30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fine Guide to Understanding the Bible, July 27, 2010
This review is from: The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story (Paperback)
A sign stated: "Hire a teenager while he still knows everything." Most of my life, in much of what I was interested in, I thought I had all the answers. I did not have all the answers then, and I still do not have them. But God has given me enough wisdom in knowing that I do not know it all and I need His word found in scripture. And Donald Arthur Carson (D. A. Carson: evangelical theologian; PhD, University of Cambridge; professor of New Testament Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; author of 50+ books) in "The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story" has delivered a fine outline of the meaning and purpose of God revealed in the Old and New Testaments. This is a God-centered book aimed to help the reader discern his personal place in God's plan.
Many people including some Christians fail to understand the essential teachings of scripture. They often focus on a salvation by personal merit and often do not properly comprehend that Jesus and His work are the focal points of all of God's word. Professor Carson has given the reader an outstanding tool to develop a basic understanding of the Bible.
The good professor states: "As Christians grow in holy living, they sense their own inherent moral weakness and rejoice that whatever virtue they possess flourishes as the fruit of the Spirit."
This volume provides answers to:
- How can we recognize the main thrust of God's story in scripture and history?
- How I learn the most important truths of the Bible?
- How can I know and apply the essentials of the Christian faith?
The author adds: "Jesus is hungry but feeds others; He grows weary but offers others rest; He is the King Messiah but pays tribute; He is called the devil but casts out demons; He dies the death of a sinner but comes to save His people from their sins; He is sold for thirty pieces of silver but gives His life a ransom for many; He will not turn stones to bread for Himself but gives His own body as bread for people."
Herein the reader discovers a readable and very useful work on the basic introduction to Christianity as Dr. Carson guides you through a large-view of God's Word that is an excellent resource for personal devotions, bible study groups, and Church classes.
Dr. Carson observes: "The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it."
Endorsed by Tim Keller and many other influential Evangelicals.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The God Who is There, August 15, 2010
This review is from: The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story (Paperback)
I have just finished reading The God Who is There by D.A. Carson. I don't think that any words I put here, will do justice to Carson's renderings. The subtitle of his book is "Finding Your Place in God's Story", and I can't think of a more adequate or accurate description than that for this book. Carson begins, effectively, at the Beginning--Genesis. From there, he takes his readers through nearly every book, every genre of literature present in scriptures to build a foundation for the truth that God is a God Who is There. Carson doesn't miss a thing as evidenced by his Chapter Titles. For example, Chapter 9 is titled "The God who Loves", and 4 chapters later, he titles his 13th chapter "The God who is Very Angry".
The author is unafraid to take on the difficult and dense passages that others may have a tendency to shy away from. For instance, he acknowledges the tight arguments in Romans 3 as being "condensed", and then explains that to fully experience Paul's meaning, one must carefully examine these scriptures word by word. Also, Carson does an excellent job exploring the literary features of each genre, which in turn lends credibility to his interpretations.
A must-read.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Carson Wins Again with The God Who is There, September 4, 2010
This review is from: The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story (Paperback)
This year I have been teaching my kids the game of baseball. When one stops to consider, there are a lot of rules in this game: three outs, nine innings, four balls, fly outs, tag outs, force outs, relief pitchers, pitch hitters, singles, doubles, triples, home runs, infield fly rule, ad infinitum.
For years I have also been teaching my kids about a much more important subject, namely, the Bible. The Bible is a little bit like baseball. Again consider, there is an awful lot of information in the Book! Commandments and covenants, warnings and worship, promises and parables, sacrifices and substitution, prophets and predestination, tabernacles and temples. You get the idea. A little bit intimidating for a rookie Bible reader.
D.A. Carson invites readers to "Spring Training" in his newest book, The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story. He assumes that many readers will "step up to the plate" with little or no knowledge of the Bible. So unlike most of Carson's other books, this little gem is designed specifically for new believers and folks who have never been to the "ball park"; folks who are new to the content of the Bible.
Carson begins where the Bible begins - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." His first pitch may be difficult for postmodern people to handle. God made everything. He is the Creator. He is the first cause. In many ways, the first chapter is one of the most (or perhaps the most important) chapter in the book. Carson carefully and gently refutes evolutionary theory. And he shares some simple and undeniable truths about God:
* God simply is
* God made everything that is non-God
* There is only one of him
* God is a talking God
* Everything God makes is good - very good
* God comes to an end of his creative works, and he rests
* The creation proclaims his greatness and his glory
Carson continues by contrasting the Creator with the creature:
* We are made in the image of God
* We were made male and female
* The man and his wife were innocent
The author clearly delineates the Creator-creator distinction and continues to articulate a biblical anthropology in chapter two. Man has fallen and has rebelled against a good God. He makes it clear that sin is more than merely "breaking rules." Carson writes, "What is at stake here is something deeper, bigger, sadder, uglier, more heinous. It is a revolution. It makes me god and thus de-gods God."
Sinful man has been separated from God. Therefore his greatest need is reconciliation and forgiveness. We need someone to save us from our sins. The rest of the book unfolds how God saves sinful people. Carson skillfully weaves his way through Scripture to demonstrate how God keeps his promise in Genesis 3 and Genesis 12. The chapter titles give a general idea of the book's flow:
1. The God Who Made Everything
2. The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels
3. The God Who Writes His Own Agreements
4. The God Who Legislates
5. The God Who Reigns
6. The God Who is Unfathomably Wise
7. The God Who Becomes a Human Being
8. The God Who Grants the New Birth
9. The God Who Loves
10. The God Who Dies - and Lives Again
11. The God Who Declares the Guilty Just
12. The God Who Gathers and Transforms His People
13. The God Who Is Very Angry
14. The God Who Triumphs
This book has many strengths worth discussing. But the chief strength is the author's ability to present the biblical meta-narrative and make sense of the puzzle pieces that emerge in Scripture. Carson make a compelling case for the Christian worldview and accurately describes the flow of redemptive history.
The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story is a book that can be utilized at multiple levels. Most importantly, the book should be utilized in personal evangelism and small groups. Video content may be downloaded at [...].
Readers who have never "been to the park" should check out D.A. Carson's book. It truly is an invitation to the "big game."
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