Review: Christ and the Kosmoses by Charles W. Asbell

Christ and the Kosmoses by Charles W. Asbell
Scripture Research - Vol 4 - No. 14

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This little book was actually a nice read. I honestly was not sure what to expect, knowing nothing of the background or theological stance of the author. Even their web site had little theological affiliations listed to reveal their position. But I read on anyway, awaiting an answer.

This booklet deal with the idea of the Greek term kosmos, as used throughout the NT, is not actually referring to the world as a whole, but to a dispensation - a time - an era containing a specific people, and their dealing with God within it. I am not alien to this concept, and so it was not at all startling. I guess I just never looked at applying the use of kosmos to such a thought. I knew of the overarching "this age" and the "age to come" separation of the Hebrew understanding, and this kosmos understanding kind of aligns right along side of that.

Review: Revelation and the First Century: Preterist Interpretations of the Apocalypse in Early Christianity - Francis X. Gumerlock

What a great book! Very similar to the edition the author co-wrote with Gray DeMar (The Early Church And The End Of The World) but with much more content and more recent translated documents.

In a nutshell, this book has one goal - to close the mouths of those who speak as if preteristic understandings were totally absent in all of church history. As the author states in the introduction:

One common criticism against preterist interpretations of the book of Revelation is their alleged lack of representation in Christian history. Oponents of preterist interpretations of Revelation say that such views did not exist in ancient Christianity but were introduced into Christianity in the 1600s by the Jesuit names Luis Alcasar, sometimes spelled Alcazar. This, of course, implies that such interpretations are novel. For Christians, "novel" tends to mean that such interpretations are un-orthodox and not in agreement with the ancient faith handed down to us by the apostles. 

Review: 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask - Thomas Woods, Jr

33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask by Thomas E. Woods Jr.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Books like this need to be read by all America students - of course if this information were more widely propagated, we wouldn't have such a messed up nation and government as we do. Tom Woods tackles so many various issues that most anyone should walk away learning something new.

He covers topics relating to the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the War Between the States, States Rights, slavery, the wild west, the American Indians, Presidential powers, Social Security, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, the Whiskey Rebellion, Capitalism, Foreign Aid, the Depression and economy, Herbert Hoover, Bill Clinton, and so much more.

Do You Read the Bible Entirely? Challenging All Christians!

Christians stand on the Word of God - or at least they should if they don't. They live based on the teaching found within the 66 books of the Scriptures, and base much of their belief of Christianity on that book. So, the question of the day, do Christians consistently read their Bibles since it is so important to the lifeblood of their belief and practices?

Unfortunately, Christians can be quick to argue over understandings of the Scripture. A good question to ask when this happens is, "Have you read the Bible through in it's entirety?" Sadly most have not, and so it seems baffling as to how they can argue over parts of it, if it is possible that the answer to the argument is contained in that portion of Scripture that they have not ever read - yet it happens.

Review: Discovering the Original Gospel of John - Jerry Wayne Bernard

Discovering the Original Gospel of John by Jerry Wayne Bernard

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Well, I admit I did not finish this book completely. I had high hopes for it, until I read the introduction and he gave high praise for the time he sat under Dr. Bart D. Erhman. Knowing Erhman has spent most of his career attacking Christianity and the Scriptures, I started loosing my high hopes immediately, but I pushed on hoping for the best. Well, my fears were justified, as the book started attacking the text, claiming there were two writers of John, one being more gnostic and adding pieces that wouldn't have been in the original. He also goes on to claim that Paul was radically different and actually more gnostic than the other Apostles.

Review: The Benefits of Coconut Oil : Why You Should Add This Healthy Oil To Your Life

The Benefits of Coconut Oil : Why You Should Add This Healthy Oil To Your Life by Ryan Jamieson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A quick an easy read, but filled with information I only partially knew before. Lots of great uses for coconut oil that I have never considered. Of course since this ebook was free, I loved it even more. I have used coconut oil in my diet on and off for a couple years, but now I have renewed interest in using it for more things and more often for sure.

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Review: My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business - Dick Van Dyke

My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



It is not often that I read biographies, and recently, the ones I have read were on musical type people that I have enjoyed, but this was a book I had on my to-do list since I saw it hit the shelves. I am not exactly sure why, aside from just growing up with reruns of the Dick van Dyke show that I loved, and the few movies of his I saw as a kid. So, when I was at the public library looking for a totally unrelated biography, I saw this one standing face forward on the shelf as if spotlighted for me to see, so I grabbed it without hesitation.

His childhood was filled with typical stories of the time, but along came little neat tidbits like his close friend who had an irritating cousin who always tried to hang with them - one Mr. Gene Hackman. Just seeing how so many paths crossed over the years, I found that fascinating.

Review: The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants - Kenneth Bailey

The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants by Kenneth E. Bailey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Bailey's style, and this book was a bit less technical than some of his others, making it even more easy to read and grasp. He takes a relatively short story and expands on the underlying concepts and cultural understandings that the original hearers would have grasped when they heard it. He adds so much background story to it, that it really comes to life more.

My only complaint, and it is a relatively slight one in light of the whole story, is that Bailey kind of misses the mark in identifying the parties of the story. In identifying the prodigal son as just mankind, he misses the covenant significance behind it. The father figure is indeed representative of Yahweh as he points out, but the older son would be representative of the two southern tribes that were technically still within the covenant with the Father, with the prodigal son representing the ten Northern tribes who were not. Like the prodigal son, those tribes were cast out, dispersed throughout the nations, but they were promised (as seen in Isaiah, Hosea and Ezekiel 37, and elsewhere) that one day they were to be brought back into the fold. As we see this beginning to happen under the ministry of Paul, we see the building frustration of the Pharisees who were dealing unkindly to the idea, just as the older son in the story did.

Review: Evangellyfish - Douglas Wilson

Evangellyfish by Douglas Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I am not a fan of fiction. I rarely read it, and in general rarely read for just the entertainment factor. But having been a big fan of Wilson's for nearly two decades now, and having read so much of his non-fiction theological work, and hearing so many great things about this book, I dove in - and LOVED it.

In some ways I did not know Wilson could write like this. It was so captivating, and he does a great job of establishing the characters and their internal "evils" that they truly come to life in the story. The story is kind of creepy in places, yet realistic sounding at the same time. I loved the ending and did not see it coming, so that was great.

The story is about a scandal with the pastor in a mega-church, and contains all kinds of mini-plots with characters and their scandalous lifestyles too. While it is fiction, nothing found here is too far fetched to not be believable and possibly a reality in churches of this nature. All in all, it is quite a wild and crazy ride that was quite enjoyable when it was over. I will definitely look out for more of Doug's fiction type stuff from now on.





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Review: The Sons of God and the Nephilim - Tim Chaffey

The Sons of God and the Nephilim by Tim Chaffey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Another great and well-researched book on the topic of Genesis 6. I just previously finished Van Dorn's volume on the topic, Giants: Sons of the God which I found to be more in-depth and exhaustive in ways, but I still found Chaffey's work to add additional information to the discussion.

As expected, he lists the alternate views, and then disassembles them by showing their weaknesses. In the end, only the fallen angel view can match all of the criteria of original language, other use in scripture, as well as other historical writings. The historical writings sections had some pieces I was unfamiliar with too, which was nice to see.

In both this and Van Dorn's book, they go the extra mile to show that there is a better than good possibility that God had his people on a mission to wipe out this giant threat, as is evident from the battles He sent them on. If this is true (and evidence seems to point that way), then it is a game changer when it comes to understanding the OT and all that was happening as far as the people being sent to wipe out whole people groups.

I give this book two thumbs up as a great starting point for the discussion of Gen. 6, the Sons of God and the Nephilim.

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