Noted Review: New Digital (and Print) Books

 

Bond, Douglas. Hand of Vengeance. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 2012. 192 Pages. Kindle ebook. (paperback also available) $11.99. www.prpbooks.com (N) Mao, Baruch. Come Let Us Reason Together: The Unity of Jews and Gentiles in the Church (Third Edition). Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 2012. 256 Pages. Kindle ebook. (paperback also available) $19.99. www.prpbooks.com (LHPN) Snow days are great for reading, catching up on paperwork, and posting book reviews.  Two ebooks are before us in this review, both by P&R.     Cynwulf, a half-Viking, half-Saxon misfit, lives on the outskirts of his Anglo-Saxon community. When his battleaxe is found in a dead man's skull, he must clear his name or face the community's vengeance. Douglas Bond teaches English at Covenant High School in Tacoma, Washington, and is a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. Bond lives with his wife, two daughters, and four sons in Washington state. Visit his website at www.bondbooks.net. Publisher's Website) In a similar style to his other fiction, Douglas Bond takes us back in time to the early days of Christianity in Britain. This murder mystery will be of particular interest to Christian men and boys because of its action, setting, and Christian confession of faith.  I love how Bond weaves together history, Psalmody, Scripture, and hymnody throughout his novels. I very much look forward to other offerings in Bond's Heroes and History Series!       How should Jewish Christians worship? Does Messianic Judaism let them blend faith in Jesus with Jewish practice? Baruch Maoz disagrees, offering a better way to retain Jewish cultural identity without losing fellowship with other Christians. Baruch Maoz has been a missionary with Christian Witness to Israel, during which he served as Israel Field Leader, and has been pastor of Grace and Truth Christian Congregation. He is senior editor of the Modern Hebrew Bible, coeditor of the Annotated Hebrew New Testament, and founder and coeditor of Mishkan: An International Theological Forum on Jewish Evangelism. (Publisher's Website) Maoz' book is a new edition of a book I long had on my personal "wish list," Judaism Is Not Jewish: A Friendly Critique of the Messianic Movement. This volume is a sadly necessary book because of the sometimes judaizing (think Galatians) tendencies of many parts of modern Messianic Judaism. Cases in point include near-exclusive insistence on Jewish forms of names and vocabulary and a less-than-only-occasional separatism of Jewish Christians from Gentile Christians.   I am Gentile. Still, I have an appreciation for shofarim, regularly wear a "Yeshua HaMashiach" ring, and had a summer 2012 Bible Class on Jesus in the Book of Isaiah. Showing the Christian-ness of the Hebrew Scriptures helps us see the unity of both Old and New Testaments and helps me explain the Jewish roots of Christianity and subtly deal with lingering elements of antisemitism.     Baruch Maoz blesses the one Church of Jesus Christ by encouraging Gentile and Jewish believers toward greater unity in teaching and practice.      Both volumes are available in electronic and print form (paperback).    I must admit that it is easy to forget electronic books, whether purchased ones or review copies. To aid my memory with something concrete, I use post-it notes on my kindle fire to remind me of longer-term projects and print off my "Received for Review" listings and put the paper reminder on my book shelf next to the physical books I also have to read, consider, and review.       The Rev. Paul J Cain is Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming, Headmaster of Martin Luther Grammar School, Yellowstone Circuit Visitor (LCMS Wyoming District), a member of the Board of Directors of The Consortium for Classical and Lutheran Education, Wyoming District Worship Chairman, and Editor of QBR.

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