1. You can preview the content by clicking the see inside button. Those grey text boxes are where you can write your answers.
  • Very helpful study that highlights the faithfulness of Jesus. It will challenge interpretation of key verses. For example Habakkuk 2:4 “the righteous person will live by his faith/faithfulness.” There are cross references and adaptation’s throughout the New Testament (Rom 4 etc). It will challenge those of us who have been brought up to interpret these verses as saying “we are saved by faith.” Instead, Walt Zorn delves into the Hebrew and context to posit an interpretation that declares we “are saved through [Jesus’] faithfulness. More has been written on that in recent years. In no way does it negate the reality and role of faith, but what it does is accentuate the work of Christ. It is a readable, but quite packed with meaning and references. Highly recommended.
    1. maybe add a "look inside" feature or at least list the table of contents for those of us mulling over this purchase, thanks!
      1. Here are the tables of contents for each volume. There are many many subheadings as well. I have yet to read it, but it seems to be a great resource! My parents gave it to me from their time in seminary in the 90s.
    2. I've used this a few times. I find it a nice quick reference guide to quickly get a handle on how the author feels the subject matter (sola gratia, Restorationism, etc) either is in agreement with Eastern Orthodoxy or departs from it. Articles were brief, concise. For instance, regarding sola gratia, he writes: "Orthodox can agree with sola gratia if it is understood to mean that it is God’s grace that does the actual transforming work of salvation. However, Orthodoxy believes in synergy, that God and man are co-workers (2 Cor. 6:1), that man must “work out [his] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12)." (p. 70) That introduces the reader to the notion of "synergy" and can lead to further study. Examples like this run throughout the book. However, because of his brevity and certainty, sometimes he'll make a (to the uninformed reader) a puzzling comment, such as saying, e.g. that the EO see grace as "uncreated" and "grace is God," distinguishing from the RC view that grace is a "favor," and this perspective, then "precludes union with God." Furthermore, he may make some simplistic overgeneralizations/assumptions, or get things flat out wrong, as he did when he wrote on "Restorationism" (known to many as the Stone-Campbell movement, denominational known through the Disciples of Christ, Churches of Christ and others). Some of what he said was was true (e.g., pointing out how a unity movement itself is divided) or painful (ie, regarding some beliefs and praxis) however made sweeping statements that failed to distinguish the broad differences between, say, the Disciples and the Churches of Christ. That led me to believe he likely has done that elsewhere. While I don't fault the difficulty of integrating nuance into a brief writeup, he says things with such certitude that many underinformed readers will walk away with erroneous caricatures of other Christian groups.