New books …

Terry Mattingly discusses two books related to journalism and religion: Witness to the Truth: Lessons Learned by a Veteran Journalist through Four Decades of Watching the Church, by Louis Moore, and Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church, by Russell Shaw:

“‘I have seen church people . . . violate every one of the Ten Commandments, act boorish and selfish, be prejudiced, broadcast secular value systems and in general behave worse than the heathen people they tried to reach,’ noted Moore. In fact, just ‘name some sin or some act the Bible eschews, and I could pair that vice up with some church leader or member I have known.’”

Dan Wallace introduces a new book on biblical Greek he has written, which deals with the deity of Christ and other important topics: Granville Sharp’s Canon and Its Kin: Semantics and Significance:

“Besides affirming the deity of Christ in both of these passages, the book deals with constructions that do not fit Sharp’s rule and have a different force. “Pastors and teachers” in or “apostles and prophets” in are discussed at length, for example.”

At the Conventicle, yours truly shares about a witty history of the New England puritans: Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates.

And at the 9Marks blog, Deepak Reju recommends How People Change, by Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp. Says Mark Dever,

“This book is applied theology. It’s about heat, thorns, the cross, and fruit. It’s about present grace.”