Reviews for Anthropology and development

The average rating for Anthropology and development based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-03-12 00:00:00 Winifred Serfontein I find it awesome that God gave us a book. Though it's really more than that. The Bible is a compass, leading us over mountaintops, into deserts, through rivers and valleys, all along a dangerous and narrow pathway that leads north, to the kingdom of Christ. It is a complex tale of cowardly, messed up, imperfect people filled with confusion, doubt, calamity and apprehension, but also faith. It brings hope and inspiration to a hopeless and desolate land. It is fairy tale and non-fiction, history and biography, romance and suspense. There is a King, and his Beloved who strays from him. He painfully lets her go because he does not want to force her to love him; he wants her love to be genuine, her own choice. So she goes with barely a glance back, and finds other kings to love. Only she is never satisfied. Though she has betrayed him, the King still loves her and wants what is best for her. When she is in trouble and cries out to him, he helps her. He leads her through the desert and into a fertile land. She rejoices, but then forgets the King's kindness. This happens over and over again. Until one day, the King decides to show the full extent of his love for her once and for all time--by conquering Sin, the vilest of all foes, so that she could finally find the satisfying love that Sin had robbed her of all this time. And he asks her to marry him. Only, the Beloved does not quite know what to make of this. She is torn: half of her wants to leave all of her prodigal ways behind to love this King who has become her Savior, but the other half cannot, or does not want to, accept his kindness. The story continues as the King waits patiently for his Beloved to make her choice. What's more, we each have a part in the story, whether as a wedding guest preparing for the wedding feast, or someone trying to convince the Beloved that the King is actually a charlatan, and does not really love her afterall. And here come's the suspense: Will she choose to love her King and live with him forever, or will she choose to leave him again, perhaps never to return? Stay tuned for the conclusion....

Review # 2 was written on 2018-12-17 00:00:00 Keith R Brown NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible General Editor D. A. Carson (see my earlier review at ) Welcome to (one of) the best modern Study Bible available in 2018. A number of features make it stand out. The first obvious indication of its value is its size. Containing 2500+ pages of Biblical text, notes, essays, concordance, and maps — this thing is HUGE. But more important than this is the range of authorship (something I missed in my earlier review). Authors come from a range of institutions — Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (my alma mater), Wheaton College, Asbury Seminary, Baylor University, Westminster Theological Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, etc. The authors include men who mentored me, men whom I have read, and some that are new to me. There seems to be a missing diversity in gender and, perhaps, ethnicity (more difficult to verify). Though the book has a somewhat Baptist/Reformed flavor, the editor has drawn from a wide variety of sources. The notes are extensive, occupying nearly 20% of most pages — and given that the notes use a slightly smaller font than the Biblical text itself, they truly contribute to 25% or more of the text. Along with the notes, helpful full-color charts and maps are scattered throughout the book to help the reader grasp the broader structure of the text. There are also nearly 30 essays addressing topics which typically cross the normal divisions of scripture such as testaments, books, authors, etc. Some of these essay discuss topics such as * The Story of the Bible: How the Good News About Jesus is Central by Timothy Keller * The Bible and Theology by D. A. Carson * A Biblical-Theological Overview by D. A. Carson * Death and Resurrection by Philip S. Johnston * The Consummation by Douglas J. Moo An extensive concordance is also included along with a 14 map atlas (note: maps, as mentioned earlier, are also embedded in the notes as well). Weaknesses are few. Though there is a wide theological diversity demonstrated among the contributors, the lack of gender diversity is too obvious. The font of the notes sometimes seems too small. Thankfully the text of this Study Bible is available in a number of digital versions including Kindle and LOGOS. Finally, be aware that this book was published as recently as 2015 under a different title, NIV Zondervan Study Bible. I have this book in both hard copy, as a Kindle book, and as a LOGOS e-book. A brief survey suggests there is no difference between the earlier version of the book and the current one. As I wrote earlier, while reviewing the previous edition: I have a few favorite Study Bibles - the NIV Zondervan Study Bible will/has become another of those favorites. I will be consulting it often — I suspect others will as well. The same can be said for the newer NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible. ______________ This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.