The year is 1536 and Henry the VII has just proclaimed himself head of the Church of England. The centuries-old way of life is changing with the arrival of new ideas and the winds of Reformation. Monks, nuns and their houses are in jeopardy, bishops must swear allegiance to the king’s authority over the church, but things are even harder for Anabaptists who eschew both Rome and Canterbury.
This is the setting of a fast-paced, engrossing tale spun by Henry Vyner-Brooks. The Heretic follows the interwoven tales of an odd cast of misfit-heroes. An Anabaptist’s orphan children, a leper, an eel-catcher and a prostitute — oh, and the monk whose past name is known throughout the land — these characters are richly developed as they weave in and out of a plot that includes stolen relics, ghastly murders, and enough chivalry and romance to picque the interest of a wide range of readers.
The book’s Christian message lurks beneath the surface for most of the story. The struggle of faith and doubt, and the dangers of reading a heretic Bible are presented in a realistic manner that doesn’t come off as wooden or forced. As a Protestant who has a positive view of the Reformation, the story’s stress on the negative impact of closing the monasteries and ignoring the poor, as well as the political undercurrents behind such changes all conspired to complicate the clean history we prefer to remember. In this and other ways the tale is a challenge to all of us to come to grips with our faith and be willing to stand for what we believe.
One irksome blunder is the mention of Calvinism and Geneva. Calvin only came to Geneva in 1536, when this story commences. And while he may have been known, he certainly hadn’t earned his reputation to the degree the book assumes.
At times, the story includes implausible elements, but on the whole, the story is rewarding and keeps you guessing. The end result is a medieval tale of suspense, mystery and a hint of romance that will make for pleasant and enriching reading. I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Lion Fiction through Kregel Pulbications. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
Arthur and his knights of the round table, are phantoms from a long gone era. Their story is a myth, and they are warriors only in imaginative retellings of their deeds. But the story told in Edwin: High King of Britain is a legend of a different kind. Edwin is a figure from history. And early seventh century England, where Edwin arose as a dominant king, is every bit as mythic and alien to our minds as the legendary kingdom of Camelot.
Edoardo Albert, writer and historian in his own right, tells the story of Edwin with as much power as any scop or bard from times past. Edwin is a fictional account yet most of its key plotlines and characters are historical. The book is the first in a trilogy called The Northumbrian Thrones.
The tale is fast paced and moving. Albert adds such historical detail that he makes you believe you are there. The struggle of Edwin to embrace a new religion, that of Christianity, is also told in a realistic, believable way. The Norse warrior gods of Woden and Thunor are only reluctantly left for the strange God whose way is to deny vengeance and forgive one’s enemies. Edwin is no saint, but a leader and champion he is. Yet as the tale progresses, we will learn he is as mortal as anyone, even with his new God.
The story is engaging and true to life, but clean enough even for teen-age readers. Yet the tale is not safe: this is a raw and rugged account of a brutal age.
The history of medieval Britain has long fascinated me and so I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you enjoy fantasy fiction in the vein of J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Brooks, or Stephen Lawhead, this book will delight. Learning that it is mostly true to life will surprise you as it did me. I encourage you to give it a try.
Right now, the Kindle version of this book is only $1.99. I’m not sure how long that will last, but you can’t go wrong at that price!
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Lion Hudson via Kregel Books. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
Where’s Waldo? Many a child has spent countless hours poring over a large picture book searching in vain for a funny man in a stocking cap, and his companions. Not much was learned in the process, however, and so Peter Martin has set out to change that. Working with illustrator Peter Kent, Martin has created Bible Detective: A Puzzle Search Book, a book that rivals Waldo for fun, but also offers an education in the world of the Bible.
This colorful picture book includes seventeen puzzles with a variety of objects to search for. Women fighting over a well of water, nine yellow frogs, the Tabernacle furniture and Solomon’s baboons–the variety of items to find is incredible. Bible scenes covered include David and Goliath, the census of Bethlehem, the siege of Lachish and Peter in Cornelius’ house. The pictures are engrossing, the artwork detailed and engaging, and the material is true to the biblical period being explored.
Exploring is just the right term to describe how a young reader will feel as he or she peruses through this bright book. And for those who are quick to give up, there is an answer key in the back with all the scenes mapped out. The quality of this book is superb, and Bible references and dates are provided to allow the puzzle being studied to be properly placed in its specific context.
There are a variety of puzzle books that are available for young readers. But there are not many Christian puzzle books produced with this level of attention to detail and quality of workmanship. This book will compete with secular products well, and should enjoy a long press run. For Christian parents seeking to equip their children with any Bible-themed resource available, this book is a must-have. It will appeal to elementary and middle school-aged children, with the older ones more able to appreciate the manners and customs explained. Come to think of it, even high-schoolers could enjoy paging through this book with their younger siblings.
This excerpt from Kregel illustrates the genius of this book. I encourage parents and grandparents to consider adding this book to their Christmas list this year. It is sure to please.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Lion Books (Kregel Publications). I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
The new atheists, like Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking, are ever in the public spotlight these days, or so it seems. The idea that brilliant physicists and scientists can make sense of this world without a God appeals to many. Certainly the conclusions reached in books such as Hawking’s latest book, The Grand Design — that there is no God and no ultimate point to the universe — are conclusions many atheists and secularists are all too eager to affirm. Since everything does fit so nicely together, however, should we wonder if the case made is really as air tight as claimed? If the conclusions are made to order, we might have warrant to carefully scrutinize the claims of these New Atheist authors.
John Lennox, author of God’s Undertaker, and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford in his own right, takes on Stephen Hawking’s arguments in a forthcoming book published by Lion Books and distributed in the US by Kregel Publications (available July 15). In God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway?, Lennox exposes the circular reasoning and non sequitors that abound in Hawking’s The Grand Design. Lennox begins by framing the scope of what science can really address as it attempts to examine metaphysical questions. He then points out both Hawking’s dismissal of philosophy and his misunderstanding of Christian theism. God is not merely a “god of the gaps”, an explanation for the world as we know it. The Christian understanding of God has Him outside the boundaries of creation as Lord over all of it, not some explanation for unknown phenomena. As for philosophy, after rejecting it as “dead”, Hawking jumps in and tries his own hand at several metaphysical questions that philosophy has long addressed. Hawking’s attempt at doing philosophy is all the poorer for his outright rejection of it.
Lennox then takes Hawking to task for claiming that the theory of gravity, or scientific laws in general, can operate as a “creator” in a sense, and be the ultimate cause for our universe. He clarifies what a law or rule of nature really “is”, and illustrates how Hawking makes more of such laws than can really be claimed. He then goes on to show how Hawking’s “M” theory of the “Multiverse” conveniently sidesteps objections by positing the existence of infinite universes. Still the question remains, why are there any universes instead of no universe? Lennox reveals that other major physicists have their own doubts as to the ability that M theory really has for being an explanation of everything.
Lennox also addresses head on the claim that miracles cannot happen because the laws of science would be invalidated. He pries open the layers from this question and shows the irrationality of claiming that science strictly forbids the existence of exceptions or miracles.
By the end of this short book (it’s only 100 pages long), Lennox has made a convincing case for theism and demonstrated that reasonable scientists continue to affirm the divine. Lennox’s book is accessible and clear, even as it interacts with quite complicated elements from Hawking’s writing. The book doesn’t own the six-day, young earth Creationist view, but it doesn’t rule it out either. Lennox argues that often the new atheists assume that to believe in God is to believe in a young earth view, and he shows this is not true. Lennox marshals arguments from science (the very idea of the big bang supports the Bible’s claim that the world has a beginning – something science has only admitted in the last hundred years), philosophy, history and the realm of human experience. The resulting case is convincing and should serve to bolster the faith of any troubled by the new atheism. At the least, it offers avenues of further exploration available in grappling with these issues.
Before closing my review, I should excerpt a small section from this book which captures some of Lennox’s craft in action. This excerpt will illustrate his style and the way he can cut to the heart of an issue with incisive logic.
Suppose, to make matters clearer, we replace the universe by a jet engine and then are asked to explain it. Shall we account for it by mentioning the personal agency of its inventor, Sir Frank Whittle? Or shall we follow Hawking: dismiss personal agency, and explain the jet engine by saying that it arose naturally from physical law…. It is not a question of either/or. It is self-evident that we need both levels of explanation in order to give a complete description. It is also obvious that the scientific explanation neither conflicts nor competes with the agent explanation: they complement one another. It is the same with explanations of the universe: god does not conflict or compete with the laws of physics as an explanation. God is actually the ground of all explanation, in the sense that he is the cause in the first place of there being a world for the laws of physics to describe.
To this I add my “amen”. I encourage you to pick up this little book as it offers an excellent primer on how to deal with the claims of the new atheism. Even if you differ with Lennox on a point or two, his clear style and succinct arguments will equip you in thinking through these issues on your own.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
The year is 1536 and Henry the VII has just proclaimed himself head of the Church of England. The centuries-old way of life is changing with the arrival of new ideas and the winds of Reformation. Monks, nuns and their houses are in jeopardy, bishops must swear allegiance to the king’s authority over the church, but things are even harder for Anabaptists who eschew both Rome and Canterbury.
