Book Review: Unbreakable- What the Son of God Said About the Word of God

     Another book review? Is this going to be a regular thing?!? ...I mean, maybe? Is that alright? Yes? Good, because this is about one that is really worth the read. 
     The book Unbreakable was written by Andrew Wilson who is an elder at Kings Church in Eastbourne, United Kingdom which is a part of New Frontiers. You can find links to more

information on both Kings and New Frontiers at the end of this post. I would love to bore you with a long and slightly silly story of how I've heard of Andrew, but I won't because it's not necessary. I will say that if you're looking for additional spiritual food for the soul then you may be interested in watching the Sunday sermons from Kings on their website and you may find yourself (as I have) blessed and amazed at watching from afar as God grows this ministry (unless you live in Eastbourne, in which case you should probably just go visit the church on Sunday).
      Unbreakable-What the Son of God Said About the Word of God is a short and simple, but very intelligently written text on the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture. I found it to be an excellent read to challenge a wide audience ranging from new believers to long-time believers to well learned skeptics. In short- we can trust the Word of God because Jesus does. "Jesus, it seems, loved the word of God with his heart (being satisfied by it), his mind (understanding it), and his will (obeying it)." (page 18. Ubreakable) Andrew explains with strong intellect, but easy-to-grasp clarity that Jesus viewed and taught Scripture as God-breathed/inspired, so we can doubly trust it and Him as He revealed Himself to be the true Messiah prophesied of and promised within Scripture. Scripture affirms Christ's Messianic position by listing so many prophecies long before Jesus was born that actually did happen through Him/to Him/because of Him and Jesus asserts Scripture's authority as from God. It flows both ways.
      Unbreakable goes on to explain that Jesus was just as serious as His opponents (most often the Pharisees and Sadducees) on the correctness of Scripture (at that time meaning the Old Testament). He continuously affirmed the Old Testament as absolute Truth from God. If we believe only the Bible or Jesus, we can then believe both because both confirmed each other. We as imperfect mortals can misunderstand Scriptures, but this does not make Scripture any less full of rightness and accuracy. During Jesus' life, the religious leaders of the day often debated Him over the truth of God and I think we in modern times often do the same, though we cannot currently access Jesus in physical form. Depending on where we are in regards to spiritually, we may doubt or worry about or even criticize the coherence of the the Word of God. Andrew does very well in writing on how Jesus taught clearly the coherency of Scripture, even to His greatest skeptics. One of my favorite quotations from the book regarding the coherency of Scripture can be found on page 28-  "You don't know the Scriptures. You've read God's word so clumsily, and so superficially, that you haven't noticed how coherent it is: how themes can appear in Genesis and then wait until Isaiah before they're developed, and how doctrines like resurrection are hinted at in Exodus, even if they're not stated fully until Daniel. So you play one part against another, without recognizing that they're all given by the same God. If you understood the coherence of Scripture, the beautiful way in which it all hangs together, you would never make such a silly argument. But you don't, so you do."  
     Though not at all a lengthy book, Unbreakable is packed full with truth about who Jesus is, why we can trust the Scriptures and what this all means in the grand scheme of life in 2015. Here are a few other aspects in the book that I found especially challenging, helpful and encouraging in my own Spiritual journey with God:
*Awesome examples of how Jesus has become the new version of so many Bible characters and how His story is the perfect one when theirs fell short.
*Explains how Jesus affirms the New Testament Scriptures (yet to be written during His lifetime) and explains, in one of the best ways I've ever read, how Jesus fullfilled the Law and why it's okay that He says the Law is not abolished, but things still change.
*A short teaching on and reminder of the fact that though the  Scriptures are pure and holy, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are who we as Christians worship and are in relation with over and beyond the Scriptures.
      Finally, Unbreakable ends with a helpful, short guide on properly interpreting Scriptures. This is a book which I was very excited to read and it did not disappoint. As the Christian faith lives out focusing on Christ's sacrifice this Lenten season as we approach Resurrection Sunday and celebrate the redeeming sacrifice of the Savior of the world, I highly recommend adding Unbreakable into your study materials whether you're a new believer, quite an old believer or not actually a believer at all. Let your mind be challenged, your faith be strengthened and your love for and trust in God be increased.

Links:
-If you would like to order Andrew's book, you can do so here.
-Information on Kings Church in Eastbourne can be found here. 
-Information on New Frontiers can be found here. 
-If writings on Theology and how Christianity can be lived in modern life interest you, you can find a very thought provoking blog here. 

View from my window today.