It’s not very often that you read a book that starts out with its conclusion, or ‘finishes at the start’, as this author puts it. The ideal scenario would be for an author to start building an argument from the bottom up, in the hope that by the time (s)he is finished, readers would nod in agreement to a job well done. Not so Kevin DeYoung in this particular book! He starts out with his point of application, which is to help readers believe, feel and act rightly in relation to the word of God. This point of application is one he derives from Psalm 119, a finely crafted and single-minded poem that reveals the Psalmist’s passion and love for God’s word.
DeYoung’s purpose is to help the reader move from a drab response to God’s word to an excited one. In 124 pages, spread across 8 chapters, he embarks on this mission in a simple, uncluttered and, manifestly, biblical manner. Early on, he addresses the idea of circular reasoning, i.e., attempting to uphold the authority of the Bible by appealing to the Bible. I found his reasoning on this quite compelling and logical – “We go to the Bible to learn about the Bible because to judge the Bible by any other standard would be to make the Bible less than what it claims to be”.
He goes on to address attributes of the Bible that might otherwise be in question by different categories of people, devoting individual chapters to the Sufficiency, Clarity, Authority, and Necessity (SCAN) of Scripture. In these chapters, he offers reasons to why the Bible is knowable, necessary, enough, and what that means for you and me.
Having laboured in preceding chapters to present truths about the Bible from the Bible, the author, in the final chapter, invites readers to respond to God by taking Him at His Word.
Offering a word of assurance as to the significance of the matter, he concludes:
“Sticking with the Scriptures may seem a light thing now, but we will feel the weight of it someday. There will come a time when it will be shown whether our lives were founded upon trivialities or realities…”
Taking God at His Word is a book that will appeal to anyone seeking to grow in their trust and appreciation of The Bible. In a day and age where Christians are taken to task for holding on to the truths of the Bible, we are better served, being sure of what it is we believe and why. Without a fixed reference point outside of ourselves, we are bound to get caught up in a muddle of ever-changing cultural preferences and political correctness.
Indeed, God – through His Word – is worth knowing, trusting and loving!
Thanks for reading!
Sike Osinuga
Thank you for this review of the book Sike. God is indeed worth knowing, trusting and loving!
Thank you for the review of this book, I can’t wait to read the book and learn more. Our God is indeed worth knowing, trusting and loving! Thank you Sike, God bless.