Iain Murray addresses many of the most critical issues facing evangelicalism on both sides of the Atlantic in Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950-2000 (Banner of Truth). Murray brings a critical mind and an insider's perspective to several of the most interesting chapters in evangelical history.

D.G. Hart, now on the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary in California, brings a provocative analysis and argument to University Gets Religion: Religious Studies in American Higher Education (John Hopkins University Press). Hart argues that the rise of religion as an academic discipline has been unhealthy for both the church and the academy. His book is an important contribution to American religious life today.

The controversy within the Southern Baptist Convention has been one of the most important stories in American Christian life in the past quarter of a century. Those seeking to understand the issues at stake will gladly welcome The Baptist Reformation: The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention (Broadman & Holman) by Jerry Sutton. Sutton, pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, writes as pastor, church historian, and participant in the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention.

The year has seen the release of three important titles on John Calvin, the great Reformer. Bernard Cottrett's volume, Calvin: A Biography, has been released by Eerdmans, and translated by Wallace McDonald. This influential French work is now available to an English-speaking readership, and is one of the most substantial biographies of Calvin to emerge in the last 25 years. George H. Tavard addresses Calvin's theological method in The Starting Point of Calvin's Theology (Eerdmans). Tavard looks to Calvin's earliest writings for insight to his method and the structure of Calvin's thought. Anthony N. S. Lane looks to the Reformer's engagement with the patristic era in John Calvin: Student of the Church Fathers (Baker).

Finally, the year has seen the release of two important reference works. The Dictionary of Historical Theology (Eerdmans) edited by Trevor A. Hart, is an unprecedented collection of articles on historical theology. The 600-page volume is a masterful introduction to historical theology as a field and as a resource for contemporary Christianity. The Oxford Companion for Christian Thought edited by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper, is a creative and rather fascinating collection of articles on the most important thinkers and issues related to Christian thought. The volume will be greatly appreciated, as all readers are certain to find many articles of significant interest.

Pastoral Theology

An historical perspective reveals that certain issues recur again and again on the pastoral landscape. At the same time, each generation faces challenges and issues unknown to the generations before. Important books in pastoral theology released during the past year include Spiritual junk Food: The Dumbing Down of Christian Youth (Winepress Publishing) by Cathy Michaels and Audrey McKeever. The book will be of interest not only to youth ministers, but especially to pastors who must provide leadership as the church ministers to youth and prepares parents for their own challenges. Gene Edward Veith, Jr. writes a volume that is both autobiographical and deeply theological in The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals (Concordia). Veith is a skillful writer and careful thinker. His book will be read with great profit.