You See Dry Bones

I received a review copy of this book from Crossway Publishers at no cost to myself.

I was looking forward to reading a book on Bible doctrine from one of the most influential pastors of our time, Mark Driscoll. Mark pastors a church of around 10,000 people and founded the Acts 29 church planting network which has planted over 300 churches world-wide. He co-authors the book with seminary professor Dr. Gary Brashears.

The book’s appearance and construction is solid. Stitched binding and a hard cover make this book durable while the 1.5 inch line spacing works great for underlining and note taking. It seemed no matter how much I read it, the binding never “cracked.” If I were to grade the book on construction, it would be 5 stars. It looks beautiful.

Too bad I am not grading it on looks.

The content of the book is “OK.” I am in line with much of the doctrines inside the book. I am an “old earth, literal 6 days of creation” kind of guy. I am slightly charismatic in my beliefs about the gifts of the Spirit, and I am pretty orthodox in my thinking and beliefs. For the most part, I would recommend this book to anyone who had questions or was seeking to “go deeper” in their studies of theology.

But…

The material is dry, rehashed, and full of opinions.  As Driscoll does in this book, let me explain by making each of my critiques a point followed by summary.

• Dry – Drink a glass of water while reading this book. The material is predominately lifeless. It is the cold hard facts and nothing else. No pedagogical devices, no stories or allegories (that I remember), no humor and only a handful of exclamation points (which sometimes seemed out of place). Even “serious” theologians, like John Frame or Wayne Grudem, can be engaging.
• Rehashed - I knew going in the book was based on a sermon series Driscoll did a while ago. What I did not know is, at times, it would feel like reading the sermon manuscript. While the book contains a lot of new information (not included in the sermons), it feels “old.” If you have listened to any of Driscoll’s preaching, or read any of his books (he rips several paragraphs and a chart strait from Death by Love), you may be thinking to yourself, “I’ve heard / read this before…”
• Full of opinions - While the doctrine is pretty factual, sometimes Mark (or Gary) would put random opinions in the text. My favorite? Mark claims “Johnathan Edwards is the best American theologian of all time.” Never tells us why. Never backs up his claim. Never gives us examples of why he believes this unprovable “fact.” Driscoll also plays some semantic and word games with the text in Genesis to prove the existence of the Trinity. I believe there is enough evidence to prove this without having to attempt a substitution of Hebrew words.

Not all negative.

I do believe the book has some great things going for it. There are many facts backed up by quotes from other theologians (in truth, N.T. Wright should get credit for at least one entire chapter) who have been instrumental in my personal studies, like John Stott and Don (D.A.) Carson. I also loved the books dedication to many of the great theologians from the past generation or two who have played a key role in God’s plan to educate and teach. Of course, I enjoyed the unabashed truths the book proclaimed. I think the book is a good resource and deserves three stars. Honestly, if it was not so dry, and contained less rehashed information I would have rated it higher.

I would recommend this book for two readers: Those unfamiliar with Driscoll, and those who have been Christians for about a year.

-Don-