REVIEWS

CELEBRATING THE PSALMS

Written by: Richard Gordon

Published by: New Generation Publishing

Price: £9.99

Richard Gordon’s most accessible book on the Psalms allows the reader to enter this treasure trove of the psalter with confidence. His knowledge and faith combine easily to ensure the reader does not stay immersed in ancient history or ritual. Instead by dint of several challenging questions and apposite word pictures he encourages the reader to apply the message to contemporary events.

The final chapter offers a brief resumé, in table form, of each psalm. This is more than helpful for any student or preacher or someone wishing to engage in further exploration. It is, however, the cataloguing of the psalm types that opens the reader’s understanding. He highlights the various types of psalm and brings an honest appraisal of the difficulties of allocating some to a particular slot and the meaning of others. His honesty is refreshing.

The book also addresses areas of difficulties for a modern interpreter. The ‘cursing’ psalms may not sit easily with modern Christian thinking but the author does not shrink from the challenge of their presence and cleverly allows us no room for self-righteous pontificating as he addresses the human condition.

The chapter on the Psalms and the New Testament contains many gems. ‘The disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. He produced no new theory of prayer, other than to take the elements of prayer as they are present in the Old Testament and present them to the disciples, freed from traditional liturgical shape and ritual form.’ There then follows a breakdown of the Lord’s Prayer linked to verses from the Psalms. Surely a gift for any preacher.

Reading this book reminds the reader of the great heritage of faith we belong to. The psalms speak to us and for us as they have for generations before and doubtless will continue to do so for generations to come. They are part of our cultural heritage at weddings and funerals and by the side of a hospital bed as the author reminds us

This is a warm book that leaves you feeling you have learned something valuable. It encourages the faith of the reader. If the psalms are easier to understand once you have experienced something of the ups-and-downs of life then this book goes a long way to help that understanding.

Very Rev David Arnott

GRIEF’S SHADOWED PATH

Poems of Loss and Healing

Written by: Hilary Smith

Published by: EV Books

Price: £12.00

Initiated followed the death of her much loved father, Hilary Smith, a retreat leader who is based in New Zealand, has penned a collection of simple but evocative poems which chart the progress of grief, from the first raw moments in the aftermath of death, through the journey of darkness to light and hope, adapting to learn to live within a world forever changed.

The collection is not, however, a purely self-indulgent look at life through the eyes of personal grief. The poems will resonate with individual personal experience of the loss of loved ones – and the overwhelming feelings that follow.

The author, with a PhD in practical theology, is grounded in Celtic spirituality and this shines through in this simple, but effective book which walks the path of grief with the thousands of people who are plunged into the journey every day.

Barely 80 pages long, the book would also be appreciated as an additional helpful resource for those involved in pastoral care.

KNOWING CREATION

Perspectives from Theology, Philosophy and Science

Edited by: Andrew B Torrance and Thomas H McCall

Published by: Zondervan

Price: $39.99 (US)

Co-edited by a research fellow at St Mary’s College, St Andrews and the project leader for Scientists in Congregations Scotland, this book helpfully adds a number of voices from the theological, philosophical and scientific fields with the stated aim of fostering a positive relationship and ‘mutually enriching dialogue between a theology of creation and contemporary science’.

Contributors to the volume, which is described as ‘a resource for helping scholars from the fields of theology, biblical studies, philosophy and science appreciate one another’s concerns and perspectives’, are principally from the UK, US and Europe.

FOR CHILDREN NOAH’S CAR PARK ARK

Written by: Paul Kerensa

Illustrated by: Liz and Kate Pope

Published by: SPCK

Price: £15.99

SPCK has recently branched out into publishing children’s books, beginning with contemporary retellings of familiar stories – and the timeless tale of Noah’s Ark is no different.

Written in entertaining rhyme, Kerensa has Noah turning the ark into a car park to engage young minds and readers alike with bright colourful illustrations that will capture the imagination. This is another fun book that will likely become a firm favourite with the under 5s or early readers as they learn more about the Bible.

Lynne McNeil

This article appears in the September 2018 Issue of Life and Work

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