Category: Book Reviews

Advice from Screwtape

  

I first read The Screwtape Letters more than 35 years ago. This little book remains one of C. S. Lewis’s most fascinating ventures. He puts himself into the place of a senior devil named Screwtape, who writes advice to a junior devil called Wormwood. It’s a witty piece of writing and its popularity continues today. In fact, if one had to trace the beginning of Lewis’s emergence into the public consciousness, one must begin with Screwtape. Even Time magazine recognized… Read more »

God, Government, and Eternity

  

I do a lot of political commentary in this blog. I also write a lot about the role of civil government. As I do, my goal has always been to point to the Biblical principles that undergird my thinking. After all, the name of this blog is Pondering Principles: Reflections on God, Man, and Life. Therefore, I try to offer my comments within that context. This makes my ponderings different than the typical political commentator. And I know some of… Read more »

Highly Recommended

  

In the past few weeks, while writing a book, keeping up with this daily blog, posting on Big Government, teaching a class every Sunday, and continuing to watch over the department I chair at the university—I actually read a couple of books, too. I’d like to recommend them. Back in January, I wrote about a novel called Deadline by Randy Alcorn. It was thought-provoking and decidedly Christian in its philosophy. You can go back to January 9 to see that… Read more »

True Truth

  

I’ve just finished reading a novel by Randy Alcorn entitled Deadline. I’d heard of Alcorn previously and was told he was good, but now I can say from personal experience that the recommendation was accurate. Alcorn has an ability to write from a thoroughly Biblical perspective about the reality of heaven while simultaneously reflecting the reality of earthly life. I won’t make this a review of the plot of the book or of his writing style, but I do want… Read more »

Christian Coalition: A Tale Well Told

  

I want to alert you to this new book by Joel Vaughan that traces the history of the organization called the Christian Coalition. The title is accurate: it rose and it fell. I was drawn to the book not only because I am acquainted with Joel, but also because I used to be a Christian Coalition county director back in the early 1990s, when I taught at Indiana Wesleyan University. Then, when I moved to Regent University, I was just… Read more »

The Forgotten Man: A Recommendation

  

Every so often I like to recommend a book. I’m about halfway through The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes. Although I haven’t yet completed it, based on what I have read up to now, and on the numerous positive reviews of the book, I am confident I can recommend it without concerns that I will have to retract that recommendation by the time I have finished it. Some of you, I know, may… Read more »

Lincoln Book Recommendation

  

Whenever I read a good book, I’d like to pass on a positive review. Last week, I commented on Lincoln, as his 200th birthday was upon us. I am presently reading Harold Holzer’s new Lincoln book (Holzer is a LIncoln scholar and a fine writer), Lincoln, President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter, 1860-1861. It is fascinating. What did Lincoln go through, what did he have to deal with, as he awaited his succession to the presidency? From November 1860… Read more »