Review of Beyond the Burning Times

Dr. Craig Blomberg, Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, has written the first review of Beyond the Burning Times: A Pagan and Christian in Dialogue (Lion Hudson, 2008) by an evangelical Christian. As Blomberg concludes his review he writes:

"No one can fairly accuse this book of perpetuating these culture wars [previously discussed in the book]. Both writers are remarkably kind and calm in their discussion of each other’s views. Some readers will no doubt wish that Johnson had in fact been a bit more forthright or pointed in his rebuttal of some of diZerega’s points, even while remaining considerate and accurate in his writing. But for a pioneering venture of this kind, fraught with the potential for so much misunderstanding, erring on the side of too much civility should scarcely be seen as a weakness!

"As a surfer of the web and its many religious and philosophical blogsites, I can attest that there remains far too much rhetoric by Evangelicals and their critics that is simply downright nasty, badly misinformed or both. The medium I suppose encourages that, since there are few mechanisms for adequate accountability for people who consistently display these traits. This alone remains a key reason why truth seekers must continue to read peer-reviewed books as the main basis of their information and reflection on important issues that face us as humans. The internet can supplement but it dare not provide the foundation for our beliefs. I strongly recommend this book and urge anyone interested either in understanding historic Christianity or Paganism better or in viewing an exemplary model of what Richard Mouw has called 'convicted civility' in action to read this book. And if there are any readers of this review who have neither of those interests, one might reasonably inquire as to why they do not!"

The review can be found on the Denver Seminary website here.