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Book Review- Taking God at His Word

Whenever you set out to teach a topic you have a myriad of challenges in front of you. What does the Bible say? What have other teachers written about this? How does it apply? When someone attempts to do this well, that is faithfully and accessibly, it is a daunting task—for most of us. Kevin DeYoung, however, seems to be a bit different. He’s able to tackle complex and urgent matters faithfully and accessibly.

You could argue that the most pressing issue for the church is to be clear on is the Bible. What we need today is to have confidence in the authority, clarity and sufficiency of God’s Word. Thankfully, DeYoung grabbed his pen and went to work.

In his new book Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me, we have this pressing matter succinctly addressed. The book is short (a mere 146 pages) but it is not light nor unaccessible. And his is the beauty of it; a well-written, clear, helpful book on the Bible. DeYoung provides a systematic study, interacts with individual passages, works through implications, and shows how this doctrine has been historically regarded. In other words, he approaches the Bible from a systematic, exegetical, biblical, pastoral, and historical perspective of theology.

He writes:

This is not an exhaustive book, covering all the philosophical, theological, and methodological territory you might see in a fat, multivolume textbook. This is not an academic book with lots of footnotes. This is not a ‘take down’ book where I name names and cite ‘chapter and verse’ for current errors. This is not a groundbreaking work in exegetical, biblical, historical, or systematic theology…This is a book unpacking what the Bible says about the Bible. My aim is to be simple, uncluttered, straightforward and manifestly biblical. (p.23)

In addition to providing healthy bibliology he asks the important question: What does Jesus believe about the Scriptures? In this chapter DeYoung walks through Jesus’ bibliology. In my view, it is the best chapter in the book. Remember, since Jesus rose from the dead, he is God. This pretty much cinches his view of the Bible as the right one. Read this chapter and grow in your love for and confidence in the Bible.

Another aspect of this book that is helpful is the recommended reading section. At the end of the book DeYoung provides a list of books that are helpful for further study. He also provides a brief summary and explanation of the difficulty level of the book.

I think everyone should read this book. If you are a young Christian or are wanting to grow in your understanding of the nature of the Bible–this is perfect for you. If you are a smart theologian type guy this book will help you communicate a lot of the “stuff” you know in understandable and practical terms. I know I will be picking up some extra copies to hand out.

You can pick up discounted copies of Taking God at His Word at Amazon or Westminster Books.

*Disclosure: if you make purchases at Amazon or Westminster, consider clicking through the links on this blog. It costs you nothing and quietly helps support this blog by giving me a small commission. Thanks!

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