CultureWatch

Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day...

A review of Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. By Rob Bell.

Sep 7, 2006

Zondervan, 2005.

It is an unfortunate but oft-repeated habit that trends and fads in the world tend to be slavishly picked up and replicated by the church, even if a few years down the track. Instead of setting the pace,

A review of The Missing Gospels. By Darrell Bock.

Sep 6, 2006

Nelson, 2006.

Darrell Bock is one of our finest contemporary New Testament scholars. As a conservative evangelical, he is well placed to take on the latest trends and fads of liberal and radical theology. He did this quite well recently

A review of Exodus. By Douglas Stuart.

Sep 3, 2006

Broadman & Holman, 2006.

Exodus is a pivotal book, a key volume not only in the Pentateuch but in the whole of the Hebrew bible. And Douglas Stuart is a first rate evangelical Old Testament scholar (who has already penned

A Different Perspective on Abortion

Sep 1, 2006

With 45 to 50 million abortions performed annually around the globe, one can rightly speak of an abortion holocaust. This is something everyone, and especially Christians, should be greatly concerned about. Sadly however, many believers do not seem aware of,

Law and Gospel: Getting the Right Mix

Aug 24, 2006

The theological issue of the relationship between law and gospel is far too complex and has had way too much ink spilled over it for me to do it any real justice here. Simply trying to get an understanding of

Decoding the Code

May 18, 2006

Fans of Dan Brown’s bestseller will be pleased to know that The Da Vinci Code film is fairly faithful to the book. It’s a pity though that neither the book nor the film are faithful to history or to the

A review of Breaking the Da Vinci Code. By Darrell Bock.

May 15, 2006

Nelson 2004.

With over 40 million copies sold into 44 languages (as of May 2006), the Brown blockbuster has certainly made an impact. And the May 2006 film version simply adds to the book’s success. But the book is as

A review of Creed Without Chaos: Exploring Theology in the Writings of Dorothy L. Sayers. By Laura Simmons.

May 3, 2006

Baker, 2005.

Most people, when they hear of Dorothy Sayers, immediately think of her delightful detective novels based around Lord Peter Wimsey. But she was much more than another Agatha Christie. She was also a superb thinker and committed Christian.

The Gospel According to Dan Brown

Apr 26, 2006

With over 40 million copies sold worldwide, translated into 44 languages, and a blockbuster film due out in mid-May, The Da Vinci Code has made Dan Brown a very wealthy man. But a whirlwind of controversy has surrounded his novel,

A review of The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in the Da Vinci Code. By Michael Green.

Apr 26, 2006

Monarch Books, 2005.

There are a number of good books out which critique the many fallacies and inaccuracies in Dan Brown’s best selling novel. The books by Darrell Bock and Ben Witherington come to mind here. But this volume does

A review of The Many Faces of Evil. By John Feinberg.

Feb 10, 2006

Crossway, 2004.

Evil and suffering are perennial problems which baffle theist and atheist alike. But the presence of evil in the world is a real challenge to those who believe in an all-powerful and an all-benevolent God. Thus the problem

A review of What Does God Know and When Does He Know It? By Millard Erickson.

Feb 3, 2005

Zondervan, 2003.

The debate over openness theology or free-will theism continues to bubble along nicely. Books both for and against continue to pour from the presses. In the past two decades some thirty volumes have been penned directly on this

Responding to the Theological Revisionists

Nov 1, 2004

The Age is not usually known as a journal of theological opinion. Thus one is curious as to why it featured Nicholas Kristof’s piece on the Bible and homosexuality (The Age, 1/11). The subtitle warns of the dangers of

A review of Does Christianity Teach Male Headship?. Edited by David Blankenhorn, et. al.

Jul 24, 2004

Eerdmans, 2004.

The issue of the relationship between men and women is a vexed and complex issue. Plenty of volumes have been written on this contentious debate. Does Scripture teach a patriarchal model, or an egalitarian model, or indeed, some

A review of Love Rules: The Ten Commandments for the 21st Century. By the Church and Nation Committee.

Jun 8, 2004

Presbyterian Church of Victoria, 2004.

Quiz time. When was the last time you read a book on the ten commandments? Indeed, when was the last time you read the ten commandments? Better still, can you name all ten commandments?

False Prophets: Lessons for Today?

Dec 1, 2003

It has often been noted that the most liked people in the Old Testament were the false prophets. How come? Simply because the false prophets told the people what they wanted to hear. Did the masses want to hear about

A review of Old Testament Commentary Survey, 3rd ed. By Tremper Longman.

Nov 29, 2003

Baker, 2003.

It is a great joy to finally have available the third edition of Tremper Longman’s fine review of Old Testament commentaries. It has been a long wait since the 1995 second edition.

Again Longman offers judicious and careful

A review of A Grief Unveiled. By Gregory Floyd.

Sep 26, 2003

Paraclete Press, 1999.

It is the stuff of every parent’s nightmare: the shrill scream, the loud screeching brakes, the heart pounding as you run out the door, expecting the worst. Every day, somewhere around the world, a child is hit

A Theological Dead End

Apr 22, 2003

Three guesses as to who said the following: “Even in purely nonreligious terms, homosexuality represents a misuse of the sexual faculty and, in the words of one…educator, of ‘human construction.’ It is a pathetic little second-rate substitute for reality,

A review of The Letters to the Thessalonians. By Gene Green.

Feb 6, 2003

Eerdmans, 2002.

While there have been a number of good commentaries produced on Thessalonians over the years, there have been no quite recent works of substance. Somewhat older evangelical standards include Morris (NIC, 1959), Bruce (WBC, 1982), and Wanamaker (NIGTC,

About CultureWatch

We live in an age where we see evidence of cultural decline, the erosion of values, the decline of civility, the denial of truth and the elevation of unreason. Many people are asking, “Where is our culture heading?” This website is devoted to exploring the major cultural, social and political issues of the day. It offers reflection and commentary drawing upon the wealth of wisdom found in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It offers reflective and incisive commentary on a wide range of issues, helping to sort through the maze of competing opinions, worldviews, ideologies and value systems. It will discuss critically and soberly where our culture is heading. Happy reading!

Bill Muehlenberg

CultureWatch

Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day...

A review of Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. By Rob Bell.

A review of The Missing Gospels. By Darrell Bock.

A review of Exodus. By Douglas Stuart.

A Different Perspective on Abortion

Law and Gospel: Getting the Right Mix

Decoding the Code

A review of Breaking the Da Vinci Code. By Darrell Bock.

A review of Creed Without Chaos: Exploring Theology in the Writings of Dorothy L. Sayers. By Laura Simmons.

The Gospel According to Dan Brown

A review of The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in the Da Vinci Code. By Michael Green.

A review of The Many Faces of Evil. By John Feinberg.

A review of What Does God Know and When Does He Know It? By Millard Erickson.

Responding to the Theological Revisionists

A review of Does Christianity Teach Male Headship?. Edited by David Blankenhorn, et. al.

A review of Love Rules: The Ten Commandments for the 21st Century. By the Church and Nation Committee.

False Prophets: Lessons for Today?

A review of Old Testament Commentary Survey, 3rd ed. By Tremper Longman.

A review of A Grief Unveiled. By Gregory Floyd.

A Theological Dead End

A review of The Letters to the Thessalonians. By Gene Green.

Copyright

Useful Links

Newsfeeds

Billmuehlenberg.com