book review

A Selection of my 2023 Reading

by Ben Zornes · Dec 6, 2023

Here are a few books I worked (or am still working) through from this past year or so.

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A very insightful treatment of Tolkien’s legendarium. My favorite takeaway is learning that Tolkien drew inspiration for Gandalf from St. Boniface.

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A short survey detailing what we know about the lives of the Apostles and other NT figures after the book of Acts ends. It was quite informative, but in some places seemed overly cynical about some church tradition regarding various figures. While there is certainly plenty of exaggerations in some of the tales that are told, we also shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss. Overall, a good introduction to some of the VERY early church history.

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I’m still working through this volume, but it is very rewarding so far. It is well-researched, and paints a vibrant picture of the Anglo-Saxons.

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I picked this up to pursue a thread that I’m more and more convinced of: the unity of the 12 minor prophets. This book scratches the surface of that theses, and provides some helpful commentary on each of the minor prophets. There are some interpretive differences I would take with regarding eschatology.

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A very good book, despite its Roman Catholic bias, it retained an evangelical heart. Great refresher course on early church fathers.

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Fantastic. A great commentary on Daniel, with a bunch more rabbit trails defending the preterist view.

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A useful book for preachers. The subtitle says it all.

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The book itself is a bit clunky (suffers from poor editing and formatting). HOWEVER, it is a really fun look at how the Scriptures alone provide us a complete chronology from Adam down to Christ.

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Nothing too in depth here, a bit pedestrian. But Motyer is generally an author worth reading.

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Led a men’s book discussion through this one. Helpful for that sort of setting, and generated good conversations.

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A very good book on church history. All the volumes are worth having, even just for reference materials.

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I have not completed this book yet, but I find myself sampling the punch in this bowl more and more regularly. It’s quite good; and even where I differ, Rushdoony always gives a lot of food for thought.

1 Minute Book Review (Episode 07)| Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn

by Ben Zornes · Aug 16, 2023

A great book retelling the true story of a peculiar friendship between the author and a psychopath.

Book Review: “Hillbilly Elegy” by JD Vance

by Ben Zornes · Mar 6, 2023

https://amzn.to/3kOyMzN

Book Review – “The Rise & Triumph of the Modern Self” by Carl Trueman

by Ben Zornes · Feb 21, 2023

Another one minute book review. Enjoy!

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Book Review: “Black Rednecks & White Liberals” by Thomas Sowell

by Ben Zornes · Apr 8, 2021

Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sowell was like a skilled chef, everything cooked to perfection, seasoned beautifully, and something for every palette. If you can’t enjoy it, it’s because you choose to hate great food, and you probably prefer Kale chips to potato chips, and would somehow enjoy eating bread made from sawdust. There is a multitude of fascinating takeaways, and Sowell takes us back through history to show that “black culture” is really Scottish clan culture. He makes a compelling defense of why America isn’t an inherently racist country, and explains why the Founders weren’t perpetuating racism by not ending slavery at our founding. Contrary to the statue smashers over in Portland, the Founders laid the groundwork for ending slavery.

Perhaps the most poignant point which Sowell makes is that while every ethnicity has at one time been enslaved, and in turn enslaved others, it was only in the West that this temptation to enslave our fellow man was overcome. It was the cause of liberty which ensured the eventual end of slavery not only in the West but (almost) throughout the whole world. Ironically, it is in places where Western values are not predominant that slavery still exists (I would assert it would be more accurate to say Christian ethics). However, current narratives regarding race/slavery would have us believe that America’s founders simply perpetuated/entrenched slavery, rather than planting the seeds of liberty which would grow the fruit of abolition of the institution of slavery. This book is a potent antidote to the woke-sorcery which has beguiled our universities, press, and culture.

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Book Review: “Debating the Text” by Douglas Wilson & James White

by Ben Zornes · Feb 20, 2020

Debating the Text of the Word of God by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’d liken this book to a fencing match between two friends. They practice their swordplay, and are both skilled in the art, but each takes a different tact. However, their fencing is no mere hobby, but it is training for warfare. The Word of God is under continual assault from without the church and within. Unbelieving lions would like to undermine the integrity/reliability of the text of Scripture, while wolves from within endeavor to wrest the Scriptures.

Wilson and White each care deeply about the Bible. That is manifestly evident in this debate. Where they differ is which manuscriptsâ€“â€“and more broadly, which manuscript traditionâ€“â€“should be understood as the original text of inspired Scripture.

Pastor Wilson holds to the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Text type; while Dr. White believes there is still a “backlog” of textual criticism to be done to get the Church to the original text, and approves the Nestle-Aland/UBS Text as the sort of “jumping off” point for this endeavor. Neither denies that the Church does indeed have the authoritative, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. Rather they contend over the various discrepancies between the manuscripts, as well as what the Church’s process should be for how to make those determinations.

The audiobook is read by both gentlemen, which was a nice touch. There are points where the format of the debate seemed to leave them “talking past” the other. But I have it on good authority that these gents will be continuing the conversation in other venues in the near future. For those who need a good introduction to the Xs & Os of textual criticism and manuscript traditions, this is a helpful starting place; namely because these are two men who both desire the church to submit to the Word of her Lord, whatever He says.

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Book Review: “The Gluten Lie” by Alan Levinovitz

by Ben Zornes · Jan 7, 2020

The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths About What You Eat by Alan Levinovitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My record on food fussiness is well established. In short, I think we should eat just about everything with gratitudeâ€“â€“even processed foods. Those who invoke the verse about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Ghost to justify their food anxieties and fears need the gentle correction of a holy raspberry.

Yes, now I remember, this is a book review. The Gluten Lie traces how food myths gain credence and become gospel, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. For instance, in the 80s we were told, “Fat is bad.” Then come to find out, it was the scientific studies funded by the margarine companies that were actually bad. Levinovitz has done a lot of deep diving on the complicated relationships between food, science, politics, dietitians, and how the general public is often having its chain yanked by the representatives of these various interest groups.

Perhaps his most helpful insight is how so many dietary gurus turn food and the enjoyment thereof into a sort of religious system. Priests declare foods clean or unclean, and if you eat “bad” food you must repent by purging out the unwholesome. For a faithful Protestant, we should have no qualms about saying, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, so pass the gravy.” Instead, many Christians have gone along with the crunchy trends, thinking that they are pursing sanctification, wen in fact they are following an alternative religion.

A really helpful book on how to think about food, and about the many food myths that snake oil salesmen are peddling.