By Bonnie Dwyer
(November 16, 2006reprinted from the fall 2006 issue of Spectrum magazine.)
If you already know everything that you want to know about the Twenty-Eight Fundamental Beliefs and are not in need of another vegetarian cookbook, what is there to read at the Adventist Book Center? Here are some interesting titles to come off the press this year.
Searching for the God of Grace
By Stuart Tyner
Pacific Press
Tyners search is all about grace. First in the Bible, from Old Testament to New, then on to the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Council of Trent, the Great Disappointment, the California Conspiracy and the debates of 1888, through the writings of Ellen White. This is a historical tour as well as theological treatise on the significance of grace, which Tyner sees as more important than end time events or Sabbath-keeping. Filled with questions, quotations, stories, and illustrations, Tyners book is passionate about grace being the air that Christians breathe in order to live. Chris Blake calls it one of the best Adventist books in years.
Rainbow Over Hell
By Tsuneyuki Mohri
Pacific Press
Translated by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson
The layers of this conversion story make it particularly fascinating. Author Tsuneyuki Mohri, a Buddhist, describes how a man convicted of murder during the Second World War was spared the death penalty, converted to Christianity, and became an Adventist pastor. The book also tells the experience of the Buddhist filmmaker who traveled with the pastor back to Saipan to make a film about the pastor. Not only is the pastors story riveting, so are the people who tell it. Translator Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson says that she has always believed in God. "What changed in my heart during translation of Rainbow Over Hell was that I realized God believes in us."
Shall We Gather at the Potluck: A Heartwarming Look at the Church I Love
By Mike Mennard
Review and Herald
Mike Mennard is a charming storyteller. In this book, he tackles questions about church life that admittedly arent deeply theological or focused on church doctrine, but they are the kind of things that can be a real challenge to life within a local congregation. In so doing, Mennard gets around to talking about how we love one anotherwhich is not always an easy assignment.
Dinosaurs: Where Did They Come from and Where Did They Go?
By Elaine Graham-Kennedy
Pacific Press
A childrens book with a section for grown-ups, this book is richly illustrated with photographs of skeletons and dig sites. The author, who until very recently was on the staff of the Geoscience Research Institute, admits to being a dinosaur lover since childhood. She takes readers on a hunt for facts about dinosaurs and then leaves the conclusion up to the reader. She believes God created the dinosaurs. What happened to them? She says that many Christians believe the worldwide flood destroyed the dinosaurs. "There are good facts to support this idea," says, "but we cannot prove it."
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