The RP 52 in 22 challenge
If you're a reader, there's a good chance you have a stack of books somewhere that you've really been meaning to get to. But, what with the busyness of life, that stack might well be growing as it is so hard to set aside the time. How then, can we get to the reading that we really want to do anyway?
The answer, for a trio of competitive lads, was to get a challenge going. So a lawyer, a minister, and an editor all agreed that they would read 52 books by the end of 2022. This "52 in 22" challenge was a race of sorts, and to up the motivation, the three kept a public running total of their progress, posting short reviews of each book here on this web page (with selections appearing in each issue of the print magazine). Finally, to add a mildly punitive element to it, each agreed, at year's end, to donate $20 for every book they didn't complete to a charity of their choice.
Our hope is that the challenge might spur others on to read more great books, including, perhaps, some of the suggestions listed below. You can also find the results on MeWe, Facebook, Instagram, and Gab under the hashtag #RP52in22
The final tally
The lawyer – André Schutten: 50
The minister – Jim Witteveen: 52
The editor – Jon Dykstra: 52
Reviews
DECEMBER 31
My pastor gave me (and the other elders of Jubilee Church) a copy of Faithful Leaders and the Things that Matter Most by Rico Tice (2021, 110 pages). This short but punchy book is worth way more than the time it takes to read. When I say punchy, I mean it. Tice does not hold back in challenging pastors and elders (and other leaders within Christian ministry) to take the call to lead very seriously. In four chapters, he urges pastors and leaders to properly define success, to fight your sin, to lead yourself, and to serve your church. The first chapter properly reorients a Christian leader to define success according to Scripture and not the metrics of the world: the number of social media followers, or books published, or conference attendees talked to, etc. What is success but to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” from the only lips that matter. Second, Tice wants Christian leaders to seriously consider the story of Achan and his sin as a dire warning to put sin to death. It matters to your soul and to your family and church or ministry too. Ongoing sin cannot be tolerated. Third, Tice wants Christian leaders to lead themselves, and this means to ensure appropriate spiritual routines are in place, accountability groups are functioning well, taking proper rest (and so depending on God), and living in the sheer wonder of the gospel. And finally, Tice wants Christian leaders to serve their church instead of the other way around, ensuring that leaders listen well, bend toward the marginalized, and truly serve like Jesus did. I highly recommend this book to be read by Christian leaders in small groups, and then discussed and prayed over together. You will be challenged! – André Schutten
DECEMBER 30
Abdu Murray is a Christian convert from Islam, a lawyer and a Christian apologist (formerly with Ravi Zacharias Ministries). His book Grand Central Question: Answering the Critical Concerns of the Major Worldviews (2014, 261 pages) was a helpful look at the major religious questions that all worldviews wrestle with like: Why am I here?, What does it mean to be human? and Why is there evil in the world? Murray argues that not every worldview places equal emphasis on each question. In fact, the three major worldviews that compete with Christianity place a particular emphasis on a particular “grand central question.” Secular humanism focuses on the question of the inherent value of human beings. Pantheism (like Hinduism or new age religion) focuses on the question of escaping suffering. And Islam’s major concern is the greatness of God. Murray carefully and insightfully critiques these worldviews and exposes the main contradictions in each of them in relation to their grand central question, and then shows how Christianity and the gospel answer each of these grand questions in a way that is rationally consistent and satisfies our human need for answers that are both intellectually and emotionally satisfying. Murray’s argument is easy to follow and is punctuated with personal anecdotes that demonstrate his compassionate approach to apologetics. I particularly liked his explanation of the Trinity in response to the criticisms of Islam (Muslims accuse Christians of being pantheists due to the doctrine of the Trinity). I recommend the book, both to better understand the basic worldview of the people living around you and to provide some ideas for conversations with them. – André Schutten
DECEMBER 29
Ten years back, anyone who’d said that cultural forces already in play would soon have our public schools teaching boys can get pregnant... well, he would have been dismissed as a nut. What Jim Witteveen shares about an “open conspiracy” among the power-hungry will at first sound so outrageous as to be unbelievable too. But make no mistake, this is fact, not fiction. Chapter by chapter, he highlights ideologies and organizations that would seem to have little in common: global warming catastrophists, sexual hedonists, the public school system, overpopulation proponents, evolutionists, Big Tech, and Big Government. They are united, though, in their arrogance that they know – and God does not – what is best for all the rest of us. While their utopias differ, the route forward is the same for them all: a quest for more and more power so they can implement their vision. And, as Witteveen details, these ideologies and organizations are grabbing hold of the reins of power. If that was all he shared, this would be quite the devastating read, so thankfully the conclusion is all about a way forward for God’s people that explores the many opportunities that exist to faithfully honor and obey our Lord as we contend with the forces marshaled against us. How in the world did we get here? (2022, 183 pages) will be a slap upside the head to the many sleepy Christians who haven’t yet recognized we are in a battle, and who consequently haven’t yet answered God’s call to go out and contend. Timely and much-needed, what Witteveen has given us is made all the more valuable for its brevity and accessibility – everyone should read this, and most everyone will be able to. Contact the author at Dan1132.com to pre-order. – Jon Dykstra
DECEMBER 29
While it might seem like a mere children’s story, the original version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843, 104 pages) is much meatier than you might imagine. I read this one to my kids over the Christmas holidays. My 6-year-old tuned out and my 8-year-old fell asleep during two of the five chapters (though that might have had more to do with late nights during the holidays). Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story very much and I think you will too if you are able to get around the Victorian English. Dickens tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner and then three other ghosts on Christmas Eve. Through the visions of his past, present, and future, Scrooge learns the error of his ways and is transformed into a compassionate and generous man. There are clear Christian themes throughout the book, not least of which is the warning of what the love of money does to a person and it can make a person willfully blind to the suffering of others. Scrooge is contrasted with his clerk, Bob Cratchet, who demonstrates love and compassion for those around him, and is thankful for the little he has, thus producing a joy in his family that is clearly lacking in Scrooge’s life. I recommend reading the original version of this very well-known story so that you don’t miss out on the little Biblical allusions throughout (which are trimmed out of most modern, abridged versions). – André Schutten
DECEMBER 28
Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson (1946, 218 pages) is what its title suggests, just one economic lesson explained in the first chapter – that we focus on the obvious impact of a government program, and don’t consider what otherwise might have happened with those dollars. It’s the seen vs. the unseen. That one lesson is then repeatedly applied to different situations in the 24 chapters that followed. In chapter 4 it is applied to public work projects: when the government builds a new sports stadium we can see the job created by its construction. What’s unseen is all the jobs that might have been created by businesses if they hadn’t had to pay the taxes to build that stadium. Overall, Hazlitt is making a general argument for less government and more economic freedom, but is making it on the basis of practicality: that a free market approach will make us all, overall, more prosperous (download the book for free). But in his Christian Economics in One Lesson (2015, 268 pages), Gary North makes his argument for free market economics on a different basis: obedience. He also thinks the free market is the most effective way of making us all richer, but he sees that, not as a goal, but as a side effect – the fruit – of being obedient to God’s commands do not covet, and do not to steal. He is riffing off of Hazlitt, reworking every one of his chapters, but in each occasion showing that this isn’t simply a matter of math, or some neutral accounting, but that economics is really a matter of ethics. The better way is the way that obeys God’s commands. And, not coincidentally, that is also the more prosperous approach. It is a brilliant insight, and worth the reinforcement that comes in the repeated applications that follow. If this isn’t the most important book I’ve read this year, it is certainly in contention... and it can be downloaded for free here. – Jon Dykstra
DECEMBER 26
I read Herman Bavinck’s Christian Worldview (1913 and translated 2019, 141 pages) a relatively short but quite dense book explaining a Christian philosophy of reality. As Bavinck notes in his introduction:
“The problems that confront the human mind always returned to these: what is the relation between thinking and being, between being and becoming, and between becoming and acting? What am I? What is the world, and what is my place and task within this world? Autonomous thinking finds no satisfactory answer to these questions – it oscillates between materialism and spiritualism, between atomism and dynamism, between nomism and antinomianism. But Christianity preserves the harmony between them and reveals to us a wisdom that reconciles the human being with God and, through this, with itself, with the world, and with life” (p. 29).
Bavinck is a master philosopher and demonstrates his abilities in contending with the greatest philosophers in the western tradition in especially the first two chapters, showing over and over again why the ideas that raise their fist against the Christian religion are ultimately incoherent and self-defeating and that only the Christian religion truly makes sense – consistently! – of reality. He writes:
“Not only does the Christian worldview objectively restore the harmony between the natural and moral order, but through this it also brings about a wonderful unity subjectively between our thinking and doing, between our head and our heart. If the same divine wisdom grants things their reality, our consciousness its content, and our acting its rule, it must be the case that a mutual harmony exists between these three. The ideas in the divine consciousness, the forms, which constitute the essence of things, and the norms, which have been put to us as the rule of life, cannot then struggle against each other but must be related as closely as possible. Logic, physics, and ethics are built on the same metaphysical principia. The true, the good, and the beautiful are one with the true being. And so head, heart, and hand, thinking, feeling, and acting also come together in recognition of their full rights and, at the same time, are protected from all kinds of exaggerations and excesses” (p. 110).
Bavinck contends that the Christian worldview is not merely a philosophical system but is true history. Therefore, “salvation does not merely remain as an idea that floats above us, but rather, it is what it wills itself to be, and it brings about what it aims to accomplish. Christianity is not exclusively a teaching about salvation, but it is salvation itself, brought about by God in the history of the world” (p. 115). I felt that the pastor in Bavinck really comes out in the final chapter, which bends away from philosophy and towards a more devotional perspective while writing about sin, salvation, and the end of history. Interestingly, Bavinck concludes that:
“the battle today is no longer about the authority of pope or council, of church and confession; for countless others it is no longer even about the authority of Scripture or the person of Christ. The question on the agenda asks, as principally as possible, whether there is still some authority and some law to which the human being is bound.... and in this struggle, every man of Christian profession should assemble under the banner of the King of truth” (p. 129).
If you’re willing to do the work, this book will help you assemble under that banner too. The book is worth the effort! – André Schutten
DECEMBER 25
Over four and a half years ago, I quit social media (I have a Facebook account but don’t use it.) That was a major spiritual and emotional improvement for me. But I kept reading the news voraciously, until about two years ago, when I started limiting myself to no more than 30 minutes of news a day. That too was of great benefit to me. And so, perhaps with a bit of confirmation bias, I really enjoyed reading Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News by Jeffrey Bilbro (2021, 186 pages). Bilbro breaks down his book into three parts – Attention, Time, and Community – which address the questions: To what should we attend? How should we imagine and experience time? How should we belong to one another? Each part has three chapters: the first explains the inadequate answers our “contemporary media ecosystem” offers to these questions, the second proposes a Christian answer, and the third identifies specific practices or “liturgies” by which Christians might cultivate a healthier posture toward the news. I’ve read Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death a long while back, and found his critique of the 24-hour news cycle very good, but lacking a distinctly Christian perspective. A reader will get a meaty Christian perspective in this book, which not only spells out the problem, but provides a better way to think and a better way to act. I plan to implement some of Bilbro’s suggestions into my life moving forward. This is a fantastic book and is a necessary read for all Christians who are daily news junkies or social media consumers. I hope to provide a full-length book review to Reformed Perspective later. – André Schutten
DECEMBER 22
After seeing Jon Dykstra’s review in November of Paul Murphy’s Stone-Cold Crazy, I pulled Douglas Wilson’s Devoured by Cannabis: Weed, Liberty, and Legalization (2021, 110 pages) off the shelf to give it a read. It’s a short book, and I read it in a single sitting (on a train from Toronto to Ottawa). Wilson argues in the book that recreational use of cannabis is immoral and should not be condoned by the Christian community. While he posits that it is sinful, he doesn’t leap to the conclusion that it thus should remain criminal. However, his discussion on what is and is not legal is a very interesting policy point: if the state legalizes the recreational use of drugs but prohibits employers from firing drug users for being drug users, our governments now force sober-minded employers to support drug users, and that would be immoral. Considering where Canada is at today, from a policy perspective, until employment and tenancy laws were reformed to give employers and landlords the discretion to fire or evict drug users, we shouldn’t be allowing it. I did find that Wilson was too brief and somewhat dismissive of the medical use of cannabis. While I agree that we live in an over-medicalized (and thus over-prescribed) society, I do know of a Godly man who uses medicinal marijuana with positive results. Despite this minor point, Wilson makes a convincing case for the rejection of recreational cannabis use, and any Christian who thinks marijuana use is similar to drinking alcohol should first read this book before making up their mind. Recommended. – André Schutten
DECEMBER 21
Perhaps the most famous tale of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859, 470 pages) is a gripping story by a master storyteller. Dickens starts by telling what seem to be disparate stories of major and minor characters from London and Paris before and during the Revolution but pulls them all together at the climax of the story. From a Christian perspective, I was particularly struck by the theme of redemption for particularly bad characters: a cruel man who abuses his wife in London ends up risking his life to save a man and his wife from death, and a drunken man who lives for himself is willing to sacrifice himself for another. Another theme is the corruption of power. Dickens shows how both the French aristocracy in their selfish and cruel frivolity and the revolutionary mob in their bloodthirsty violence and vengeance are both to be rejected as dangerous and destructive in their excess. The (English and French) characters that fare best reject both extremes, and instead love and serve others. The message of this novel is still relevant for Christians today, as the spirit of the French Revolution – and the dangers of its excesses – lives on. Will we be swept up in the fervor, or can we live faithfully, willing to love, serve, and sacrifice in a world marked by injustice? – André Schutten
DECEMBER 7
The subject of spiritual warfare is not one that appears to receive a great deal of attention in Reformed circles. Of course, we do not deny the reality of spiritual warfare, but it may be that we don’t focus much attention on the topic in order to avoid the kind of unbalanced approach that we all too often encounter in other theological traditions. But our reticence to devote much time to studying the topic of spiritual warfare can lead to a very real neglect of this important aspect of the Christian life and worldview. Clinton E. Arnold's 3 Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare (1997, 224 pages) is a good starting point for those who do have questions about this issue. Arnold (who is the dean at the Talbot School of Theology) discusses the following three questions: “What is spiritual warfare?” “Can a Christian be demon-possessed?” and “Are we called to engage territorial spirits?” While the third question may not be as “crucial” as the first two, Clinton’s exploration of the nature of spiritual warfare and the possibility of demonic influences in believers’ lives in the first two parts of the book is very helpful. His conclusions may challenge your own presuppositions on these subjects, but Arnold does an excellent job of basing his responses to these questions on the teaching of Scripture. He avoids speculation, while at the same time highlighting the importance of spiritual warfare in the believer’s life. For Christians who live in a culture which views angels and demons as quaint holdovers from a bygone era, as figures attributed to primitive superstition and little more, it is easy for us to (perhaps inadvertently) neglect the spiritual world in practice, while holding on to its reality in our confession. For this reason, I recommend this book as an effective antidote to the rationalistic tendencies of our age. – Jim Witteveen
DECEMBER 6
In 2020 and 2021, GraceLife Church in Edmonton and Grace Community Church in Los Angeles made headlines in the United States and Canada, as they led the fight against government overreach during the Covid-19 era. James Coates was one of several Canadian pastors to be jailed, and Nathan Busenitz was a member of the Grace Community Church’s pastoral team, along with John MacArthur (who wrote the foreword to this book). In God vs. Government: Taking a Biblical Stand When Christ and Compliance Collide (2022, 206 pages), Coates and Busenitz recount how they and their churches took a stand when government mandates came into conflict with God’s commandments, and lay out a series of Biblical principles that governed their churches’ response to those mandates. The final three chapters are adapted from sermons that were preached by Coates and Busenitz at the height of their churches’ struggle with the authorities. Busenitz and Coates outline five important foundational principles that governed their churches’ choice to not comply. First of all, our supreme allegiance is to Christ. When God and government collide, we must obey Christ rather than men (Acts 5:29). Secondly, all human authority is delegated by God. Those in government who exceed the limits that God has placed on their authority do so in violation of God’s law. In the third place, at some point faithfulness in Christ will result in hostility from unbelievers. Fourth, we must have a submissive attitude by default; as a rule, we must obey those in authority over us. But there will be times when compliance is not possible; when this happens, believers must not respond with violence or a desire for vengeance, but with an attitude of respect and grace. Finally, God has instituted various spheres of authority, and while there may be some overlap between these spheres, those who have been given authority in their respective spheres should take care not to overstep their bounds. Those who argued that churches should not comply with the restrictions that were imposed on corporate worship and other vital church activities over the past couple of years will undoubtedly appreciate this book, because it lines up with their own convictions. However, I particularly recommend this book to those who believed that churches should submit to these mandates. It will challenge your conclusions on grounds that are firmly based in Scripture, and I believe Coates and Busenitz’s evaluation of the Covid-19 experience and its historical importance is spot on:
“Believers in North America needed a wake-up call. The COVID-19 pandemic served to sound that alarm. The question is how well the church responded to that test. In 2020, politicians were able to shut down churches with minimal pushback. The church was sifted, and the negligence and timidity of some was exposed (cf. 1 Peter 4:17). Whether or not the church will have the backbone to stand up to government overreach in the future remains to be seen.”
– Jim Witteveen
DECEMBER 4
I enjoyed reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935, 352 pages) to my kids and they enjoyed having it read to them. This book is quite well known, most recently because it’s yet another historic novel that is on the modern censor’s chopping block as a politically incorrect narrative. The book is semi-autobiographical, telling the story of young Laura Ingalls and her ma and pa, and her two sisters, as they settle in the prairies. A large part of the novel simply describes the hard work of Pa as he builds a log cabin, installs a fireplace, digs a well and so on. I and my children marvelled at the hard and persistent work a young family was willing to do to build a home and make a life for themselves. While there are objectionable ways that the indigenous people of the plains are spoken of in the novel (one other settler makes a terrible statement that “the only good Indian is a dead Indian”), Pa is a role model (an imperfect one) of treating Indians with respect and living peaceably alongside them. Considering the time the novel was written, the message from the author is not one to be censored but one to be applauded. There are many opportunities for discussion with children on topics such as perseverance and risk, racism, the importance of trustworthy friends, and an appreciation of hard work. I highly recommend this book as a novel to read and discuss with your children. – André Schutten
DECEMBER 1
I've been wanting to share a childhood favorite, John Christopher's Fireball (1981, 149 pages), with my own kids, but had to wait a bit until they would be old enough to deal with some of the nuances. As we began I was curious whether it would live up to my memories of it, and I'll say it did, mostly. Two teen cousins – Simon, a Brit, and Brad, an American – get sucked into a strange fireball, and transported to what at first seems to be the past, but turns out to be a parallel world where Rome never fell. After getting separated, Simon ends up enslaved and sent to train as a gladiator, while Brad has a better go of it, using some of his "future" knowledge to equip a small rebel army to stand up to the might of the whole Roman Empire. My kids enjoyed it, but I'd rate it as PG, in need of that parental guidance because the rebels army here is organized by a Christian bishop who wants Christianity to triumph militarily across the globe. I had to explain to my girls that unlike secular ideologies, and other religions, God doesn't care for empty shows, virtue signaling, or doing one thing while thinking another (Ps. 50:8-9, Is. 1:11-17) so the very idea of forcible Christian conversions makes no sense. Talking it through, we noticed that the Church in this book had some similarities to the Inquisition, but not to God's true Church. So we all liked the story, but I was really glad to be able to discuss it with them. It turns out there are a couple of sequels, New Found Land, and Dragon Dance, so we'll have to check them out. – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 28
Eric Metaxas has written best-selling biographies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce, and while his Letter to the American Church (2022, 139 pages) is not nearly as weighty as those two books in terms of size, it does pack an outsized punch, given its relative brevity. Metaxas does refer often to both Wilberforce and Bonhoeffer in this book, as outstanding examples of men who did not shrink back when confronted with opposition for the sake of their faith. Metaxas doesn’t mince his words in this book, and it is not surprising that it has provoked some strong negative reactions within the evangelical world. However, I believe he hits the nail on the head with his passionate critique of North American evangelical culture, which, he argues, must repent for its silence in the face of evil. Metaxas outlines four areas in which he believes that the Western evangelical church has fallen short in recent decades. The first error, writes Metaxas, is a misunderstanding of the word “faith” and everything that faith entails. The second error Metaxas calls “the idol of evangelism.” While evangelism is an important part of the church’s calling, Metaxas writes, there is a tendency in the modern evangelical church to believe that the church’s only real calling is evangelism; therefore, “we must never say anything that might in any way detract from our pursuing this single goal.” Metaxas sums up the third error as a false commandment: “Be Ye Not Political,” the idea that politics is off limits and beyond the boundary of our faith. The final error that Metaxas includes in his list is the error of pietism - the idea that our Christian faith is lived out “principally by avoiding sin, so that we must place our own virtue and salvation above all other matters.” This is not a perfect book, nor is it an exhaustive study of how Christians should engage with their culture and participate in the public square. That being said, I do think that Metaxas expresses serious concerns that are based in reality, and while his conclusions may offend some, I believe that they deserve to be humbly received, seriously considered, and acted upon. – Jim Witteveen
NOVEMBER 25
The Case Against the Sexual Revolution (2022, 216 pages) left me with a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, it is a strongly-written, powerfully argued book that support a premise that I already know to be true. Louise Perry rightly argues that the Sexual Revolution has been an overwhelming disaster on any number of levels, and that our society continues to pay the price for the “freedom” that was “won” in the 1960s, and will continue to do so unless the tenets of this revolution are abandoned. However, Perry argues from a starting point of evolutionary psychology, which obviously runs counter to a Biblically-formed worldview. The presuppositions that undergird this book form its major weakness. However, the fact that an evolutionary psychologist can rightly argue in favour of monogamy within the marriage relationship, against “hookup culture” and sexual promiscuity, and recognizes the dangers of pornography and various sexual perversions, is fascinating to consider in the light of Biblical wisdom. According to the wisdom literature in Scripture, living wisely means aligning your life with God’s created order. The Lord created the world in wisdom, governs it in wisdom, and his moral law shows us how to live a life characterized by wisdom. To put it very briefly, God’s way works! And because God’s way works, the evidence of history proves that monogamy within marriage is, pragmatically speaking, the basis of a successful, well-ordered society. Restrictions on sexual expression protect human beings (especially women) from abuse and a great deal of pain. Classifying some materials as obscene, and forbidding their production, prevents a great deal of damage to both the user and the producer of pornography. And I could go on. So it’s not surprising that an evolutionary psychologist has also come to these kinds of conclusions. However, Louise Perry’s erroneous starting point can only take her so far; from there, she can’t get to the root of the problem, or discover where the solution that goes far deeper than mere behavioural change can be found. That being said, I would recommend this book to the discerning reader, with a warning that, given the subject matter and the worldview of the author, it does make for some rough reading at times. – Jim Witteveen
NOVEMBER 23
Though it was written years before, Connor Boyack's Feardom: How politicians exploit your emotions and what you can do to stop them (2014, 160 pages) is certainly about the COVID lockdowns too. He notes that as US president John Adams once wrote, "Fear is the foundation of most governments" and in recent years we've seen that proven true time and again. Politicians have used voters' fear – of climate change, terrorism, fiscal collapse, and viruses too – as justification for the State to come to the rescue. And at what cost? Well, the measure isn't simple in dollars, but also in lost freedoms. Terrorism and climate change brought government intervention on an enormous scale, which got bigger still with COVID. The bright side? As the author notes, this is nothing new, and it might not even be as bad today as the past, when even a historical luminary such as Abraham Lincoln, would throw some of his critics in jail simply for being critics. Boyack is Mormon, and clearly libertarian, which means he's generally Judeo-Christian, and more hardcore about small-government than most RP readers. But, regardless of where readers stand, the point he is arguing – that politicians and government officials are using fear to push us – isn't a partisan position, but more a matter of verifiable history. So how, then, can we inoculate ourselves against such manipulation? He has a few suggestions, beginning with anticipating the manipulation: "develop a healthy skepticism of those in power" but not simply to doubt everything, but rather to better assess who is worthy of trust. We should actively assess our media sources, and our political leaders, for just how consistently honest they are... or aren't. This will involve reading diverse news sources. It will also means sharing what truth you discover with family and friends. The point he most strongly emphasizes is one we can certainly agree with: to follow the Golden Rule, treating others, including those on the opposite side, as we'd like to be treated, and more specifically that means accommodating them as much as we possibly can. While there were nits I could pick with Feardom, that doesn't stop me from giving it an enthusiastic recommendation for the politically discerning. – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 22
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Rembrandt Is In the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey (2022, 256 pages) and not just because my wife is an artist (though the book did spark some great conversations!) Ramsey opens the book with a chapter on the three transcendentals – truth, goodness, and beauty – and how they relate together, how they are attributes of God, and how beauty is essential for applying goodness and truth for the benefit of others (it’s a profound chapter!) He then works through nine great artists, starting with Michelangelo and working his way toward the 20th century. With each artist, he examines their life and their works, with a special focus on a single piece. And in each chapter, either through the artist’s life or work, Ramsey tells us a parable of sorts, a way to see and appreciate their art through the eyes of faith. Ramsey is a great story-teller, and the book felt more like an anthology of short stories than an art history book or theology of art text. Ramsey also includes a couple helpful appendixes for improving the way you can look at art and how you can visit an art museum like you own it. I hope he writes a sequel! I highly recommend this book, whether you are an art aficionado or an art ignoramus. – André Schutten
NOVEMBER 20
Way back in the 1990s, when the Internet began to enter public consciousness, and soon thereafter into everyone's daily life, it seemed to most of us that it just sort of came into existence from nowhere. We weren't much aware of the history of the Internet, of where it came from or how it was developed. And even today, after decades of exponential growth, the roots of the Internet are still a mystery for most of its users. In Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet (2018, 371 pages), Yasha Levine's deep-dive exploration of the history of the Internet, is a revealing look into the Internet's roots in the American military industrial complex. In this meticulously-researched book, Levine details the way in which the Internet's history has been shaped by the defense industry, espionage agencies, public officials, and big businesses, with each actor working in concert with the others to achieve its own purposes. Levine recounts the origins of the Internet as a project of the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, its development in partnership with a number of American educational institutions (where the project was vigorously opposed by many who understood the purpose behind it), and the central role that American military and security agencies continue to play in the ongoing development and growth of the Internet's reach into every aspect of our daily lives. Levine refers to the Silicon Valley, the northern California location whose name has become synonymous with the Internet, as “Surveillance Valley.” Because, writes Levine, while corporations like Google continue to market themselves as companies that “embody every utopian promise of the networked society,” what they are in fact doing is continuing to build out “the old military cybernetic dream of a world where everyone is watched, predicted, and controlled.” Surveillance Valley is an important exploration of the way in which information technology has been “weaponized” in the 21st Century. If you read it (and I do recommend it highly), you will be challenged to rethink your use of the Internet, and you may even be encouraged (as I was) to “de-Google” your life. – Jim Witteveen
NOVEMBER 19
When my 13-year-old got a gift certificate to the local bookstore, it was an excuse for the two of us to spend some serious time perusing the shelves. But after an hour we'd discovered there wasn't much there for her that she hadn't already read. The teen books were either silly stories about teen crushes, or weird stuff about witches, demons, and vampires. We finally settled on something with a cover that looked almost liked some 1950s nostalgia, only to later discover one of the key characters had two dads. Another trip to the same story ended up with a decent book, but on the final page the author noted he uses "they/them" pronouns. That's all a prelude to saying that while I didn't love Margaret Peterson Haddix's Found (2008, 314 pages), I do appreciate it as a basically harmless read. It's a time travel adventure/mystery, with a bunch of adopted children trying to figure out where they came from. There's the typical cautions – kids acting behind their parents' backs, along with a couple passing mentions of evolution – but none of the newer cautions needed. Peterson isn't advocating for amputative surgeries on youth or adults (as the fellow with the "they/them" pronouns implicitly is, by pretending that gender is changeable), or for alternative lifestyles. The biggest caution I'd have concerns the fact that this is just the first of Peterson's eight-book The Missing series, and at roughly 300 pages each, even if they all turn out to be mostly harmless, that's a lot of cotton candy for any kid to be ingesting. I'll also add a concern about whether this would be good or bad for adoptive kids to read, as the topic of adoption, and kids searching for who they are, is a big part of the story. Finally, as just a general caution on the author, I do know in another book (Double Identity) a female pastor is a major character. So... one thumb up? While I won't be continuing on with this series, it was good enough to have me interested in checking out Haddix's other books. – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 18
Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn is best-known for his magnum opus, The Gulag Archipelago, a history of the Soviet Gulag, the system of forced-labour camps for political prisoners that was implemented under Lenin in 1918. The system was (officially) dismantled in 1956, three years after the death of Joseph Stalin, although the practice of political imprisonment did not itself come to an end in the Soviet Union at that time. Solzhenitsyn wrote not only as a historian, but from personal experience; he had spent eight years in the Gulag himself for the crime of speaking ill of Joseph Stalin at the end of the Second World War. While writing The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn was also working on a short novel based on his own experience in the Gulag, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962, 143 pagers). Unlike The Gulag Archipelago, which was never officially published in Russia until 1989, One Day made it to publication in 1962 because it had become officially acceptable to criticize Stalin when Nikita Kruschev came to power. As is clear from its title, the book is an account of one day in the life of a political prisoner named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. A summary of Shukhov's day would be very mundane indeed, and I can imagine that it would hardly compel a reader to seek out this book for a light and entertaining read. Man wakes up. Man has breakfast. Man goes to work. Man comes back from work. Man goes to bed. That, in brief, is Ivan Denisovich's day. And as Solzhenitsyn writes in the book's closing paragraph, Shukhov would live through 3,653 more days just like this one. There is nothing in this day that makes it stand out from the rest, but Solzhenitsyn's account of the monotony of camp life, along with the challenges with which the prisoners were confronted on a daily basis, makes this book a compelling read. Shukhov is resourceful and knows his way around the camp, but he is almost constantly on edge. In the dining hall he manages to find enough food to satisfy himself for the day, despite the meagre rations allotted to each prisoner. While working, he takes pride in his brick-laying skills, despite working conditions that made his job nearly impossible. He begins the day with an attempt to get into the sick-bay, but at the end of the day his illness has disappeared, he has managed to hide a little bit of seemingly insignificant contraband, and he lies in bed with the feeling that the day had been a success, despite it all. Throughout the story of this single day, Solzhenitsyn keeps the reader intrigued, waiting to see what will happen next despite the bleakness of the story. As we get to know Shukhov and his fellow prisoners, we learn about the ways in which they were able to cope with situations that most of us can't even imagine dealing with. In the end, we gain insight into the nature of life in a totalitarian state, we're introduced to the conditions in a 1950s-era Soviet prison camp, but we also are brought into the lives of the novel's characters in an understandably limited but profound way. If you've always wanted to read The Gulag Archipelago but were intimidated by its imposing length, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich may serve to encourage you to take that next step! – Jim Witteveen
NOVEMBER 17
David L. Bahnsen's There's No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths (2021, 308 pages) is a wonderful primer on economics from a conservative Christian perspective (and the second There's No Free Lunch book I've read this year – see my Sept. 17 review). Bahnsen is the son of famed Reformed presuppositional apologist Greg Bahnsen, and is famed in his own right as a hedge fund manager for a billion-dollar fund. Here he's collected 250 concise quotes by a host of famed conservative economists, one per page, and then expanded on each point being made. The quotes are grouped under headings like: Crony Capitalism, Minimum Wage, Division of Labor, and Socialism. To give you a taste, here's a couple shorter quotes, this one from Milton Friedman: "One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results." Here's another, this time from Thomas Sowell: "The first lesson of economics is scarcity. There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics." These are worth chewing on, and both show why No Free Lunch should be read slowly. But as meaty as these thought are, Bahnsen has made them digestible to all by packaging them into one-page, bite-size servings. Well done! – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 16
Rev. Paul T. Murphy is both a Reformed pastor and, as he notes in his introduction, a reformed drug user, both of which add to the credibility of his Stone-Cold Crazy: The Dangers of Legal Marijuana (2021, 29 pages). This is more booklet than book, but it is an important one, highlighting how the four big arguments for legalization all fall short: 1) it isn't medical, in that it has never gone through the same evaluation as other medical drugs, 2) it doesn't need to be made legal to end the mass incarceration of marijuana users as there is no such mass incarceration, 3) legalizing won't eliminate the criminal black market for it since legal weed is much more expensive, and 4) states won't get a tax revenue windfall from legalization because marijuana use also comes with costs for the State. Murphy notes that Christians might be able to support decriminalization – making it a fine rather than a crime – but as he quotes John Stonestreet, "Legalization says a lot about the worldview of our culture – one in which the State wishes to aid and abet the inability of people to deny themselves any pleasure. That's called state sponsored hedonism." This would be an important read for church councils, and its small size make it one that parents could read along with their teens. – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 15
Many Christians have some understanding that the Angel of the LORD, who revealed himself to Abraham, Gideon, Manoah, and others, was the Son of God, appearing visibly before his incarnation. Many theologians throughout church history have recognized this, although in recent years scholars have become increasingly skeptical when it comes to equating the Angel with the Son. In The Angel of the LORD: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Study (2022, 447 pages), authors Matt Foreman and Doug Van Dorn seek to counter this kind of "minimalistic" interpretation of the Old Testament, and examine the Biblical texts (including many that you may not have considered before) to learn more about how the second Person of the Trinity often mediated God's presence to his people. This book leaves no stone unturned, and is a detailed, comprehensive, and wide-ranging study that digs deep into God's Word and the history of Biblical interpretation before drawing conclusions about how God's people can apply this part of God's self-revelation to their own lives. While the book is not a brief one, its logical organization and the authors' clarity of expression makes it accessible to readers who may not consider themselves to be "theologians" (although every Christian is a theologian)! The authors offer some profound insights into the text of Scripture, and this book will lead the reader to appreciate all the more the way in which God has graciously revealed himself throughout the history of redemption, to strengthen, encourage, and challenge his people. Highly recommended! – Jim Witteveen
NOVEMBER 14
Earlier this year I read and reviewed Carl Truman’s heavy but magnificent Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (see the Aug. 21 review further on down this same article). The ARPA Canada team decided to work through his shorter and more accessible version of that book titled Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution (2022, 204 pages). It was so good to read this book as a relatively quick refresher on the meat of Rise and Triumph. Truman is a master of the written word and is well known as a powerful communicator to diverse audiences; the complexity and depth of the earlier book is still present in this book, but in a way that is much easier to understand. While Rise and Triumph is essential reading for pastors, elders, teachers, and university students, Strange New World is written to be understood by upper-year high school students and would make an excellent resource for a small group bible study. In particular, Truman’s final chapter is a pastoral plea for how to respond as church to the cultural moment we find ourselves in. He urges us to allow our Christian community to help shape our identity (rejecting the purely individualistic age we are in). But for that to happen, we must commit to our church, through thick and thin, and make it our most important community. Highly recommended. – André Schutten
NOVEMBER 13
Bjorn Lomborg's False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet (2021, 321 pages) is incredibly encouraging. As Lomborg notes in his introduction, "we live in an age of fear – particularly a fear of climate change." As a Christian I'm not as worried about the catastrophic sort (see my article here) but I will say that the constant barrage of panic in all our media outlets can be wearing and worrying, even when I know better. So while I wouldn't agree with Lomborg on much – he's gay, and I believe agnostic, and also far more trusting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports than I am – what I appreciate is that he knows we can't help the planet at the expense of the people on it. Using the very same IPCC reports as the fear-mongers, he shows how they don't speak of the world ending in 12 years, or anything like it. Rather than facing a catastrophic situation, we are facing a manageable one.... but one we can greatly mismanage to the harm of millions if we continue to panic. If you, too, are getting worn down by the constant drumbeat of certain doom, I'd highly recommend False Alarm, though I would also encourage even more skepticism (or, rather, discernment) than that offered by the author. – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 12
I read part of Patrick Lencioni's business book, The Advantage (2012, 205 pages), to my kids on what Lencioni referred to as the fundamental attribution error (FAE). This is "the tendency of human beings to attribute the negative...behavior of their colleagues to their intentions and personalities while attributing their own negative...behaviors to environmental factors." So, for example, in our household, if one little bumps another, the bumped might well accuse the bumper of doing that "on purpose!" while the bumper might point to how narrow the hallway was, or how much mom was asking them to carry, to show how "it totally wasn't my fault." It is the victim accusing the bumper of malice aforethought, and the bumper pointing this way and that to everything except their own carelessness. So we had a fun little chat about how God wants us to "attribute to others as you would like others to attribute to you" (Matt. 7:12). And, it turns out, in addition to the parental applications, Lencioni's lessons have something to offer a workplace setting too. He offers 6 key questions that each organization (business, charity, police department, etc) needs to answer with the first and most important being: Why do we exist? This had echoes for me of both another business book, Simon Sinek's Starts With Why, and the opening question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "What is the chief end of Man?"As Christians, we understand that properly understanding our purpose is going to be the driving force behind all else we do. The other questions are: How do we behave? What do we do? How will we succeed? What is the most important, right now? and Who must do what? While I don't know if Sinek is Christian, I wasn't surprised to discover that Lencioni is, as it comes out implicitly throughout the book, like his purpose-driven focus, but also in how he describes holding one another accountable as being a matter of love - as he admits, that's an odd term in a business book, but very true (Gal. 6:1-2, Prov. 25:5-6). I really appreciated The Advantage, with so many good thoughts in it that I'll be rereading it very soon. I'd recommend it not simply to businesses, but as being potentially useful for our Christian schools too. – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 11
I read The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (2003, 270 pages) to my eight- and five-year-old over the past month or so. The story is of a castle mouse (the title character), his love for the princess, and his willing self-sacrifice to rescue her from an evil rat and a misled and abused servant girl, despite all the odds stacked against him. While we did find the plot slow at first, the story does pick up toward the end. More than that, there are good moments in the story to pause and ask children about bravery, self-sacrifice, cruelty, honor, disability, revenge and forgiveness, perseverance, and more. There is no obvious Christian perspective in the story (I have no clue if the author is a Christian) but the story is written in a way that a parent can easily apply a Christian perspective in discussion with their children and apply the lessons to real life. I enjoyed the story, though the cruelty shown to the servant girl Miggery I had to tone down for the sake of my five-year-old. There are a few abuses of God's Name, but in French, which made them easy to skip over. – André Schutten
NOVEMBER 9
Matthew Rueger’s Sexual Morality in a Christless World (2016, 178 pages) is a Christian apologetic for holy sexuality. What it does differently than any other book on the subject is that it takes pains (the first third of the book) to examine what sex was like before Christ came into the world. This is particularly helpful, and the first chapter on sexual morality in ancient Rome is worth the price of the book on its own. I have interacted with so many people (Christians included!) who fail to understand just how radically the spread of the gospel changed the world for the better, also in relation to sexuality. By examining both the political and the religious climate at the time of Christ, Rueger shows that biblical sexuality is nothing but a beautiful and good design that richly benefits all of society, particularly the vulnerable. The middle third of the book is an examination of what the bible actually says about sex and sexuality. Rueger writes:
“Examination of the passages addressing sex shows that there is more to God's Word about sex than just prohibitions and laws. Behind those prohibitions is a concern for the souls of individuals, as well as for their peace and well-being in this life. God cares about human suffering, and sexual immorality hurts a lot of people. The passages of the Bible give voice to a higher form of love that empties itself for the sake of the other, a love that points beyond sexual desire and reminds the world of the saving love of God's Son” (p. 95).
This is a great reminder to Christians who focus on the truth of God’s Word, to the exclusion of the goodness and beauty of God’s proscriptions. We can and we must also be able to communicate the latter. The final third of the book works through common objections to holy sexuality and a natural law argument in defence of opposite-sex marriage which may be a helpful tool for Christians entering post-secondary schools. The writer is unapologetically Lutheran in his theology, and on this issue a Calvinist would wholeheartedly agree with what’s written (with perhaps a slightly different emphasis on the natural law argument for opposite-sex marriage). Heartily recommended. – André Schutten
NOVEMBER 7
After writing 10 books about rabbits with swords in his Green Ember kids' fantasy series, S.D. Smith has now teamed up with his 16-year-old son, J.C. Smith, to start a new story in Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key (2022, 292 pages). Jack Zulu is a kid with serious athletic potential, the best at everything he tries. But we learn right off he isn't full of himself, and is best buds with Benny, a decidedly average athlete, whose parents own the local pizzeria. That's where Jack has been spending a lot of his time, after his police officer father was mysteriously killed, and now that his loving mother has been stuck in the hospital slowly losing her cancer battle. If that sounds like a sad set-up, well it is, but this is a kids' story, so the Smiths lighten things up with loads of comic relief, including Jack's crush on the popular, but also level-headed Michelle. I loved the dialogue between the two friends as Jack gets tongue-tied, or caught up in a coughing fit, or just generally does something to embarrass himself in front of her.
"'There are,' Benny reasoned... 'different ways we could look at tonight's events. Blame could be passed around. Or, we could just get you out of town on the next bus. You could change your name and join the circus. I think we both know that returning to school is off the table.' 'It was pretty bad,' Jack sighed and rubbed his face. 'It started bad,' Benny said, 'then got much, much worse.'"
That's some fun dialogue. And that isn't even when the story gets exciting. Echoing Lewis's wardrobe, Jack Zulu discovers a doorway to another world, the Waylands, and a quirky mentor, and a possible way to help his mom. This book has some real strong points, including when Jack is coerced into agreeing to do whatever the winged evil guy tells him to do (or his friends will be killed). Afterwards his quirky mentor notes that if you promise to do something bad, then it would be bad to keep that promise. Such a simple and straightforward answer - I love it! Another really fun quirk: Benny visits the Waylands, and tells his parents about it - a kid being totally honest with his parents? When'd you last read that in an adventure book? The authors are Christian, which comes out in other ways too, including passing mention of God, and prayers to Him. There is some magic, pretty minimal and on par with what you'll find in Narnia; this story is more about sword fights and bravery and knight-ish type stuff, and friends just being loyal friends to one another. I'll say I didn't love the end - the solution to their dilemma was a total surprise to me, so either I missed some foreshadowing, or that wasn't the best resolution. But the journey was fun and I'll certainly be picking up the sequel! – Jon Dykstra
NOVEMBER 6
I read Kevin DeYoung's Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me (2014, 138 pages) over a Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The book is an excellent and easy to read overview of the doctrine of the Word of God, "a book unpacking what the Bible says about the Bible... a doctrine of Scripture derived from Scripture itself" (p. 23) a topic which is usually covered in multi-volume, dense theology texts. DeYoung gives us a simple, straightforward, readable, and still biblical version instead. He opens with a chapter reflecting on the longest chapter of the Bible, which is a love poem about the Word of God. He explains that the purpose of his book is to get us to fully, sincerely, and consistently embrace the attitude of the Psalmist, so that we can say, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" every time we read Psalm 119. In chapters two through six, he works through five attributes of Scripture: 1. it is sure and true and without error, 2. it is understandable and clear such that the saving message of the gospel is made plain on its pages, 3. it is sufficient and contains everything we need for knowledge of salvation and godly living, 4. it is final and authoritative and takes precedence over science, human experience, or church councils and traditions, and 5. it is necessary to tell us how to live, who Christ is, and how to be saved. DeYoung concludes with two chapters, first by laying out what Christ himself thought and taught about the authority and nature of scripture, and ending with an exhortation to embrace the Word of God ourselves. I finished the book with a deeper appreciation for the rich treasure we have free and immediate access to, and a stronger desire to enjoy being in the Word more often. Each chapter opens with a short passage of scripture which provides the launching pad for the subject of the chapter, thus making this book a useful one for a bible study group or personal or family devotions. Highly recommended! – André Schutten
NOVEMBER 1
The book of Proverbs was written specifically to instruct young men in the way of wisdom. In Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men (2020, 148 pages), Mark Horne unpacks that instruction in a way that is accessible to both parents, who could use this book to help them to disciple their children, and young people, who could use Solomon Says as a good starting point for a group or personal Bible study. Horne explains that the way of wisdom taught by Solomon involves taking dominion – fulfilling the dominion mandate instituted by God when man was created. The book of Proverbs is training for kings; young men are taught that they must take ownership of their own lives and govern themselves. The warning that is implicit in Proverbs, Horne writes, is that "if you don't learn to govern yourself, you will be governed by others, and your own impulses will be the reins they use to lead you." As young men struggle to grow in maturity, with many caught in a kind of perpetual adolescence, the message of Proverbs becomes all the more relevant. In his review of Solomon Says, author Jerry Bowyer (whose book The Maker Vs. The Takers I reviewed earlier this year) points out that men like Jordan Peterson have developed large followings because they tap into a need that has been recognized by many. But, writes Bowyer, real solutions won't be found in the writings of Carl Jung (one of Peterson's major influences), but from Solomon: "Horne's book points the lost boys to go deeper into the real answer to their problem: Biblically-defined wisdom." I heartily recommend Solomon Says to parents. It's a book that fathers can read with their sons, and although Horne's main focus is on young men, he does emphasize that Proverbs is "written to young men (and everyone else)." As we seek to raise our children to fulfill their God-given callings in a world that encourages life-long immaturity in many ways, Mark Horne's book serves as a helpful resource that opens the doors to understanding and applying the depths of Solomon's Spirit-inspired wisdom. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 31
Uri Brito and Rich Lusk's The Reluctant Prophet: Jonah Through New Eyes (2021, 113 pages) is one of a series of Biblical commentaries in the "Through New Eyes" Biblical Commentary Series published by Athanasius Press. It is a brief commentary on a brief book, more devotional than scholarly in nature, but packed with insight about the book of Jonah and its importance. The commentary itself takes up only 72 pages of the book, with appendices making up the remainder of the book. In the first appendix, the authors provide their analysis of Jonah as a "biography of human maturation," with four distinct stages: the call to obedience, the response of grace, the rituals of sanctification, and the taste of mercy. Appendix B explores the subject of God's unchanging nature, and what Jonah has to teach us about this attribute of God. It can be a difficult topic to wrap your head around, but the authors do an admirable job of explaining the nature of prophecy, divine providence, and God's personality, concluding this discussion by providing a well-argued and clearly-explained answer to the question, "Does God change his mind?" The final appendix is an essay on Jonah and the "Missional Church," a discussion on what Jonah has to say to the Church as it seeks to fulfil its calling in a post-Christian, biblically illiterate society. Anyone looking for a helpful guide to the book of Jonah will benefit from The Reluctant Prophet. While brief and written to be accessible to a general audience, it is sure to lead readers to discover aspects of Jonah that they had never seen before, and appreciate all the more the gracious and powerful workings of the God who sent his reluctant prophet to Nineveh. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 29
I've read bigger books on this topic, but I don't know that I've read any better. Barry Cooper's Can I Really Trust the Bible? And other questions about Scripture, truth and how God speaks (2014, 83 pages) nails all of the most pressing questions, whether that's about how the Bible came to be, what the Bible says about itself, whether the Bible is culturally outdated, and whether justifying the Bible using the Bible shouldn't be discounted because, after all, isn't it just circular reasoning? The bigger books might be the go-to for dealing with hardened skeptics (F.F. Bruce's The Canon of Scripture, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge's two-volume How Do We Know the Bible Is True?, Neil Lightfoot's How We Got The Bible, etc.) but for the honest enquirer, Cooper's concise overview will be perfect. This is, as another reviewer put it, the book I wish a younger me could have been able to read. – Jon Dykstra
OCTOBER 28
I used to enjoy West Wing, a TV drama about fictional US president Josiah Bartlet, despite the left-leaning nature of his administration. Bartlet was still admirable because he was principled, willing to speak the truth (or, rather, what he thought was the truth) even when it was unpopular, simply because it needed to be heard. How often do we find that in the real world? But then I came across Sofia Warren's graphic novel tome Radical: My Year With a Socialist Senator (2022, 328 pages). The title real-life senator, Julia Salazar, is just as wrong as the fictional Bartlett – she is a self-proclaimed socialist, and seems to oppose what I'd support, and support what I'd oppose. But she is earnest. This is largely a hagiography, only presenting her flaws to make her more likable, but I found it an interesting read to better understand how our opponents see themselves. As opposition research it was worth a peruse, but I won't be passing this on to anyone. That's due to the scattering of f-bombs and abuses of God's name, and also the caricatured presentation of the political issue central to this story. Salazar pushes for various forms of rent control but seems to have never encountered any arguments against it – according to Salazar the only people opposed are greedy landlords. West Wing at its best made the Republicans smart and sincere too, so as to have an actual battle of ideas (even if the left-leaning writers did stack the deck in their direction). But here we have the opposition dismissed as simply one-dimensional villains. So, it wasn't a waste of time, but I'm sure glad I borrowed it from the library and didn't buy it. – Jon Dykstra
OCTOBER 27
Up until relatively recently, the mainstream media, and particularly those on the left of the political spectrum, spent a great deal of time and resources on researching and investigating the activities of multinational pharmaceutical companies and the global health industry. One such investigative journalist is Alan Cassels, a drug policy researcher at the University of Victoria, and past contributor to the CBC documentary program "Ideas." In Selling Sickness: How The World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients (2005, 254 pages), and Seeking Sickness: Medical Screening and the Misguided Hunt for Disease (2012, 177 pages), Alan Cassels investigates two sides of the modern medical industry: the categorization of new illnesses and the development of pharmaceutical treatments for them, and the widespread promotion of medical screening as a diagnostic tool and preventative measure. In Selling Sickness, Cassels explores the marketing efforts that have gone into raising public consciousness about a number of maladies, and the subsequent marketing of their treatments. The book contains a chapter on each of the following conditions and the pharmaceutical industry's role in "selling" them to the general public: high cholesterol, depression, menopause, attention deficit disorder, high blood pressure, pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder, social anxiety disorder, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and female sexual dysfunction. Cassels' conclusion? "The pharmaceutical industry is working behind the scenes to help define and design the latest disorders and dysfunctions in order to create and expand markets for their newest medicines." Their aim, Cassels concludes, is to "turn healthy people into patients." In Seeking Sickness, Cassels turns his attention to the world of medical screening. As with his previous book, Cassels devotes one chapter to each of a number of ways in which medical screening is used, including chapters on mammography, cholesterol screening, colon and cervix screening, and mental health screening. Cassels does not deny that screening can be a useful tool, but he brings up a number of questions that must be considered when thinking about medical screening and its utility. The world of medicine has evolved a great deal over the years, both in terms of technology and guiding philosophy. Whereas in the not-too-distant past patients would go to the doctor when they had a problem that they believed needed to be dealt with, it is just as likely today for patients to visit their physician not because they are sick, but because they want to stay healthy. Cassels' important question about all of these "preventative" measures is this: Are all of the advances that have been made in diagnostic technology truly beneficial to those who are well? Or have they instead led to over-diagnosis and over-treatment? These are important questions, and Cassels explains the issues in a detailed yet readable way, so that the reader need not have a medical degree or scientific background in order to not feel completely out of his depth. In an era in which serious investigation into the workings of the pharmaceutical industry seems to be ever rarer, Cassels' work serves as an excellent example of how that kind of investigation should be done. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 26
The Singularity is near, declared inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil in 2006. And today, at least in the minds of the "singularitarians," the Singularity has grown nearer still. But what is this "Singularity," and why does it matter? The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (2006, 487 pages) goes a long way toward answering the first question, and a look into the life and influence of Ray Kurzweil will answer the second. This is one of those books that I recommend not because I agree with the philosophy it promotes (I couldn't disagree more) or because I believe the author has some wisdom to share. Rather, I believe that it, along with Kurzweil's earlier The Age of Spiritual Machines (originally published in 2000), provides important insights into a movement that has steadily grown in power and influence in the last several decades, the Transhumanist movement. The Transhumanist project is working to overcome the limits of human biology, through physical processes (such as genetic manipulation) and mechanical or electronic means (the melding of man and machine, human and computer). Ray Kurzweil is one of the modern "prophets" of Transhumanism, and his influence goes deep, especially in the world of Big Tech. That being the case, books like The Singularity is Near provide a useful entry point for those who wish to understand the worldview that forms the foundation of this movement. Throughout the book, Kurzweil promotes a worldview that sees the Singularity as the ultimate goal of humanity - a time in which all of humanity, and indeed the entire cosmos, is brought together as a single, united entity by means of the most advanced technology imaginable. Each chapter concludes with an imagined conversation between the author and various interlocutors, who propose objections to Kurzweil's ideas, to which Kurzweil responds in turn. This technique adds some life to the book, but doesn't lead me to revisit my own conclusions about Kurzweil's proposed program - rather than a dream, it sounds much more like a nightmare to me. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 25
Eugenics and Other Evils, by G.K. Chesterton (1922, 201 pages) was an interesting read for three reasons: to learn of the historical context in which it was written (exactly 100 years ago), to learn what the brilliant Chesterton had to say about the subject of eugenics, and to stand amazed at his prophetic insight. In 1922, the medical, philanthropic, and political elite were outspoken fans of eugenics. Against this establishment Chesterton was a voice in the wilderness, calling eugenics what it is: a great evil. We can learn from his example. Do we measure the soundness of our arguments against the prevailing winds of our culture or according to sound doctrine rooted in Scripture? Chesterton chose the latter and was (to borrow a phrase) proven to be on the right side of history. Chesterton has a clever and engaging style. This quote gives a taste:
“Most Eugenists are Euphemists. I mean merely that short words startle them, while long words soothe them. And they are utterly incapable of translating the one into the other, however obviously they mean the same thing. Say to them ‘The persuasive and even coercive powers of the citizen should enable him to make sure that the burden of longevity in the previous generation does not become disproportionate and intolerable, especially to the females’; say this to them and they will sway slightly to and fro like babies sent to sleep in cradles. Say to them ‘Murder your mother,’ and they sit up quite suddenly. Yet the two sentences, in cold logic, are exactly the same.”
This is exactly spot on. And it is a clarion call for us today to speak plainly and accurately, even as some Quebec doctors call on Parliament to extend “the benefits” of “MAiD” to “suffering infants” (by which they mean, they want a licence to kill infants). Another point Chesterton drives home is the totalitarian tendency of “Science.” Chesterton again:
“The thing that really is trying to tyrannize through government is Science… And the creed that really is levying tithes and capturing schools, the creed that really is enforced by fine and imprisonment, the creed that really is proclaimed not in sermons but in statutes, and spread not by pilgrims but by policemen—that creed is the great but disputed system of thought which began with Evolution and has ended in Eugenics. Materialism is really our established Church; for the government will really help it to persecute its heretics…I am not frightened of the word ‘persecution’…It is a term of legal fact. If it means the imposition by the police of a widely disputed theory, incapable of final proof—then our priests are not now persecuting, but our doctors are.”
Again, this is as true in 2022 as it was in 1922. Think of the passage of so-called “conversion therapy bans,” the killing of pre-born children, or the total shutdown of all of society on the advice of a handful of doctors. And when Christians (and others) are mocked, shushed, or shamed for raising concerns about threats of tyranny, as Chesterton did in 1922 (proved right in the rise of Nazism a decade later), he warns those skeptics, “People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. it is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists.” There is so much packed into this book. It is insightful, written by a courageous writer who history has repeatedly proven right. I can’t recommend it enough. One bonus: many e-book versions are free, including on Kindle. One caveat: Chesterton, writing as a Roman Catholic, really doesn’t like Calvinist theology (though it seems he has a bit of a strawman view of predestination). He throws a few barbs our way over the course of the book. Don’t let that detract from the rest of his message. – André Schutten
OCTOBER 24
This book's subtitle says it all, and throughout The Victim Cult: How the Grievance Culture Hurts Everyone and Wrecks Civilizations (2021, 316 pages), Canadian author Mark Milke makes a powerful case for his thesis - "grievance culture," the culture in which everyone has become a victim of someone or something outside of themselves, leaves no individual, and no civilization, unscathed. The cult of victimhood is a disaster on a personal and on a societal level, and Milke does an outstanding job of defending his subtitular claim. The grievance culture, Milke writes, is nothing new; in fact, it goes back to time of Cain and Abel, when Cain became the first member of the victim cult, declaring himself to be the victim, despite his role as aggressor and murderer. Adolf Hitler's political program was built on victimhood; the Rwandan genocide was the poisonous fruit that grew from grievance culture roots; and, writes Milke, the victim cult cannot be limited to only one side of the political spectrum. Milke makes the compelling argument that Donald Trump has himself ridden the wave of the victim cult mentality in his own political career. How has the cult of victimhood become so entrenched in our day? Milke offers three possible answers to that question. First of all, many people have indeed been victimized, leading "victim thinking" to become entrenched. The second argument makes the claim that European imperialism and colonialism are largely to blame for the growth of grievance culture. The third explanation is that elites often seek to divide people and lead populations down the path of the victim cult in order to serve their own agenda. Milke argues that, in the end, none of these arguments can completely explain the "why" of the entrenchment of grievance culture. The explanation that Milke offers is compelling; grievance culture has become so powerful because of the widespread belief in man's perfectability (which Milke traces back as far as the Greek philosopher Plato) and the belief that civilization itself is the problem (which goes back to French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau), combined with a third pernicious influence: "the suicidal self-loathing of a mainly Western class of intellectuals and academics (and others who follow them), who breathe in the assumptions of Western guilt." The Victim Cult does not only focus on the problems of the grievance culture (which are many). Milke also proposes solutions, and offers positive examples of groups that have refused to fall victim themselves to the victim cult, as well as positive steps that all of us can take to avoid being taken in by this powerful and destructive ideological movement. As the culture of victimhood becomes an ever more pernicious influence on our cultures throughout the Western world, we need to be equipped to understand and counter it. For this reason, I highly recommend The Victim Cult as a work that not only points out what's wrong with the world, but also will provoke healthy reflection and self-examination on the part of the thoughtful reader. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 23
In 1971, when Richard John Neuhaus wrote In Defense of People: Ecology and the Seduction of Radicalism, (1971, 315 pages) he was a young, liberal-leaning Lutheran pastor working in one of New York City's poorer neighborhoods. Over the years, Neuhaus's ecclesiastical vision changed quite radically (he would go on to become a Roman Catholic priest), as did his socio-political views. But In Defense of People shows that, even as a young, idealistic, and left-leaning pastor, Neuhaus was an often profound thinker who was not afraid to challenge his own thinking and worldview. In Defense of People makes for very interesting reading for anyone interested in Neuhaus and his development as an influential Christian public intellectual (he would also go on to found First Things magazine and to serve as an unofficial advisor to President George W. Bush). But even more, this book is an important historical work because of the first-hand account that it provides of the origins of the modern environmentalist movement. Neuhaus was there when the very first Earth Day celebrations were held in New York City on April 22, 1970, and his evaluation of the event, and the movement behind it, is astute and often very revealing. Neuhaus shows that, far from being the grass-roots movement that it is often painted as being, the ecological movement was, from its very beginnings, the product of aristocratic impulses, guided and formed by big money interests and the political establishment. Neuhaus focuses on the anti-human philosophy of the environmental movement and its wealthy and powerful backers, arguing that the very history and structure of the ecology movement contains "a bias against the poor, if not against people." Some five decades on, Neuhaus's book remains relevant and just as applicable (if not more so) than when it was written. The book is out of print, and used copies aren't cheap, but it is very much a worthwhile read. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 22
I enjoyed reading the book No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men, by Anthony Esolen (2022, 204 pages). This book will be unpopular with most readers in our current cultural moment as many critics will dismiss it as a form of “toxic masculinity” without actually reading it. It’s those critics who really should read this book. I’ll be honest with you: there were times reading this book that I felt a bit uncomfortable, where I wondered if Esolen was going too far. But when I stopped to think why I felt uncomfortable, I couldn’t disagree with him from a biblical/creational or historical perspective; my emotional discomfort was due to cultural factors or pressures. Indeed, Esolen does not hold back: men build civilizations, and men should not apologize for that. This book is a say-it-as-it-is, courageous, passionate defense of men as men. Men are created very differently from women. There are many differences, but the biggest (and most obvious) difference is that of physical strength. We should celebrate and not loath that difference! He shows with a multitude of examples how men built buildings and transportation networks, cleared ground and explored continents, created great works of art and invented great technological developments. But the book is not a defense of machismo: men ought not to swagger and boast. But neither should they cringe and cower. Esolen tears down many modern feminist denigrations of masculinity and calls men to use their strength for the common good. I recommend it to high school aged men. I dare women who are wary of toxic masculinity to read it too, and after completing it, to let me know what you think. – André Schutten
OCTOBER 21
Perhaps it’s bad form or poor taste to include a book here that I co-wrote, but I did read this book this year (many times!) and so I’ve decided to include it. A Christian Citizenship Guide: Christianity and Canadian Political Life, by André Schutten and Michael Wagner (2022, 256 pages) is a readable book, written with a grade 10 student in mind. The first chapter of the book covers Christian influences in Canada’s history, often overlooked or taken for granted today by most political commentators. The second chapter covers our constitutional history in England from the time of Robin Hood and bad king John to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 (and why that matters to Canada and the government we have). The third chapter covers some more legal history in Canada, and explains how the government in Canada (the judicial, executive, and legislative branches) works at the federal and provincial level. The fourth chapter covers the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and explains some of the more significant sections in it, particularly as it relates to issues and concerns that Christian citizens might have. The fifth chapter covers the issue of human rights, and shows how Christians should reclaim this concept. The sixth chapter explains how the big idea of sphere sovereignty can help us think through political issues, and the seventh (and final) chapter encourages the reader to be politically engaged as a faithful citizen. The book will be available for the first time on ARPA Canada’s fall tour. – André Schutten
OCTOBER 19
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886, 110 pages) is a classic work of fiction, and there’s a good reason why it’s a classic. I quite enjoyed reading it for the first time, even though (due to many popular references to the book) I knew how it would turn out. The book is a murder mystery written from the perspective of a lawyer named Utterson. He is investigating peculiar events that occur between his friend Dr. Jekyll and a creep of a man, Mr. Edward Hyde. The reader is left sharing Utterson’s confusion as to what in the world is going on with Dr. Jekyll until the end of the book. There are two reasons I’d recommend this book. First, the book is very well-known, and there are many cultural references to it. To better appreciate those types of references, you should read the original work. It is a classic, after all. But it’s also worth reading from a Christian perspective. The novel wrestles with the question of good and evil as found within us and whether these are two opposing spirits or an infection or fallenness of one. Stevenson seems to embrace a dualism in his novel (which a Christian should reject). I also appreciated the discourse with Dr. Jekyll at the very end of the book and the picture of what sin in the form of addiction is like. Evil personified in Mr. Hyde is voracious and cunning and demanding. Dr. Jekyll cries out with the helplessness of Paul in Romans 7:21-24, but he completely despairs without the hope of 7:25. These biblical themes are worth discussing with Christian and non-Christian friends. Recommended. – André Schutten
OCTOBER 18
If you have ever wondered why people who claim that "tolerance" is the virtue that trumps all others are themselves so intolerant of dissenting viewpoints, you need go no further than Robert Paul Wolff, Barrington Moore, Jr., and Herbert Marcuse's A Critique of Pure Tolerance, (1970, 123 pages), and especially Herbert Marcuse's contribution to this collection of essays, "Repressive Tolerance." Marcuse was perhaps the best-known member of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, one of the leading lights in the 1960s "New Left," and among the most influential public intellectuals in mid-Twentieth Century America. As a cultural Marxist, he exerted his influence in the academic world, following in the footsteps of Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist imprisoned under Benito Mussolini. Gramsci had argued that the Marxist vision for society could best be implemented by a process of "cultural hegemony" in which the Marxist philosophy could infiltrate every sphere of society by means of a "long march through the institutions." In "Repressive Tolerance," Marcuse argued that there can only be tolerance of opinions and ideas that challenge the "repressive" status quo. There are certain activities and expressions of opinion that should not be tolerated, Marcuse wrote, "because they are impeding, if not destroying, the chances of creating an existence without fear and misery." Marcuse argued that concepts like freedom of speech and freedom of expression were instruments of the dominant class, used to maintain, promote, and excuse the rampant inequalities of American society, and the continued exploitation of the underclasses by the powerful. Reading Marcuse in an era in which his ideological descendants have themselves become a dominant force in academia, the media, and politics, it is striking to see how his philosophy spread from the realm of higher education through all levels of society. While his writing style is dense, often difficult to decipher, and, in the end, logically incoherent, Marcuse's writings remain important reading for anyone seeking to understand the spirit of the age in which we live. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 17
Francis Schaeffer’s No Little People (2021, 304 pages) is a collection of 16 of his sermons on a wide range of passages and topics, originally published in 1974. The collection has been nicely republished by Crossway just last year. I originally bought the book as a farewell gift for my friend and former colleague Mark Penninga because the title of the book corresponds to a point Mark has made many times to me and my colleagues at ARPA Canada: God is pleased to work with the weak and foolish and lowly, so that if anyone boasts, we boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). Schaeffer’s point in his opening sermon is that, if God is working through us and in us, then there are no little people – we are instruments in the hands of the living God! I found all the chapters encouraging (I’d recommend not reading more than one a day). The chapter on the Ark, the Mercy Seat and the Incense Altar was particularly moving, opening my eyes to see what God was showing his people about himself through the particular details of the design of the tabernacle. My only caveat is the chapter on Revelation might not align with your eschatology. Otherwise, highly recommended as a devotional book for private worship or for group study. – André Schutten
OCTOBER 16
If you’re looking for a cheeky spoof of pretentious literary critics, you’ll enjoy Frederick Crews’ The Pooh Perplex (2003. 164 pages). This book was first published in 1963 and has become a classic piece of satire. It is written as a casebook for a university English class and contains 12 chapters, each written by a different adherent to a particular school of literary criticism, all of whom evaluate or critique “one of the greatest literary works ever written” that being, Winnie-the-Pooh. The short bios of the fictional authors, as well as the footnotes and study questions, add to the humor. The fictional chapter contributors include a committed Freudian, an angry Marxist, an overzealous Christian, an Aristotelian, and more. Crews’ book – in a funny and exaggerated way – shows us an important truth: that most critics (and all of us really) have biases. Some with the strongest biases are the most blind to them. Recommended! – André Schutten
OCTOBER 15
I pulled John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life (2003, 191 pages) off my shelf after a young man in my congregation decided to start a young men’s bible study group with this as their first book. In it, Piper begs Christians in America (and this applies to Canada just as much) to take risks and make sacrifices for the glory of God. His book is punchy and includes various stories of sacrifice and service which are inspiring and keep the reader’s attention. The book is easy to read in its style (much more so than Piper’s magnum opus Desiring God), and as such makes a good book for a high school student to read. But it is certainly not only for high school students. Piper also challenges Christians in their careers and in their retirement years to ask the question, “Am I wasting my life?” I appreciate how Piper is not shy in challenging us to live fully for the glory of God while remaining encouraging. He wants us to see that “pursuing God's glory virtually the same as pursuing my joy… millions of people waste their lives because they think these paths are two and not one.” Instead of proposing a how-to list or a multi-step program, Piper urges us to be single-mindedly passionate for glorifying Christ above everything else in our lives. Considering our cultural placement, I heartily recommend this book for North American Christians to read, consider, discuss, and apply. – André Schutten
OCTOBER 13
Christianity and Social Justice: Religions in Conflict (2021, 146 pages) is author Jon Harris's followup to his 2020 book Social Justice Goes to Church, a history of the origins of the progressive movement in the American evangelical church. In Christianity and Social Justice, Harris begins with a much briefer overview of the history of the social justice movement, before moving on to a more in-depth evaluation of the ideology behind the social justice movement in the light of current events. While Harris covers much of the same material that can be found in other books on this subject that I have read and reviewed over the past year, he does offer a very helpful perspective on subjects like social justice epistemology and social justice metaphysics – subjects that may sound complicated, but that Harris manages to explain at a level that an average reader should be able to understand. I found Harris's explanation of "Standpoint Theory" – the theory that makes the claim that only certain groups can have a genuine understanding of certain issues, while those who do not share their experience cannot truly understand – to be particularly helpful. Harris's discussion of the dangers of unquestioning acceptance of the dominant narrative is also particularly insightful; his explanation of many evangelicals' immediate reaction to the 2019 Nicholas Sandmann incident (in which a young man who was participating in the March for Life was unfairly characterized as being a racist and subsequently exonerated after the whole story was revealed) is but one example of many in which prominent evangelicals have jumped on media-propelled bandwagons, only to be proven wrong when the truth was brought to light. Harris explains his purpose in writing on these issues as follows: "The first step in fighting against the social justice movement is understanding what it is. That is the primary purpose of this book. The second step is loving others and telling the truth." Christianity and Social Justice certainly meets the goals that Harris set out to achieve. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 11
"There are ultimately only two alternatives in the intellectual life: either one conforms desire to the truth or truth to desire." So writes E. Michael Jones in his introduction to Degenerate Moderns: Modernity as Rationalized Sexual Misbehavior (2012, 237 pages). In this work, Jones examines how many very prominent public intellectuals have in fact done the latter - "conforming truth to desire," or arguing for positions that seek to justify their own behavior, creating a version of "truth" that justifies their own lifestyles rather than seeking to lead lives in accordance with THE truth. Jones uses a number of case studies to support his thesis, including the stories of anthropologist Margaret Mead, "sexologist" Alfred Kinsey, and artist Pablo Picasso. The most extensive chapter, however, deals with the two fathers of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, and the ways in which their own personal sins, struggles, and guilt were formative in the development of their theories of human nature and psychology. The way in which Freud's personal pathologies influenced his conclusions, which have proved over the ensuing decades to have a lasting influence, despite being largely debunked, is clear; and the way in which his theories were so widely accepted in the intellectual world reveals that many scholars, who theoretically should know better, are easily swayed when the conclusions drawn by researchers serve to support their own worldviews and resulting lifestyles. Jones writes as a Roman Catholic of a very traditionalist bent. He likes to cite Augustine, the church father whose writings are treasured by both Roman Catholics and Protestants. However, Jones's staunch Roman Catholic views, combined with an obvious lack of deep understanding of the issues that led to the Protestant Reformation, led him to include a chapter on Martin Luther which many reviewers have noted is much weaker than the rest of the book. Thankfully it's a brief chapter, and it does not take away from the quality of Jones's work in the rest of the book. With that reservation, I do recommend Degenerate Moderns as a helpful exploration of the way in which many modern intellectual trends have been shaped by the errant desires of their originators. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 10
In his graphic novel tome, Joseph Smith and the Mormons (2022, 456 pages), author Noah Van Sciver presents a sympathetic portrayal of his subject even as he seems to doubt Smith's claims. What former Mormon Van Sciver doesn't understand is that Smith was either the prophet he claimed to be, or a liar and blasphemer, demon-possessed or manufacturing his lies all on his ownsome. I picked this up because I have a long-time Mormon friend, and was disappointed that it didn't prove to be the useful historical overview I was hoping it'd be. The problem is the lack of clarity over which portions of it would be accepted by Mormons, and which parts they'd dispute. So, for example, is it accepted among Mormons that Smith lied to his suspicious wife Emma, even as he was secretly "celestially sealing" himself to more and more women? Or would they dismiss that as mere rumors? Van Sciver doesn't make it clear, which limits his book's value. – Jon Dykstra
OCTOBER 9
Frances Stonor Saunders' The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters (1999, 424 pages) is considered a classic work of investigative history, and it certainly deserves the accolades it has received. Saunders has dug deep into the history of the relationship between the American Central Intelligence Agency and the movers and shakers in the world of literature, music, fine arts, film, and even religion, and the results of her research are eye-opening to say the least. The CIA founded and promoted European literary magazines that were staffed by people you would least expect to be working to produce pro-American and anti-Soviet propaganda; the organization's connections with the Museum of Modern Art and the Abstract Impressionist movement shows that politics and money can indeed make for some very strange alliances. Of particular interest to Christian readers will be the influence that the CIA exercised in the theological world, to the point of having its own favored theologians. This is a fairly heavy tome, packed with information on a number of different subjects and historical figures. Saunders's research included personal interviews with a number of people who were involved in the CIA's cultural adventures, either knowingly or unwittingly, and the book is heavily footnoted. I recommend it as a revelatory account of the ways in which seemingly "organic" cultural movements may be anything but. It will perhaps lead readers to wonder what future historians will be writing about the ways in which our modern culture has been shaped and moulded in similar ways, and will certainly help to build a healthy skepticism about the messages and worldviews that are being promoted in the various wings of popular culture today. – Jim Witteveen
OCTOBER 1
In Thea Beckman's Crusade in Jeans (1972, 275 pages), Dolf is a modern-day Dutch teen accidentally teleported back in time to the 13th century. He appears right in the middle of thousands of German children marching their way to free Jerusalem from its Muslim conquerors. But before they can get there, this "children's crusade" will have to cross the Alps... and who will help the littlest ones find food, and keep warm in those barren peaks? Dolf discovers that his schooling has given him tools and knowledge that could save lives, and his modern diet has given him a stature that gets him a hearing. While he doesn't share the Christian faith of the children, Dolf joins the crusade anyway, both to help as many of the children as he can, and because he doesn't know where else to go. It's a fish-out-of-water tale that introduces us to another time, and treats us to the clever ways that Dolf and his medieval friends employ to solve all the problems they encounter. I've been reading this with my three pre-teen girls, and while the youngest at 9 hasn't found it too scary, my wife, overhearing, was surprised by how matter-of-factly brutal the story sometimes is – hundreds of the children die along the way, from sickness, or in battles. But some of that is softened by the story arc of each chapter: each time Dolf is shocked by the time's poverty, its cut-throat politics, or the general disregard for life, the chapter will ends on rescue, or some other encouraging note. It's a great story that is marred by a single misuse of God's name. Another caution: the Children's Crusade was a real historical event, but young readers should be told we don't really know what's fact and what's simply legend. – Jon Dykstra
SEPTEMBER 27
One of my bookshelves is home to a very nice-looking collection of about fifty little books – the "Puritan Paperbacks" series published by The Banner of Truth. I purchased the series with good intentions, knowing that it offers some of the best writing of the Puritans, offered in a more readable form than many of their lengthier, unedited works. But despite my good intentions, most of these books have not yet been cracked open. But looking on the bright side, that means that I have a lot of good reading to look forward to! Christian Love (2004, 106 pages) by Hugh Binning was first published in 1735, nearly a century after the author's death at the age of 26. Beginning with John 13:35 –"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" – Binning explores what true Christian love really is, and how we are called especially to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Binning goes through the attributes of love as laid out in 1 Corinthians 13, and provides practical advice on how we can show our love for one another, in imitation of Christ. I found Binning's chapter on humility and meekness as prerequisites to Christian love to be particularly insightful. Binning emphasizes that true humility doesn't mean denying the specific gifts that we have received, or denigrating our own strengths. "Humility," he writes, "does not exclude all knowledge of any excellency in itself, or defect in another it can discern; but this is its worth, that it thinks soberly of the one, and despises not the other." Wise words from a young man who wrote them while still in his early twenties! Christian Love is not a book that you will want to read in one sitting. It is not long, but it is densely written, and although modernized, the language and sentence structure is still more challenging than most modern writing. But I would highly recommend this book as devotional reading, perhaps taking a chapter a night to read, digest, and apply. I'm sure you'll find it to be worth the effort. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 25
One of four books in the "Theopolis Fundamentals" series published by Athanasius Press, Peter J. Leithart's Theopolitan Reading (2020, 116 pages) is a concise, readable, and fascinating guide to the most important reading we'll ever do - Bible reading. Peter Leithart, a prolific author who has written a number of books on Biblical interpretation, church history, and literature, has a knack for helping Bible readers get the most out of their reading. He also understands how important it is for Christians to have an intimate familiarity with God's Word, emphasizing that Scripture speaks to all of life as "the ultimate authority for everything, in all circumstances." Here Leithart offers himself as a mentor and model of the "Spiritual reading" of Scripture - not just reading the Bible, but reading the Bible well. A Spiritual reader, Leithart writes, demonstrates the fruits of the Spirit in his reading. The first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5 is love, and Leithart makes a connection between that fruit of the Spirit and the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 to show how we should approach Scripture. Approaching the text of Scripture with love first of all means being patient – reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading in the patience of the Spirit. In the second place, it means coming to the text with an attitude of humility. In order to truly understand God's Word, we need to humble ourselves before its Author! In theological terms, Theopolitan Reading is a primer in Biblical Hermeneutics – a study of the interpretation of Scripture. Leithart is not impressed with much modern Biblical scholarship, and argues that the best mentors and guides for reading Scripture are the Lord Jesus and his apostles. His approach has been called "interpretive maximalism" and "symbolic interpretation," but Leithart argues that the Spiritual reading that he advocates is more of an art than a "mechanistic process." And while this discussion may seem a bit heavy for a general audience, Leithart takes pains to explain his approach to Scripture not only to "specialists," but to the average "Theo and Thea," the names he gives to the typical Bible reader. After introducing the concept of Spiritual reading, Leithart spends the majority of the book discussing Scripture's central themes, imagery, types, and themes that are found on every page of the Bible. He begins by discussing the Biblical view of the world, spends a chapter on Adam (and the last Adam), moves on to discuss Eve, before concluding with an exploration of Eden. Leithart's work evidences a high regard for God's Word, and his literary and interpretive skills are impressive. He knows his Bible, and he explains its message well. Despite its brevity, Theopolitan Reading is packed with insight into the Word and how to read it, and my appreciation for the profound depth of the Word only grew. For those who want to plumb those depths, it will be a very useful aid. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 20
Over the course of this year, I've read and reviewed several books on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the Social Justice movement. There are a number of excellent resources out there that deal with these issues, but if I would be forced to recommend only one of them to an interested Christian reader, it would be Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe (2021, 251 pages) by Voddie T. Baucham Jr. Currently serving as the dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, Baucham has written several books on other issues that I would also highly recommend. As a Reformed Baptist, his work evidences a high regard for Scripture as well as an informed and critical eye on culture and its impact on the church. In Fault Lines, Baucham addresses Critical Race Theory (and, more generally, Critical Social Justice) as a movement that has created a dangerous divide in the evangelical and Reformed/Presbyterian world. Some Christians have knowingly and deliberately adopted the tenets of CRT and CSJ, while others, Baucham writes, have naively begun to use the language and categories of these movements, without being fully aware of what they stand for. A good part of this book is autobiographical in nature, as Baucham describes his own experiences as an African-American, from growing up in a single-parent family, to his educational experiences, to his conversion to Christianity and his life as a pastor, writer, and speaker. Countering the conclusions drawn by Critical Race theorists, Baucham points to his own personal experience, and the experience of many others like him, to emphasize the importance of good parenting in children's lives. While he emphasizes the centrality of God's grace in leading him to where he is now, he acknowledges the importance of the role his mother played in his life: "I thrived in large part because, by God's grace, my mother protected me, sacrificed for me, advocated for me, and disciplined me," he writes in the conclusion of his chapter on his childhood. Fault Lines is much more than an autobiography, however. Baucham also goes into great detail about the religious nature of Critical Race Theory, a movement that has its own cosmology, its own version of original sin, a new law (the work of antiracism), a new priesthood, and a new canon. In the end, Baucham argues, CRT is a false religion that is absolutely incompatible with the Christian faith. There is much more that could be said about this book, but I hope this brief review will suffice to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book yourself. As CRT continues to make inroads in the Reformed and Presbyterian world, we must be prepared to "rise to the challenge," as Baucham writes in his conclusion. Baucham writes with passion, and his arguments are based in sound theology and a good understanding of Scripture. This book not only reveals the fault lines that exist in the church, but also provides encouragement and good counsel on how to find a way forward, remaining on solid ground. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 19
In 1971, under the leadership of Pierre Trudeau, Canada became the first country in the world to officially declare itself to be "multicultural." This declaration became the law of the land in 1988, when the Canadian Multiculturalism Act was passed during Brian Mulroney's tenure as Canada's Prime Minister. Over the past fifty years, multiculturalism has spread to many countries of the world, particularly in the West. Over time, it has become more and more difficult for people in the public square to question the wisdom of multiculturalism, to ask whether it is possible for multiculturalism to be successful, or to suggest that multiculturalism will inevitably lead to a nation's decline and fall. Salim Mansur is a Canadian academic who has dared to put himself in the sights of multiculturalism's proponents by confronting it head on. Mansur is a columnist and author, and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Western Ontario who ran as a candidate for the People's Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election. He is also a Muslim. In Delectable Lie: A Liberal Repudiation of Multiculturalism (2011, 183 pages), Mansur argues that multiculturalism is inherently destructive to a liberal society (using the word "liberal" in its classical sense, not to describe the political ideology also known as progressivism or democratic socialism). The dreams of multiculturalism, and the promises it makes, Mansur writes, are nothing more than a lie. As an ideology, multiculturalism holds a certain appeal to many people – thus the word "delectable" in the book's title – but ultimately, the cultural relativism of multiculturalism is its fatal flaw. Ultimately, Mansur writes, "the worm inside the doctrine of multiculturalism is the lie that all cultures are worthy of equal respect and equally embracing of individual freedom and democracy." While proponents of multiculturalism argue that cultural relativism is the result of open-mindedness and tolerance, Mansur argues that just the opposite is the case; political correctness has led to the stifling of free speech and the expression of differences, has led to shallow thinking about cultural issues, and discourages reflection and debate about the qualities of different cultures. Mansur writes from the perspective of a Muslim classical liberal, and his liberal ideals appear to be the guiding principle behind his political and social philosophy. He rightly recognizes that the foundations of classical liberalism can be found in what he calls its "faith tradition anchored in Judeo-Christian ethics," and while his arguments are based more on the primacy of liberal ideals than on the Christian principles that undergird those ideals, he puts forward a strong challenge to the accepted wisdom that has all but excluded every other opinion from public debate. The book does not make for the easiest reading, but it is a worthwhile contribution to what has become a very one-sided debate, not only in Canada, but in many parts of the world. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 17
Every now and again I'll hand out a book to any nephews or nieces willing to give it a go. And with Caleb Fuller's No Free Lunch: Six Economic Lies You've Been Taught And Probably Believe (2021, 138 pages), I've found the next book I'm going to pitch to them. While Fuller addresses six lies, there is one truth he's trying to present: that every opportunity you pursue, comes at a cost. What cost? The time and money you put into it – and here's the important part – which can't then be spent on other opportunities. This "opportunity cost" could be known as the "you-can't-have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too principle" or, as the book title puts it, "there's no free lunch." So, then, when a government jobs program funds summer work for students, what we see is all the students getting jobs. But what we don't see is the opportunity cost to this program – we don't see all the other jobs that companies might have started on their own – and maybe full-time even – had the government not taxed them to fund their summer jobs program. Fuller shows how much damage is done by the well-meaning, but economically ignorant, and highlights how there is on many issues a consensus among economists on both the Left and Right, that politicians on the Left will simply defy. My only disappointment with this punchy book is that this Christian professor never makes plain why the Left fails, and the free market works. He never mentions how the foundation for the free market – private property rights – is simply obedience to God's command, "Do not steal" (Ex. 20:15). In fact, God is not mentioned in the whole book. – Jon Dykstra
SEPTEMBER 15
I really enjoyed Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales (2013, 448 pages), the third Randy Singer novel I've read for this challenge. But I would place it as the third of those three, simply because of how it started. The prologue doesn't describe it in any detail, but the reader is made aware that in this Syrian jail a woman is being raped and killed in the cell next door. That's a grim beginning for a book I'm reading only for enjoyment. Fortunately, the story heads in a completely different direction starting with Chapter 1. Landon Reed found God in jail and found a good woman and daughter still waiting for him when he got out. The disgraced former college quarterback, indicted for point shaving, spent his time in prison studying. Now that he's out he wants to be a lawyer, to help others make the same life-turn. It is hard for a convict to get a job though, particularly in the legal field. So when he does land a position, and the law firm's other employees start getting murdered, Reed's too grateful to leave. He's going to find out who's murdering his colleagues... even if it kills him. The book's brutal start had me almost quitting before I started, and also had me wondering how far Christian authors can go in depicting evil, and having their characters contend with evil, without making light of the warning in Ephesians 5:12 that "It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret." To be clear, I don't think Singer crossed a line here – he might even be the example of how to speak of vile deeds in a restrained manner since he kept the details sparse. But I still didn't like the beginning, though the legal twists and turns that followed were intriguing indeed. – Jon Dykstra
SEPTEMBER 12
In 1984, George Orwell envisioned a world in which "every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered." This process has been unfolding before our eyes, and the evolution (or devolution) of the academic discipline of history over the past forty years has been rapid, and drastic, exemplifying the rewriting of books and falsification of records that Orwell foretold. In The Killing of History: How Literary Critics and Social Theorists are Murdering Our Past, (1996, 372 pages) historian Keith Windschuttle explains the disastrous results that have resulted from the wholesale takeover of historical studies by literary criticism, social theory, and various postmodernist movements. Studying a number of historical events and their re-interpretation by contemporary historians, Windschuttle clearly shows how "truth" has been lost as efforts have been made to re-interpret and re-imagine the events and developments of history. Windschuttle focuses his attention on modern reinterpretations of the conquest of Mexico, the mutiny on the Bounty, the first arrival of Europeans in Hawaii, as well as on Australian history, which is the subject of several of his other works. Readers without a history background will likely find Windschuttle's discussions of academics like Tzvetan Todorov and Michel Foucault difficult to wrap their minds around; but as Windschuttle himself says, if you find this stuff hard to understand, you're not alone:
"One of the reasons the humanities and social sciences have been taken over so quickly by the sophistry described in this book is because too few of those who might have been expected to resist the putsch understood what its instigators were saying."
So although the appeal of this book would probably be limited to those who have studied history in post-secondary settings, I highly recommend Windschuttle's work as a trenchant critique of the current state of historical study. The importance of this subject goes far beyond the halls of academia, as the postmodernist reinterpretations of history have had a serious influence on political decision-making, especially in the area of aboriginal studies and the world of Identity Politics. Windschuttle is a rare bird in the academic world, a scholar who is willing to challenge the "consensus," despite the costs associated with non-conformity. The Killing of History is an important work, and Windschuttle offers a valuable critique of modern historiography that deserves to be heard. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 9
On occasion, I have described myself as a "libertarian Christian," meaning by it that I was for a much much smaller government. How small? Don't know, but we could cut for a long long time before we'd run the risk of going too far. But libertarians can often be moral libertines seeing little to no role for the government in restricting prostitution, pornography, drugs, and even abortion. That's what prevents me from embracing the term. Still, I was curious to read Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers to Tough Questions (2020, 142 pages). It's an FAQ-style book by a group of writers who are not at all reluctant about describing themselves as Christian libertarians. The work's strength is in the unique ideas being expressed. Have you ever considered whether, in this Internet Age, the government should be funding libraries (and using your tax dollars to buy all sorts of inappropriate children's material)? Where else would you get hit with a question like that? The book's weakness comes in the divide the writers make between God's law as revealed in the Bible (his special revelation), and natural law which is the portion of God's law that's evident even to people who have never read the Bible (God's general revelation). On the issue of abortion, they basically elevate natural law to a position on par with or even above biblical law. The result is that they take an issue that is clear in the Bible – don't kill image-bearers of God – and waffle on it because, based on natural law alone, there might seem more room for arguing either position. They are choosing their libertarian values over their Christian ones here, and it's wrong. That's why, even as I remain a small government proponent, reading Faith Seeking Freedom has made me more hesitant about labeling myself a "Christian libertarian." – Jon Dykstra
SEPTEMBER 5
Over the last ten years hyperinflation has wiped out the Venezuelan currency, reducing it to 1/40 billionth of what it once was, and for years now I've been wondering, aren't we in danger of heading in the same direction? Isn't it just a matter of math that if our governments keep printing more money, that money will be worth less – if they double it, shouldn't each bill end up being worth half as much? And if that's so, what with Western governments' stimulus handouts, quantitative easing, and COVID emergency spending, why haven't we become Venezuela already? That's the lead question that Pastor Douglas Wilson asks financial manager David Bahnsen in Mis-inflation: the truth about inflation, pricing, and the creation of wealth (2022, 140 pages). The book is a series of back-and-forth emails, with Wilson the interviewer, and Bahnsen (son of Reformed presuppositional apologist Greg Bahnsen), giving his best replies. The short answer is, that we probably don't need to worry about Venezuelan-type hyperinflation (and, consequently, don't need to start buying gold), but stagnating like Japan is a real danger. More important still was a connection made between economic worries and the Parable of the Talents. The unfaithful servant fearfully buried his talent, but we are called, even in economic downturns, to take what God has given us and seek a return on it to His glory. Now, if economics is not your interest, this will be a tough read - it took me about three chapters to begin to understand what Bahnsen was explaining (though Wilson's questions did help unpack Bahnsen's answers). However, if you are interested, this has some helpful answers that don't seem readily available anywhere else, which makes it worth the effort! – Jon Dykstra
SEPTEMBER 3
Matt Walsh's recent documentary, What is a Woman? was released earlier this year to coincide with Pride Month, and it is not surprising that it met with mixed reviews. On the one hand, Walsh was accused of being a hateful transphobe, while on the other hand his documentary was praised as revealing the incoherence of the "trans" movement and its inherent dangers. Those who are familiar with Walsh know that he has a rather acerbic style, and that he pulls no punches when it comes to questions of culture and morality. While that style may rub some people the wrong way, I believe that it suits this subject perfectly, because it reveals the absolute absurdity of this cultural phenomenon. His book What is a Woman? (2022, 253 pages) is basically a recapitulation of the documentary of the same title. Walsh sets out to answer what he refers to as "the question of a generation" - a question that many seem to be unable to answer. His journey takes him to various "experts" on the subject, medical and psychological professionals, as well as a transsexual who regrets her sex change surgery. Walsh also goes into some detail about the history of the transgender movement, revealing the often sordid history behind the ideology and its promotion, and details the forces that are behind the spread of transgenderism today. In the end, the simplicity of the question (and its correct answer) is revealed through an account of Walsh's discussion of the issue with a group of Massai people in Kenya, whose response to Walsh's titular question reveals that it's not so hard to answer after all. What is a Woman? is a well-written and engrossing book, an informative and interesting read. It does include some foul language (albeit lightly censored with the use of asterisks), mostly in direct citations of Walsh's interviewees. With that proviso in mind, I do recommend this book as a revealing look at the true nature of the transgender movement, which reflects a worldview that cannot maintain itself, because it rejects the wisdom and truth of God himself. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 2
If your concern over the state of our society has been growing in recent years, you probably have a list of culprits in mind when you consider who is actually responsible for the negative developments that have seemed to overtake us so rapidly. Regardless of the kind of problem we're considering, one question always seems to be close at hand: Who is to blame? Generally, our response is this: "Someone else." This has been true since the fall into sin, when the blame game was first played. But as the subtitle of David L. Bahnsen's Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It (2019, 170 pages) says, our culture is addicted to insisting that everything negative is someone else's fault, and we as individuals cannot be held responsible in any way. It is this addiction to blame that Bahnsen takes on in this interesting and challenging book. Bahnsen, who is the son of the well-known Reformed apologist and theologian Greg Bahnsen, is a Christian financial manager who has become a respected figure in the world of finance and investment. While this book largely focuses attention on political and financial matters, its thesis is broadly applicable to all of life. Bahnsen leads the reader to consider his own responsibilities, and to examine the areas in his own life that need to change, and reminds us that we must take responsibility for our own actions and the results that those actions have. While not denying that "the usual suspects" (big government, big business, the media, and the educational system) have all played an important role in leading us to where we are today – socially, politically, economically, and culturally – Bahnsen emphasizes that "what we need now is to end our addiction to blame and accept the responsibility that comes from being part of a society governed of, by, and for we, the people." I believe that Bahnsen shows a tendency toward under-emphasizing the deliberate work that has been done to undermine our culture by ideologues in the mass media, the political sphere, and the educational establishment. But at the same time, this book offers a healthy corrective to those who are tempted to neglect their own responsibilities and cast the blame on one of the various institutions that he refers to as "the bogeymen." It's an important message that needs to be internalized by every generation of God's people, and for this reason Bahnsen's book is a worthwhile read. – Jim Witteveen
SEPTEMBER 1
I grew up reading and re-reading the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved those books - both the stories themselves and the iconic illustrations by Garth Williams, which made the story come alive for me. By the time I finished reading the series of books, the Little House on the Prairie television series had already been running for several seasons, and it became "must-watch" TV in our home. I knew that the TV series took liberties with the content of the books, but the overall focus of the story remained the same – one family's experience of making a life for itself on the American frontier. Fast-forward a few decades. The naivete of childhood long past, I was aware that the "Little House" books could not be an exact account of what had actually occurred in the lives of the Ingalls family and young Almanzo Wilder in 19th Century America. So it wasn't a shock for me to learn in Christine Woodside's Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books (2016, 259 pages) that the driving force behind the "Little House" books was actually Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. A successful author herself, Rose Wilder Lane took her mother's writing (which itself took some liberties with the actual events upon which they were based), rewrote the manuscripts, polishing them up and shaping them into the best-selling series of books that they became. What is particularly interesting, however, is the way in which the political convictions, both of mother Laura and daughter Rose, shaped the stories that they told. Rose Wilder Lane is known as one of the mothers of American Libertarianism, and her book The Discovery of Freedom (first published in 1943) is still considered a must-read in libertarian circles. It was Laura and Rose's emphasis on personal freedom, personal responsibility, and self-reliance that shaped the message of the Little House books, as well as the events in the Ingalls family history that they chose to include, as well as exclude. Libertarians on the Prairie is a well-written account of the writing of the Little House books, an honest yet sympathetic look at the lives of the Wilder family and the books that made them famous. The author's original research into the lives of Laura, Almanzo, and Rose is presented in a readable and engrossing way, and the result is an enjoyable book that captured my interest and held it from beginning to end. Libertarians on the Prairie, beyond being an interesting read, also reveals how an author's worldview shapes his or her work, and how effectively good authors can influence the thinking of their readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Little House books, or for anyone who enjoys history and biography. – Jim Witteveen
AUGUST 27
You don't want to get between a mama bear and her cubs - every hiker knows that! A mother bear will do whatever is necessary to protect her young when she believes that they are in danger. And the authors of this book (whose blog and podcast can be accessed at MamaBearApologetics.com) understand that their role as Christian mothers is to protect their children from spiritual harm, just as the mama bear protects her cubs. Their goal is to prepare mothers to "learn how to raise kids who think critically, love biblically, and stand firm against the cultural tide." In Mama Bear Apologetics (2019, 287 pages), they address the issues of self-helpism, naturalism, skepticism, postmodernism, moral relativism, emotionalism, pluralism, the "new spirituality," Marxism, feminism, and progressive Christianity, covering almost all of the bases when it comes to the numerous "ism's" that seek to lead our children astray. Each chapter concludes with helpful advice on how to use the chapter's content with children and young people through discussions, discipleship, and prayer, as well as a list of discussion questions that are well-formulated to contribute to an engaging and useful group study of the material. On a whole I found that the book addresses the ideological challenges that confront our young people in a way that is helpful and encouraging. At times I found myself wishing that the authors were a bit less gentle and a little more "mama bear-ish," but the end result of their work is a book that will certainly serve to equip mothers (and fathers!) to understand the spirit of the age, and apply that understanding to their God-given task of leading their children along the way of truth. The enemy uses many means to get at our children, and we need to recognize those means, and how they are being used, in order to withstand them ourselves, and prepare our children to do the same. Mama Bear Apologetics will certainly help parents to do just that! – Jim Witteveen
AUGUST 26
I enjoyed making my way bit-by-bit through Darwin on Trial by law professor Phillip E. Johnson (the 2010 20th anniversary edition, 247 pages). I’ve followed the evolution/creation debate since my undergraduate years with interest and have always felt that the evolutionary position rests on many unproven assumptions. This book proves that hunch correct. Johnson is no amateur when it comes to testing evidence to see if it holds up to scrutiny. He taught law and evidence at a prestigious American law school for decades and approaches the claims of Darwinism with courtroom rigor. He exposes huge gaps in logic or evidence when it comes to things like the irreducible complexity of the eyeball or other organs or organisms (an irreducibly complex organism can’t evolve – all of the working parts need to be there, at the same time, for it to work). He exposes the gaping hole in the fossil record for any transitional organisms (Darwin himself predicted there would be millions of such organisms, but today there are as yet none found) and he highlights over and over again the circular logic and tautologies of leading evolutionary advocates which would never hold up as evidence in court. Though the book is at times a bit technical when discussing some scientific concepts, it’s still a highly recommended read, especially for any Christian science students and teachers. – André Schutten
AUGUST 25
Over the last couple weeks I read Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars (1989, 137 pages) to my eight-year-old son. Lowry’s short novel is set in Denmark during World War II. It tells of two friends, Annemarie and Ellen, aged 10, who need to deal with the ravages of war and, particularly, the cruelty of the Nazi occupiers towards Jewish Danes. Ellen is Jewish. The narrative is told from Annemarie’s perspective, and is built around trying to protect her friend from the soldiers looking for her. Two of the themes in the book provide great fodder for discussion with an 8 to 12 year-old: truth-telling versus preservation of life is a tension throughout the book (Annemarie must lie to a German officer to protect her friend, for example), and another theme is simply the difficulty of living during war. The name of the book comes from Psalm 147:4 (which is referenced in the book) and also ties to the Star of David, worn by Ellen at first, and then hidden from the Nazis, and then worn by Annemarie in anticipation of Ellen’s safe return. While this book does not have nearly as many explicit Christian or biblical references as Dutch children’s stories set in World War II might have (see Piet Prins books, for example), the story is still highly recommended for Christian children aged eight and higher. – André Schutten
AUGUST 24
In his Christian fantasy novels The Seraph’s Path (2019, 476 pages) and The Seraph’s Calling (2020, 729 pages) Neil Dykstra has shaped a world with not only exotic creatures and nations to discover, but layer upon layer of legend and history shaping the events. There’s quite the cast of characters, but this is mostly the story of Dyrk, a young horse trainer who can’t please his family, so he sets out to make his own fortune. Through courage and luck he wins a combat competition – the last man standing – and gains entrance into the king's military college. But his career gets stolen from him when he's kicked out of the school without explanation. To Dyrk it seems he's at the whim of the fates. Or is it the Seraphs? In this world the god Arren is served by seven Seraphs, and each night Dyrk sends up his prayers via these Seraphs because, so he has been told, Arren is too holy for common man to approach directly. If that strikes you as Roman Catholic, I think you're on to something. The author is Reformed (and despite sharing a last name, not related to me) and this sort of prayer life is one of the many reasons that Dyrk feels distant from his Maker. And, as noted, the other reason Dyrk feels abandoned is that for every good thing he experiences, bad soon follows. As with all good fantasy fiction, the author is using his made-up world to teach us a little something about our own – Dyrk is wrestling with why bad things happen to good people. The first answer he gets to this question is along the lines of, you're not so good as you think: Dyrk gets caught up in sexual temptation (this event isn't lurid, but is sad and realistic enough that pre-teen readers might find it distressing). The second answer he gets is of the sort that Job was given – Dyrk finds out that his Maker doesn't have to answer to him. I suspect that, along with Dyrk himself, some readers might not find that as complete an answer as they'd like. The Bible does offers another, much more satisfying, answer to this question in the life and death of Jesus Christ. In Christ we learn, not simply that God is God and we are not (the Job answer) but that God loves us, and so much so that He gave His one and only Son to die for us. Job and. Jesus. Both answers are true, but the second far more complete... even as we all can't help but wonder still, when we're faced with suffering. So why didn't the "Jesus answer" show up in the book? It's because, with one notable exception, Christian fantasy can only offer the "Job answer." Why? Because as connected as any Christian author's fantasy world will be to the real world, it can only offer, by necessity, a reflection of God as he revealed Himself in the Old Testament. C.S. Lewis is the exception, offering up the New Testament "Jesus answer" by having Aslan the Son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea show his love by dying in Edmund's place. But if another Christian author were to now try to give their own version of this answer, they'd be copying Lewis copying the Bible, and it couldn't help but be horrible. And that's why we get only the Job answer here. So who would like this book? Well, if you never made it through The Lord of the Rings, then this might be too intense a read for you. But if you're looking for a book you'll ponder as you read, and for weeks after, you'll love it. – Jon Dykstra
AUGUST 23
A classic American novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850, 178 pages) was an interesting read, if only to make myself familiar with the classic and the many cultural references to it. The story is set in a Puritan Massachusetts village in the 1600s. The young Hester Prynne, after giving birth to her daughter Pearl out of wedlock, is accused of adultery and made to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her front for the rest of her days as punishment for her sin. The book is obviously a critique of the (exaggerated) harshness of Puritan moral codes, but more than that, an exploration of public shame and guilt. In fact, Hawthorne’s characters in this book are very complex, and his wrestling with these themes of evil, sin, shame, guilt, and forgiveness or redemption are artfully done. While Hawthorne’s theological position is unclear, his writing shouldn’t be dismissed. I also appreciated that there are no salacious details despite the novel being premised on adultery (Hollywood – it can be done!). Recommended. – André Schutten
AUGUST 22
Why Lord? That's the question 12-year-old Julian van Popta, his parents, and his siblings had to contend with when this young man was diagnosed with leukemia. Only When It's Dark Can We See the Stars: a father's journal as his son battles cancer (2022, 194 pages) is an account of the four years that followed, as written by his father, Pastor John van Popta. The chapters are made up of the regular updates Rev. van Popta sent out to friends and family during the rounds of Julian's treatment. What's striking, and what makes this such a valuable read, is the trust the author demonstrates in God, even as the van Poptas struggled with why God would bring such sickness. As the author shares, it is one thing to face cancer as a pastor comforting parishioners, and another thing to do so as a parent seeing their child too weak even to eat. The question Why Lord? is made all the more urgent when, during Julian's repeated hospital stays, they meet other children also battling cancer, and the van Poptas share in these families' hopes and their losses – Julian does eventually recover, but many others do not. While this is a deeply personal account, the struggle to trust God in the face of death is one that we'll all have to face, and this then is an example of how to struggle well. It is a father writing, but there's no missing this is also a pastor who wants to feed the sheep with what he knows we need: to understand that my only comfort is that I am not my own but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. That truth, powerfully delivered, makes this not simply a good book, but an important one. – Jon Dykstra
AUGUST 21
It took me all summer, and an encouragement from a friend to see it through, but I finally took up and finished The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution by Carl Truman (2020, 432 pages). The genesis of the book was Prof. Truman’s desire to answer the question of how our entire culture came to accept the statement, “I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body” as true or reasonable. It's a dense read, especially in the first quarter, where Truman explains some important cultural theory from three modern philosophers. However, the concepts like “political man, religious man, psychological man” and “the social imaginary” explained in this first part are helpful to understand our cultural moment. In part 2, Truman covers the philosophical and cultural impact of thinkers like Jean Jacque Rousseau, the three English poets Shelly, Blake, and Wordsworth, and the philosophers Marx, Nietzsche, and Darwin. All of these thinkers shifted the understanding of who man is inward, Rousseau particularly with his ideas of the “authentic self”, and all attempted in their own way to tear down various institutions like the family and the church as oppressive. In part 3, Truman explains the impact of Freud’s thinking on our culture: Freud asserts that to be human is to be a sexual creature from birth. Marcuse and others combined these ideas with the themes of oppression from Marx and Nietzsche, producing a sexual revolution that saw moral (sexual) codes as not merely outdated but oppressive to the authentic self. Truman’s book was enlightening for me, stitching together various parts of history, philosophy, and cultural analysis to make a compelling case for how we got to where we are: the dominance of the LGBTQ+ alliance and the triumph of transgender politics. He does so while remaining quite objective throughout (though his postscript adds the necessary pastoral perspective and an encouragement for the church as she moves forward in this new reality). I recommend this book particularly for pastors and teachers to make sense of the times. Tip: while reading, when you come across a name of a person or a term that Truman explains, write it out with a brief description at the back of the book. One improvement to the book would be a glossary of characters and terms. Truman has since published a simplified version of the book covering the same material in just under half the number of pages, called Strange New World (2022). – André Schutten
AUGUST 20
After finishing my second time through Rebekah Merkle's Eve in Exile, and the restoration of femininity (2016, 205 pages) my copy might now have more sections highlighted than clear. I'll have to give it a longer write-up another time because there's just too much gold to unpack in a short review. The bare bones? Eve in Exile is a feminism takedown with its idea that men and women are identical, and women should be evaluated by how well they match up against the men. It is also an exploration of what it means for a woman to be both her husband's equal and his helpmeet. And it corrects the notion that freedom is found only outside the home, and it does so, not with the 1950s caricature of womanhood, but with the Proverbs 31 sort. Finally, it is a celebration of childraising. As Merkle writes: "...a woman raising her children is not only shaping the next generation, she is also shaping little humans who are going to live forever. The souls she gave birth to are immortal. Immortal. And somehow, our culture looks at a woman who treats that as if it might be an important task and says, 'It's a shame she's wasting herself. She could be doing something important – like filing paperwork for insurance claims." Merkle pairs wit with insight in a book that's so encouraging you'll want to buy extra copies to hand out. There's also a documentary version now, and while I haven't seen it, I've heard good things - you can find out more at EveInExile.com. – Jon Dykstra
AUGUST 15
The first half of Steven W. Mosher's Politically Incorrect Guide to Pandemics (2022, 343 pages) is an overview of pandemics of the past – the Black Death, bubonic plague, the Spanish Flu, the Swine Flu, etc. – and the various responses to them. This history was new to me: Mosher outlines how the Roman Empire's demise was likely due to a devastating smallpox outbreak, and how the feudal system ended when the Black Death killed off so many serfs the remaining men and women gained some leverage. He shares how the Church's response to the outbreaks – believers risking death to help the sick even as doctors were fleeing – was a powerful witness to Christians' security in God. Moving forward in history, Mosher recounts how the Japanese weaponized the bubonic plague in World War II, killing tens of thousands by dropping plague-contaminated fleas and food over China. The chapter on "The Great Swine-Flu Hoax of 1976" had me consulting the Internet to see if it was actually true 45 million Americans had been vaccinated for a flu that only infected 4 people. Might Mosher's strong and obvious bias – he opposed the COVID lockdowns and mask mandates – have led him to make an utterly ridiculous claim here? But it turns out, it did happen. Some reports put it at 200 soldiers initially coming down with the flu, but others note that only 2 of these were found to have this unique new strain. Whatever the exact number, a vaccine rollout happened without an outbreak to prompt it. The second half of the book is devoted just to COVID-19, and particularly criticisms of governmental responses. Though this is recent history, it was still a shock to recall "two weeks to flatten the curve," encouragements to wear two masks, the characterization of ivermectin as "horse-dewormer," and people being prevented from worshipping even in their cars. In this second half Mosher also defends his premise that "The China Virus turned out to be the most effective weapon in history." While he provides enough evidence to show it is a reasonable premise – the Chinese have an interest in biological weapons, the Wuhan lab was involved in coronavirus research, and China lied about the virus' impact which allowed it to more easily spread to the rest of the world – I don't know that he would convince anyone not already sympathetic. – Jon Dykstra
AUGUST 12
At the midpoint of my reading challenge, I read the best book on my list yet, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (1971, 272 pages). Though a type of autobiography, the book is nevertheless a page-turner. It tells the true story of a Dutch 50-year-old spinster, her sister Betsy, and her 80-year-old clockmaker father and how they came to hide several Jews from the Nazis in their home during World War II, and to coordinate the escape of dozens and dozens of others. Eventually their work is discovered, though the Jews they are hiding are not. Corrie and her sister and father are arrested and interned in a concentration camp, where both Corrie’s father and sister Betsy eventually die. What moved me most profoundly, and multiple times throughout the book, was the total and complete faith of these three in the sovereign goodness of God despite the horrific evil all around them, and also their humble service to Him by loving their Jewish neighbors, their commitment to persevere in faith and to love even their enemies, and how God sustained them through his Word and Spirit (and not a few miracles!). A recurring theme that I found particularly important is the centrality of the reading of the Bible in their lives before the Nazi occupation. While today we might dismiss the habitual readings as pietistic or legalistic, it was their familiarity with the Word of God that sustained them through their suffering and trials. The Hiding Place put my life into perspective. And if you or someone you know thinks life is too hard, that God is not being fair to you, that you are more a victim than anything else, read this book! Let Corrie tell you how she could count it all joy to suffer for the sake of the gospel. To rejoice and give thanks for a flea-infested hut in a concentration camp, to love and forgive a Nazi officer, or to share incredibly scarce food and vitamins with others, as Corrie and her sister do over and over again, is a reminder of just how radical the call to love your neighbor as yourself is, and how rewarding it can be. – André Schutten
AUGUST 8
While unsuccessfully trying to track down an audio version of The Screwtape Letters read by John Cleese (sadly only available on audiotape) I came across Cleese's Creativity: a short and cheerful guide (2020, 112 pages). It was a small book, but had some really useful tips and encouragements worth sharing. Two main differences between creative architects and their less creative contemporaries were 1) creative sorts still knew how to play with, and consequently enjoy, their work for the activity it is, rather than trying simply to get 'er done, and 2) creative sorts "always deferred their decisions for as long as they were allowed" which left them more time to use any great, but late, ideas that might come up. Cleese also encourages his readers to make full use of their unconscious brain's impressive problem-solving abilities by putting in the time when you are awake, but then feeling free to sleep and see what might pop to mind in the morning. There's no big huge idea that will revolutionize your creativity, but there is some good small thoughts, and, as the subtitle says, they are cheerfully presented. – Jon Dykstra
AUGUST 1
In Gladiators Arising: Blood-Bought vs. Blood Sport (2022, 138 pages) Trent Herbert begins with a look at how Christians opposed the Roman gladiator games. Whether it was Christians or slaves being forced to fight, or even willing combatants, Christians were against it, eventually helping put an end to these games because of the abuse done to these Image-bearers of God. With that point made, Hebert then draws parallels to modern-day Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), boxing, and even football. This extensively footnoted, yet still slim volume, has got lots of stats and stories about the damage these sports do. One example: "American footballers sustain a blow to the head equivalent to a severe car crash in every game." My one critique would be Herbert's inclusion of his belief that the growing popularity of MMA has some End Times implications. Other than that, no space is wasted – this is a good quick read that forcefully argues what Herbert calls a "pro-life case" that "Christians should... not be supportive of any sports that intentionally attack the image of God." – Jon Dykstra
JULY 31
This summer I tackled a modern classic Christian book that has been highly recommended to me by a few Christian friends over the years. And Knowing God, by J.I. Packer (1973, 286 pages), was, in my opinion, worthy of its high accolades. The book is theologically rich, and intellectually engaging. But if that’s all you walk away with, you’ve completely missed the point. Packer is a pastor first and he wants his Christian readers to not just know about God, but to truly know Him. And the best way to know God is to know his Word which reveals God’s character. Chapters in the book are topical reflecting their origin (it was originally a series of articles for a Christian magazine), but they build on each other, growing in the Christian a love and reverence for our awesome, triune God. I found the book’s culmination particularly beautiful. Packer makes the case for why adoption is the best paradigm or illustration for understanding God’s love for us and our response to Him (his explanation on this point also gave me a fresh and compelling way of understanding the relationship between law and grace), and his concluding chapter on the book of Romans is absolutely magnificent: it would make a riveting hour-long sermon to introduce a series on the book. I highly recommend Knowing God, and plan to re-read it within a year or two. – André Schutten
JULY 28
Linnet is a five-year-old Dutch girl who, we discover, knows absolutely nothing about God. Her ignorance is so profound that when the Nazis invade, and an occupying soldier tells little Linnet about the wonderful family that "God has given" him, she wonders, Who is this God he is talking about? and Is God German? For our own children, who may take always knowing God for granted, it will be eye-opening to follow what it's like, and how wonderful it is, for someone to be introduced to God for the first time. Linnet has the same wonderings any kid might have, but her wartime experiences also have her asking deeper questions, including a child's version of "God are you really there?" Christine Farenhorst's The New Has Come (2022, 262 pages) is that rarity that will appeal to all ages: the World War II setting and charming protagonist will grab your children; moms and dads will appreciate Linnet's questions and the opportunities they present to talk about God with our kids, and grandparents will get more than a little misty-eyed at just how beautifully this tale is told. I could not recommend it more highly! – Jon Dykstra
JULY 21
I love love loved Jonathan Rogers' Wilderking Trilogy, a children's fantasy series that echoes the story of David and Saul, though without ever mentioning it, and is set in a kingdom made up of sheep farmers, nobles, castles, and swamps populated by "feechie" creatures that might be men or might just be myth. It was great fun, and when I was done reading it to my daughters, we all wanted more so we were happy to learn that Rogers has also written a stand-alone set in this same universe called The Charlatan's Boy (2010, 305 pages). But as much as I enjoyed the story, my girls did not. One reviewer described it as "C.S. Lewis and Mark Twain rolled into one" and while my girls love Lewis, they aren't about Tom Sawyer-type hijinks. Twain is simply too nasty for their liking. I stopped reading it to them, but kept on myself and really quite liked it. Floyd is the title charlatan, Grady his boy, and the two of them travel from village to village trying to trick folks into believing that a mudded-up Grady is one of the fearsome and fabled feechies. But when time passes and villagers stop believing in feechies – it's been so long since anyone's seen one out in the wild – they stop paying to see feechie acts. So it's up to Floyd and Grady to make them believe once more. If this was just a tricky Twain story, I don't know that I would have liked it either, but it wraps up with a Lewis-esque moral to the story that is equal parts justice and mercy. This, then, isn't a kid's tale like Wilderking, but something intended for a slightly older crowd. For teens and up, so long as Lewis/Twain is an intriguing combo to you, you'll really enjoy it. – Jon Dykstra
JULY 20
Consulting a book written by a minister of the United Church of Canada on the subject of "homosexuality and the church" may seem to be an odd choice to make. Today, the website of the United Church of Canada "affirms the value and dignity of all people and rejects any therapy or practice that labels LGBTQIA+ and Two-Spirit people as abnormal, broken, or otherwise not whole individuals" and "strongly condemns the practice of conversion therapy or any efforts that attempt to change a person’s sexual or gender identity through treatment that is hostile to a person’s identity, unethical, spiritually and psychologically damaging, and not supported by evidence." But in 1989, the UCC was only taking its first steps down the path of officially affirming sexual behavior and lifestyles that had been universally rejected by the Christian church throughout history. There were still voices within the United Church like that of Rev. Donald L. Faris, who argued strongly against allowing the "Trojan Horse" of homosexual ideology to enter into the church. Sadly, some 33 years later, such voices are no longer heard. For this reason alone, Faris's Trojan Horse: The Homosexual Ideology and the Christian Church (1989, 80 pages) is a little book that is well worth reading, if only as a cautionary tale. It serves as a warning about the speed at which serious deviations from the teaching of Scripture can overtake a denomination when its Biblical foundations are destroyed and the prevailing ideology of the surrounding culture is allowed to take the place of God's Word. However, this is not the only reason why I would recommend this book. Faris lays out solid Biblical, psychological, and factual arguments against the church's acceptance of homosexuality in the name of "social justice," "acceptance," and a skewed definition of "love." He presciently argues that this ideology is like a Trojan Horse, which, if approved, would bring a wider sexual ideology, "grounded in the self-regarding relativistic individualism which is the ideology of the liberal middle class in North America," into the church. Over the three decades that have passed since this book was published, his insight into the inevitable results of this movement have been proven true. What's more, the last chapter of the book outlines ways of helping homosexuals leave the lifestyle – ways that have now been made illegal in Canada. In the end, while Donald Faris's call to faithful obedience to God and his Word was not heeded by his own denomination, his work remains a valuable and useful resource for 21st Century Christians seeking to defend the truth in their own ecclesiastical and cultural contexts. – Jim Witteveen
JULY 14
I've been reading a three-book series, Matthew Christian Harding's The Peleg Chronicles, as a bedtime read with my daughters for months now, and we've all really enjoyed it. It's quirky Christian fiction, with a fantasy feel (though there isn't any magic) set in biblical times. I'm not normally wild about biblical fiction because I don't want to get confused between what a novelist presents and what the Bible actually says. But Harding has picked a time – the days of Peleg (Gen. 10:25) after the Tower of Babel and before Abraham – when the Bible doesn't say much, and that eliminates any chances of confusion. He depicts a post-Flood world in which the followers of Noah's God are few, dragons exist but are rare too, and a sect of Dragon Priests is gaining power. In the first, Foundlings (256 pages, 2009), we're introduced to Lord McDougal a hero who is as graceful and deadly in battle as he is awkward around ladies. This is just such a fun flaw, but it's more than just a foundation for comic gold - McDougal's social bungling might be what keeps this mightiest-of-all-warriors a humble servant of all in need. Dimwitted giants and a cowardly-lion type warrior add to the comedy. But what makes this a book worth reading is the Christian depth. I was so struck by how deep the dialogue could get – when the going gets tough, different characters struggle with doubt, and the answers offered by the followers of "Noah's God" aren't pat or simple. It's that depth that had me reading chunks to my wife; this a teen series that could also encourage adults. That said, I'll also note it could have done with one key edit: when characters praise God, or speak a prophetic word, they do it in King James language. Fine for an older guy like me, but I had to "translate" as I read it to my kids. I also wish that cover photos were more attractive because we do still judge a book by its cover. So this will be best suited for teens who have already shown an ability to tackle bigger books that require an attention span. For them, I'd give two thumbs up to Foundlings and its two sequels, Paladins (2010, 272 pages) and Loresmen (2014, 278 pages). And to offer up a taste, the author has made the first book available for free as an ebook on Amazon.com. (The author also has a fantastic picture book, only available as an e-book, called Ebenezer's Bedtime Adventure, which my kids have repeatedly begged me to read.) – Jon Dykstra
JULY 10
Maria Keffler's Desist, Detrans & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult (2021, 233 pages) is a book that would seem to have a very limited audience - parents of children who have been deceived into believing that the "sex they were assigned at birth" does not align with who they really are. Sadly, the number of such children has grown exponentially in recent years, which means that books like this one have become all the more necessary. Keffler is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care, which describes itself as a "watchdog group which works to safeguard parents' rights and children's safety in public education." Desist, Detrans & Detox is a manual for parents of children who have been tempted to transition to the opposite sex, or who have actually gone through with such a transition. The book provides much helpful information on what Keffler refers to as the "gender cult," including some history, and details of practices and techniques that are being used by those who are promoting the agenda of what another author refers to as the "gender industrial complex." Keffler, a teacher with a background in educational psychology, does write from a Christian point of view. So while I would take issue with some of her terminology (which at times echoes the jargon of secular psychology) and with some of the means that she recommends to deal with struggling children, on the whole this book offers good counsel to parents who may be unsure about what steps they should take and how they should respond in the midst of a very difficult and challenging experience. I would recommend this book to Christian parents of children who have been seduced by the gender cult, and to others who are interested in learning more about the dangers and destructiveness of this movement and how to challenge it. – Jim Witteveen
JULY 7
Every so often I'll pick up a book on writing and whenever I do, without fail, I always benefit. This time, to put that trend to the test, I decided to read Gail Carson Levine's Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly (2006, 168 pages). The author writes fiction for teens, with most of it being of the fractured fairytale or fantasy type. So...not really what I do. And despite that – or maybe because of it – I once again learned a lot of useful nuggets. The one that'll most stick with me is Levine's encouragement to not simply "show rather than tell" (that's a common bit of writing advice) but to recognize that telling has its place too. Showing draws readers in, but takes time and space to do it, so the strength of telling is that it can be a lot quicker and shorter than showing. There is then a time to show and a time to tell. – Jon Dykstra
JULY 1
Dated to something like 500 BC, Sun-Tzu's The Art of War is probably the second oldest book I’ve read, exceeded only by portions of the Bible. It is a military stratagems book, with many of the outlined principles applicable to today’s “fields of combat” like business, politics, and even love. An example: “When surrounding an army, leave a passage free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.” To paraphrase: someone with nothing to lose is dangerous indeed, so don’t back a person into that kind of corner. That’s both common sense, and not necessarily so common, which is the value of this ancient classic. I’d previously read a couple of different translations, but when I saw a comic version was available I had to check it out. Pete Katz’s Sun Tzu’s The Art of War: A Graphic Novel (2018, 128 pages) seems to contain all the original text. But now there are pictures, and a story arc of an old general teaching Sun Tzu to a boy, which ties everything together. That’s a fun wrinkle, and allows the general to offer a little commentary on Sun Tzu’s wisdom, making this a really accessible version. One caution would be that the pictures are occasionally a bit gory – arrows in necks, swords coming through someone’s chest – but aren’t too bad considering the topic matter. Another caution would just be the need to evaluate this ancient general’s common sense in light of the Bible. – Jon Dykstra
JUNE 30
Chances are high that you are reading this review on your phone. Perhaps you are even in the presence of other people, who are scrolling through one news feed or other on their particular mobile device. Smartphones have become a near-permanent fixture in the lives of many, a companion, a lifeline, or even an obsession. In Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age (2015, 436 pages), Sherry Turkle explores the ways in which our ever-present electronic gadgetry has influenced our culture, often in a negative way. Turkle, a clinical psychological, spent five years researching the effects that our attachment to our electronic devices have had on the way that we relate to and interact with one another, and this book is a result of that research and what is clearly a great deal of serious consideration of the issue. She structures the book using 19th Century American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau's image of "three chairs" to examine how the lives of so many have been seriously impacted when they are alone, when they are interacting individually with another person, and in their relationships with broader society. Our phones leave us unable to enjoy quiet solitude, they get in the way of in-person communication with family and friends, and drastically change the way in which we relate to the world around us. Using a multitude of examples (some of which could probably have been excluded to make the work more concise), Turkle reveals what many of us already know from our own personal experience – we need to control the technology that we use, or that technology will end up controlling us. If you're at all like me, reading this book will lead to some healthy self-examination (if not serious guilt feelings) that should itself lead to deliberate consideration of the place that technology has on your life, and then to change. Silence and solitude (that is beneficial and not unbearable), genuine moments of conversation (especially in the home) in which all of the participants' attention is focused on the other parties in that interaction, and an upbuilding and positive way of relating to the broader "on-line world" are possible if we seriously and carefully consider the place of technology in our lives, and whether that technology has become our idol. I highly recommend this book as a useful tool for those who are already concerned about this issue, and also for those who aren't, but should be! – Jim Witteveen
If you’re looking for some meatier Christian fiction this summer, I recommend the novel Fatherless, by Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner (2013, 448 pages). Dr. Dobson is the founder of Focus on the Family and of Family Research Council, and as such he is a natural fit to co-write a dystopian novel (the first of a trilogy) on what the future looks like if our social and political trends continue. The novel is set in 2042, and the elderly outnumber the young, leading to massive economic disruption. Euthanasia (called “transitions” in the novel) are applauded as heroic by policymakers and the public, women who have more than one child are derisively referred to “breeders,” and children with disabilities are routinely terminated in utero. Sexual liberation has allowed men to take very little responsibility, leading to mass fatherlessness. The plot to the novel is engrossing, making the book a page-turner. And what makes this novel well worth reading is how it animates important policy issues (demographics, euthanasia, selective abortion, economics, the role of the press, and more), showing the true human cost if Christians remain ignorant or apathetic around issues of public importance. – André Schutten
One question that I have been seriously considering over the past several years is, "How did we get here?" It's a question that informs many of my reading choices, as may have become obvious from the list of books that I've reviewed so far this year. How did our society get to a place in which Biblical morality has been largely rejected, issues which concern tiny minorities (such as transsexualism) have seemingly become vitally important, relationships between ethnic groups have seemed to worsen instead of improving, human life (both before birth as well as in its final stages) has been so badly devalued, certain individual "rights" have taken centre-stage at the expense of the God-given rights that were so highly valued by previous generations, and our culture has been subjected to such rapid and negative change? In 2020, Christopher Caldwell, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, set out to answer this question. In The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties (342 pages), Caldwell focuses on the effects of the civil rights legislation of 1964 as an important turning point in the history of the U.S. He examines the way in which the Civil Rights Act became a kind of "second constitution," and how it impacted not only race relations, but also relations between the sexes, economic policy, international relations, and issues such as abortion, marriage and family, crime, and drug abuse. In the final two chapters Caldwell deals with the "winners" and the "losers" in this struggle, and although writing as a conservative, and presumably a Republican, his work is not a hit piece on the Democratic Party; one of the strong points of this book is his unflinching examination of where the so-called "conservative" movement has failed to actually "conserve" much at all, and why that failure seems to be a constant in the American political landscape. While I write this review from north of the border, and this book focuses specifically on the country to the south of us, a famous quotation by former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau shows why this American focus does not at all make a book like this irrelevant for non-Americans: "Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." In the end, these are movements that, in our shrinking world, affect us all. And while Caldwell's focus is limited, he provides some very helpful answers to the question that many of us have: "How did we get here?" – Jim Witteveen
JUNE 29
For any reader who adores C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, particularly if you love the allegorical aspects of the children’s novels, let me recommend to you Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis, by Michael Ward (2008, 400 pages). This was a fascinating (though at times academic) read. For decades, critics of the Chronicles (including J.R.R. Tolkien) have argued they are disorganized or lack coherence. Ward makes a very convincing case that the unifying theme to the seven books of the Chronicles is medieval cosmology. C. S. Lewis was always fascinated by medieval astrology, and wrote about it in his academic writings, his poetry, and his fiction (the Space Trilogy is explicit). Ward shows that each of the seven books corresponds to the seven medieval planets: Jupiter, Mars, Sol (the sun), Luna (the moon), Mercury, Venus, and Saturn. Each of these planets have characteristics and symbols which play out in each book’s plot, in various ornamental details, and in how Aslan (the Christ figure) is portrayed. I won’t give the direct connections away here, because the joy of reading about each planet’s correspondence to which book is like unwrapping seven presents. There were moments reading this where I wondered if Lewis was dabbling with syncretism but, on further consideration, I think the concern has little merit. Rather, the cosmological elements work well to highlight different aspects of reality, and different aspects of the person and work of Christ, accentuating those aspects in different ways. Having finished this book, I’m now eager to revisit the Chronicles to see it with new eyes. For those considering picking up Planet Narnia, I recommend first reading the entire Chronicles (ideally multiple times), as well as Lewis’ Space Trilogy to better appreciate this academic work. – André Schutten
JUNE 28
To find a series for kids that's actually worth recommending involves starting, and then stopping, a lot of unworthy contenders. But every now and again, you find gold, like Dawn L. Watkins' Medallion (1985, 213 pages). This will be a fun one for Grade 4/5 boys. Young Trave plans to be king one day, but in the meantime, the current king of Gadalla, his uncle, won't even let him learn to ride a horse. Trave's life takes a turn when a rider comes to warn his uncle of an impending war, and tries to recruit him as an ally against the "Dark Alliance." His uncle dismisses the warning, but allows Trave to head off with the departing rider, happy to be done with this annoying boy. But why does the rider have any interest in Trave? Because the rider turns out to be the king of the neighboring nation of Kapnos, and he knew Trave's father back when he was the fighting king of Gadalla. This King Gris is eager to help Trave become the king that the neighboring nations need him to be, so that together they can stop the Dark Alliance. And while Trave appreciates being rescued from his uncle, he doesn't like being treated like a schoolboy in need of lessons. He mistakenly believes that being a king means fighting and giving orders, rather than serving. And that makes him susceptible to the flattery of the Dark Alliance's leader, who wants Trave on his side. While the author is Christian, that's more notable in the lack of any new age or woke weirdness, rather than the presence of any spiritual dimension to the book. Boys, 9-12, will love the story, and appreciate the twenty or so great pictures, including one of the evil king riding what looks like a miniature T-rex, which is reason enough to get the book! Another highlight is the curious creature Nog, who lives under a bog, and his every line, is always spoken in rhyme. This works well as a stand-alone, but a prequel, Shield, is also quite good, even as the sequel, Arrow, is not. – Jon Dykstra
JUNE 22
They say that the three most important rules of Biblical interpretation are "Context, context, and context." In The Maker Versus the Takers: What Jesus Really Said About Social Justice and Economics (2020, 141 pages), Jerry Bowyer examines the Biblical, historical, geographical and political context of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. Bowyer is an economist, and this is specifically an "economic" commentary, focusing on the economic and political implications of the message of the gospels. Bowyer's thesis is that Jesus' approach to economics placed him at loggerheads with the Judean authorities, who were oppressing their Jewish brothers and sisters, exploiting the poor, and blatantly disregarding God's law. It was specifically this element of the Lord Jesus' ministry that led to his betrayal and crucifixion. Bowyer takes pains throughout the book to emphasize the fact that he is not attempting to replace the theological interpretation of the gospel story with his economic interpretation. He argues that a false dichotomy between the two kinds of interpretation can lead to a hyper-spiritualization of the gospel message, a one-sided emphasis on the "eternal truths" of the gospel that neglects the historical realities that the Lord used to bring his plan to fruition. The gospel story is rooted in history, and the atoning work of Christ is the historical outworking of God's eternal plan of salvation. Bowyer makes a very important point when he highlights the necessity of taking every part of the Biblical text seriously, including the inspired authors' choice to use particular words and include specific geographical and historical details. He seeks to avoid the kind of interpretation that seeks to discover "some vague, subjective 'main idea' of the text," a process that often leads interpreters to limit their focus to a self-defined central thought, rather than dealing with every aspect of what the text actually says. In his effort to study the text in this way, Bowyer provides the reader with helpful and often surprising insights into the economic parables, the Sermon on the Mount, the story of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus' cleansing of the temple, as well as the overarching story of the gospels. This is not a technical commentary, and Bowyer has done his best to make his work accessible to non-specialists. Those who are looking for a deeper insight into the message of the gospels, or who may have specific questions about what the Bible has to teach us about the issues of social justice, business, and various political systems and theories will find much food for thought in The Maker Versus the Takers. – Jim Witteveen
JUNE 20
The Christian social critic Os Guinness has delivered a punchy defence of liberty in his book A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future, (2012, 224 pages). While the book is focused on the American context, it is applicable for Canadians too. Christians should give Guinness’ argument serious consideration. He begins by outlining a paradox: the greatest enemy of freedom is freedom. Freedom needs to be both protected by a constitution and cherished by the population. If either fail, freedom is lost. He explains the difference between “negative freedom” (freedom from government intrusion), and “positive freedom” (freedom to accomplish particular goals) and is emphatic that we need both. The core of the book is built around his golden triangle of freedom: freedom requires virtue, and virtue requires faith, and faith requires freedom, and freedom requires virtue, etc. While I concur with nearly all of what he writes, I did feel that the author clouds the issue around which faith in particular is needed to inculcate the type of virtue that sustains freedom. From my perspective, it’s not just any faith or religion that will produce the virtue required for freedom to flourish. Nevertheless, I do recommend the book. – André Schutten
JUNE 18
"An original and mesmerizing book." "This book amounts to a kind of key to the times we are living in." "A tour de force." "The sort of book that forever changes the way one looks at the subject." So say the reviews printed on the back cover of Joshua Mitchell's American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time (2020, 255 pages). It's not unusual for the writers of back-cover blurbs to use hyperbole to promote the work that they're praising - after all, that's why they're there on the back cover! But in this case, the effusive praise is entirely warranted. This is the twentieth book that I've reviewed for RP's "52 in '22" challenge this year, which means that I have 32 to go to reach the goal that we've set for ourselves. And I have to say that one of those next 32 books will have to be truly exceptional to dislodge this book from my "Best book of the year" category. In America Awakening, Joshua Mitchell, professor of political theory at Georgetown University, makes the argument that the ascendancy of identity politics in the United States (and the West in general) is the result of a new religious movement that is supplanting Protestant Christianity as a dominant force in society. As he writes in his preface, "Americans have not lost their religion. Americans have relocated their religion to the realm of politics." Mitchell describes identity politics as a kind of Christian heresy that distorts Biblical concepts of sin, judgment, substitutionary atonement, and salvation in an attempt to achieve a twisted version of "justice" in this world. According to identity politics, an individual is either a transgressor or an innocent; the ultimate transgressor is the white heterosexual male, while the category of "innocent" is more flexible. People are defined by their identity with a homogeneous group, and their assumed level of "purity" depends on the nature of the group with which they identify. The transgressor becomes the scapegoat, the source of all ills, and the purpose of politics (which comes to encompass all of life) is to purge society of his stain. Mitchell concludes by examining two of the "other afflictions" mentioned in the book's title. "Bipolarity" is the first affliction, and Mitchell uses this word to describe a state of affairs in which the individual is at the same time "selfie man" (the centre of the world, deserving of attention and craving recognition and praise) and a faceless interchangeable member of "management society." The second affliction is addiction; while Mitchell's examples of the addictions that plague our culture are probably not what you would expect, they reveal a deep understanding of the nature of our society. In conclusion, American Awakening is a profound examination of one of the defining issues of our time, theologically and culturally astute and very well written. While it may not be an easy read, the effort required to digest everything that Mitchell has to offer will certainly pay off in the end. – Jim Witteveen
JUNE 17
For anyone looking for a relatively short, and yet comprehensive, Reformed Christian articulation on the role of the civil government, I highly recommend Ruler of Kings: Toward a Christian Vision of Government, by Joseph Boot (2022, 211 pages). The book is both a necessary critique of the government’s encroachment into areas of life where it ought not to, as well as a positive vision of what the civil government ought to be, as an entity instituted by God, under the lordship of King Jesus. I found Boot’s historical approach to the philosophies behind the expansive state helpful for understanding how we got to where we are today. He is rigourous in his defence of the absolute authority of Jesus and what that means practically for government and society. I also found his discussion about the difference between the kingdom of God and the church as institute very helpful and clarifying and, once grasped, it does away with the straw man argument from fellow Christians that too readily dismisses his thesis as “theocracy.” I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to better understand what a reformational view of the place of the state in society is. – André Schutten
JUNE 14
If you've heard Neil Postman's name, it was probably in connection with his best-known (and excellent) book Amusing Ourselves to Death, published in 1985. Postman, who passed away in 2003, was known as an insightful social critic, and his work continues to be cited by Christian theologians and authors, despite the fact that Postman himself was not a Christian. Upon his death, one commentator argued that the reason for Postman's popularity among Christians (especially confessional Reformed believers) is the fact that "he knew a golden calf when he saw one." In Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992, 222 pages), Postman takes on one of the most influential golden calves of the modern age, technology. He begins with his outline of the historical developments that have led to our becoming a technopoly, a society in which technology is no longer a tool to be used, but a master to be served. He examines the impact of technology on medicine, on the widespread use of computers in every part of life, and also discusses what he calls 'invisible technologies" – things like language, statistics, polling, and intelligence testing – all of which have only grown in importance with the technological advances of recent decades. In his chapter on scientism, which in my view is particularly important, Postman examines the claims of the social sciences, which have themselves become another of the most influential idols of our age. Postman was not "anti-technology," and does not argue that technological advancements are inherently negative. However, he rightly concluded that modern society has not given sufficient attention to the inevitable downsides that accompany every technological development. Because of our lack of critical reflection, we are becoming the slaves of technology instead of its masters. The technopoly is an impoverished society, and will remain so until our dedication to technological progress is re-evaluated and successfully challenged. I highly recommend this book, especially for the insight it offers into forms of technology that often go unconsidered because they have become so embedded in our culture. It's an eye-opener, and well worth reading. – Jim Witteveen
JUNE 9
The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer (1968, 226 pages) is a must-read for any Christian teacher, pastor, parent, elder, post-secondary student, entrepreneur, artist, or journalist! I have been tracking and reading about cultural developments from a Christian perspective for well over a decade and had a decent grasp on the religious-cultural problems in the West. This book just turned the bright lights on in a big way. Schaeffer explains how the ideas of philosophers, then visual artists, then musicians, and then theologians all devolved into postmodernism, falling below the "line of despair." He traces the problem back to a break in the concept of truth, that for some intellectuals there are things that require "a leap of faith" – things like purpose or morals – thus breaking any unifying sense of knowledge. His discussion on antithesis is simple and brilliant (A is A, and A is not non-A), and he works this basic theme throughout the book. His explanation of faith versus faith was also helpful: is faith a leap of belief into the irrational (the modern conception of faith) or is the value of faith dependent on the object towards which the faith is directed? Christian faith is the latter, and depends on the God who is there, the Christ in history who died upon the cross, rose from the dead in space and in time. The Christian faith is open to discussion and verification. There is much packed into this volume and I wholeheartedly recommend it. – André Schutten
JUNE 8
In 2021, as Canada's federal government promised $9.2 billion in annual spending on child care programs, Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development, was quoted as saying: “Child care is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. The past year has made it abundantly clear that we need affordable, accessible, inclusive, and high-quality child care, and we need it now. Leaders in the private, social, and labour sectors all agree that a Canada-wide early learning and child care system will drive economic growth, help women get back into the workforce, and give every child across Canada the best start in life. Together, I know we can get this done.” In his book Day Care Deception: What the Child Care Establishment Isn't Telling Us (2003, 222 pages), Brian C. Robertson explains the forces that are at work behind the decades-long push for universal, government-subsidized child care, and why this movement is so destructive to families and society in general. Robertson describes the coalition of interests that are hard at work promoting the institutionalized care of children, and what their motivation is. He argues that the impetus behind the universal day-care movement comes from corporations (which serve to benefit from having more women in the workforce), governments (which benefit politically and also financially via the taxes paid by working mothers and growth in GDP), social scientists (whose ideology devalues the importance of stay-at-home moms and the "traditional" family structure), the day-care industry, and professionals in all of these fields who are seeking to justify their own choice to subject their children to institutionalized care. Forces which emphasize economics have united with ideologues to pressure women to enter the workforce and "contract out" the care of their children, and, Robertson argues, the resulting trends have been disastrous. Day Care Deception presents a detailed, well-supported case for abandoning the "social experiment" that has brought so many mothers into the workforce at the expense of their children's well-being. While the book is somewhat repetitive and could have benefited from some judicious editing, it is a valuable resource that I wholeheartedly recommend. – Jim Witteveen
JUNE 7
If you're looking for an easy, fun summer read for the campfire, beach, or cottage, let me recommend The Inimitable Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse (1923, 224 pages). The book is a collection of mini-escapades centered on Bertie, a clueless aristocrat in British society, and his clever butler Jeeves. If you enjoy British humor, a clever turn of phrase, some right rummy characters, and poking playful fun at the pomposity of the upper class in early 1900s Britain, this book will have you chuckling in no time. If you need to save a penny, the benefit of reading older books is that they are in the public domain: a free version is available here: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59254. – André Schutten
JUNE 6
In our "connected" world, we are being bombarded with more advertising than ever before. A multi-billion dollar industry uses increasingly sophisticated techniques to convince us that we desperately need any of a vast array of products or services. And those techniques work. But how do they work? Answering that question is an important part of "propaganda-proofing" ourselves and our children. Vance Packard's 1957 book The Hidden Persuaders (223 pages) is a classic investigation of the psychological techniques that the marketing industry had only recently begun to employ to impact consumer decisions. Packard explores subjects like motivational analysis and subliminal techniques that are used to sell products from soap ("The cosmetic manufacturers are not selling lanolin, they are selling hope") to political figures and their platforms. While this book is 65 years old and its examples are dated (Packard's references to cigarette advertising may confound younger readers who have never seen such a thing!), the techniques he describes and the ways in which they were used form the foundation of an industry whose influence and reach has only grown astronomically over the intervening years. Packard argues that we are being manipulated (often without our knowledge) to become cogs in the consumerist machine, and that codes of conduct should be implemented to govern the use of "depth manipulation" techniques. It is difficult to imagine how such a code of conduct could ever be developed, let alone enforced, so the onus is on us, the objects of the advertisers' work, as Packard admits. His conclusion is an apt one, and explains why I'm reviewing and recommending this old book: "We still have a strong defence available against such persuaders: we can choose not to be persuaded. In virtually all situations we still have the choice, and we cannot be too seriously manipulated if we know what is going on." It was Packard's hope that this book would contribute to the general awareness; it does, and we would do well to learn its lessons and put them into practice. – Jim Witteveen
JUNE 5
I feel a little sheepish reviewing this book, but it's worth talking about. Piet Prins' Scout: The Mystery of the Abandoned Mill (1982, 127 pages) is a book for all ages. It's the sixth in a series of seven Scout books written by the Dutch author soon after World War II. It tells the story of three teen boys and their trusty canine Scout, a smart, loyal, and strong companion. In this particular story, the boys are trying to find a lost treasure, hidden from the Nazis during the occupation of the Netherlands, in order to return the treasure to its rightful owner. But they are competing with a ruthless villain who wants the treasure for himself. What I love about reading the Scout books (I read it aloud to my eight-year-old son, who begs me each night to please, please, pretty please keep reading just one more chapter?!) is that not only are they great page-turning adventures, they are also saturated with Christian references: going to church on Sunday, praying at mealtimes, thinking about God's oversight and providence, praying to God when afraid, being ashamed for prideful actions, etc. Each of these references become an easy opportunity to pause and discuss with my son these concepts. So, I recommend this book to dads or moms who want a good book for – and good discussions with – their 6-12-year-old children. – André Schutten
JUNE 4
Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove (2015, 304 pages) is a touching novel about a neighborhood curmudgeon, whose backstory is slowly revealed over the course of the book. The author skillfully flips back and forth in Ove's timeline, making the reader fall in love and sympathize with this cranky, stubborn man. The book drew out different emotions in rapid succession: I found myself on more than one occasion choking back a lump in my throat in one instant and then chuckling out loud the next. However, I wrestled with whether to recommend this book due to a major downside: there are about a half dozen instances of blasphemy in the book, as well as multiple cuss words. There is also a short (and approving) reference to a same-sex marriage at the end of the book. That said, the themes of the book are timely for our cultural moment and worthy of consideration by a Christian reader: our society's increasing problem with social isolation, suicidality, and fragmented neighborhoods and communities, as well as a bureaucratic state that pushes aside family to make life and death decisions for elderly or sick citizens (think government long-term care homes, or euthanasia), what does this look like from the perspective of a senior citizen? The examples of the various characters in this novel - especially the pregnant Iranian living next door to Ove - provide a good launching point for critical self-reflection: are we ready to do the uncomfortable but necessary work of loving our (senior and crotchety) neighbor as ourself? And can we see their love, purpose, and dignity despite their unlovable qualities? For this reason, I recommend the book to a Christian audience with the caveat that, as you will likely encounter in your neighborhoods, so you will encounter in this book objectionable language. – André Schutten
MAY 25
This was so good I had to share bits of it with my wife as I worked through M.I. McAllister's Urchin of the Riding Stars (2021, 299 pages). This is an animals with swords tale, the hedgehogs, otters, moles, and squirrels all living together in the same island kingdom under the good King Brushen. But all is not well in the kingdom of Mistmantle – there are "cullings" being done to the newborn handicapped children. This is quite the somber subject for a children's book, and as the culling are considered for the elderly too, it's clear that the author is speaking to both abortion and euthanasia. The young Urchin is very much opposed, but his heroes, Captains Crispin and Padra, don't seem to be doing anything to stop it, and the third captain, Husk, seems to be enjoying it! So who are the good guys then? Who can Urchin turn to for help to save these children? It turns out some of the good guys are indeed good, but, on the other hand, some turn out to be really, really bad. This a fairytale that takes seriously the Chesterton quote about dragons:
"Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon."
There is evil in this book, and the might even turn off some of its target preteen to early teen audience. But it gets to be quite the rollicking adventure soon enough, full of courtly intrigue, conspiracies, and heroes being heroic. I think the author is Christian, and the God of this story is referred to as "the Heart." This spiritual element isn't huge, but it is persistent, and doesn't stray into anything weird or wacky. I know this will be a book I'll enjoy reading to my kids. An otherwise entertaining second book in this Mistmantle Chronicles series is marred by an agenda-pushing, albeit passing, mention of a female priest. The first book stands well enough on its own, so in our house I think we're going to start and stop with number one. – Jon Dykstra
MAY 19
Mary Eberstadt is a former research fellow for Stanford University's Hoover Institution, and currently serves as senior research fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute, a conservative Roman Catholic think tank based in Washington, D.C. In her first book, Home-Alone America: the Hidden Toll of Day Care, Behavioral Drugs, and Other Parent Substitutes (2004, 218 pages), Eberstadt sought to answer a series of what she called "obvious, if necessarily blunt" questions: Why are millions of children being prescribed drugs to change their behaviour? Why are depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders becoming more and more common among young people? Why has childhood obesity become an epidemic in America? And what is behind the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among American teenagers? Issue by issue, Eberstadt explores these questions thoroughly, and the answer she provides is well-reasoned, based in common sense, despite being roundly rejected and criticized by social scientists and public intellectuals who she refers to as "separationists." Eberstadt's thesis is that there is a definite connection between decreased parental presence in children's lives and the severity of the problems that children face, problems that begin in childhood and often lead to negative repercussions throughout their lives. I very much appreciated the way in which Eberstadt honestly addresses challenges to her thesis. She examines studies done in the social sciences, deals with the argument that "correlation does not equal causation" (which says that just because absentee fathers, working mothers, daycare, and divorce are often realities in the lives of troubled children, that doesn't mean that these things actually cause the problems children face), and emphasizes that long-term studies ask the wrong questions, and therefore come to erroneous conclusions. For example, while studies of adults who spent a good part of their childhood years in daycare may show that the majority have become successful, contributing members of society, these "results" say nothing about the suffering caused by institutional care and separation from parents and other family members while that separation is actually being experienced by the child. Eberstadt presents a solid and compelling case for the vital role that parents have in the lives of their children, and for the necessity of self-sacrifice on the part of parents. While this book is now nearly twenty years old, it speaks loudly and clearly in a culture that has continued to follow the same destructive path, and is very much worth reading. – Jim Witteveen
MAY 18
Having worked in the mental health field for several years prior to entering the ministry as well as having personal experience with members of my extended family who were diagnosed with mental illnesses, the subject of mental illness and psychiatry has long interested me. This interest (and a desire to explore the trends of the past century which have shaped our modern culture) recently led me to explore several of the works of American psychiatrist Thomas Szasz. Throughout his life and work in the field of psychiatry, Thomas Szasz was one of the discipline's most controversial (and outspoken) critics. His best-known work, The Myth of Mental Illness, was published in 1961, and from its publication until his death in 2012, Szasz continued to do battle with the psychiatric establishment, with limited success. While Szasz may be accused of overstating his case, and thus alienating his opponents, many of the arguments that he made throughout his career have proven to be prescient, as the scope of mental illness has grown to such an extent that nearly all of us can be described as "mentally ill" in some way. In Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry (first published in 1976 and updated in 1988, 237 pages), Szasz returns to many of the same themes that he addressed in his earlier works: the abuses of involuntary institutionalization of people diagnosed with mental illnesses, the use of psychiatry as a means of social control, the dangers of the "therapeutic state," and the religious nature of psychiatry itself. Szasz's work is challenging and thought-provoking, and his argumentation is supremely logical. However, as a professed atheist, his most serious shortcoming is his failure to acknowledge the role that people's spiritual lives play in dealing with the mental health challenges that they face. That being said, I can only echo one of Szasz's reviewers, who put it very well when he described Szasz as "a valuable critic and agent provocateur," someone who "has much to say which requires answering." – Jim Witteveen
MAY 17
On Character (1995, 234 pages) is a collection of essays written by James Q. Wilson between 1967 and 1993. The common thread that ties these essays together is the theme of character, and the important role that personal character plays in numerous public policy issues, from crime to education to business and beyond. Wilson's focus on the importance of personal character led to him being classified as a conservative, although he only reluctantly accepted that label. As he writes in his introduction, "Now I confess to being conservative, at least by the standards of contemporary academia." The essays themselves reveal that while Wilson had some "conservative" tendencies, it was only the leftward shift in the political landscape that left him in that position. Where Wilson hits the target (and where he faced his most serious opposition), is in his refusal to go along with the dominant narrative (which has only become stronger in the twenty-seven years since this book was published) that blames high rates of drug abuse, criminality, and family breakdown on social inequality, unemployment, and political oppression, without taking into account personal character and personal responsibility. Wilson's essays make for interesting and often insightful reading, particularly his influential work on "The Problem of Broken Windows," an article originally published in 1982 that led to positive policy changes in cities like New York under the leadership of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In the end, however, I can only give this book a qualified recommendation - while Wilson appeared to understand the nature of the problem, the solutions he offers are often less than satisfactory. – Jim Witteveen
MAY 16
John Piper packs a lot in this slim volume: Preparing for Marriage: Help for Christian Couples (2018, 86 pages). In 6 chapters and 2 appendices, he covers headship and submission, hospitality, sex, making the most of our engagement, weddings that don't break the bank, and how our spouse should be second, though only to God. While the target audience is couples intending to marry, the first appendix includes 50+ questions that'd be of great use to a young man or woman still evaluating whether or not their beau is marriage material. Questions include: What is the meaning of headship and submission in the Bible and in our marriage? What makes you angry? What are your views of daycare for our children? Will there be one checkbook or two? Should we have a television? Would we consider adoption? How will we distinguish between punishment and discipline? Those questions would make for great discussions for the recently married too. Overall, this would be a great one for engaged couples to read together and discuss. And you can find it for free at DesiringGod.org/books. – Jon Dykstra
MAY 12
Concerns with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) include the fact that the children created in these laboratory settings are routinely killed, some because they have (or seem to have) defects, and others because the parents simply no longer want them. Many are frozen, which comes with its own harms, but also leaves them in an indeterminate state, facing eventual death. But what if a couple was willing to adopt and rescue one of these babies? This involves the implantation of the fetus in the adoptive mother’s womb, giving the child a chance to be brought to term. But Christians aware of the death-dealing nature of the IVF industry might wonder if they should have anything to do with it. Justina Van Manen and Jonathon Van Maren have written Life Under Glass: the ethics of embryo adoption (2022, 80 pages) to ease these concerns, making it clear that it is completely different to get involved in a rescue than it is to make such a rescue necessary. These children already are, and while they should never have been frozen, it is most certainly an act of God-glorifying grace to adopt these tiny orphans. – Jon Dykstra
MAY 11
Reverend Kornelis Sietsma pastored a Reformed church in Amsterdam before and during World War II. In 1942, he was arrested for preaching against the lust for power, and for supporting Jews with the collection, and praying for the Dutch royal family. He died a year later, aged 46, in the Dachau concentration camp. Before the war, he wrote a treatise on the idea of office. It has recently been republished in English as The Golden Key for Life and Leaders: The Idea of Office (2019, 123 pages). It is a short, readable, and understandable book that helps Christians think through office, calling, authority and responsibility. It will likely correct some misperceptions about the office-bearers in church, but also expand the readers' understanding of the idea and role of office as a calling from God that every believer has. Because we share in Christ's anointing as prophet, priest, and king (see Lord's Day 12), every believer holds the office of believer with the corresponding duties and authority to carry out that task. But there are also other special offices: in the home (office of parent), church (minister of Word, minister of mercy, minister of the rule of Christ), civil sphere (civil magistrates), and other spheres (teachers, employers, etc.). Submission is owed to every office instituted by God, unless the office-bearer acts outside of his office and authority or compels action or non-action that makes it impossible for other office-bearers to carry out their office and calling. I found this book helpful to think through the tensions within the church during the Covid era and highly recommend it for all deacons, elders, and pastors, as well as others who want to better this concept. – André Schutten
MAY 10
You may never have heard of Ignaz Semmelweis, but his story is an important one for two reasons. First of all, it is largely due to Semmelweis's medical discoveries that the rates of death in childbirth (of both mothers and their newborn children) decreased substantially in 19th-century Europe. Secondly, the story of his life, work, and death is a cautionary tale in an age in which we are constantly being warned against accepting the findings of scientists who challenge the "scientific consensus." Semmelweis was a Hungarian obstetrician whose best-known work was done in Vienna, Austria in the first half of the 19th century. At that time, a disease called puerperal fever, or "childbed fever" led to the deaths of up to 10% of new mothers who gave birth in institutional settings. The medical establishment had developed many theories about the causes of such a high mortality rate, but it was Ignaz Semmelweis who finally solved this mystery. After several years of study, he concluded that puerperal fever was being spread by the doctors themselves, as they went from dissecting cadavers in the morgue to assisting in childbirth, often without any concern for their personal cleanliness. Semmelweis argued that doctors should make every effort to ensure that both they and the environment in which the deliveries took place, should be disinfected to stop the spread of a disease that had proven to be so destructive for so many years. It may seem like common sense to us today, but at the time Semmelweis's conclusions were a novelty that ran counter to long-standing and widely-accepted theories. Thus Semmelweis's contemporaries were very difficult to convince, and his theory was rejected out of hand by the majority of his colleagues. The "scientific consensus" was wrong, and Semmelweis ended his life in a mental hospital, never having experienced the widespread acceptance of his findings. In Genius Belabored: Childbed Fever and the Tragic Life of Ignaz Semmelweis (2016, 249 pages), Theodore Obenchain tells the story of the life, work, and death of Ignaz Semmelweis. His well-researched and engaging account is at the same time fascinating and frustrating, reminding us how important a knowledge of history is to our understanding and interpretation of current events. – Jim Witteveen
MAY 7
I love the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism ("What is the chief end of Man? ...to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever") but didn't know anything about the assembly that crafted it, the Larger Catechism, and the Westminster Confession of Faith. I have a Dutch Reformed heritage, whereas these were birthed by the English Reformation. That's why I was happy to discover that United Reformed pastor William Boekestein had teamed up with Heritage Reformed professor Joel R. Beeke to give us Contending for the Faith: the story of the Westminster Assembly (2022, 40 pages). It's for kids, but a great presentation for adults who want to know a little, but aren't interesting in diving all that deep. This Assembly is worth at least a dip, to get an understanding of all God wrought in the lives of kings and queens, and pastors and persecutors that resulted in these documents. The book is really well done, with wonderful pictures and clear text, but it isn't the sort that kids are going to pick up on their own. This would be best as a homeschool or institutional Christian school resource. Boekestein has also done three books, all very good, on the confessions which make up the Three Forms of Unity: The Quest for Comfort: the story of the Heidelberg Cathechism (2011, 40 pages), The Glory of Grace: the story of the Canons of Dort (2012, 40 pages), and Faithfulness under Fire: the story of Guido de Bres (2010, 40 pages), who authored the Belgic Confession. All are recommended! – Jon Dykstra
MAY 2
There are a number of psalms that have been the subject of controversy in the Christian church for many years. These are the "imprecatory psalms" in which the psalmist expresses a strong desire that God's vengeance be unleashed against those who persist in doing evil. The question arises again and again: can we as Christians make words like those found in Psalm 137:9 our own in our prayers and in our worship? Can we say, "Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock," or is this sentiment unworthy of a New Covenant believer? In his book Crying For Justice: What the Psalms Teach Us About Mercy and Vengeance in an Age of Terrorism (2005, 199 pages), John N. Day argues that the imprecatory psalms must continue to be used by Christians today, and he explains why people like C.S. Lewis (who believed that the imprecatory psalms are "sub-Christian" expressions of a sinful desire for revenge) are wrong in rejecting them. Day deals with apparent contradictions between the Old and New Testament, examines several of what he calls "unsatisfactory solutions" to the problem, provides detailed analysis of three of the harshest imprecatory psalms (Psalms 58, 109, and 137), and concludes with a sample sermon on Psalm 83. Day's conclusion is that these controversial psalms, which can seem to be so problematic in our 21st Century Western cultural context, must continue to form an integral part of Christian worship. I highly recommend this book, especially for anyone who has struggled with the idea that these psalms should be prayed and sung by Christians today. – Jim Witteveen
APRIL 29
Children of the Reformation that we are, we understand our will is in bondage to sin. But that presents a conundrum of sorts, because if we can't help but sin, then how can we be held responsible by God for our sin? C.S. Lewis once noted that the act of turning to God wasn't something he chose to do, but that he was instead, the most reluctant of converts. So, again, if only God can enable us to choose for Him, how can we be held responsible for acting against Him? Calvinists answer this by humbly holding onto two seemingly conflicting ideas: we are responsible for our sin, and yet God is sovereign over all. How can both be true? Well, as Dr. Bredenhof has put it, human beings are always "free to do what is according to their nature," though as an unregenerate creature, that will always involve sin. In his book Free Will (2012, 82 pages), atheist, and materialist Sam Harris attempts to offer a different sort of resolution. His is a godless answer, of course, and so the dilemma for him is a godless one as well: he wonders how mere chemicals in motion that we are (according to his evolutionary worldview) could have any responsibility for our actions. We are, he argues, merely the sum of our inputs, no more responsible for our output than a computer would be. He wants us to acknowledge our lack of free will so that we'll be kinder to murderers who, meat robots that they are, shouldn't be held responsible for their "bad programming." But if they shouldn't be held responsible for their actions, then why is Harris holding us responsible for our actions towards them? Whether we torture or tickle them, no condemnation would be possible, since no one bears responsibility for any actions...ever. Harris ably demonstrates that his materialist worldview doesn't allow for responsibility, so when he argues we have a responsibility to treat criminals better, he proves a different point: that materialism falls short. – Jon Dykstra
APRIL 20
Over the past several years we have been hearing more and more about Klaus Schwab and his World Economic Forum (WEF). For those of us who are very concerned about his brand of globalism and the influence that the WEF is exerting throughout the world, what we've been hearing has not been reassuring. But in order to truly understand where people like Klaus Schwab really stand, it is always preferable to go to the source itself rather than relying on second-hand information and the interpretations of third parties. In 2019, Schwab and his co-author Thierry Malleret published Covid-19: The Great Reset. The Great Narrative: For a Better Future (2022, 253 pages) builds on the foundation of that previous work, and is the fruit of a series of interviews with "fifty of the world's foremost global thinkers and opinion makers." The Great Narrative, as its title suggests, presents the WEF's understanding of the state of the world, the problems that must be addressed, and the goals which the nations of the world should be working to achieve. "Narratives," Schwab (or Malleret) writes, "shape our perceptions, which in turn form our realities and end up influencing our choices and actions. They are how we find meaning in life." In a brief review it isn't possible to delve into the many aspects of the narrative that Schwab and his compatriots are promoting. But the very definition of "narrative" that they provide already says a great deal about what they are attempting to accomplish in this work. Our perceptions are shaped by narratives, the stories we use to explain our worldview. And, Schwab says, it is our perceptions which form our realities. In other words, it's all a matter of interpretation. Reality, given this definition, cannot be something absolute, unchanging, and definable. It is something that we create, not an objective state of affairs to which we must adapt ourselves. We are shapers of reality, and it is the narrative that we hold to that shapes how we live. Despite Schwab's mistaken notion about the nature of reality, he is correct in understanding the importance of the "grand narratives" that form our worldviews, and the way in which our actions find their source in our worldviews. He understands that narrative is vitally important, and thus he attempts to create a narrative that will lead people to accept his prescriptions for the government of international society and the lives of individuals. Throughout this book, whether speaking about pandemics or climate change or geopolitical issues or the place of technology in society, Schwab often makes assertions that are not backed up by evidence, but are clearly meant to shape people's thinking according to the "accepted wisdom" of this prevailing narrative. The book demands careful reading because the serious errors that Schwab commits are sometimes subtle, but have serious repercussions, especially because they have been echoed by so many on the world stage. The WEF may not have legislative power, but its "great narrative" has become the prevailing narrative, and expressions of dissent are being marginalized and even silenced in many corners. The Great Narrative attacks the true narrative, the Word of God, the only place that the true meaning of life and true wisdom can be found. In so doing, it constructs a worldview that could only lead to disastrous results if put into practice. For this reason, while there's no way I could recommend this book as a fount of legitimate wisdom, I believe that we need to familiarize ourselves with works of this type because of the influence that they have in shaping the attitudes and actions of many influential figures on the world stage. – Jim Witteveen
APRIL 19
On July 29, 1994, Paul J. Hill, at one time an OPC pastor, shot an abortionist, his wife, and their bodyguard. The abortionist and the bodyguard both died. Hill had been arguing for years that such action was biblical, and had been excommunicated for making his arguments publicly. In Lone Gunners for Jesus: Letters to Paul J. Hill (1994, 47 pages), written after the shooting, Gary North responded to Hill, explaining how his actions weren't biblical or effective because: Hill was never called to be judge and jury and God doesn't endorse vigilante justice, Hill's acts only moved the public in a pro-choice direction costing more unborn lives, and while we are called to a public witness against the slaughter of the unborn, non-violent resistance - being beaten rather than being the beater - is the better witness. This slim volume is an important book to calm Christian whose love for the unborn is in danger of being misdirected, but it is also a good read for those who, whether in ignorance or a lack of compassion, don't stand up for the unborn at all. Download the e-book for free. – Jon Dykstra
APRIL 18
The brilliant economist Thomas Sowell's Wealth, Poverty, and Politics: An International Perspective (2015, 320 pages - a newer and expanded version is available too), is an excellent, well researched, readable book that makes understandable the politics surrounding issues of social justice, poverty and wealth disparity. Sowell (pronounced "soul"), grew up in Harlem, New York in a very poor, black neighborhood and thus is not writing as an elitist out of touch with the reality on the streets. Yet he pushes back against the dominant narratives about race, oppression, social justice, the welfare state, and more in this book, relying on careful research of the empirical data to show that income inequality is determined by the production of wealth, and not the distribution of wealth. Furthermore, he shows just how complex the factors are that bear on wealth production, including geography, demographics, and culture. His use of historic and global examples make the book a fascinating read and he demonstrates just how much the civil government in the modern west is actually exacerbating the problems for disadvantaged groups. I recommend the book for college/university age and up, to anyone interested in politics, social justice themes, and/or economics. – André Schutten
APRIL 13
C.S. Lewis’s The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933/2020, 255 pages) is an enjoyable allegory that loosely traces Lewis’ own path to conversion (though he insists in an afterword that it is not autobiographical). It tells the story of John, who is seeking an island he saw and is intensely longing to reach. In trying to reach the island, John has many adventures and runs into people like Mr. Enlightenment (their conversation made me chuckle), Mr. Mammon, Mother Kirk, and others. Most of the allegorical elements are easy enough to pick up on, with the result that Lewis packs an incredible philosophical and theological course into a thoroughly entertaining adventure. Even so, I probably missed some allegorical references. Perhaps I’ll read the annotated version soon? Highly recommended! – André Schutten
APRIL 12
I read A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God, (1948/2020, 98 pages) in a single sitting on a Saturday afternoon. What an afternoon! It is short, sweet, and an incredibly powerful call to put aside comfortable Christianity and put God first, to pursue God with every part of you, to know God as He desires to be known. It challenged me and made me squirm at times. Yet, as each chapter ends with a prayer, it called me to lay it all before the throne. While Tozer does not come from a Reformed tradition, there was nothing in this book that caused me any concerns. On the contrary, I felt the book was an excellent wake-up call to the 21st-century, North American church. This book would be great to read aloud as a small group and pray over. – André Schutten
APRIL 11
Conn Iggulden is my favorite historical fiction writer. I’ve read three four-book series by him already and am starting a fourth one. The first book of the series is called The Gates of Athens, (2021, 464 pages) and tells of the battle of Marathon (where 10,000 vastly outnumbered Athenian hoplites push off the invasion of Darius’ Persian army) and of the battle of Thermopylae (the famous 300 Spartans who hold the pass against the 300,000 Persians for three days, and the less famous but equally crucial naval battle occurring at the same time). Iggulden also paints a picture of the political dance between Themistocles, Xanthippus, and other statesmen of Athens. This book was a page-turner and difficult to put down. An added benefit is that I refreshed my ancient history lessons. A fun fact not mentioned in the book: it’s very likely that the Persian king Xerxes who led the invasion of Greece and saw the 300 Spartans was the same King who later married the Jewish Queen Esther. If so, on reading this book you will get a better appreciation of just how perilous it was for Queen Esther to approach this king with her requests. – André Schutten
APRIL 8
John Taylor Gatto won multiple top teaching awards during his stint as a public teacher. But in Dumbing us Down (1992, 120 pages) he makes his case for blowing the whole system up. The book's small size is what makes him worth hearing, but this was not quite what I was expecting. Gatto features prominently in Indoctrination, a fantastic documentary on public school education, by Reformed filmmaker Colin Gunn. I thought Gatto might be Christian too, and while he identifies as Catholic, this is primarily a secular and libertarian case against institutionalized schooling (the author even seems to have some knowledge of, and dislike for, Calvinism). Public schools are a problem, he argues, for doing just what they were designed to do: create a compliant and dependent citizenry. His solution? More parental direction in their children's education, blowing up the government monopoly on education, and having students do less school overall, to create more room for them to explore their own interests. I appreciated much of what he said, but found this only a good, not a great read. – Jon Dykstra
APRIL 4
Though very short (some might call it a mere pamphlet) Of AntiChrist and His Ruin (1692, 2015, 68 pages) by John Bunyan (author of the enduringly popular The Pilgrim's Progress) was a challenging read that took time to understand and digest. Bunyan describes the anti-Christ as being those forces that arise throughout history against Christ and his church and are sometimes found cloaked as Christian or as good government. The language is still in the style of 1692 which was an impediment to my reading speed. More than that, Bunyan's concept of who (or what) is the antiChrist was also challenging to me; I hadn't heard his perspective before. Something that stands out in this piece is the sheer number of scriptural references Bunyan uses throughout to make his argument. A free version of the book is available here in PDF format. – André Schutten
APRIL 2
Richard Mouw's Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World, 2nd edition, (2010, 187 pages) is a timely book for a church frayed after a controversial few years, and facing an increasingly hostile culture. As the title suggests, Mouw urges his Christian audience to do all we can to remain civil in all discourse, without giving up our convictions. Mouw pushes me further than I'm comfortable going, and he's probably right in doing so. That said, I do note that I strongly disagree with one anecdote in his book where he describes an abortion for a 15-year-old rape victim as "the least evil alternative" (p.52) contrary to the clear teaching in Scripture that a child should not be put to death for the sins of her father (Deut. 24:16). While Mouw's point here is to emphasize having sympathy for such a horrific and tragic situation (which I absolutely agree with), our sympathy should not be blind to what abortion actually does to its first victim. With that exception, I found the book to be a pleasant read and gave me much to think about in how I dialogue about issues I am passionate about. – André Schutten
APRIL 1
Christians regularly forget that Jesus is Lord of every square inch of creation, but in her slim volume, A brief theology of periods (yes, really) (2021, 128 pages) Rachel Jones clearly gets it. She is speaking to women but shares information about periods and menstruation that will be helpful for men, and especially husbands. She touches on hormonal contraceptives and the trend to call women "people who menstruate" but the majority of the book is specifically on God's thoughts on periods, including what it says in Leviticus about a women's "uncleanliness," and how we are to take this passage today. Jones asks lots of good questions, even if she isn't able to answer all of them (Did Eve have periods in the Garden of Eden?), and is an orthodox guide on this seldom discussed area of women's life. – Jon Dykstra
MARCH 29
During the presidency of Donald Trump, there was a lot of talk about the dangers of the “Deep State.” We all remember the chants of “Drain the swamp!” and promises of a grand house-cleaning that would soon take place in the U.S. government - a house-cleaning that never seemed to become a reality. Wikipedia refers to the idea that a “Deep State” exists as a “discredited conspiracy theory,” but Michael J. Glennon’s National Security and Double Government (2015, 234 pages) provides plenty of evidence for its existence, and the danger it poses to the American republic. Published in 2015 by Oxford University Press (note: before Trump, and by a reputable academic publisher), his book seeks to answer a question which is indicative of a much broader trend: Why was it that Barack Obama’s foreign policy not only did not differ from that of George W. Bush, his presidential predecessor, but actually doubled down on a number of the policies implemented under Bush’s leadership, including a sixfold increase in the number of covert drone strikes in Pakistan? Beginning with this specific question, Glennon seeks to explain why American national security policy remains constant even when one President was replaced by another, who as a candidate repeatedly, forcefully, and eloquently promised fundamental changes in that policy. His answer follows the approach of 19th Century British essayist Walter Bagehot, who described the British political system in the Victorian era as a “double government.” In the US, this double government is made up of two distinct groups, referred to by Glennon as the Madisonians (public political figures who fill positions in Congress, the Senate, and the Presidency) and the Trumanites (those who work behind the scenes in governmental organizations largely established during the presidency of Harry S Truman). It is the Trumanites who make the vast majority of the decisions when it comes to foreign policy, Glennon argues, and the Madisonians who must follow. Therefore, in the arena of foreign policy, it actually makes very little difference which political party or individual wields the apparent power; it is the hidden half of the double government which is pulling the strings. Glennon’s analysis is clear, well-written, and heavily supported by documentary evidence (the page count is inflated by over 100 pages of notes). His explanation of a phenomenon that many do not understand or cannot explain is eye-opening, as well as cause for deep concern. For anyone interested in learning why the “swamp” remains undrained until this very day, this book is required reading. – Jim Witteveen
MARCH 22
I’m sure I’m not the first reviewer to describe Glenn McCarty’s The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson (2019, 327 pages) as Mark Twain-esque. This is a tale of two very different boys, living out frontier life in 1876, and equally matched as both friends and rivals. Tumbleweed Thompson is a shyster and the son of a shyster, blowing into Rattlesnake Junction as father and son peddle miracle medicine from the back of their wagon. Eugene Appleton, a good son of the town’s pastor, is in the audience, watching as the peddlers are shown up and run out. But when Tumbleweed reappears on his ownsome, he pulls Eugene into a whole summer’s worth of getting chased by smugglers, trailing train robbers, and trying to outdo each other for the attentions of the mayor’s daughter, Charlotte Scoggins, a misadventurous lass herself. It’s evident the author is Christian, though that might not be apparent to the 10–14-year-old audience this is intended for because, even as Eugene means well, he doesn’t always act well (and Tumbleweed often enough doesn’t even mean well). That mostly gets sorted out at the end, when both boys do the very best thing, acting in defense of a widow and a man falsely accused. Loads of fun! – Jon Dykstra
MARCH 16
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was the Richard Dawkins of his time – one of the most prominent academic atheists of the twentieth century. Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou's Logicomix: an Epic Search for Truth (2009, 350 pages) is a graphic novel that serves as a biography of the man, as well as an account of his, and others', ultimately futile quest to use mathematics to arrive at certainty. As a child, Russell was raised by his grandparents. He was made to read the Bible, but his grandfather died early on, and his grandmother didn't seem to show him love. Then, when a tutor explained the logic and power of math, he came to reject the religion of his grandmother, seeing in math a way to live life without the need for any faith. In math, he thought, he could have certainty. But math itself is built on axioms - assumptions, that, while logical and even obvious, are unproven. So it became Russell's life's quest to prove these axioms - he wanted to give math a firm foundation. But as an old man he discovered that the quest for certainty that he had given his life to – that he had rejected God for – was unattainable. It was in 1931 that a young mathematician, Kurt Gödel proved, to the satisfaction of other mathematicians, that not everything can be proven. Logicomix is an entirely secular presentation, marred by at least one instance of God's name being taken in vain, and written at a level that would limit it to adults. But you don't need to understand all the math being discussed (I certainly didn't) to appreciate the moral of Russell's life's story: like many a rebel, he claimed his rejection of God was grounded in something valid, but we can see that even as Russell rejected God for requiring faith, he wasn't willing to reject math for the same "fault." – Jon Dykstra
MARCH 15
Both my 10-year-old daughter and I enjoyed Jason Lethcoe’s No Place Like Holmes (2011, 210 pages), a steampunk detective story set in the London of the late 1800s. Our hero is Gilbert, an American boy of an unusually observant nature. Gilbert, we are told, will one day become “the world’s most secret detective.” But for now, he has been sent to live with his detective uncle, Rupert Snodgrass, just one story down from “the world’s most famous detective” Sherlock Holmes. Gilbert’s uncle is quite jealous of Holmes’ notoriety, as he too is a detective, though much less successful, and eschewing intuition in favor of detecting machines, which he himself invents. What sort of machines? All sorts: a robot butler, a metal detector, and a question-answerer that is hooked up to telegraphs lines from around the world – it’s basically a steam-powered computer with Internet. It’s wonderfully silly. The story is also wonderfully Christian: Gilbert’s love for his Lord is woven in throughout. So, for example, his uncle is not a church-goer, and quite obnoxious at the start, leaving Gilbert feeling lonely. But he knows he can ask his heavenly Father for courage. While this is a standalone story, it does have a cliffhanger lead-in for the sequel, The Future Door (2011, 210 pages), which I wouldn’t recommend. It’s a time travel adventure that ends on a sour note when an older Gilbert from the future kills the bad guy, and not in self-defense. Older Gilbert says that he used his time travel machine to explore every other option and all of them ended worse. But this is where the author failed to understand that even granting his character a form of omniscience doesn’t justify disobeying God’s clear command “Thou shall not kill.” If the author didn’t understand that, it’s very likely to go over the head of children readers too, which is a reason to give the sequel a miss. – Jon Dykstra
MARCH 14
I read Wilson Rawls' novel Where the Red Fern Grows (1961/2016, 289 pages) to my eight-year-old son over the course of three weeks, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It tells the story of a very poor boy who is determined to get a pair of coon-hunting hounds, how he achieves his goal, and the adventures he has with his dogs. While I did employ some careful censorship of the gorier details of coon hunting (for the sake of my son's maturity level), I nevertheless highly recommend the book, especially for dads to read to their eight to twelve-year-old boys. It is helpful for teaching the ethic of hard work and persistence, and the lesson that life isn’t always about happy endings, and yet being thankful for the wonderful things we have for the seasons God gives them to us. I found the references to God, Scripture, and prayer always respectful even if the theology is slightly off. Warning: If you're the emotional type, you might start crying through the second-last chapter. I had to pause a couple times to wipe away tears and swallow a persistent lump in my throat. That too, is a teaching moment. – André Schutten
MARCH 9
I picked this novel up mostly because it shared a title with a non-fiction book André Schutten read earlier this year. It helped, also, that I’d read another by the author and loved it. Rule of Law (2017, 473 pages) is a legal thriller, and this time the action also includes a SEAL team storming an Arabic jail to free an imprisoned American journalist. When that mission takes a tragic turn, the fallout ends up in front of the Supreme Court. Author Randy Singer uses his fictional story to examine the real-world way in which the US government, and particularly the executive branch, has been acting as judge, jury, and executioner in placing foreign nationals on a “kill list,” and then taking them out, and those near them, via drone strikes. Singer doesn’t seem to be arguing against all drone strikes. But the title he has chosen certainly references the idea that we all need and benefit from accountability, so we all – including even the president – need to be under the law. Our leaders must not act like they are above it, as dictators do. This is well written, with a great balance of action, some romance, unexpected courtroom twists, and some realistic, subtly woven in, wrestlings with God. Singer is rapidly becoming a favorite author. – Jon Dykstra
MARCH 3
When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World (1956, 249 pages) is the story of Dorothy Martin and her small group of followers, and how their lives were impacted when her apocalyptic prophecy failed to come true. Martin believed that she had received messages from aliens revealing that a devastating natural disaster would destroy much of the world on December 21st, 1954. Through the process of automatic writing, in which the writer serves as a conduit for messengers from “beyond,” Martin had been informed that she and her group of true believers would be rescued from the cataclysm by spaceships which would deliver them to safety on another planet. Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, the authors of When Prophecy Fails, had been studying the historical results of failed prophecy when they read a newspaper story about Martin and her followers. Recognizing this as an opportunity to test their theories personally in a real-life situation, they inserted themselves into the group of “Seekers,” and chronicled events immediately leading up to December 21st as well as the disappointing aftermath of the failed prophecy. This is a very sad story from beginning to end, and the authors’ account often reads like a tragic novel and not as a sociological study. Martin herself believed fervently that she had been chosen to serve as a messenger of truth, and her followers were looking for hope and purpose in their lives. They were willing to grab hold of anything, no matter how ludicrous and self-contradictory, because they desperately wanted to believe. And when the forecast disaster failed to happen, the true believers didn’t abandon their trust in Martin and her message; instead, they searched for explanations that fit into their already-developed worldview, explained the failure away, and continued along the same path. In a world in which forecasts of impending doom, both scientific and religious, are commonplace, When Prophecy Fails helps us to understand why failed prophecies often lead to beliefs being held more strongly rather than abandoned completely. – Jim Witteveen
One of the most accomplished judges in English history, Lord Tom Bingham, wrote this short but helpful book The Rule of Law (2010/2011, 213 pages). Lord Bingham explains that the book "is not addressed to lawyers… It is addressed to those who have heard references to the rule of law, who are inclined to think that it sounds like a good thing rather than a bad thing, who wonder if it may not be rather important, but who are not quite sure what it is all about and would like to make up their minds." The book opens with some interesting legal history, outlines eight aspects of the rule of law (the chapter on human rights is particularly good), before closing with some modern application to the war on terror. Some post-COVID readers may be happy to apply the warnings of this book to violations of the rule of law over the last two years but may also be appropriately challenged to rethink their position on certain government actions during the “war on terror.” An accessible read, I highly recommend this book for all lawyers, politicians, government workers, and any citizen who has used the term "rule of law" recently but is not 100% sure they know what the term really means. – André Schutten
MARCH 2
Richard Pollak's The Creation of Dr. B: A Biography of Bruno Bettelheim (1997, 456 pages) is the story of a man with an invented past and fictional credentials, who wrote fabricated stories about the amazing successes of the Chicago school for mentally ill children that he took over in 1944. Along the way, he published several popular books on parenting and other subjects, worked as a university professor and magazine columnist, and influenced a generation of parents in his role as “public intellectual.” This book is a well-written and fascinating account of one man’s life, and makes for captivating reading on that basis alone. But on a deeper level, the story of “Dr. B.” reveals a great deal about how one person can fool even the “best and brightest” when he tells them what they want to hear. Bruno Bettelheim was not the only intellectual fraud who was active in 20th Century academia, so the example of his life and work, and the way in which he managed to become an important figure in the academic world, functions as a cautionary tale. Even among the “experts” of the world, things are not always as they seem. – Jim Witteveen
FEBRUARY 22
I’ve recently been reading a few children’s versions of Pilgrim’s Progress. I’m not normally one for abridgments, but John Bunyan’s classic is also almost 350 years old, so the original wasn’t going to work with my daughters. I checked out the three most popular children’s editions and was pleasantly surprised with them all. The most loyal to the original was Dangerous Journey (1985, 127 pages). Editor Oliver Hunkin has carefully abridged, rather than rewritten Bunyan’s story, and done so in a way that makes it easily understandable for the teen audience it is aimed at. He’s edited out the obscure terms, and paired it with pictures that do a lot of explaining, but which are scarier and darker than my preteen listeners would have been up for. Hunkin also includes a much-abridged 16-page version of Bunyan’s sequel, about the pilgrim’s wife Christiana going on her own journey. For younger children, the most authentic version is Tyler Van Halteren’s Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey (2020, 223 pages). It has somewhat cartoonish pictures they’ll enjoy, and the principal character, Christian, is now a boy, rather than a man. I appreciated that Van Halteren’s rewrite still contains most of Bunyan’s theological challenges and lessons, though on a kid’s level. He’s also written a second book, Part II, that covers Christiana’s journey, though now instead of being the pilgrim’s wife, she is his little sister. The one I read to my children is Helen L. Taylor’s adaptation, Little Pilgrim’s Progress (1946, 336 pages). This text was the most readable of the three (Halteren’s version is very close) and also includes Christiania’s journey, though she is now Christian’s friend. A little of the theological heft was lost, but I think that’s okay, so long as kids understand that they should really check out the original when they’re older. There are many versions of Taylor’s adaptation, some with lavish pictures and others with only simple line drawings. – Jon Dykstra
FEBRUARY 21
If the news has you feeling antsy, then you might be interested in a book that calmed and encouraged me. To celebrate 50 years of Canadian Reformed involvement in the mission work in Brazil, editor Harold Ludwig and the Aldergrove Brazil Mission Society, have given us God Gave the Growth (2021, 144 pages). Dozens of contributors, including past and present missionaries and all sorts of workers, take turns sharing how God greatly blessed their work. There are challenges – a different language and culture creates barriers that have to be overcome – but maybe the greatest challenge is one we pray we could experience in Canada too: such a hunger for the Reformed truth that there are more opportunities to preach and teach than can be met. As one missionary shares: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38). I really loved that there were so many contributors, as they gave very different glimpses at what God has been up to. This, then, is a book that’ll give you a boost – our God reigns and He is busy! Purchase the sturdy oversized hardcover for $30 CAN plus shipping at MissionBoardBrazil.org. – Jon Dykstra
FEBRUARY 18
Christians are right to be skeptical of an environmental movement that sees Man as a problem for the planet, rather than the steward of it. But, as Gordon Wilson explains in his A Different Shade of Green (2019, 189 pages), Christians can’t simply be contrarians – we won’t arrive at the biblical position simply by being reactionary and anti-Green. Instead, our foundation has to be God’s Word, starting with the dominion mandate in Genesis 1:28, and then God’s own evaluation of His creation as is expressed a few verses later: “and it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). We are to value His Creation and the creatures in it because He values it, and we are to take charge of its care because He has made us responsible for it. What Dr. Wilson has gifted us with here is a challenging and engaging Biblical Environmentalism 101 – he hasn't worked it all out for us, but he is pointing us in the right direction. For more of Wilson's creation care thoughts, be sure to check out his nature documentary series, The Riot and The Dance. – Jon Dykstra
FEBRUARY 17
There are lots of layers in Randy Singer’s courtroom drama Directed Verdict (2002, 486 pages). When the Saudi religious police uncover a secret church, Charles, the American pastor, is tortured and killed, and his wife Sarah is beaten and deported on trumped-up drug charges. From there the action takes place both in an American court where lawyer Brad Carson helps Sarah bring suit against her torturer, and in Saudi Arabia, where the small church struggles to continue, their members fearful and shaken. The large law firm defending the torturer is willing to cheat, so what might their murderous client be willing to do? Sarah Reed’s team is growing to admire her courage but none of them share her Christian scruples, so what might they be willing to do behind her back to help her get justice? This was a quick read, and sure has me interested in what else Singer has written. – Jon Dykstra
FEBRUARY 16
Written as a critique of Leo Tolstoy's pacifist ideology, Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin's On Resistance to Evil by Force (1925, 216 pages) provides a passionate and often insightful defense of the legitimacy of physical opposition to evil. Ilyin writes from a distinctly Russian Orthodox perspective which informs his conclusions (and leads to some of its shortcomings). From this perspective, he critiques not only the pacifism of Tolstoy and the ethics of the Roman Catholic Jesuits, but also what he calls "the most naive and elementary attempts to give the sword an absolute justification" of Martin Luther. While Luther wrote that the legitimate use of "the sword" in service to secular governments is a work done on behalf of God Himself, and that it, therefore, is absolutely righteous, Ilyin argues that the use of force in countering evil is actually an unrighteous act, but an act that must be performed by righteous men. We need, he writes, both the warrior and the monk - the warrior to do the necessary work of combating evil, and the monk to do the work of absolving the warrior of that evil. This is where Ilyin's argument goes off the rails, and does not align with Scriptural teaching. However, along the way, Ilyin argues powerfully and logically against Christian pacifism and quietism as ideologies which run counter to Biblical teaching. He makes a cogent case for the necessity of standing up against evil in this world, to the point of physical resistance, on the basis of love for God, for our neighbor, and for righteousness itself. This book was written in Russian in 1925, and is neither an easy read nor a book which I would endorse without reservation. That being said, Ilyin's overarching message is very relevant for our current situation, and provides much food for thought as we consider how and why Christians should actively combat evil in this world. – Jim Witteveen
FEBRUARY 15
According to its afterword, “few books have been so widely debated, quoted, excerpted, and also used for teacher education, graduate and undergraduate courses, and in some high schools” as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970, 219 pages). There is no denying the influence that Paulo Freire’s educational philosophy has had, not just in his native Brazil, but around the world. And as I read this book, Freire’s best-known work, my only conclusion is that this influence has been resoundingly negative. Replete with citations of such luminaries as Lenin, Mao, Che Guevara, and Fidel Castro, Pedagogy of the Oppressed proudly proclaims its Marxist basis, building a system of education on a very flimsy foundation indeed. I have little good to say about this book, although I believe that Freire’s characterization of government educational systems as tools of the elite used to control and form society according to its desires is entirely accurate. His “solutions,” however, are disastrous - as the results have continued to show. While I wouldn’t recommend this book as a handbook of pedagogy, I do recommend it particularly for anyone involved in education who would like to learn more about why public and higher education has become what it is today. – Jim Witteveen
FEBRUARY 9
Anne Hendershott is a rare bird - a sociologist who believes that the concept of "deviance" must be reaffirmed in order to avoid a complete societal collapse. The classification of some behaviors as "deviant" was once understood by sociologists as the means by which societies defined what is right and good, maintaining good order and harmony by stigmatizing deviant behavior. Since the 1960s, the sociological study of deviance has become a historical study only, as sociologists question why "deviance" was ever an important concept in the first place. This doesn't mean that there is no longer any such thing as behavior that is considered "deviant." But it does mean that what is now considered deviant behavior is often the exact opposite of what previous generations believed. In The Politics of Deviance (2002, 194 pages), Hendershott examines the subject of deviance by discussing the issues of pedophilia, sexual orientation, sexual promiscuity, drug abuse, mental illness, and rape. Throughout, she demonstrates how the academic and media elite have "shaped discussion and dramatically influenced public perceptions." What is needed, Hendershoot argues, is a return to the traditional categories of deviance. And this, she says, requires a moral awakening, and not merely a change of laws. Her concluding words are worth quoting: "A society that continues to redefine deviance as disease, or refuses to acknowledge and negatively sanction the deviant acts our common sense tells us are destructive, is a society that has lost the capacity to confront evil that has a capacity to dehumanize us all." While this book is now twenty years old and therefore somewhat dated, the trends that Hendershott examined in 2002 have only continued, and indeed worsened. This study remains relevant as our society continues to overturn traditional categories of deviance, and as deviance is redefined as a result of emotional appeals of advocacy groups, public intellectuals, and in the halls of academia. – Jim Witteveen
Beloved philosopher Peter Kreeft’s Beyond Heaven and Hell (1982, 115 pages) is a short book patterned after a Socratic dialogue. (Kreeft has written a few of these entertaining and illuminating dialogues, a particular favorite of mine being The Unaborted Socrates). In Beyond Heaven & Hell, Kreeft imagines a conversation between President J.F. Kennedy, writer and philosopher Aldous Huxley, and professor and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, in some space immediately after their death (all three died on the same day, November 22, 1963). C.S. Lewis takes on the modern humanist in Kennedy and the Eastern pantheist in Huxley while discussing and debating the existence of hell, the place of authority, and Scripture as trustworthy, the reality of Jesus Christ and his divinity, and more. I highly recommend the book. It can be read in a single sitting on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday evening. It might be fun to read it aloud with two others, each taking a voice of the three characters. – André Schutten
FEBRUARY 8
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) and Brave New World Revisited (1958) (combined edition, 2005, 340 pages) are modern classics. The former is a dystopian novel, predicting future tyranny not through violence, pain, and terror but through pleasure and technological and medical planning and psychological conditioning. The latter is a nonfiction piece in which Huxley compares modern human relations in 1958 with what he prophesied in 1932. While Huxley was not a Christian (he blended certain Christian ideas with Eastern mysticism and pantheism), some of his criticisms – though certainly not all – are spot on. Huxley's prophesy of control through pleasure – evaluated in the 21st century – is more accurate than his student George Orwell's prophesy of societal control through pain and terror in Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949). The ethical/political issues surrounding IVF and surrogacy, the redefinition of the family to include up to four parents, none of whom need to be biologically related to the child (see Ontario's All Families Are Equal Act, 2016), the ubiquitous nature of pornography, the dramatic shift of divorcing procreation from sex, the state-control of vast swaths of the education system, and society's desire to prefer safety and comfort over freedom and responsibility, all suggest that Huxley was the more prescient philosopher. The book is unsettling to read but I nonetheless recommend it, not only to better understand the many cultural references to it, but also to prick your imagination to better critique the state of our society today. – André Schutten
FEBRUARY 7
If you have ever struggled with concentration when needing to focus on a challenging project (writing an article or sermon, reading and understanding an intellectual problem, studying for an exam, preparing arguments for court, etc.) then Cal Newport’s Deep Work (2016, 296 pages) is a must-read. This was the second time I’d read this book in less than two years. It confirms with scientific and anecdotal evidence what I’ve grown to know for myself over the last 10 years: a person needs to have lots of dedicated, focussed time in order to do deep work. Newport defines deep work as: “work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction” and argues it is essential to develop two core abilities: 1. the ability to quickly master hard things/ideas; and 2. the ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed. Without systems and strategies in place, deep work becomes nearly impossible, making productivity, innovation and output stagnate. This book provides those strategies. I highly recommend Deep Work to any ministers, lawyers, academics, writers, and researchers who want to improve their focus and output with the caveat that this book is not written from a Christian perspective. Implement the strategies, without losing gospel focus in your life. (I hope to read What's Best Next later this year, which is also a book about productivity, but from a Christian perspective.) – André Schutten
FEBRUARY 2
There are miracles all around us, but the rising sun, our pumping hearts, and babies’ wriggling toes do their things with such regularity as to seem ordinary. Not so the miracles in God’s Smuggler (1967, 288 pages). Here “Brother Andrew” (1928- ) relates one extraordinary answer to prayer after another, whether it be a needed cake delivered at the last moment by an off-duty postman, or the instant healing of Andrew’s crippled ankle. Then, in his work smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain, this Dutchman came to rely on the extraordinary becoming regular. Border crossings into Communist countries were always tense, but each time Brother Andrew would ask God to “make seeing eyes blind” and God would do so. The same border guards who had just taken apart the car in front of them would simply wave them through or, if they did inspect their cargo, the guards would completely miss the Bibles crammed in everywhere. It was through these regular miracles that God used Andrew and his coworkers to deliver His Word to millions in the persecuted Church. I told my children we shouldn’t understand the many miracles Andrew experienced as evidence that he was always acting wisely and praying as he should (he acknowledges God honored some of his requests despite how he prayed). We can take it as evidence of God’s great love for his persecuted Church! – Jon Dykstra
FEBRUARY 1
Lawyer and theologian John Warwick Montgomery's Human Rights & Human Dignity (1986, 319 pages) is a great introduction to the Christian foundation of modern human rights. While I would differ with Montgomery on some theological points (he's Lutheran and, at times, criticizes Calvinist thought), his book sets out a devastating critique of modern justifications for universal human rights, exposing how flimsy a foundation they have, and then proposing a transcendental foundation for universal human rights, rooting them in the doctrines of creation and redemption. I recommend the book to anyone interested in a relatively accessible, university-level Christian introduction to the topic of human rights, with the caveat that the book is a bit dated. – André Schutten
One of the best-known psychological experiments in history was that of Stanley Milgram, professor of psychology at Yale University. In a series of experiments, Milgram tested hundreds of unwitting subjects for their willingness to administer electric shocks to a "victim" who answered a series of quiz questions incorrectly. Participants were told that they were participating in a study of the efficacy of punishment for learning, but the real goal of the experiment was to study how obedient people would be to authority, even when told to do things that went against their conscience. Milgram discovered that obedience to authority is deeply ingrained, and that the majority of participants would obey even when they believed they were seriously hurting someone. Obedience to Authority (1974, 253 pages) is the fruit of Milgram's research. Much of it is taken up by an explanation of the various forms that the experiments took, but it is the individual case studies that are particularly interesting and insightful. One participant was a member of a Dutch Reformed Church, and had lived through the Nazi occupation of Holland; at one point in the experiment he refused to continue when he believed that the "subject" was being hurt. Another was an Old Testament professor who also refused to obey the authority figure. When asked what he thought the most effective way of strengthening resistance to inhumane authority, he responded: "If one had as one's ultimate authority God, then it trivializes human authority." Milgram writes from an evolutionist perspective, and I would have loved to have seen more of a focus on the role that people's faith and religious presuppositions play in their obedience to authority. That being said, I recommend this book to anyone interested in deepening their understanding about obedience to authority from a psychological and sociological perspective. – Jim Witteveen
JANUARY 27
Though it'd be best absorbed in the month-and-a-half that the title prescribes, I read Todd Nettleton's When Faith is Forbidden: 40 Days on the frontlines with persecuted Christians (2021, 272 pages) in just two days. It was simply too wonderful to put down. Each of the 40 chapters is a story of a Christian who shared God's good news with those around them, come what may. They shared it because they knew that the relatives trying to silence them, the mob trying to intimidate them, or even the policemen coming to arrest them, all needed what God had already given to them. So this is a story of Christians far braver than we, but more importantly, it is the story of the good God who sustained them. In a few instances He did so by way of big miracles: Muslims with no access to the Bible are reached in their dreams, a man shot twice in the chest survives because the bullets did no major damage, police tossing a house find a lost sewing needle but miss the three large boxes of Bibles in the middle of the room. In others, the miracles were maybe less spectacular, but exactly what was needed: a man who used to beat Christians is so won over he is now willing to suffer those beatings rather than stay quiet about his Lord, a woman whose husband was murdered is able to forgive the murderers, a drug addict who turns to God is instantly freed from his addiction. This is an incredible book, and much needed here in the West where we are terrified of speaking God's good news because of what it might cost us in status, or promotions, or friendships. These persecuted Christians want us to understand that for God's people, persecution is to be expected (John 15:18-21) but it need not be feared because our God is greater than the world and what we might have to suffer is nothing compared to what we have gained in Him. – Jon Dykstra
JANUARY 26
Is the Christian vs. evolutionist/naturalist/materialist debate about explaining why there is something, rather than nothing? No, says John Byl, in his brilliant apologetic work The Divine Challenge: On Matter, Mind, Math & Meaning (2021, 421 pages). The real question is "Who will rule: God or Man?" and in the world's attempts to usurp God, they've crafted many a worldview to try to explain things apart from Him. Dr. Byl shares the world's best godless explanations and shows, often in the proponents' own words, how their attempts are self-contradictory or simply fail to explain what they set out to explain. Naturalism says there is nothing outside of nature, and materialism that there is nothing outside matter, so how can either explain how matter came to be, or the non-material world of math and meaning? Byl also makes evident how very often these godless philosophers understand the emptiness of their best answers, and yet cling to them anyway only because they hate the alternative: bowing their knee to God. This is a book that will stretch most readers, and in some parts (Chapter 14 was a doozy!) I only got the gist of it...but what an encouraging gist it was. While the 2004 paperback edition is still available, Dr. Byl has made the 2021 revision a free ebook you can download on his blog here. – Jon Dykstra
JANUARY 24
Historian-turned-lawyer-turned-fiction-writer C.J. Sansom has written an engaging historical fiction novel (my favorite genre) in Dissolution (2003, 390 pages). Set during the initial years of the English Reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries there, the story follows a hunchbacked lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, who is sent to investigate a murder in a monastery at the behest of Thomas Cromwell (the vicar general of King Henry VIII). The book is part Agatha Christie mystery, part John Grisham drama, combined with the very careful research of the best historical fiction writers. The value of the book for a Christian reader (beyond just enjoying some good fiction) is to show the messiness of the early Reformation in England. Sansom puts away any romantic ideas Reformed people might have about that era. While a corrupt church hierarchy was displaced, it was done through the brutal and corrupt tactics of a tyrant with some early English Reformers playing along. I recommend the book for mystery lovers and historical fiction fans interested in learning a bit more about the early Reformation era with the caveat that the story contains mature subject matter: murder, torture, and adultery (though thankfully not graphically described). – André Schutten
My personal library is rather roughly organized according to topic, and one of the categories that I use to sort my collection is "Know Your Enemy." The books included under this heading are ones that I wouldn't recommend because I agree with their content, but rather because it's important to know first-hand what it is that we're up against. Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (1971, 196 pages) is one such book - a highly influential work that provides an insider's view of tactics that have become ubiquitous in the world of politics, and what motivates those who use them. If you've ever wondered why the political arena is so often characterized by dishonesty and pragmatism instead of by high ideals and straightforward honesty, you need look no further than Rules for Radicals, the playbook for a generation of "community organizers," activists, and politicians. Alinsky's dedication of this book to "the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom - Lucifer" reveals his starting point, and from there, as you can well imagine, it goes nowhere good. So I recommend this book, not because I agree with it or find its arguments compelling, but rather because we need to be aware of the tactics that are being used against us. For more, check out my Dan 11:32 podcast here on Alinsky's book. – Jim Witteveen
JANUARY 20
John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678, 187 pages) is a series of theological debates and discussions wrapped inside an epic journey. Our hero, the Pilgrim, is setting out from “the City of Destruction” to find a home in the Good King’s “Celestial City” and the journey serves as a metaphor for the Christian life. Bunyan has many challenges and encouragements to offer, but the main one is that “the bitter must come before the sweet.” He wants readers to understand that turning to God won’t make our life easy, and might even make it much harder. But God is worth it! So, along the way, the Pilgrim has to contend with many trials including false friends, doubt, a corrupt judge and lying witnesses, depression, all sorts of temptations, and persecution. He is also strengthened along the way by “Shining ones,” faithful friends, and good counselors who show him what the Lord has done for other pilgrims. There’s loads of wisdom packed in here, which is the reason it was the English world’s most influential novel for at least a couple of centuries. Readers should take some care in finding a good version as there are many to avoid. For example, the Amazon Classic version kept the original language but omits “all the conversations and arguments concerning subjects belonging to the field of doctrine.” Most modernizations also cut out meat or sections that offend modern sensibilities. A fantastic exception is that done by C. J. Lovik, which only lightly – but effectively! – modernizes the text, and includes very helpful explanatory endnotes, with wonderful illustrations every ten pages or so. If you want to read it in the original, there is a great free version by three Johns: written by John Bunyan, introduced by John Newton (the former slave ship captain who wrote the song “Amazing Grace”), and including a biography of the author by John Piper. For those that want more, Bunyan wrote a sequel, this time describing the journey of the Pilgrim’s wife, called “Pilgrim’s Progress Part II: Christiana” – Jon Dykstra
JANUARY 18
Presbyterian pastor Dane Ortlund's Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (2020, 224 pages) is a beautifully written book on God's heart for his people. A handful of people recommended this book to me and, since I received it as a Christmas gift from the ARPA Canada board, I decided to read it as my morning devotional. If you've ever struggled with the question of whether God might love you despite your sins, read this book. If you've ever thought that God's attitude toward you is one of exasperation, read this book. It literally brought me to tears (in chapter 6, quoting John Bunyan), and encouraged me many times in the past couple weeks. I highly recommend the book for personal devotions or as an evening devotion for a couple, or as a dinner-time devotional for families with older children. It will provoke discussions of wonder, amazement and praise at how great God's love for us really is. – André Schutten
JANUARY 14
Written from a Christian perspective, Carol M. Swain and Christopher J. Schorr's Black Eye for America: How Critical Race Theory is Burning Down the House (2021, 152 pages) is readable and brief – just 79 pages, plus glossary, notes, appendix, and index. That makes it an insightful introduction to Critical Race Theory (CRT) going back to its roots in Marxism, specifically the cultural Marxism of Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt school of critical theorists. Each chapter concludes with a list of discussion questions, making it ideal for group study and discussion. Although written specifically for the American context, the book’s suggestions for engaging with and opposing CRT’s influence are easily applicable to readers in other countries as well. – Jim Witteveen
JANUARY 13
Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura's We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration (2021, 160 pages) is a graphic novel account of the tens of thousands of Japanese Americans who were imprisoned in the US in World War II based solely on their ethnicity. They lost their jobs, businesses, and even their homes. Despite the obvious discrimination against them, the vast majority went without protest, believing that quiet acceptance was a way of showing their patriotism. However, some did dare to protest, and We Hereby Refuse shares three of their stories. One inescapable lesson: the government is powerful, and with power comes the need to use it with great restraint. What happens when it doesn't act with restraint? We can get victims by the thousands, as happened here. Another? The need for brave individuals to challenge government abuses, in the hopes of reducing the number of victims. – Jon Dykstra
JANUARY 8
Harvard professor Michael Sandel's Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? (2010, 310 pages) is an excellent introduction to the major philosophical theories of justice, covering Aristotle, Mill, Kant, Rawls and others. It's an easy read: Sandel uses very interesting stories and cases to highlight how the theories of justice work and what their failings are. Here’s the caveat: the book is not written from a Christian perspective. By the time you get to the end, you’ll be wishing for one more chapter, to accurately present a distinctly Christian theory of justice, which also critiques the other theories. Sandel himself gets close by his final two chapters (his point about being part of a narrative and community is compelling) but lacks the objective, transcendent standard by which to judge human action as just or unjust. Highly recommended to anyone interested in wrestling with theories of justice and how individuals, institutions, and governments should decide what the right thing to do is in any given situation. P.S. a fun exercise to do while reading the book is ask yourself which theory of justice is being employed by the government as it makes decisions around Covid-19 and what would the other philosophers say about it. – André Schutten
JANUARY 7
John McWhorter's Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (2021, 224 pages) is by an African-American who is himself not a believer. But he makes the case for thinking about the new anti-racism (based in Critical Race Theory) as a religious system, and its supporters ("the Elect") as religious adherents. Highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the worldviews that form the foundation of Critical Race Theory, with the caveat that the book is not written from a Christian perspective, and does contain a bit of rough language. – Jim Witteveen...
