As you probably know by now, we have three new books coming out this Fall, and we’ve been working hard to get some pre-release reviews from people around the blogosphere. And so far, we’ve been very pleased with the response. We’ve already posted some fantastic reviews from Daniel Newman in the UK, and with all the interest we’ve received, it looks like we’ll be able to post regular review notices.
TheMonarchist, another blog from across the pond, has posted a very lively review of A Primer on Worship and Reformation. Reviewer “Sir Walter Scott” (all the contributors to TheMonarchist use pseudonyms) writes,
He is not here going after the liberals – whose own perverse error will go even after themselves in time, like a hungry snake eventually devouring its tail – he is not rushing to provide punishment for those to whom punishment has already in many ways come (I think one of the greatest punishments for atheism, is atheism) – he is sitting down with his friends, modern American evangelicals, and staging an intervention. For the modern evangelical American church is in trouble. It desperately needs an intervention. It is an alcoholic drunk with the cheap plonk of merchandise, witless worship and Mammom, neglectful of the true cup of Christ; it is a shameless fatty, obese with Christian-themed power-bars (really) and absent at the Lord’s Supper. This is a tragedy. The book hopes for a remedy.
Like Daniel Newman’s earlier review of the same book, “Sir Walter Scott” points out that this is in many ways a very American book, yet still applicable to those in other countries and communions.
Moving on to a different book, Is Christianity Good for the World? has provided us with some unusual reviewing opportunities. Since Christopher Hitchens is an atheist with a lot of atheist fans, we were able to get some feedback and comments from non-Christians (thanks to the EarlyReviewers program over at LibraryThing). You can read all their reviews here (not all of them are complimentary), but I’ve chosen some highlights that particularly pleased us.
LibraryThing member kcshankd says,
I was ultimately disappointed with this book. I liked the premise of a dialogue, and it mostly worked well. My disappointment stems from mostly from the fact that while my personal beliefs are closest to Christopher Hitchens, I think he failed when pressed by Mr. Wilson arguments and instead stuck to his shiny, clever talking points. He gave too much ground to the believer by refusing to engage him fully. Mr. Wilson ultimately failed in swaying my opinion either, but proving the miraculous is perhaps too much to expect of an earthly writer.
In a similar vein, LT member darkline had this to say:
Interesting debate between Mr. Hitchens and Mr. Wilson that appears to have risen out of publication of Hitchens’ recent Atheism book. The course of the debate originally appeared in Christianity Today, and my guess is that it stemmed from a request to provide a counterpoint. I’m a fan of Hitchens’ work and personal philosophy, and I wasn’t expecting to be swayed by Wilson’s arguments, but found them to be fascinating to read. And, in light of the impassioned logic (more passion than logic, in my mind, but that’s also part of my own blindness), I found some perspective on the Hitchensian (and my own) side of the discussion.
All the reviews offer an interesting read, so do head on over and take a peek.
Finally, Ian Clary at Discerning Reader offers a very kind review of the debate, noting that,
the interchange between the atheist and the Christian is highly entertaining. Both Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson are brilliant writers who have a knack for getting to their point using satire, irony, wit and other such literary devices. Readers who enjoy this kind of exchange will grin their way through most of the book.