« Back to Issue 35

Short Notes

By Paul Beasley-Murray and Alun Brookfield.

Katharine and Richard Hill have written a very useful guide called Rules of Engagement: How to Plan a Successful Wedding, How to Build a Marriage that Lasts (Lion/Care for the Family, 2005; 140pp; £6.99; ISBN 0 7459 4886 3). Thankfully, the book is more concise than the title! It’s an excellent guide to exactly what the title says, and contains a wealth of practical advice for couples pre-marriage, post-marriage and for the rest of their lives together. A perfect book to give to engaged couples. Buy 10 copies and lend them, but don’t expect to get them back!

Lion have published two guides to the world’s religions. The New Lion Handbook of the World’s Religions (Lion, Oxford, 2005; 495pp; £25; ISBN 0 7459 5128 7) is an excellent and thorough coverage of all the major faiths, along with articles exploring the nature of religion, and shorter looks at the less numerous beliefs. This is a fine reference book, but if you’re looking for something which will take you into more modern religions, then A Pocket Guide to Sects and New Religions (Lion, Oxford, 2005; 254pp; £9.99; ISBN 0 7459 5159 7) may suit your needs rather better. Both are worth having on your shelves.

Love: 100 readings in celebration of marriage and love (Canterbury Press, Norwich, 2005; 112pp; £9.99; ISBN 1 85311 600 9) compiled by Robert Atwell, is a most useful pastoral resource. As the author states in his introduction:  “The readings can stand alone and be used at weddings, engagement parties, the renewal of vows, and family celebrations, or be used privately for personal reflection”. Buy a copy with your next wedding fee!

Help, I’m a Pastor: a guide to parish ministry (Westminster John Knox, Louisville, Kentucky, 2005; 216pp; £10.99; ISBN 0 664 22895 X; available in the UK through SPCK) by Princeton Theological Seminary profreesor Richard Stoll Armstrong and Kirk Walter Morledge, a Presbyterian pastor, is essentially a basic guide for people studying for the ministry. Although written within the American scene, much is of relevance to the British scene too.

Mainline churches in the USA are in major decline, but is the decline terminal?  In  Chasing Down a Rumour: the death of mainline denominations (Augsburg Books, Minneapolis, 2005; 192pp; £8.99; ISBN 0 8066 5142 3; available in the UK through Alban Books of Edinburgh), Robert Bacher and Kenneth Inskeep, both denominational employees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, argue that the decline has been exaggerated. A somewhat specialist book, this carefully argued book has little relevance to the British scene.

Consuming Passion: Why the killing of Jesus really matters (Darton, Longman and Todd, London, 2005; 136pp; £10.95; ISBN 0 232 52607; ) edited by Simon Barrow and Jonathan Bartley, consists of twelve essays challenging the interpretation of the cross as evidenced in much evangelical and catholic teaching.   In particular the substitutionary doctrine of the atonement comes in for much stick, as does Mel Gibson’s film, ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Sadly, not one of this somewhat repetitive collection of essays actually wrestled with the multi-faceted New Testament teaching of the atonement.