If you want to read any book about Christianity (besides the Bible), this is the place to start. Boice is an unusually clear writer; he writes so that the average human can understand him but his thinking is deep enough that most pastors would appreciate his insight. I've read most of CS Lewis' work, and like this book better than Lewis, and I like Lewis! The book is also well indexed, so that it is easy to use it as a reference.

Obviously Boice has a Presbyterian bent, and though I disagree with some of his conclusions, I still highly recommend this volume. Apparently this used to be a 4-volume work, but it was shortened into one. It is very easy to read, so the layman could get a lot out of it. Boice attempts to give different positions for the issues, offering more than just his viewpoint. Overall, though, he remains very evangelical, and while we can certainly discuss our differences, I appreciate the flavor in which this work was written. Boice is kind but to the point. No doubt that it's long for many laypeople--more than 700 pages--but again, as the cover says, while it is comprehensive, it is still very readable. This book would also be good to keep on the bookshelf and look up theological issues as they come up.

This is a great perspective on Christianity. Its easy to read and easy to understand. I can always find a answer to any question that I need.

This is all-star lineup of conservative Christians of differing confessions, but united in call to the church of today to repent of its adultery with our heathen culture, and to return to God's Word, to have our consciences tied to the Scriptures as Luther stood and would not recant, move or be moved.

Series of essays delivered at conference, with a common theme: let God's Word change the culture rather than the culture changing the world.

Horton, Veith and Wells are always thought=provoking writers, and their contributions here are a continuance of that.

This book is edited by James Montgomery Boice and Benjamin Sasse. This book addresses what the reformation in Martin Luther's day did for the church as a whole, and for each Christian individually. Dr. Boice points out that the Reformers spoke of salvation by "grace alone." He states, "Here they wanted to insist on the truth that sinners have no claim upon God, that God owes them nothing but punishment for their sins (p. 11)." He then points out the Reformers taught God saves the sinner, "Only because it pleases Him to do it (p. 11)." From here Dr. Boice starts from the top down on why Christianity is in the state it finds itself in today. He points out that, "Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the church's life, but the evangelical church today has separted Scripture from its authoritative function (p. 15)." He then states that, "Pastors have neglected their rightful oversight of worship, including the doctrinal content of the music (p. 15)." The contributors that write a chapter a peice are, David F. Wells, Ervin S. Duggan, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Gene Edward Veith, Michael S. Horton, Sinclair B. Ferguson and W. Robert F. Godfrey. Some of the chapter titles are, "Our Dying Culture, The Living Church, The Reformation of Worship and Reformation in Doctrine, Worship, and Life." This book attempts to examine the problems in the church as a whole and to give answers to the problems. In today's church where everyone seems to try to keep the peace and say everyone is right, the authors address the subjects rather bluntly at times. It has to be that way because no one seems to want to take a stand for biblical truth. R. Alber Mohler Jr., in his chapter quotes Blaise Pascal who said, "It is as much a crime to disturb the peace when truth prevails as it is to keep peace when truth is violated...But at no time is there a time for truth and a time for error, for it is written that God's truth shall abide for ever. That is why Christ has said that He has come to bring peace and at the same time that He has come to bring the sword. But He does not say that He has come to bring both truth and falsehood (p. 62)." The authors of the chapters in this book address different problems in the church and supply the answers to those problems. This they do admirably to get the church as a whole and each individual back into right relationship to God. They succeed completely, only if your willing to read, accept and put into practice the truths they try to bring back to the church. Be prepared as they try to be diplomatic but are harsh in places for a reason. I highly recommend this book. Every pastor should have a copy as well as every household in the church. The question is, are the readers willing to stand comfortably where they are, or, are they willing to move back to biblical Christianity? I vote for the latter, Do you?

God is calling His evangelical Church back to its Reformed roots. This book is an excellent "read" for anyone interested in objective truth over subjective experience.

This book by Dr. Boice (Ph.D., Basel, Switzerland) was a rich, fresh read for those suffocated by pluralism and relativism. When looking at the decay at the world, one is excited to read that the same decay was present before the Reformation. Dr. Boice expouses the same hope for today.

Dr. Boice expounds the five reformational creeds (Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo GLoria), the impact that they had on their world, and the possible impact that they can have on our world. Boice notes the dangers that plague our churches and our homes, relativism and pragmatism, and how each of these creeds, immersed in Scripture, provide the elixir for our dying land. Also with these Scripture Creeds, he shows the impact that Reformation minded saints can transform society.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is not as deep as many of these type of works (as scholarly as he is, Boice is a pastor and communicates as one), making it a readable work that can be read in a busy schedule.

Anyone wanting a good introduction to the doctrines of grace from a Reformed and Calvinistic perspective must look here. It is reliable and easy to read. It is geared towards the laity so anyone can pick it up and read it. The section on the 5 solas of the Reformation is very well-written.

The late James Boice was a great asset to the Kingdom of God. His books communicated great truths in an understandable manner. His last book, released almost a year after his death is no exception. With grace and gentleness, yet with a passion for the truth of Scripture, he examines evangelicalism today. His conclusion is that we have lost much of the Gospel in our churches. The lives of many Christians differ very little from the world around us! He looks back to the truths of Scripture that transformed the church during the Reformation, and says that we must return to them if we hope and truly long for revival today. We need to recover the great Reformation and Biblical doctrines of Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone and Glory to God Alone.

Here's a sample:

"No people ever rise higher than their idea of God. Conversely, the loss of the sense of God's high and awesome character always leads to the loss of a people's highest ideals, moral values, and even what we commonly call humanity, not to mention the loss of understanding and appreciation for the most essential Bible doctrines...We deplore the breakdown of moral standards in the church, even among its most visible leaders. But what do we think should happen when we have focused on ourselves and our own, often trivial needs rather than on God, ignoring his holiness and excusing our most blatant sins? To listen to many contemporary sermons one would think man's chief end is to glorify himself and cruise the malls." (pp. 151-152).

Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? is a much-needed reminder of what we should again believe, and why it matters.

The most impressive thing about Boice's work here is his ability to interweave historical, orthodox theology with his interpretation of the Biblical text. Too often there is one without the other, resulting in dry, crusty beliefs that lack spirit and passion-- or, on the other hand, a tendency to get lost in the moorings of the Scripture, and getting trapped in one's own agenda or "canon within the canon." Boice articulates the importance of the great beliefs of the faith (the ascension, for instance) and how our neglect of them as influenced our reading of Scripture, our articulation of the Gospel, and, subsequently, the power of the Message we proclaim (or lack thereof). I don't know that this was his agenda when he began writing or not. Nevertheless, it is certainly a welcome by-product of this work and the Church will be the better for wrestling with these concepts.

Dr. Boice's commentary on Acts will be enjoyed by historians and Christians alike. He lends valuable context to this chronicle of early church history. Along the way, he examines the daily peaks and troughs of life in the first century church, and highlights Luke's own historical accuracy in retelling the journeys of Paul. From Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth, it is an oddesey not to be missed. A must for pilgrims yearning to learn more, or sceptics that would like their hard questions about the accuracy of Acts addressed.

I really like the Today's Issues series, and this is the best I've read of them. The series contains a similar booklet called Is Jesus the Only Way? Why two books on this subject? This one treats the problem from a theological perspective while the other treats it from a scriptural perspective. My preference is strongly with this version, as I find that non-Christians tend not to understand the "because the Bible says so" explanation.

Dr. Rosenbladt defends the sufficiency and necessity of Christ's atonement not just from salvation through other religions, but also from the semi-Pelagianism of believing we can make ourselves worthy to receive Christ's gift. There seems to be a trend among Christians to believe that through righteous living we can make ourselves acceptable to God, or that God grants us salvation because of our faith. Dr. Rosenbladt exposes the errors in these ways of thinking and expounds the true Gospel message that salvation is a free gift from God for the sake of Christ's suffering alone.

If brevity is the soul of witt, then this book is filled with sagacity. With so many opptions available to a person living in a consumeristic society, Christ Alone may seem a bit old fashioned. DR. Rod minces no words in his affirmation that Christ alone is the center of all that is related to the church and its witness in the world. He strongly affirms the place of Christ centeredness in the Word and Sacraments. Perhaps the greatest challenge to the preacher living in such a postmodern age is the challenge to one's faith. This booklet will challenge your faith. Do you really believe that Christ alone, in the Word and sacrament, is the sufficient power of God unto salvation to all who will believe? The pragmatism and church growth practices of the day, hover over the contemporary church, like the morning mist on the Smokie Mountains. Rosenbladt drops the gauntlet by appealing to church leaders to stand up for Christ, and plackard Him as the only means of salvation. Christ is not our lover, therapist, finacial advisor or even our moral example. He is more, so much more. Humanity's greatest need is to be reconciled to God and Christ is the only mediator. This makes Him our Lord and Savior alone. Everything else that Christ may provide is merely icing on the cake. As it has been said;" Anything this side of hell is grace." Therefore all we truly need is Christ, and Christ alone is all we need. This booklet will challenge one to stand on Christ as our true sufficiency.

What are the costs of following and obeying Christ in this post-Christian era? The late Dr. Boice unflinchingly outlines what happens to the true Christian as they face today's challenges and temptations to compromise. Not for the social "Christian", this book will warn as well as encourage. Must reading.

This book is a very quick and easy read. But don't let that fool you. This book packs quite a punch. It talks about how Jesus defined discipleship and what Biblical discipleship looks like.

This book is also practical. The author uses real-life examples from his own life and the lives of others. It is obvious the author has a very clear understanding of the topic of discipleship and wants the reader to have an equally clear understanding. He talks about what the Bible has to say about discipleship, the lack of true discipleship in the church today, what true discipleship looks like, the cost of discipleship (in my opinion, this is the most challenging,chapter of all) and the rewards of discipleship. The author also discusses unpopular subjects such as repentance, humility, obedience and dying to self as key components of discipleship. The author also takes a very strong stand against the notion of "easy believism" which is so prevalent and popular in American Christianity today.

This book should be required reading for every Christian. Especially new Christians. But veteran believers will also benefit greatly from this book. This book will break you out of complacent Christianity and will get you outside your comfort zone. In my opinion, this is one of the best books on discipleship out there.

There is probably no other resource on the topic of Justification that says so much in so few pages. I admit that this was a tough read at times but the information in here is right to the point. It points out the differences between Roman Catholic justification and Evangelical justification in a well thought out and well reasoned way.

I highly recommend it.

There are some, perhaps many, in our day who think there is a possibility of evangelical churches and the church of Rome being united one day. They believe that perhaps the differences between them are not as great as they have been in the past. This booklet by R.C.Sproul would be a strong corrective to any whose thinking is along those lines. The way a person is justified is the most important doctrine related to a person's salvation. Mr. Sproul highlights one of the most significant differences between the evangelical understanding of justification and the church of Rome's teaching on justification on pages 12-13."Justification refers to a legal action by God by which he declares a person just in his sight. ... Catholics agree that justification occurs when God declares a person just. However,when evangelicals speak of forensic justification,...what is tacit is the assumption that God declares people to be just who in themselves are not just. Rome teaches that God declares people to be just only when they are in fact just." The Evangelicals insist upon the ground of a person's justification being the righteousness of Christ alone(based upon His perfect obedience to the law of God)whereas the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the ground of a person's justification is the work of Christ plus the work of the believer. Until there is agreement here there can never be reconcilliation that would be Biblically based. Another very helpful feature of this booklet is the concise chart on pages 46-47 which detail the significant differences(consisting of 11 points), between the Reformation view and the Church of Rome's view on justification by faith. This booklet is short but very helpful and concise on this vital issue.

It is very difficult to find very good commentaries on the Psalms that are spiritually illuminating, devotional, and practical. Indeed, for some, they name, Calvin (Commentary on Psalms) and Spurgeon (The Treasury of David) to be among the best. I agree. And I also think that Boice's Expostional Commentary on Psalms is ranked up there.
1. It is SPIRITUALLY ILLUMINATING. Boice approaches each Psalm by emphasizing the main points of the Psalm without digressing into peripheral issues. He organizes and outlines each Psalm logically according to main points. Therefore he makes readers actually understand what Psalmist is saying. In many cases, he illuminates the text by simple but well thought-out exposition and modern illustrations.
2. It is HIGHLY DEVOTIONAL. This commentary is written for spiritual growth. It is not written for the mind alone, but also the heart. Boice comments in his preface, "It is my prayer that these studies may be a source of rich spiritual nurture, grace, instruction, and comfort to you as you read them (p.10)." He wrote these commentaries with that goal in mind. Therefore a reader can actually sense that devotional character of the book.
3. It is RICHLY PRACTICAL. On each Psalm, Boice addresses application to the reader. Throughout the commentary Boice generally and specifically brings the message of the Psalm to today's situation and life. So every reader will be able to use the Psalm and apply to their lives.

In sum, both pastors and lay believers can benefit greatly from this series. I use it all the time for my own personal edification and also for the teaching. I also recommend Spurgeon's "The Treasury of David."

I have to confess I an already a real fan of JMB. Recently my sunday school class decided to embark on a study of Psalms. Since I was the somewhat reluctant but blessed teacher I needed a resource other than my limited knowledge. I have always enjoyed Boice's writings...amazingly to the point,yet providing enough background to be used as a study guided in many cases. Psalms is NO exception. The best blend of a devotional work with basic scholarship and exposition. I recommend the whole series.

Simple.

Explores EVERYTHING about each bit of text.

Explained in complete fashion, yet can be understood by even the most casual reader.

The only commentary I've read that wasn't WORK to read.