Author: rtrube54

The Weekly Wrap: July 6 -12

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The Weekly Wrap: July 6-12

The Great Conversation

Mortimer Adler, in connection with the Great Books series of yesteryear, used the phrase “the great conversation.” While Adler’s project continues to be admired and emulated by some and criticized by others, I’ve always been enthralled with the idea of the Great Conversation.

Adler, and his colleague Robert Hutchins believed that when we read “the classics” we joined a great conversation that has stretched through the ages about important ideas: God, meaning, love, the good society and more. Later writers recur to, disagree with, and build on earlier ones.

I just began reading Anthony T. Kronman’s True Conservatism and he discusses the idea of “making friends with the dead.” Kronman is another, with his own canon, who teaches a version of “Great Books.” He argues that true conservatism, unlike the current left or right, maintains friendship with great thinkers of former generations. Otherwise, our thinking ceases to be “humane” and has a kind of “cut flower” existence. Instead, we are just pragmatists after whatever we think will work. We remove ourselves from, rather than build on, and preserve the wisdom of the past.

This makes sense to me. As a Christian, I’ve spent my life reading and re-reading a 2000 year old text, and the reflections on that text of the likes of Augustine, Aquinas, Athanasius, Origen, Luther, Teresa of Avila, and many more. When I do so, I’m “communing with the saints” and joining their conversation.

But isn’t this always, to some extent what we do whenever we read? We open our minds to another mind. Our reading list, whatever it is, represents a conversation with a number of people. And we come away changed. But it does give me pause. As in in-person conversations, these literary conversations can uplift, illumine, and inspire, or speak to our baser selves and the darker instincts of fear and suspicion. What kind of conversations do your books represent?

Five Articles Worth Reading

David Brooks published an op-ed piece this week on “When Novels Mattered.” He explores the decline of literary fiction and its correlates, concluding with a note of hope about rising young writers.

“Novels are better than television, but the surest way to make money from novels is to write with television in mind.” This is the contention behind Lisa Borst’s “New TV Novels.” Perhaps this is another reason for the decline of the novel Brooks laments.

Constance Grady explores “The truth behind the endless “kids can’t read” discourse.” Her conclusions after wading through piles of research: “US schools have never done a very good job at teaching kids to read, but it seems as though there’s meaningful evidence that we’re doing a worse job right now. While high-achieving kids are still reading the way they’ve read for decades, the ones to whom reading doesn’t come easily are failing more now than they used to.”

Yesterday was the birthday of E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web and other children’s books as well as co-author of the classic Elements of Style. In Lit Hub article, Sam Weller collects “Writing Advice and Literary Wisdom from the Great E.B. White.”

Remember Westerns? “A Tale of Two Westerns” explores the trajectories of two Western novels that turn forty this year. One is Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, a huge success at the time that was turned into a mini-series. The other was Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, which received little notice at the time but has grown in literary stature.

Quote of the Week

This quote by Marcel Proust, born July 10, 1871, has me thinking:

“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I took the plunge and put in a preorder with Barnes & Noble for four books coming out this fall. (They had a 25% discount, plus my B & N membership, so I saved about $40. Sadly, the discount ended yesterday.) Buckeye by Ryan Patrick has received acclaim and is set in my home state of Ohio. I read whatever R. F. Kuang publishes and so I ordered her forthcoming Katabasis. There is a posthumous collection of David McCullough essays titled History Matters. It does, in my opinion, and I’ve read everything of McCullough’s. Finally, Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm is Charles Mackesy’s sequel to The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.

Just to whet your appetite if you didn’t read the E. B. White article, I loved this quote:

“Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth. They accept, almost without question, anything you present them with, as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly, and clearly. I handed them, against the advice of experts, a mouse-boy, and they accepted it without a quiver. In Charlotte’s Web, I gave them a literate spider, and they took that.”

–from a 1969 interview in The Paris Review

Finally, I’ve periodically posted articles from The Lamp, which describes itself as “A CATHOLIC JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE, THE FINE ARTS, ETC.” Their current issue includes a collection of articles on Pope Francis, including articles by Diarmaid McCullouch, Makoto Fujimura, and Zena Hitz.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Perry Miller, The Life of the Mind in America

Tuesday: Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone

Wednesday: Justin Brierly, Why I’m Still a Christian

Thursday: Agatha Christie, Black Coffee

Friday: Beth Allison Barr, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for July 6-12!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: Sexuality and Sex Therapy

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Cover image of "Sexuality and Sex Therapy" by Mark A. Yarhouse and Erica S. N. Tan

Sexuality and Sex Therapy, Second Edition, Mark A Yarhouse and Erica S. N. Tan. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514010976) 2025.

Summary: A resource for Christian therapists, counselors, and the church affirming the blessing of our sexuality.

Christians simply must get better at discussions of sexuality that go beyond what not to do and who not to do it with. Far too often our discussions of sexuality have been co-opted by our culture wars or distorted by patriarchy. This includes forms of Purity Culture that wrought harm for many youth. On a quieter, but often deeply painful note, many Christian couples struggle to achieve the intimacy promoted within Christian marriage.

Sexuality and Sex Therapy, quite simply, is a superb resource for the whole church. Written for Christian therapists and counselors, it offers in depth foundational perspectives and factual information reflecting the current standards of care in the field of sex therapy. As is often the case, the subtitle, “A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal” is an important descriptor. First, it is comprehensive, addressing the range of sexual disorders and clinical presentations of various conditions. It is Christian, reflecting historic orthodoxy with an emphasis on affirming our physicality and God’s redemptive purposes for our sexuality. Finally, it is an appraisal, discussing both recent societal trends and identifying questions Christian therapists may want to think through in their practice.

For those concerned, with regard to questions of sexual orientation and gender identity, they commend an APA approach that is client rather than gay or trans-affirming. They do not commend efforts to change orientation. For those with gender dysphoria, they cite standards of care and therapeutic options that involve both medical and non-medical interventions. They lean toward a “least invasive possible” approach within a client affirming stance.

The book is organized in four parts. The first part addresses foundations: theological, sociocultural, biological, and clinical. The theological chapter addresses a Christian framework vis a vis other worldviews. The second chapter addresses the understanding of sexuality in our culture, including how it is reflected in social media. And given the focus of the church, it addresses the responses to purity culture. Chapter three provides accurate biological information, including a discussion of menopause. And chapter four introduces clinical practice, including treatment and ethical standards.

Part two addresses the sexual disorder most often addressed in sex therapy. Chapters are addressed to sexual interest and arousal disorders, female orgasmic disorders, pain during intimacy, erectile disorders, and premature and delayed ejaculation disorders. As relevant, each chapter also addresses care for gay and lesbian couples.

Part three addresses other clinical presentations a therapist may encounter. These include various paraphilic disorders, non-normative and alternate sexualities like BDSM and kink, and non-monogamous sexualities. They address sexual addictions, working with mixed orientation couples and mixed gender identity couples.

Finally, part four is a brief conclusion addressing the challenges and opportunities for Christians in the area of sex therapy. They note various constructs and values that may be at variance with a Christian perspective. At the same time, they recognize the chance to bring healing to individuals and couples and the joy of stewarding one’s sexuality for mutual love and God’s glory.

One of the strengths of the book is the depth of information. Many in ministry may not engage in sex therapy, leaving this for those with the appropriate training. The accurate information can help pastoral and lay counselors to not offer bad, and sometimes hurtful information. Extensive reference lists at the end of each chapter provide current research and other helpful resources.

An approach that refuses to hew to a party line on sexual identity or gender dysphoria will frustrate some. However, not all the therapists can select their clients. Additionally, there are professional standards of care in the field that therapists need to adhere to in terms of licensure. At the same time, a client-affirming approach doesn’t push clients one way or another but allows them to make choices congruent with their values, including Christian values.

In sum, this book serves as a great adjunct resource for Christians trained in non-religious clinical programs. It may serve as an introductory clinical text in Christian counseling programs. In addition, as noted above, it is a valuable source for the broader Christian public, affirming a Christian view of the gift of our sexuality.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: The Glory of Their Times

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Cover image of "The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence S. Ritter

The Glory of Their Times, Lawrence S. Ritter. Harper Perennial (ISBN: 9780061994715) 2010 (first published in 1966).

Summary: Oral histories by twenty-six former players from the early days of baseball, playing from the 1900’s to the 1940’s.

I’m old enough to remember great baseball players of the 1960’s–Mays, Mantle, Koufax, Mazeroski, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron. This book reaches back another twenty to sixty years, going back to the early years of major league baseball. Some of the things I learned were that the gloves were smaller, the bats tended to be heavier, the balls deader, and the outfield fences further away. The game was one of strategy and speed and defense rather than power. There were years when a person with ten home runs stood a good chance of being homerun champ. Getting “discovered” wasn’t the result of an intensive scouting system. Often, the tip came from a friend, or someone just happened to stop by a semi-pro game and find you.

Lawrence S. Ritter, back in the 1960’s, set out to capture the stories of this time before the players of that generation had passed. Many, like Ruth, Gehrig, and Cobb already had. In this book, he has published oral histories of twenty-six players whose playing years stretch between 1898 to 1947. Many are in the Hall of Fame, some being inducted as a result of their stories appearing in this book.

The narratives cover their growing up years, how they fell in love with the game and made it to the majors, major career events and their afterlife when their playing days were done. One of the things that struck me was how many talked about other great players and managers. For example, Sam Crawford raved about what a great pitcher and fun person was Rube Waddell, about the hitting skills of Wee Willie Keeler, and the greatness of Walter Johnson as a pitcher.

But most noteworthy was the fact that Crawford played beside Ty Cobb in the outfield for thirteen years. He didn’t think he was the greatest overall, arguing instead for Honus Wagner as the best all round player. Cobb was a great hitter, a terror on the base paths, but just an average fielder who could only play outfield. An he was not a nice human being, a fact that several others in the book confirm.

John McGraw (“Mr. McGraw”) comes up in the accounts of many players. He was the manager for the Giants. Rube Marquard, a pitcher who once won 19 straight games (it would be 20 under current rules) loved playing for him. He loved his players, they loved him, but he was a strict disciplinarian.

I remember as a kid and a Cleveland fan hearing from my grandfather about Stanley Coveleski. In 1920, he won three games against the Giants to lead Cleveland to a World Championship. In all, he won 214 games. I also learned he pitched in the days when the spitter was legal, and it was his main pitch!

The book closes out with my other favorite team from my youth, the Pirates and Paul Waner. The most fascinating part of the story is that he and his brother Lloyd played together for many years. Together they had 5600 hits in their careers, more than the three Dimaggio brothers or all five Delahanty brothers.

Ritter did a great job with the interviews. The players were great storytellers. One senses something of what the game was like back then. There’s a lot of “inside baseball” in the book. We see how players translated the mental game into the difference between wins and losses. And not unlike today, the stories capture the ‘brief, shining moment” that is a baseball career. Hank Greenberg’s story makes us wonder, as we did later with Ted Williams, “what if” military service hadn’t interrupted a career in its prime.

There is a debate that runs through the book of how today’s players compare. Players come down on both sides. So much has changed. At the same time, the stories hint at those who would have been great in any era–Mathewson and Johnson as pitchers, Cobb, and Speaker, and Wagner as hitters and fielders, and many more with them. We’ll never know but Ritter certainly captures “the glory of their times,” in these twenty-six histories. Any lover of the game should read this book!

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: The Marriage You Want

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Cover image of "The Marriage You Want" by Sheila Wray Gregoire and Dr. Keith Gregoire

The Marriage You Want, Sheila Wray Gregoire and Dr. Keith Gregoire. Baker Books (ISBN: 9781540903761) 2025.

Summary: Building a rich marriage partnership marked by balance, affection, responsibility, and emotional connection.

I don’t know anyone who goes into marriage who doesn’t want anything less than a loving partnership. We want a relationship that is durable through the hard stuff but also one of shared laughter and mutually satisfying intimacy. That’s not how it always turns out. And sometimes poor marriage counsel exacerbates the problems.

The Gregoires have a marriage ministry that is different. Both their experience working with couples and extensive survey data ground their counsel. It’s led them to frame the characteristics of healthy, flourishing marriages with the acronym BARE. This stands for Balance, Affection, Responsibility, and Emotional Connection. This book is organized around these four qualities with two chapters devoted to each.

Balance. They begin with a classic diagram of the triangle with God and the two spouses, where, as we grow closer to God, we grow closer to each other. But role stereotypes can stretch these triangles out of shape. One stereotype is that husbands are the tie-breakers in decision-making. Another is stereotypes about love for women, respect for men that turns out not to be true. The Gregoires show survey data that underscores how collaborative relationships of respect and love have the highest marital satisfaction. The best marriages reflect teamwork. Each spouse has tiered physiological, social, and actualization needs. If spouses are at different tiers, one of the spouses may have an entitlement mentality. “Compromise” is not helpful when this is the case. Sharing the load of home care and childcare is critical.

Affection. Affection can die in our busy lives. But talking in the car together, taking a walk together, and especially, having a shared bed time are vital. It can be sitting together in the bleachers during lessons and practices. The authors offer practical suggestions for getting time together without making life harder. And simple times of prayer and conversation about spiritual matters, even for a few minutes a day, help.

Then the Gregoires turn to sex. They believe the use of pornography is an intimacy-killer. At the same time connection in the bedroom relates to the couple’s teamwork in the rest of life. If one spouse is dog-tired from carrying the load of household responsibilities, sex is not going to be great. The mental load is part of this. They sensitively deal with issues of frequency and orgasm for both partners. They conclude: “Investing in your relationship and making sex something that flows naturally from that relationship will allow sex to be what it is meant to be: the physical outflowing of an emotional and even spiritual connection between you and your spouse” (p. 110).

Responsibility. Here, the authors wade more into the shared responsibility necessary for teamwork. They elaborate the idea of “mental load,” the energy involved in making sure everything gets done. The solution isn’t “give me a list” but each spouse owning what needs to be done and doing it. This means taking the initiative to learn the whole task. This includes things like medical appointments and “kinkeeping.” Often, one spouse carries this load.

Emotional Connection. Finally, spouses enjoy emotional connection when each spouse understands what he or she wants, speaks up, and spouses reach mutual understanding. The authors explore the barriers that keep us from opening up, how to become aware of one’s emotions and self-regulate when they threaten to overwhelm. They also address rebuilding broken trust.

The book is very practical. The authors identify the ways we fail to act as a team. They show how entitlement creeps in. They also offer positive steps to build partnerships, deepen affection and foster connection. Instead of prioritizing sex, they help couples build the affectionate, connected partnership where sex flourishes. Instead of offering role stereotypes, they commend mutual serving and collaboration. They allow each partner to bring his or her gifts. Instead of making marriage harder, they make it easier by helping each spouse to share the load. And when this is the case, marriage can even be fun.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: Corridors of Power

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Cover image of "Corridors of Power" by C. P. Snow

Corridors of Power (Strangers and Brothers, 9), C. P. Snow. Open Road Media (ASIN: B0DCPBFBZT) 2024 (first published in 1964).

Summary: An ambitious member of Parliament challenges Britain’s nuclear policy in the aftermath of the Suez crisis.

The phrase “corridors of power” has come into common political parlance. And it is C.P. Snow we have to thank for this. However, its use in the title of this novel was not its first. Rather, it occurs in an earlier novel Homecomings published in 1956. Both this and the earlier novel are part of Snow’s Strangers and Brothers series, written between 1940 and 1970. The novels narrate the education and career of civil servant, Lewis Eliot. This mirrors C. P. Snows own career, first as a physical chemist, turned civil servant, and later as a director of several science and technology organizations.

Eliot is serving an elderly cabinet minister at the opening of the novel, who is displaced, ostensibly due to ill health, by rising star Roger Quaife. Eliot continues to serve under him and is drawn into his ambitious, yet coldly realistic policy goals for the U.K. During this time, the country has come through the Suez Crisis, an episode revealing their declining power. Rather than to attempt to keep up pretenses, Quaife wants the U.K. to end its participation in the nuclear arms race, leaving it to the two rival superpowers. Much of the novel develops the efforts to politically sell this policy. Eliot’s role is to chair a committee of scientists to make recommendations about the policy. Quaife wants their endorsement, and all but a dissenting scientist get the message.

Eliot has another role to play as well. Quaife has the perfect political marriage, with a glamorous and influential wife (who is a good friend of Eliot’s wife). We follow them in the rounds of parties with rich and influential friends. But Quaife also is involved in an affair on the side. Eliot becomes involved when Quaife’s lover begins receiving letters threatening to expose the affair if Quaife doesn’t end it.

The novel builds toward twin crises as Quaife faces a political vote of confidence amid growing dissent over his proposed policy and his wife’s ultimatum to Quaife to end the affair. He has dazzled with his consummate political skills. But will that be enough to carry him through these crises?

The novel serves as a commentary on the U.K.’s relative waning power, yet is far ahead of the times. As of 2025, the U.K. is still a nuclear power and significant NATO partner. Whether it was Snow’s intent, it also seemed a commentary on the vacuity of political power. Indeed, I wondered whether Quaife’s affair was the one thing of meaning, of real humanity in a life taken up with ambition and power.

I think I only knew of Snow through his book The Two Cultures describing the breakdown of communication between the sciences and humanities. I came across this work as a deal in e-book format, not realizing it was part of a series. Even though it was the ninth in the series, it reads well as a standalone. I just might try a few more!

Review: John Hancock

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Cover image of "John Hancock" by Willard Sterne Randall

John Hancock, Willard Sterne Randall. Dutton (ISBN: 9780593472149) 2025.

Summary: A biography going beyond the flourishing signature to the critical role Hancock played in the American Revolution.

For many of us, the name John Hancock has become synonymous with a flourishing signature, and little more. Some of us know a bit more, that the context of that signature was the Declaration of Independence. What I discovered in reading this biography was that in the first published versions of the Declaration, his signature is the only one, representing his position as President of the Continental Congress. It made him the special object of British attention as a traitor, leading to flight from his Boston home for a time.

All this underscores historian Willard Sterne Randall’s assessment that Hancock played a critical role in the American Revolution. That assessment represents recent archival research. But it was not always so. In 1930, James Truslow Adams described Hancock as “an empty barrel” whose reputation rested on “his money and his gout, the first always used to gain popularity, and the second to prevent his losing it.” Randall makes a very different case.

He begins with Hancock’s humble beginnings as the seven year old son of a clergyman who died. Hancock was subsequently taken under the wing of his uncle Thomas Hancock, who made his fortune as a merchant and shipbuilder. This afforded him a gentleman’s education, including attendance at a writing school to prepare him for work in his uncle’s mercantile enterprises. He completed his Harvard education in time to assist his uncle in the lucrative trade connected with Britain’s French and Indian War.

It was the aftermath of that war that brought the House of Hancock into conflict with the British over customs duties and the seizure of merchandise on which merchants were judged to be evading customs duties. It was also during this time that Thomas began to hand off the business to his capable nephew, making him partner and heir. Thomas was dying of gout, the condition that would later afflict John. Thomas died in 1764, leaving John one of the wealthiest men in the colonies at age 27.

Almost immediately, he plunged into challenging times as business slumped and Parliament passed the hated Stamp Act.. He joined firebrand Sam Adams in resistance to the Act including a boycott. He also seized the opportunity afforded by the Repeal to refocus his trade, building his fortune. Peace was short-lived as the Townshend Acts led to the imposition of new duties. Hancock personally barred a custom’s commissioner bearing outdated orders, precipitating a trial.

The resistance led to British troops in Boston, Hancock’s leadership of the Boston Town Meeting, and his efforts to support armed resistance. Randall’s account traces the subsequent unfolding of events including Hancock;s leadership in Massachusetts and then as President of the Continental Congress. He traces Hancock’s partnership with Washington to provide him the means to fight the British. Hancock spent roughly half of his own wealth in this effort. He also spent his own health, as he increasingly suffered gout attacks.

Randall also describes Hancock’s falling out with Sam Adams as they became political rivals in Massachusetts state government. One of his acts as governor was to advocate ratification of the new Constitution. One of the saddest passages in the book is his meeting with Washington in late 1789. Each witnessed the ravages of the years on the other. Washington wept at how enfeebled Hancock had become.

In conclusion, Randall makes a case for the pivotal contribution Hancock made to American beginnings. First, he was in the forefront of resistance to British policies. He had the foresight to prepare for armed resistance. In addition, he used all his experience with the French and Indian War to provision the troops. He gave political leadership both in Boston and the Continental Congress. Then, he invested a substantial part of his own fortune in the effort. Finally, he gave leadership that helped put his state and the fledgling country on a firm footing. Thus, we learn that this oft-neglected Founder contributed far more than his flourishing signature.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

The Weekly Wrap: June 29-July 5

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The Weekly Wrap: June 29-July 5

Vigilant Reading

Many would agree with me that these are stressful times. And for many of us, we turn to books to escape the stress. And there are times when we need that. But even the escape into fantasy like Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings may awaken us to virtues of courage and perseverance and the seductions of power.

I believe that our times also call us to vigilant reading. It is the reading that helps us discern the deeper realities of what we face amid the blitzkrieg of news. And it may help us to discern how we may act.

During the time Winston Churchill was out of power in the 1930’s, he observed the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany. During this time, he read Mein Kampf, and from that reading understood the unspeakable evil Hitler would wreak upon Europe, and that he could not be appeased, but must be resisted.

It is my reading of people like Churchill, William Shirer, and Hannah Arendt that has always made me skeptical of people in my own country who have said “it could never happen here.” Germany was highly educated, with liberal, democratic institutions. But a charismatic figure who appealed to longings for national greatness, and fears and resentments against those who were different, such as the Jews aroused a following. Then he subdued legislative and judicial checks to power and used fear and threat to bring other institutions to heel. And he created special police organizations, the Brown Shirts and the Gestapo to “disappear” the opposition and execute the Holocaust.

It’s my reading that arouses a vigilance that believes such things can (and are) happening in my own country. In this brief space, I’m not going to try to lay all that out. Essentially, in social media acronyms, IYKYK.

The question then is how shall we live? I cut my teeth on a “we can change the world” philosophy.” In a sense we did, but I’m not sure it was for the better. My reading of scripture, and other books, particularly from the Anabaptist Christian perspective, is challenging me to not think in terms of making the world different but rather what is means to be different people in the world. The former leads, I’ve concluded, to culture war. The latter reflects Jesus idea of being salt and light (in the Sermon on the Mount).

There’s a lot more I could unpack about this. But my point here is that my reading helps me to be vigilant, watchful to understand the times we are living in and how one lives in such times. Reading is far more, and far better than a great escape!

Five Articles Worth Reading

I’m writing on America’s Independence Day. Lincoln Caplan, in “America the Beautiful” tells the story of the composer of this wonderful anthem, and the troubled times in which it was written.

I mentioned Germany’s universities above. I’m kind of a university history geek, having worked in collegiate ministry. Clara Collier’s “The Origin of the Research University” is an account of the decisive transformation of higher education that took place in nineteenth century Germany.

The physical object of the book is a wonderful thing. “In This Parisian Atelier, Bookbinding Is a Family Art,” James Hill, in a photographic essay takes us into the high-end world of bookbinding.

Much of the emphasis of diet and fitness for women in the West is to make them a physically smaller version of themselves. This has sometimes resulted in untold physical and emotional harm. Julie Beck reviews Casey Johnston’s new book, A Physical Education, which considers weight-lifting as an alternative to the diet and exercise culture. The review appears in The Atlantic under the title “The Feminine Pursuit of Swoleness.”

Finally, Helen Cooper contends “Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles Is an Unexpected Masterclass in Suspense.” Cooper, a suspense writer, takes the reader through the suspense devices Hardy uses.

Quote of the Week

Nathaniel Hawthorne, born July 4, 1804, defies our cheery humanistic optimism when he observes:

“What other dungeon is so dark as one’s own heart! What jailer so inexorable as one’s self!”

I’m reminded of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, referring not to the heart of Africa, but rather, the human heart and its capacity for evil.

Miscellaneous Musings

I’ve read a number of histories of both the American Revolution and the Civil War. Thirty years ago, Ken Burns riveted my attention with his epic PBS series on the Civil War. He’ll be visiting our screens again this fall with The American Revolution. This is one of the best arguments I can make for supporting PBS!

I always love learning about Ohio authors. Our local PBS station recently ran an old interview with Ann Hagedorn about her book, Beyond the River on Ohio’s underground railroad history, particularly around Ripley, Ohio. Hagedorn is an accomplished journalist and author who was born in Dayton. I picked up a couple of her books on Thriftbooks, so you may be hearing more about her.

I had a rare thing happen this week. We stopped by our local Half Price Books store, and I didn’t buy a single thing. However, my wife bought three art books. Perhaps it was thoughts of the unread books I had at home. But nothing struck my fancy.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Willard Sterne Randall, John Hancock

Tuesday: C. P. Snow, Corridors of Power

Wednesday: Sheila Wray Gregoire and Dr. Keith Gregoire, The Marriage You Want

Thursday: Lawrence S. Ritter, The Glory of Their Times

Friday: Mark A. Yarhouse and Erica S. Tan, Sexuality and Sex Therapy

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for June 29-July 5!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: 1 & 2 Thessalonians

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Cover image of "1 & 2 Thessalonians" by Johannes W. H. van der Bijl

1 & 2 Thessalonians: A Life in Letters, Johannes W. H. van der Bijl. Langham Global Library (ISBN: 9781786410962) 2025.

Summary A narrative commentary based on Acts and 1 and 2 Thessalonians, on the first half of Paul’s second missionary journey.

Last summer, I had the chance to review a delightful commentary on Galatians by cross-cultural missionary Johannes W. H. van der Bijl. Rather than offering the traditional verse by verse exegesis of Galatians, he explored the historical and cultural backdrop and the context and composition of the letter through a first person, imaginative narrative. Now he brings the same approach to 1 and 2 Thessalonians. For context, he covers the first half of Paul’s second missionary journey. On this, he is accompanied at various points by Silas, Timothy, Luke Aquila, and Priscilla. Much of the book is set in Corinth around 50-51 AD, as Paul ministered, made tents with Aquila and Priscilla, and took in the news from Timothy, who had returned from a follow-up visit to the young church at Thessalonica.

But the narrative begins with Paul’s report back to the Jerusalem believers and the growing tension between Paul and Barnabas over the latter’s cousin, John Mark. All this comes to head in Antioch as they plan a second mission journey. We learn the reasons Paul does not want john Mark to go. Therefore, Barnabas decides not to accompany Paul either, taking John Mark with him. Subsequently, Paul learns from Silas that his apprehensions about John Mark were in error. Some of this represents creative and plausible filling out of what is left unsaid in the biblical narrative. The author also suggests this may contribute to his warmhearted treatment of Timothy, who joins Paul’s group after believing during their visit to Lystra.

We hear of Paul’s uncertainty as they travel through Asia minor, Paul’s dream, the journey to Troas and Philippi. There, they stay with Lydia who believes, until Paul and Silas are beaten and imprisoned. This leads to the conversion of the jailer and his household. Then they reach Thessalonica, where many Jews and Greeks gladly believe. A mob attack on Jason, their host forces their departure. Van der Bijl brings in the risks that unrest bring to the city’s favored status with Rome. They receive another warm reception in Berea until unbelieving Thessalonian Jews attack them. The believers send Paul to Athens while lower profile Silas and Timothy stay behind. They briefly rejoin Paul in Athens. Then Silas goes to Philippi and Timothy back to Thessalonica to instruct the young believers. They agree to meet in Corinth, a leading city of Achaia.

At Corinth, Paul has joined forces with Aquila and Priscilla as God has opened doors for ministry. The return to Corinth and Timothy’s report occasions the letter, for which Silas serves as scribe. The narrative gives us a glimpse of letter writing practice. Paul dictates, Silas drafts, with consultation with others, and Paul approves the product. The first letter encourages the faithful believers, defends Paul’s ministry against accusers and discusses how they ought to live as they await Christ’s return. He addresses matters of faith love, and morality, including sexual morality. Then he sends Timothy off to deliver and explain the letter.

On Timothy’s return, Paul learns of problems in Thessalonica with idlers, speculations, and misunderstandings about their dead and the return of Christ. Paul writes a second letter (c. 51 AD) to address these matters, dispatching Timothy and Silas on another follow-up journey. The narrative concludes with the attacks that lead to Paul’s departure from Corinth.

The narrative approach helps us understand the unique characteristics of each city on their journeys. We understand the animus of the Jews and the concerns about suppressing unrest. We also get a fuller portrait of Timothy as a young man with an appetite, athletic, and wise beyond his years to instruct believers. The household hosted by Aquila and Priscilla embodies a place of rich mission team life. We are also given to understand the concerns Paul sought to address in each letter. Short biographies at the end of the book of key figures in the narrative help us keep all the names straight.

Above all, van der Bijl sets the letters in the context of Paul’s second missionary journey through the use of narrative. We often read without this context, missing much of the subtleties in the content. I look forward to future installments of this series. These are great for devotional reading, a wonderful adjunct to more traditional commentaries, and a great help to new readers of the Bible.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review Kingdom through Covenant

/ rtrube54 / 2 Comments
Cover image of "Kingdom through Covenant" by Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum

Kingdom through Covenant, Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum. Crossway (ISBN: 9781433553073) 2012, 2018. (My review is of the first edition, the link to the 2nd edition with revised and updated content.)

Summary: A biblical-theological exploration of covenants, how they are related and unfold the reality of God’s kingdom.

The authors of this work contend that the idea of “covenant” is central to the narrative arc of scripture. On this, many Christians are agreed. Where believers differ is in their understanding is in how the covenants unfold and relate to one another. Roughly speaking, there are two major camps: the dispensationalists and the covenant theologians. Their differences are reflected in different conclusions about things like the land promises to Israel and whether baptism under the New Covenant is the counterpart of circumcision, including infants in the covenant, or for professing believers only.

Wellum and Gentry propose is a via media, what might be termed new covenant theology or progressive covenantalism. They argue for the unity of God’s plan and yet that God has progressively unfolded his plan through the covenants. The main idea is the unfolding of his cosmic kingdom rule through each of the covenants. These culminate and find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ.

The book consists in three parts. The first is Prolegomena, outlining the importance of the discussion, the two classic positions and key hermeneutical issues in putting together the covenants. This is followed by a lengthy section of exposition of each of the biblical covenants: Creation, Noah, Abraham, Mosaic, Davidic, and New Covenant. Finally, Part Three focuses on theological interpretation, summarizing the biblical theology of Part Two and a few of its theological implications. An appendix provides a lexical analysis of berit,

One of the striking aspects of the expositions of the covenants is the use of key texts from the major Old Testament prophets to frame their understanding of the New Covenant. They show how prior covenants, and particularly the covenants with Adam and Abraham lay the basis for the New Covenant. Yet they argue that as a fulfillment of the prior covenants, the New Covenant does supersede the previous covenants. But what then of the land promises to Israel? These are fulfilled in the new covenant but “the land” is extended to encompass all creation, all the nations. However, when it comes to baptism, the promises of a new heart signify that the church consists of those born again in Christ. Hence baptism is for believers.

Therefore, the via media proposal has elements each of the “camps” will applaud and each will oppose. However, what is important is that these two scholars bring a careful study of the covenants worth considering by all concerned. What I appreciate is the theological coherence of what they propose. They neither oppose prior covenants to subsequent ones. Nor to they create a disjunction between Israel and the church. Finally, what they propose truly exalts Christ.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: Swing Low, Volume 1

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Cover image of "Swing Low, Volume 1" by Walter R. Strickland II

Swing Low, Volume 1: A History of Black Christianity in the United States, Walter R. Strickland II. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514009369) 2024.

Summary: A history of African-American Christianity tracing stories of social uplift and the lives of faithful Black Christians.

A number of writers and scholars have written about African-American history. The Black church has always played an important part in that history as a source of comfort and hope during slavery and reconstruction, a center of community and cultural life, and a pivotal place of resistance and social uplift.

This new history by Walter R. Strickland II goes deeper in two ways. Along with others, he traces a historical narrative from 1620 up to the present. Distinctive among narratives, he introduces us to numerous faithful Christians in each period of this history. Furthermore, he argues for five theological commitments which he terms “Anchors” that he traces through the historical narrative. They are:

  • Anchor 1: Big God
  • Anchor 2: Jesus
  • Anchor 3: Conversion and Walking in the Spirit
  • Anchor 4: The Good Book
  • Anchor 5: Deliverance

The Anchors are not theological abstractions. Instead, Strickland shows the outworking in praxis of the anchors throughout his history.

The first four chapters show the early spread and adaptation of Christianity among African-Americans. One noteworthy contribution of this history is to establish that there were Christians among the Africans imported to the United States. Slavery didn’t introduce Christianity to Africans! Strickland then traces the spread of Christianity through American revivals, the distortion of slave-master faith, and the move from Blacks in White churches to their own, sometimes illegal, gatherings. At this time, the church was an ‘invisible institution,” albeit one with its own distinctive worship practices, such as the “ring shout.”

Chapters Five and Six trace the emergence of Black churches following Emancipation and how it became the central institution in Black communities. This includes educational opportunities and it was during this period when many of the great Black colleges got their start.

Chapters Seven to Nine cover the period from the rise of Jim Crow through the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Jim Crow led to the Great Migration north and west. Strickland traces the new church bodies formed during this period including distinctive churches like Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, which played a formative role in Bonhoeffer’s faith. He also features figures liker W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells and their influence in the beginnings of the NAACP. Then Chapter 8 focuses on Black Pentecostalism and Black Fundamentalism. For example, we are reminded that William Seymour, a catalytic preacher and Black was at the heart of the Azusa Street revival, marking the beginning of American Pentecostalism. Chapter Nine traces the intellectual beginnings from Mordecai Wyatt Johnson through Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr. Along with these leaders, we learn of the foot soldiers engage in non-violent direct action.

Strickland pauses his narrative at this point to consider the rise of Black consciousness and the two distinctive responses to it within Black Christianity. One was Black evangelicalism, which is then elaborated in Chapters Ten through Twelve, including key figures like Tom Skinner and efforts at racial reconciliation through parachurch ministries. The other was Black liberationism, discussed in Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen. He concludes with a short account of twenty-first century developments, ending more hopefully than I might have.

I think the “Anchors” play a key role in his optimism. Amid the challenges of slavery, Jim Crow, and persistent racism, he traces persisting belief in a big God, a saving Jesus, a Good Book that relevantly speaks, a transforming Spirit, and the promise of deliverance. Strickland concludes with the words of an old spiritual. “There is a balm in Gilead.”

I so appreciated the profiles of so many key leaders, organizations, and movements during this history. A number were familiar but many were new. I began reading this book on Juneteenth. It indeed emancipated my understanding of African-American Christianity. And I discovered there is more. Volume Two features primary source readings from sermons to contemporary podcast transcripts. Look for my review of that volume later this summer!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]