Christian Book Notes

The Masculine Mandate.  Phillips, Richard D.  Orlando: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009.  175 pp.  $15.00.  Purchase at Westminster for $10.05.

Introduction

Lately, thanks in large part to the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, there has been a resurgence of men taking leadership in their lives, homes, and even in the local church. There have been numerous books written on the subject of being a man and being a woman all from a biblical perspective. Add to that The Masculine Mandate by Richard Phillips.

Richard D. Phillips is the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, S.C., and he also serves on the board of directors for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He has written numerous books including What’s So Great About the Doctrines of Grace, Jesus the Evangelist, Holding Hands, Holding Hearts, and The Reformed Expository Commentary: Hebrews.

Summary

Quite simply, The Masculine Mandate is an apologetic written for men on what it means to a be a man in God’s eyes according to God’s word, the Bible. The book is divided into two parts. The first part, understanding our mandate, looks at the theological foundations for being a man. The second part details how we are to live out our mandate as men.

The main verse of the entire book is found in Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” In the first section, we have five chapters. Phillips looks at man in the Garden before the Fall and then traces how the Fall impacted everything about man and his relationship, not just with God, but with fellow man. Also in this section, we are introduced to the reality of our having to work and lead our families in light of our newfound sinful natures. Perhaps the most important chapter is chapter four where Phillips looks at what it means to be created in the image of God.

The second part unpacks how we are to live out our masculinity as Christians in a fallen world. I will give you a hint, John Wayne does not really figure into this picture. Primarily, Phillips looks at our role in marriage and family life. This includes the necessity of our being ready to discipline our children in light of clear teachings in the Bible. The last three chapters take leave from the family and investigate how men are to respond to one another as well as in the church as servants of God most high.

Review

I want to offer a warning to those who will read this book, don’t do it unless you are prepared to be confronted with your need to conform to Scripture! Richard Phillips challenges his readers on every page—not as one who lives a perfectly masculine life, but as one who has studied the Word of God and can say, with authority, thus says the Lord.

He offers great advice on parenting and disciplining your children. More importantly, he offers excellent advice on what it means to be a husband to your wife in the context of a Christian marriage. More than once I found myself confessing my failures and asking the Lord to help me be a more Christ-honoring husband!

Being deeply rooted in Scripture, you will find that your argument is not with Phillips’ interpretation and exegesis, but with the author of Scripture itself; i.e., God.

Recommendation

For those young men entering their “teen” years or getting ready to graduate high school or even getting ready for a marriage, The Masculine Mandate will offer sage advice and become one of those resources that the young man will return to often. I recommend reading The Masculine Mandate in a men’s group or just by your self. You will be a better man in so doing. Regardless, the questions for discussion at the back of the book are excellent for meditative study as well as group study. Honestly, your wives and children will thank you for taking the time to understand better what the Bible says about being a man.

Phillips, Richard D.  Precious Blood: The Atoning Work of Christ.  Wheaton:  Crossway Books, 2009.  240 pp.  $16.99.  Purchase at Westminster Books for $11.21.

Introduction

Precious Blood originated at the 2008 annual Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology.  Therefore, it has a very Calvinistic, though thoroughly biblical, understanding of the atonement of Christ.  The papers brought together into this book were plenary sessions at that conference.  They focused on the church’s historical understanding of the atonement.

Review

Divided into two parts, Phillips introduces the doctrine of the blood of Christ (the atonement) as found in the Bible and then offers a small history lesson on how this doctrine has been understood down through the centuries.  In the first section, contributors like Joel Beeke, Philip Ryken, and R.C. Sproul (among others) offer biblical support for the necessity of a blood sacrifice, the ability of Christ’s blood alone as having any redeeming effect and then the atoning qualities that cleanse the sinner.  The first section is concluded with Godfrey’s treatment of the offensiveness of the blood and Sproul’s chapter on the Preciousness of the blood of Christ. These six chapters are worth the price of the book as they will have you praising God for the gift of His Son for our sakes.

The second section is part history and part journey.  Derek Thomas looks at the early church’s understanding of the atonement and what it meant to be baptized into the faith of Christ (most often, it meant death).  We then catch a glimpse of Anselm’s views and the subsequent views found in the reformation.  Joel Beeke offers an extremely helpful chapter on the Puritanical understanding of this doctrine and how it influenced their daily lives while Carl Trueman looks at the time following the reformation.  Richard Phillips offers a chapter on the critics of Penal Substitutionary Atonement in today’s landscape–a very insightful chapter indeed.

The Christ-centeredness that naturally stems from a discussion about the Atonement is evident in the pages of Precious Blood.  While the book is heavily Presbyterian, it will appeal to all denominations who want to better understand why Christ’s shed blood on the cross for our sins is a most important doctrine to be considered.

For those who are not Reformed (or Calvinistic) in their understanding of the extent of the Atonement, do not shy away from this book.  The only time that is ever discussed is in the chapter on the Puritanical understanding of the Atonement.  It is never argued for (other than to say that those who hold to Reformed soteriology (salvation) will agree with the Puritans) and is never “crammed down your throat.”  This book needs to be read by all Christians as it offers a more complete understanding of what is at stake in one’s understanding of the work of Christ on the cross.