

further

study this important

issue.

Sadly we live in a day when

too

many in the church oppose

theonomy yet cannot correctly

define

the term. Hopefully

the

wide

circulation

of this book by

means

of personal

recommendation,

church

booktables; etc. will be

used

to

educate a

needy population

as

to

the definition and

extreme

importance of theonomy for

our

day.

Documents

1996 Issue 7 - Book Reviews: Books by Carson, Miller, Sandlin, And Einwechter - Counsel of Chalcedon