Life’s big questions
Vaughan Roberts
IVP
176 pages, £6.99
ISBN: 9781844740215
This thoughtful and helpful book is a follow-up to the author’s previous volume, God’s big picture. In both publications he is concerned to give an overview of the Bible as a whole and to pick out certain unifying themes.
In this book the major motif is the kingdom of God. Centred on this, he addresses himself to a series of questions, ranging from marriage and money to God’s overruling sovereignty in the world.
Each chapter is clearly and simply written. There are a number of line diagrams throughout, but the text is so readable they are hardly necessary. Perhaps the exceptions to this are two concluding charts, depicting God’s dealings in the world and a timeline of Bible history. These are extremely helpful in illustrating the author’s purpose to give the big picture.
The writer succeeds admirably in his desire to present the Bible as an essential unity and to guard against the regrettable modern tendency to engage in ‘sound bites’.
Also this approach is a corrective to the practice that we as evangelicals may be guilty of — to ransack the Scriptures in search of proof texts to defend some personal pet theory or interpretation.
The book lends itself ideally to Bible study and discussion groups. Some thought-provoking questions are provided to stimulate further consideration of the issues. This is a little book that individual Christians as well as study group leaders will find most valuable.
John Harris
Mirfield
