Preach Magazine Issue 5 - Preaching to the unconverted | Page 45

REVIEWS

Who on Earth is God?

Honest Evangelism

Neil Richardson, Bloomsbury (2014)

Rico Tice, The Good Book Company
(2015)

Making sense of God in the Bible

Here is a book for every thinking Christian willing to face up to the
challenge of honest biblical interpretation, especially with regard
to the many and varied views about God which it is possible,
selectively, to cull from the pages of holy writ.
The author faces up to the issues posed by those passages which
present a picture of a wrathful and jealous God and helps us to
understand why they are there and how, historically, there were
those in Israel who perceived their inadequacy and moved on
to deeper concepts, helping us to see a distinction between the
‘real God’ and the God of the Bible. The peaks and troughs of Old
Testament understandings of God are addressed in a rational way
and are seen as leading on to the fuller revelation of God in Christ
as discerned by the various New Testament writers, who all give
their different perspectives.
So the book is essentially a search for the ‘real God’ to be found
the varied understandings of him/her as recorded in the different
kinds of scriptures in both Testaments. The conclusion arrived
at expresses the conviction that the ‘God’ of the Old and New
Testament texts points to the ‘real God’, that the revelation of God
in Jesus Christ is, for Christians, definitive, and that Jesus is the
key to the whole of the Bible. The ‘real God’ is a God of love with all
the implications this involves for the world, the Church and the
individual.
This book will be of help to preachers in their task of biblical
interpretation and to lay people wishing to expand their biblical
understanding. While it is not in any way a book that would claim
to tackle philosophical issues such as theism, nevertheless these
are dealt with in the appropriate context as the meanings of the
scriptures are wrestled with. The book is to be warmly commended
also to serious study groups. Questions for discussion are provided
at the end of each chapter, as are references to other key books
related to the subject. The author is a Methodist scholar of the
highest reputation and the book deserves a wide circulation.
RICHARD FIRTH

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This book may be short in pages but it is very long in
its wisdom and its practical advice to all Christians
who want to know how to evangelise. On the surface
it is a very easy read, but deceptively so – it contains
profound truths that repay deep study. It is not without
its challenges but each one is fully explored and advice
offered as to how they can be overcome.
The subtitle is ‘How to talk about Jesus even when it’s
tough’, and that’s exactly it. All of us as Christians and
disciples who have taken up the cross to follow Jesus
are beholden to witness for him. It is part of the Great
Commission. But it is no easy task to do. In fact being a
Christian is probably the hardest thing any of us can do
if we are going to do it properly. Every day we are faced
with challenges to which we have to respond – moral,
ethical, philosophical, sociological, religious – and there
is the often overwhelming feeling that our response
falls short of the required mark. But at the very least
we have to try to respond as Jesus would and also, at
the very least, we have to be alive to any opportunity to
witness for him.
Every Christian should read this book (and that’s praise
indeed) from the ‘ordinary’ (whatever that is) person in
the pew to the minister taking the service. It offers clear,
practical guidelines, backed up by Scripture and leads
the reader step by step into a position whereby he has
the confidence and the tools to evangelise. The back of
the book contains some very useful resources. However,
it doesn’t pull its punches. It is honest that telling people
about Jesus can be painful and harmful and can lead
to all sorts of problems. But at the same time it’s a
most wonderful, joyous thing to do that brings its own
rewards that are everlasting.
RAY TAYLOR