New Book
Let me tell you about A Table in the Mist. It’s different than The Lord’s Service. That book was written for pastors and educated elders. It has a lot of footnotes and uses a great deal of technical theological language and “insider” Reformed lingo. Of course, it can be read with profit by those without extensive theological training, but it can be tough going. Many pastors and seminary students have written me with words of thanks - a lot more than I ever imagined. But it is not very accessible to those outside of the guild, so to speak.
A Table in the Mist is different. It has little or no academic decoration. There are no footnotes. It does not read like an academic commentary. I did not cite every reference or refer to all of my sources in the body of the text. This commentary is written for everyone in the church because everyone in the church needs the message of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is the “Old Testament” book of faith. It is the pinnacle of Solomon’s mature reflections on life as a believer. It was not written by a cynic or by Solomon pretending to be one. Solomon does not temporarily adopt a pagan perspective on the frustrations of life without God in order to win people to Yahweh. Nothing like that. When Solomon says, “Everything is vapor,” he speaks wisely as a Christian about his place in God’s world. You’ll just have to read the book to find out more.
Christmas Present
Thursday, November 30, 2006
