July 2023 MBR The Christian Studies Shelf

The Christian Studies Shelf

Searching for Agabus
Michael Walrond
Broadleaf Books
510 Marquette Avenue N, Minneapolis, MN 55402
www.broadleafbooks.com
9781506485294, $22.66, HC, 112pp

https://www.amazon.com/Searching-Agabus-Embracing-Authenticity-Finding/dp/1506485294

Synopsis: An overlooked background figure in the grand narrative of the apostle Paul, Agabus (Acts 21:10-14) bursts from the epistles with an audacious prophecy. In a world where everyone wants to be the main character, Agabus remains a minor one with powerful relevance for today. Gleaning from the story of Agabus we can bravely be our authentic selves, honoring what God has assigned us to do, no matter how small or insignificant it seems.

With the publication of "Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You", Pastor Michael Walrond conveys the countercultural message that an anonymous life of authenticity and service is more important than approval of others or even fame. In "Searching for Agabus", Pastor Walrond dares us to be our authentic selves and to fulfill our callings in joyful anonymity. Pastor Walrond also shares a painful personal loss that taught him this lesson.

Based on this minor prophet's role in the formation of the early church and his significance as represented by feast days that continue even now, we can release the societal need for "likes" and "follows" and instead enter a journey of self-discovery. There are blessings in anonymity; we can live quietly and find our way home to ourselves and to God.

Critique: A fascinating, informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking read, "Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You" is unreservedly recommended for personal, church, seminary, and academic library New Testament Studies collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists for readers with an interest in Christian personal and spiritual growth that "Searching for Agabus" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99).

Editorial Note: Michael Walrond (www.huffpost.com/author/reverend-michael-walrond-jr) is a popular keynote speaker and the pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church of New York City. He has lectured widely, including at Yale Divinity School and Morehouse College. He is a co-host with Al Sharpton of the nationally broadcast weekly radio program Keepin' It Real. He has appeared on or written for NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, New York Amsterdam News, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and more.

When Church Stops Working
Andrew Root, author
Blair D. Bertrand, author
Brazos Press
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.brazospress.com
9781587436055, $39.99, HC, 176pp

https://www.amazon.com/When-Church-Stops-Working-Congregation/dp/1587436051

Synopsis: To face the crisis of decline, the church seeks more resources and people, but it is never enough. With the publication of "When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation", Andrew Root and Blair D. Bertrand (two ministry leaders) show that this busyness blinds the Christian church to its real crisis: it can no longer see and hear the God it purports to worship. The church must actively wait for God to act in a way that brings life out of death.

Critique: With mainstream Christian Churches experiencing a steady decline in membership over the past two decades, "When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation" is as timely as it is necessary of community churches (especially in small towns and rural communities) are to survive -- and hopefully thrive. Exceptionally informative, insightful, well written, deftly organized and 'reader friendly' in presentation, "When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation" is unreservedly recommended for personal, church, and seminary library Christian Pastoral & Evangelical Resources collections. It should be noted that "When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781587435782, $21.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.49) for clergy, seminary students, and non-specialist general readers throughout the Christian community with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note #1: Andrew Root (https://www.andrewroot.org), teaches classes on youth ministry, young adults, family, church, and culture (all with a deep theological bent) at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. He has written twelve books that are out (and two on the way). His wife Kara is a Presbyterian minister. He can be followed on Facebook (www.facebook.com/andrew-root) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/rootandrew).

Editorial Note #2: Blair D. Bertrand (https://pccweb.ca/missionblog/the-rev-dr-blair-bertrand) serves as a Malawi Liaison with the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in the Synod of Blantyre. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Blair serves as full-time mission staff, staying connected with the PCC's partners in Malawi. Working with the Principal of Zomba Theological College (ZTC), Blair assists with the development of curricula and policies of the College, coaches the Malawian PhD candidate who is a ZTC lecturer, develops the ZTC library and encourages research and academic exchanges. At Theological Education by Extension in Malawi (TEEM), Blair assists with lay training materials, revisions to the Diploma workbooks and development of lay Bible curricula.

Godbreathed
Zack Hunt
Herald Press
P.O. Box 866, Harrisonburg, VA 22803
www.heraldpress.com
9781513811840, $31.99, HC, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Godbreathed-Really-Means-Divinely-Inspired/dp/1513811843

Synopsis: What if the imperfections and contradictions in Scripture aren't an accident? What if they were allowed to be there by the Holy Spirit in order to draw us beyond the literal words on the page and deeper into the spiritual truth God is trying to teach us? As provocative or unorthodox as that might sound, it is in fact a very ancient way of understanding what it means for the Bible to be divinely inspired.

"Godbreathed: What It Really Means for the Bible to Be Divinely Inspired" is a thorough and disarming study in which Zack Hunt explains how we got here and offers a practical and easily accessible approach for reading and understanding the Bible that doesn't require a PhD in biblical languages.

As the disillusioned leave the Church in droves and the deconstructing search for better answers to eternal questions, "Godbreathed" repositions Scripture in the life of the Church to allow it to be what it was meant to be all along: a source of life, hope, and freedom for all. "Godbreathed" will reclaim the idea of biblical truth and reveal it to be not a list of beliefs to affirm or laws to be followed, but an invitation into a new way of living and loving on earth as it is in heaven.

Critique: Offering skeptics and believers alike a practical approach to dealing with the imperfections of the Old and New Testaments, "Godbreathed: What It Really Means for the Bible to Be Divinely Inspired" is an unreservedly recommended addition to church, seminary, community, college, and university library Biblical Studies collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of clergy, seminary students, biblical scholars, and all members of the Christian community that "Godbreathed" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781513811833, $18.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99)

Editorial Note: Zack Hunt (https://zackhunt.net/about-me) has spent the last decade writing about the interplay of faith and politics in the public sphere on his eponymous blog, Substack, and Patheos as well as contributing articles to multiple publications. He's also made appearances in Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and various other media outlets. He is the author of Unraptured: How End Times Theology Gets It Wrong and Godbreathed: What It Really Means For The Bible To Be Divinely Inspired

The Life of Bishoi
Tim Vivian, editor
Maged S. A. Mikhail, editor
American University in Cairo Press
200 Park Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10166
www.aucpress.com
9781617979996, $59.95, HC, 390pp

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Bishoi-Arabic-Syriac-Ethiopic/dp/1617979996

Synopsis: Saint Bishoi of Scetis (d. ca. 417) enjoys tremendous popularity throughout the Christian east, particularly among the Copts. He lived during a remarkable era in which a litany of larger-than-life monastics lived and interacted with one another. Even then, Bishoi stood out as the founder of one of the four great monasteries of Scetis (Wadi al-Natrun): those of Macarius, John the Little, Bishoi, and the Baramus. Yet in spite of Bishoi's prominence, the various recensions of his hagio-biography have only received sporadic, scattered attention.

"The Life of Bishoi: The Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic Lives" joins other Lives of eminent monastics of early-Egyptian monasticism including: the Lives of Antony, Daniel, John the Little, Macarius, Paphnutius, Shenoute, and Syncletica. These Lives are vital for what they tell us about monastic politeia (way of life), spirituality, and theology, both of the early monastics and of those who later wrote, translated, and revised the Lives. They appeared first in Greek and Coptic, and later generations translated and revised them into Syriac, Arabic and Ge'ez (Ethiopic).

This definitive volume contains the first English translation of the Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic Lives of Bishoi, with each translation being accompanied by an introduction that focuses on certain aspects of the source text. It also has the first transcription and English translation of an important early Greek text. The General Introduction provides rich context about the texts and textual traditions in the various languages, and thoroughly revises our knowledge about the Syriac tradition, the translation of the Syriac text here now consequently providing what is the best translation in any modern language.

Critique: A work of seminal and ground-breaking scholarship, "The Life of Bishoi: The Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic Lives" will be of particular value to readers with an interest in Christian Monasticism & Asceticism and early Syrian Christian history. Featuring an informative Foreword by Mark N. Swanson and collaboratively compiled and co-edited by professors Tim Vivian and Maged S. A. Mikhail, "The Life of Bishoi" also includes a complete listing of the contributors and their credentials, as well as a twelve page Bibliography. This biography of Saint Bishoi of Scetis is a welcome and unreservedly recommended acquisition for personal, community, church, seminary, college, and university library collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note #1: Tim Vivian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Vivian) is professor emeritus of religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield, and a retired priest of the Episcopal Church. He has published, among many books, The Life of Antony (with Apostolos N. Athanassakis, 2003), The Holy Workshop of Virtue: The Life of Saint John the Little (with Maged S.A. Mikhail, 2010), Becoming Fire: Through the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers (2009) and The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (vol. 1, 2021).

Editorial Note #2: Maged S.A. Mikhail is professor of history at California State University, Fullerton. His research and teaching focus on Coptic Christianity, late antiquity, and the Islamic Middle East. He is the author of The Legacy of Demetrius of Alexandria (2017) and From Byzantine to Islamic Egypt: Religion, Identity and Politics after the Arab Conquest (2014).(https://hist.fullerton.edu/faculty_staff/profiles/Maged%20Mikhail.aspx)

Faith Arising
T.I. Frazier, author
Larry Wayne, audiobook narrator
Independently Published
9798985903898, $12.99 Paper, $9.99 ebook, $TBA audiobook

https://www.amazon.com/Faith-Arising-T-I-Frazier/dp/B0B4TWNXY3

Faith Arising: Finding the Warrior within and the Willingness to Explore, Grow, and Arise explores the process of T.I. Frazier's own faith and its evolution, illustrating this endeavor with a memoir and a blueprint for following one's own path into faith. The close examination identifying limiting beliefs that held the author back from stepping fully into faith provide insights and cautions for others on the spiritual path to self-realization.

Those interested in how faith is defined and incarnated in daily life will find Faith Arising an impetus for reflecting on the Christian teachings and principles which guide both the author and many readers. "The questioning of faith is where faith begins." It is also where this book opens, for those unafraid of reconsidering or probing their rock-solid foundations of belief. As Frazier's journey unfolds, questions pepper the account that prompt readers to reflect on their own faith and the history that supports their beliefs.

From lessons on taking responsibility during and for "rock-bottom moments" to reading objectively about other religions and their beliefs, Frazier charts the course of not just building faith, but testing its foundations through an open mind to other ideas. This process, of necessity, involves a high degree of self-inspection and uncomfortable reflections. It won't be for everyone; particularly those resistant to probing faith's foundations to assess their strength and resiliency.

Readers interested in solidifying these roots by remaining open to other methods of analysis will find Faith Arising's real purpose isn't to shake the foundations of faith, but to chart the process of hardening it so that it is both set and embracing of a wider degree of understanding than rigid belief systems allow. The positive embrace of the abundance of life's lessons keeps faith an upward-growing experience in both this book and in the concepts it promotes for readers of all faiths, making Faith Arising highly recommended for both individual and group spiritual reflection.

Libraries seeking books about faith that encourage discussion, debate, and interest in both reading and spiritual circles will find Faith Arising an inspirational, intellectual journey that links faith development stages with growth.

"Porn?" is a Question of Cosmological Significance
CJS Hayward
CJS Hayward Publications
www.cjshayward.com
9798377937807, $6.99 Paper/$.99 Kindle

https://cjshayward.com/pqcs

"Porn?" is a Question of Cosmological Significance is a spiritual focus on pornography that takes a hard-hitting look at what St. John Chrysostom perennially warned "about the obscene theaters in which 'the shared nature of women is insulted.'" The intention of CJS Hayward's book is to encourage thinking readers to "...never look the same way at porn ever again." He achieves his goal by covering the concept of 'sexual sin' and what is actually at stake by viewing and accepting porn.

From the initial trajectory of the world's creation and the evolution of science and technology to the perception of Christ as "...head of the whole Creation, not just the Church. Christ isn't just concerned with his people, but the whole created world," the spiritual discussion mixes history, religious inspection, and routes to lead a more engaged, meaningful life beyond the forces that lead to passive life participation and YouTube inspections.

Hard-hitting discussions of the reality of porn addiction differentiate this pursuit and sin from others: "The reality of porn addiction may be different. It is, with other evils, a pursuit of something that does not exist and cannot create lasting satisfaction. Not that porn is the only evil by any stretch of the imagination. But it is one way of reaching the misery for which the final destination is a Hell that has many, many entrances but not one exit."

In the beginning, Hayward's wide-ranging associations between religious and human history may seem not only broad, but relatively distant from the book's promised focus on porn. Readers who persist through its cosmological and spiritual history will find that salient points connect to other articles to form a unified examination of porn that is solidly intellectual and thought-provoking. Yes, porn holds issues of cosmological import. It also represents the opportunity to hold dialogues in and reconsider life choices, their connection to and impact on religious pursuits, and the meaning underlying seemingly simple options and perceptions that weigh heavily on the soul.

Discussions of porn here are unlike any other book, embracing existential and spiritual matters that are presented in a variety of forms to cement the reader's inner dialogue, as in the section where Porn assumes a countenance of awareness: "We live in interesting times. There is a singularity, or rather has been but keeps growing exponentially, and this singularity may turn in to the end of the world: a strange Ragnarok where the forces of Good resound with apocalyptic triumph. And I, Porn, am part of the singularity, an important part. Did you know that I, Porn, am not the only thing in life? Remember: "Every man who visits a Porn site is looking for God."

Any discussion of porn and its spiritual and social impact would not be complete without the religious inspection and enlightenment it receives in "Porn?" is a Question of Cosmological Significance, which is at once intriguing, challenging, and worthy of discussion in spiritual circles, as well as inclusion in any library interested in applications of religious thought to social conundrums.

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