There is no point to these books. kids that are 5-8 really dont care about sex and the consequences. They wont remember it, and by the time that they start to care, they will most likely be atheists anyway. God has nothing to do with sex. Your creationism ideals are old-fashioned and have no place in modern society. The facts are that the human race was produced from natural selection and survival of the fittest. Kids are going to have sex anyway, no matter how much you preach to them. You shouldn't force your childern into your own religious dogma. If you really need to teach children about sex talk to them yourselves instead of having a lifeless substitute.

My husband and I have two boys under the age of ten and we are facing issues with sex. Our children are hearing about sex from children at school and on the bus. We are a Christian family and want our children to have Christian views on something so important. We bought the whole series and our boys now have all the answers they need from us. Thank you so much for this series.

To the parents who wrote that children ARE NOT thinking about these issues, you are really fooling yourself and in denial. I'm certainly not pleased to be facing this topic with my seven year old, however children are questioning these issues a lot sooner than we ever did.
This book is a good tool to explain to an already inquisitive child.

"At the Heart of The Universe" is one man's stab at trying to condense orthodox Christian doctrine into one 170 page book. Starting from the "End Times" and working backwards -- because this methodology should allegedly make the theology of God's purpose and salvation (AKA soteriology) clearer -- all Jensen manages to do is bore and confuse. If you know absolutely nothing about Christian doctrine whatsoever, this book might be OK for a very quick precis. However, it /is/ one man's own theology with references, biblical and otherwise, mostly missing.

Women will be saddened to hear that Jensen also insists that we must call God by a male personal pronoun and that we must neither seek God's feminine side (God as Mother) nor must we remove the personal pronoun (Creator God). As far as I'm concerned, womankind can do without yet another Christian book which seeks to invalidate one of the most basic parts of our identity.

Bottom line, this book is tedious and sexist. It is only the fact of it's doctrinal orthodoxy which saves it from getting one star. Readers who want a *good* book on Christian theology by a conservative, orthodox Christian should rather put up with the 560 pages of Alister E. McGrath's "Christian Theology, An Introduction." This serves as a good reference book, is heavily cited, and much more intellectually honest.

Peter Jensen puts Jesus Christ in the centre of God's plans. This is not quite correct; the Bible puts Jesus in the centre of God's plans and Jensen just reports on it. If you accept the Bible as being the Word of God you will probably enjoy this book, if you do not accept the Bible as the Work of God you will certainly not like this book.

This book is literary in style, original in approach and comprehensive in scope given its brevity. Over five short chapters, Jensen, an Australian theologian, explicates Christian doctrine beginning from the end. The gospel of Christ is the driving force of the book. This book also has the advantage of being by a believer - it avoids the coldness of much theological writing and Jensen reveals a passion for his subject. Definitely worth a read.

The problem of theodicy (A word that doesn't appear in this book), how can an all powerful and loving God allow suffering and evil, is a question older than the Biblical text itself (The Sumerian poem: Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur, edited ca.1075 BCE). It is within the reality of life that the context of religious faith is put to the test and theological dogmas stand or fall. Such test is found in the Biblical book of Job, the cry for divine justice in Revelation and the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

Religious texts (such as the Bible) are usually read form one's sectarian/theological point of view and, as it is the case, the more conservative the interpreter, the more limited the application of the text for the communities of faith. It is in just such a context that I would place Layton Talbert's Not by Chance. In fact, Talbert's book has more in common with such Protestants apologists as John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards and Karl Barth than it an objective Historical Critical reading of the various theologies of God that make up the Bible itself. It is at this point that the reader needs to understand that Not by Chance is written by a Fundamental Baptist whose dogmatic theology sees the Bible in total harmony with itself under the authorship of a God who is reveled in progressive revelations. However, contrary to this view, the Biblical books of Samuel and Kings are retold form a different and often conflicting theological perspective in Chronicles. The ancient versions (Greek / Septuagint and Aramaic / Targums) present a continual update and advancement over the Hebrew / Masoretic view of God. While the authors of the first and early second centuries BCE give us a major revision of God's nature in the New Testament. One of the most effective evangelistic tools of the early Christians in relating the diety's nature to the Graco-Roman world was the use of the generic word "god" (Classical "theos") that enabled the Hellenistic world to read into Christianity many of the concepts of their local gods (see Acts 17:16-31). Instead of dealing with the underlying historical context of the nature of God in each book, Talbert cites verse after verse to bolster his point of the universal concept of God's "Providence" at the expense of the internal complexities of these different theologies. It is just such an apologetic stance that effectively limits the readership of this book.

Talbert seems obsessed with the word "Providence" even though he admits it the "word 'providence' occurs only once" in the Authorized Version (p. 28-9). Talbert's theological obsession with this word has him to include it in twelve chapters heading. In fact, I was left wondering why he didn't include it in the books title?

Talbert's strong dogmatic conservative view has not only limited him to a very restrictive bibliography, but when he must acknowledge other works on theodicy such as Rabbi Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People (p.22-3) Talbert uses a endnote to state:

Kushner cites the example of "an earthquake that kills thousands of innocent victims without reason" (p.59). Such statements display and unwitting arrogance, an assumed omniscience that (1) the victims are "innocent," and that (2) no good reason for such an event exists, simply because we cannot think of one. (P.268, note 23)

This type of theological reasoning shows a callous indifference to human suffering; be it the cancer victim or the devastation of mass starvation in Africa which I feel damages the underlying theology of the book.

In short, Not by Chance would have been better named, Providence: Learning to Accept a Fundamental Baptist Position. Talbert's book will have an audience, but he will be "Preaching to the choir" for the people who are willing to trade the true struggles of the Biblical authors over God's justice for a position of dogmatic apologetics. Harry H. McCall

Dr. Talbert's book is the best modern book on the providence of God. He skillfully, reverently, and humbly matches theology with reality in a way that helps us think God's thoughts and view life from His perspective. He divides the 322-page book into thirteen chapters that introduce, define, describe, and illustrate God's providence. The author explains in the preface, "I am not interested in propagating or defending any particular system of theology. The burden of this study is to investigate the testimony of Scripture, challenging all of us as God's people to conform our thinking and to adjust our attitudes to the plain utterances of God Himself" (x-xi). Appendix E, an essay entitled "Salvation: Divine Determination or Human Responsibility?", is itself worth the price of the book.

The back cover of Dr. Talbert's book reads, "The providence of God is the bedrock belief that enables us to confidently encounter life's tragedies, triumphs, and perplexities." I agree wholeheartedly, and the author's focus on God's word enabled me to do just that. In December 1998, my family was shocked to learn that my youngest brother Michael, who was three years old at the time, had cancer--Stage IV Neuroblastoma. The doctors warned us that Michael only had a ten percent chance to live. Over the next three and a half years, Michael endured chemotherapy, radiation, a bone marrow transplant, two major surgeries, monoclonal antibody treatments, and countless tests. After a tenacious battle with cancer, Michael went home to be with the Lord in heaven on March 30, 2002. Now he is safe in the arms of Jesus and will never experience pain or tears again. Dr. Talbert's book was a timely arrival for my family. After BJU Press released it just before Thanksgiving in 2001, I devoured it cover to cover over two full days. God also used the book to minister greatly to my grieving Mom. It was one of the means that taught my family to trust a sovereign God through the most difficult, heart-wrenching trial we have ever experienced.

Of all the branches of systematic theology, God's providence is arguably the most challenging to articulate. One contemporary theologian noted, "Probably the most difficult intellectual challenge to the Christian faith is the problem of how there can be evil in the world" (Millard Erickson, Christian Theology [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998], 436). Dr. Talbert uniquely presents substantive orthodox theology in a warmly devotional manner that meets human needs with God's words. He writes based on an unswerving commitment to the grammatical-historical meaning of the text and makes direct applications that are unarguable because they are so solidly based on Scripture.

One particular portion of Dr. Talbert's book that God used to align my impatience with His word was his discussion of God's governing providence in the life of Joseph. He writes, "God weaves delays into the pattern of life for my ultimate good. Think of delays from His perspective. We are so frantically time bound. God is not. . . . The point is, time is a worry only to us. It never has been to God. Learn to rest in Him, walk with Him, obey Him, and cultivate contentment wherever His Hand has put you now. He has a strategy, a purpose, a method--and all the power and persuasive tools necessary to do whatever he pleases" (78).

This is the type of book that one can read repeatedly with deeper benefit each time. God becomes so much bigger in our sight when we meditate on his preserving and governing providence: "God continuously preserves and maintains the existence of every part of His creation, from the smallest to the greatest, according to His sovereign pleasure. God graciously guides and governs all events, including the free acts of men and their external circumstances, and directs all things to their appointed ends for His glory" (34).

Dr. Layton Talbert has given us a treasure. Not By Chance feeds the soul with a deep and penetrating look at how God relates to this universe -- and to each of us. This book should be read slowly and thoughtfully. Every chapter is stocked with delicious, soul-nourishing morsels. Dr. Talbert shows great respect for the text of Holy Scripture. His scholarship is solid, not arrogant. (It's refreshing to find an author who doesn't force anti-supernatural presuppositions down our throats.) I picture the author sitting at his desk with an open Bible. I see him prayerfully reflecting on hundreds of biblical texts -- trying to understand what God intended rather than reading his own ideas into the text. As a result, an aroma of honesty, humility, and delight fills Dr. Talbert's work. Not By Chance is theology at its best -- Scriptural, practical, and life-changing.

I can only experience these books on tape. I truly wish that each of the books in this series would be unabridged on audiotape. I feel like I'm missing out on so many important details. The suspense is lacking in such a format. Please consider making the full, unabridged version of these books.

I have devoured all 6 volumes in realitively short time after their arrival. While I enjoy the fictional characters and story line, the presentation of these books gives me a great understanding of the life at all levels of the Revolutionary War. I detest getting near the end of each book - knowing that it will be some time before the opportunity arrives with the next volume. Vol 5 "Cold Bleak Hill" was my favorite. Just finishing vol. 6. Hopefully there will be at least one more great volume.

If you want an inside view of what it is like teaching at an inner city school, "Against the Current" will do it for you. The amazing part about this book is that the director of the program is a quadriplegic. I thought John Hockenberry's book, "No Highway" demonstrated a paraplegic with grit-The Urban Coolaborative Program director, Rob DeBlois, is an amazing individual and educator. As a 25 year middle school educator, I had a difficult time grasping the background of the middel school kids DeBlois and his staff had to deal with. If you want to learn about true poverty, Providence city schools and stellar educators, pick up "Against the Current."

I bought this book at a conference a few years ago where Ms. Tompkins was the featured speaker. I have since referred to this book time and again. Often after the Lord has revealed his plan (or a portion of that plan) for your life, there is a period of dryness, boredom, and discouragement. You've seen where He wants to take you, your "bags are packed," but nothing seems to be happening. This book addresses that in-between time. Ms. Tompkins uses the events in King David's life as a backdrop for each topic. She also provides examples from her own life. The book is only 137 pages and written in a larger-than usual font (looks like 12 or 14 point). I found it to be very comfortable to read. The style is conversational and very simple; the writing style doesn't obscure the message. The book is written from a Charismatic perspective, but the information that is presented is good for Christians from all persuasions. Here is a synopsis of each chapter:

1. The call. Discusses the nature of the call. Explains that we grow into our calling.

2. The anointing. Provides information on the anointing. Scripture references from the old and new testament are provided.

3. The release of the holy spirit. Talks about how God works so that you surrender to the work of the holy spirit. Also talks about what happens if you "step out" before you are ready to fulfill the call.

4. God's placements. Talks about the intermediary assignments and jobs you may have on the way to the fulfillment of the call. Talks about difficult placements.

5. Ministering at home. "Our families are our first mission field."

6. The only way to grow. Discusses the development of our character.

7. Warring to Win. Spiritual warfare.

8. Perspective of Praise. Discusses the importance of praise and worship.

9. Inquiring of the Lord. How to let the Lord fight our battles.

10. Ministering in Power. Talks about how powerful ministry can be if it is done in God's way at God's time.

11. Trusting our source. Trusting God.

12. Letting go. How to let go when God is ready to move you to another place.

13. Fear of the Lord. A few closing words on the fear (awe and respect) of the Lord.

A well written engaging book. Two criticism: not all Calvinists agree with his supralapsarian position, and even reform theologians say there is mystery to God's allowing the existence of sin. Also, insufficient citation of scripture to prove his points.. Consider AW Pink's book to read deeper (the Sovereignty of God)

A persuasive, cogent defense of the historic, evangelical position of God's Omnipotence and Omnisovereignty. You can't have one without the other. Recent contemporary attempts to finitize or downgrade what God supposedly can or can't do or know (such as open theism's deity who cannot have meticulous, definite, exhaustive, in toto, micro/macro knowledge of future free actions without rendering their decisions involuntary) need to re-examine their processistic preconceptions and compare them with the competition for inherent plausibility and faithfulness to the biblical record. Also, downgrading one attribute of God such as Omniscience automatically affects other attributes (Omnipotence, Omnipathy, Omnipresence, Omniwisdom) and His Whole Person. 'Tweaking one tweaks all'. This book, in conjunction with Millard Erickson's God the Father Almighty,and Paul Helm's Eternal God, is a must read!

With all the rampant "spiritual" sentimentalism and cushy ideas of God being propagated by sissified sermonetting sirens, Sprouls book, Almighty Over All, at once describes and defends the true nature and character of the Creator. The biblical account of who God is has been lost today by those seeking to dumb him down and make him "accessible" to the masses. Sproul's book corrects this idiocy by faithfully describing God as God desribed himself--in the Holy Scriptures. Read this book. Read and bow.

Generally speaking, these "four views" book are a very good resource the Christian struggling over controversial issues. However, this book falls short of truly presenting the possible options.

The problem is, the person presenting the Calvinism view is writing from a "high-Calvinism" or "supralapsarian" viewpoint. This was the viewpoint of John Calvin. And the main idea in this view is that before ("supra") the Fall ("lapse"), to glorify Himself, God decided to create humanity so that He could save some of them while damning others. The saved would then glorify God for their salvation when seeing the plight of the damned.

However, this viewpoint is NOT the viewpoint that most Calvinists subscribe to, nor is it the position of the Westminster Confession. The view of most Calvinists and the Confession is "low-Calvinism" or "sublapsarianism."

In this view, to glorify Himself and to extend His love, God created humanity. Then, AFTER ("sub") the Fall, God looked down the corridors of time and decided that out of the mass of sinful humanity He would, by His grace, save some while rightly damning the others for their sin. So this view does not have God creating people in order to damn them as the high-Calvinist view does. There are also other important differences between these two views.

Now in this book most of the arguments the non-Calvinists present against the Calvinist are actually directed towards the areas of Calvinism in which high-Calvinists and low-Calvinists disagree. IOW, the anti-Calvinists arguments would not apply to the version of Calvinism that most Calvinists subscribe to.

So when reading this book, one would not learn what the majority Calvinist viewpoint entails or proposed arguments against it. But my book "Scripture Workbook: For Personal Bible Study and Teaching the Bible" does present this majority view in three chapters on God's Sovereignty and the five points of Calvinism. And these chapters include hundreds of Scripture verses upholding the low-Calvinist viewpoint while refuting proposed arguments against it.

Given this omission of the predominate Calvinist view, I wouldn't particularly recommend "Predestination and Free Will." But if one does get it, then also get a book like mine that presents the low-Calvinist position.

Though I would tend to agree with Dr. Feinberg's view of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, the overall volume was written in too much of a philosophical fashion. The book reads like a university or college philosophy text, rather than a theological treatise. The authors write like philosophers and not like theologians (though Feinberg, Geisler, and Pinnock are theologians). Feinberg advocates the "mild" Calvinist perspective; Geisler advocates the traditional Arminian perspective; Reichenbach advocates a view where God limits His power for the allowance of human freedom; and Pinnock advocates the position where God does not know the future. All but Pinnock's essay are fairly well-written. Pinnock tends to get too emotional and basis his beliefs on human sentimentalities. Overall, though, a good place to start in understanding four views of divine sovereignty and human freedom in Christianity.

This book is one of the first attempts to commingle opposing views on one of the most acute issues in theology : how an Almighty God can control events and yet leave people 'free' enough to be responsible. Putting full weight on the sovereignity of God is John Feinberg, who proposes that God controls everything with nothing having been left out of His will. In this view, all of Man's actions have been ordained since eternity and nothing escapes His determining.

At the extreme opposite is Clark Pinnock coming in with his now very popular (and strong) thesis that God's project of creation involves bestowing humans with the power of agency and genuine creativity; the future is 'open' and God can be genuinely surprised and disappointed by His creatures. In between Feinberg and Pinnock, we have Norman Geisler proposing a model in which God's desires still cannot be disappointed in spite of the genuinely free - the technical word used throughout is 'contra-causal' - actions of people (in the sense that everything that ever happened and will happen falls within the plan of God) and Bruce Reichenbach defending probably the most popular view around: that God does not get everything He desired because His mode of governance does not consist of controlling every iota in existence, but rather involves delegation. Both uphold exhaustive foreknowledge.

I was impressed with Feinberg's introduction to the various possibilities involved with the word 'can'. Still I felt it wasn't necessary since the whole issue revolves around the fact that whatever we do has been 'fed into' and 'determined' for us since eternity and done so in an unconditional way. We can define freedom whatever way we care to, but the fact that God's determining hand has an UNCONDITIONAL role completely rules out whatever defense Feinberg's theology can have for our accountability towards evil.

The best portion in Geisler's writings was his exposition of self-determinism (with which I'm sure Pinnock and Reichenback would agree). I think he hit the hammer on the head by his assertion that it is meaningless to ask what 'caused' the actor to choose his actions. This is like asking how God created the world ex nihilo. And I think this adds damage to Feinberg's case, because he (Feinberg) fails to consider that there is an irreducible element of 'self' in any meaningful talk of personal choices - and that this element simply cannot be 'pointed to'. Feinberg's constant requests for what caused a choice shows some kind of 'metaphysical Newtonianism', IMO. Almost like asking, "What CAUSED him to fall in love with his wife?". However, Geisler seems to be reveling in the contradiction of taking the strong points of determinism and indeterminism, juxtaposing them together and leaving it at that (as Reichenbach carefully points out). Nevertheless he has a wonderful habit of first stating on what points he agreed with the author he's criticising. That's quite a gracious move, I must say.

Reichenbach presents a rather 'heavy-going' but clearly argued essay on how God has opted not for meticulous control but broad governance of His universe (something like the mayor of a city who delegates responsibility to his subordinates). Only the staunchest determinist would find problems with Reichenback's argument that God grants us freedom within limits to fulful our given role as stewards of the created order. Overall, I think many Arminian Christians would hold to Reichenbach's view which, except for his view on foreknowledge, could be easily added to Pinnock's essay without contradiction. Unfortunately, I felt his criticism of Pinnock's theory that God cannot 'know' free future actions, to have missed the point. Pinnock wasn't so much saying that God can't predict future actions, just that some future actions cannot be infallibly known (God's repentance documented so many times in Scripture should make this clear).

As for Pinnock, what can I say? He writes like a music-lover simultaneously enjoying and explaining a symphony to a friend. I think most open theists (like me) would've preferred a presentation more solidly grounded in Scripture but as a beautiful description of the creative project God has decided to embark on and of the 'flower of human freedom' He has blessed His people with, Pinnock's essay is quite second to none. He may not convince anyone not willing to let go of God's total foreknowledge but his work does have an emotional, and almost surreal, appeal to our hearts.

For the Calvinist, this book will be a good challenge to (and, hopefully, a source for modification of) your ideas. I think many will agree that Feinberg seems almost 'lost for words' throughout. Determinism is really a dead-end; the power of God may be upheld but it is a great cost to His love and our understanding of evil. For the Arminian, Reichenbach's work add sufficient intellectual support to your beliefs. Ironically, Geisler's explanation of 'self-determinism' can be fully integrated into your understanding of humanity without accepting his odes to determinism (just read what Reichenbach has to say). For the open theist, there are probably better places to look if you want more support for the non-actual ontological status of the future in the present. But Geisler and Reichenbach still provide necessary criticisms of the theory and implications that God may not know all the future, and it's always good to know the possible problems with our position. For the 'general reader', do get this book for a solid introduction to the issues involves and the arguments and assumptions employed by the various theological camps.

And no, we're not 'ordained from eternity' to read this book but let's put some of our human agency to good use and self-determine to dig in and think through the kind of world (and life) God has created for us.

It is too bad the author had a fire, but life goes on. I thought it was shallow and materialistic, and it makes Jews look stereotypical.

Some may contend that rabbi Dosick's book leaves something to be desired because it deals with material loss, rather than with the loss of a loved one. But possessions do have emotional value, and losing everything one owns in a fire does hurt. The author faces the doubts that his loss raised about his faith in God, and his journey to resolve these doubts is worth following. Although there are no easy or obvious answers, rabbi Dosick's suggestions can help readers cope more effectively with whatever kinds of loss and doubt they may face.

the last third is very good. The book has several good meditative moments and some good prayers and poetry. The Rabbi does a nice job of explaining the reasons for faith in God by the individual. I would suggest this book for readers from age 18 onward.

There's a staggering range of emotion here: from apocalyptic doom, to fearful survival, to irascible and choleric comedy, to wrenching simplicity of striving towards good, and bringing about a cataclysm. Humanity or, better still, human history personified... God's Grace is like Swift's Gulliver's travels: simple enough to captivate a casual reader, deep enough to drown a philosopher. A moving masterpiece.

This book is a delightful tragicomedy that mixes elements of Robinson Crusoe and the Book Genesis built upon a tastefully disguised post-modern stage.

The paleontologist Cohn is the sole human survivor of the nuclear holocaust. Together with a chimp, Buz, he lands upon an uninhabited island. The chimp has an implant that enables human communication. More monkeys appear. Cohn tries to establish a society. Having studied for the rabbinate Cohn teaches his Judaic world-view, but faces opposition from Buz whose previous human companion thought him the principles of Christianity. Cohn tries to recreate the monkeys in his own image, and goes as far as formulating his own set of seven commandments and creating his own addition to the scheme of evolution. But alas, paradise is lost again.

While it is not surprising that previous reviewers have mostly focused on the religious aspects involved in the story -too bad that anti-Semitism always lurks right around the corner- this short novel is way beyond a satire of religion. Using a very light and smooth writing style Malamud presents the reader with a narrative in which humor, horror, grace and mystery blend seamlessly. A modern classic.

Calvin Cohn, a Jewish paleontologist, son of a rabbi, is the only human survivor of a thermonuclear disaster. He has to content himself with the company of a few chimps and baboons. God is responsible for this second flood and He blames humans for destroying nature; Cohn has survived due to an error and he is let to live and make the best he can. In this scenario of desolation, Cohn becomes a god-like creature, he believes he can recreate the world, impose a new social order based on high moral and spiritual values, hard working, order, aiming to turn his fellow chimps into a better lot than humans. Amongst the chimps there is "Buz", a Christian who has been taught how to speak, sweet "Mary Madelyn" the only reproductive female of the group, "Esau" the nonconformist, a mysterious albino ape, and the cast-out gorilla "George" who is enchanted by the cantor's singing...

This a novel heavy in meanings, in the use of parables, fables and allegories. Following Malamud's pessimistic outlook on human nature, Cohn is just one more of his characters standing in a long line of losers, an individual who fears his fate and becomes the object of ridicule and pity. In his disguised reincarnation of Adam, Moses, and finally Christ, Cohn symbolizes the necessity of gaining moral wisdom through suffering. In a metaphorical language and fantastic-like "Chagall" prose, Malamud creates a thought-disturbing novel, an account of human nature fragile standing, and a celebration to its strenghts as well as a lament to its weaknesses.