Of Making Many Books There Is No End

One of my favorite parts of publisher websites is the "Coming Soon" section. Here the publishers announce forthcoming titles. I was recently asked to look through the "Coming Soon" section of several Christian publisher websites and share with our readers those titles that I hope to read soon after their publication. Most of the titles in the following list are academic titles, so they will not appeal to everyone.

I already know that I will disagree, perhaps strongly, with some of these books. However, I like to stay informed as much as possible with all sides on certain issues. Of course, since none of these books has been published, I cannot say whether any one of them will be good or not. I can say, however, why I am looking forward to a particular book.

Baker Academic

Paul Copan. Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God. Many of the new atheists point to difficult passages in the Old Testament to support their accusations against theism. I'm looking forward to seeing whether or not Copan offers helpful answers to these accusations. If so, this might be a good book to give to people who are wrestling with such questions.

Christian Smith. The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture. It is difficult to tell from the publisher's description whether this book will be another critique of the Bible's authority or merely a critique of the use made of the Bible by certain evangelicals. Either way, I like to keep up with books on such topics.

Walter Kaiser. Preaching and Teaching the Last Things: Old Testament Eschatology for the Life of the Church. I have a long-standing interest in eschatology, and this book looks like it may provide some interesting insights into O.T. eschatology.

Herman Bavinck. Reformed Dogmatics, abridged edition. Herman Bavinck's four-volume Reformed Dogmatics was only recently translated into English. I have read this translation, so I am interested in the abridgement to see what was removed.

Khaled Anatolios. Retrieving Nicaea: The Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine. This looks like it will be a very interesting look at Nicene Trinitarianism.

Broadman & Holman

Christopher Donato, ed. Perspectives on the Sabbath. I';m looking forward to this book because I have been helping Chris with it since the very early stages. I've actually already read the manuscript, but I am looking forward to seeing the completed bound version. The four views represented are: the seventh-day Sabbath view (Skip MacCarty); the Puritan Sabbath view (Joseph Pipa); the Sabbath fulfilled in Christ view (Craig Blomberg); and the Lutheran view (Charles Arand). In each of the four sections one author presents his view. The other three authors respond, and then the first author offers a rejoinder answering the questions and criticisms of the other three.

Christian Focus Publications

Philip Ross. From the Finger of God: The Biblical and Theological Basis for the Threefold Division of the Law. The endorsements for this book caught my attention. It looks like it could be a definitive text on this subject.

Crossway

D.A. Carson. Evangelicalism: What Is It, and Is It Worth Keeping? Anything written by Carson is always worth reading.

C. John Collins. Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?: Who They Were and Why You Should Care. Collins has written some interesting books on Genesis 1-4 and on the relationship between science and faith. I expect this book should be interesting as well.

Eerdmans

Hans Boersma. Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry. I have a long time interest in any books dealing with sacramental theology.

Keith Ward. More Than Matter: Is There More to Life Than Molecules? It looks like it might be an interesting look at this hot-button issue of our day.

Ian Levy, ed. The Letter to the Galatians. This is the first volume in a new series called "The Bible in Medieval Tradition." This volume contains six medieval commentaries on Galatians never before translated into English.

IVP

Karl Giberson and Francis Collins. The Language of Science and Faith. I try to keep up with as many books as possible on the issues of science and faith, creation and evolution, etc. written by representatives of all views. The authors of this book are both associated with BioLogos, and both accept some form of evolutionary creationism. Because BioLogos is becoming more and more prominent in these discussions, this book may prove to be an important one.

Oxford University Press

Chad Van Dixhoorn, ed. The Westminster Assembly Minutes and Papers. This is the publication I look forward to more than any other in 2011. The multi-volume set will contain the complete minutes of the Westminster Assembly with introductions, annotations, and indexes. Much of this material has never before been published, so it will provide a wealth of contextual information.

Christopher Bryan. The Resurrection of the Messiah. I'm primarily interested in seeing whether Bryan is going to say anything that Wright or Liconoa have not already said in their recent massive works on this subject.

P&R

Derek Thomas. Acts. My hope that this commentary on Acts will find a place in my "Top Five Commentaries" blog series.

Reformation Heritage Books

Willem J. van Asselt. Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism. There is not much information about this title on the publisher website aside from the name of the editor, but knowing the quality of his previous work, this new book should be a good one.

Westminster John Knox

Kimberly Bracken Long. The Eucharistic Theology of the American Holy Fairs. Holy fairs were practiced by Scots Irish Presbyterians in nineteenth-century America. This book should provide some insight in to the development of sacramental practice and theology in America.

Alister McGrath. Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things. Another potentially interesting book on the relationship between science and faith.

Zondervan

Michael Horton. The Christian Faith. This will be the newest complete systematic theology written from a Reformed perspective.