Robert W. Kellemen, PhD. Gospel-Centered Family Counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books of Baker Publishing Group, 2020. Pp 272. ISBN: 9780801094354. $29.99 (PB by J. Brent

Robert W. Kellemen, PhD. Gospel-Centered Family Counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books of Baker Publishing Group, 2020. Pp 272. ISBN 9780801094354. $29.99 (paperback).

The book Gospel-Centered Family Counseling is part of a short series developed to

supply pastors and counselors with a practical way to connect their theology to marital and

family challenges.1 The other book in the series is Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling.

In the introduction of Gospel-Centered Family Counseling, Dr. Kellemen says the book’s

central premise is that “children need good, godly parenting more than they need good, godly

counseling. ”2 His conviction is that biblical family counselors counsel parents “to be their children’s best biblical counselors and parental shepherds.”3 Family interactions in front of the

counselor is a practice that enables this outcome.

Divided into two parts, the book gives readers a theological primer for biblical family

counseling as well as practical training for biblical counselors who support families. It was

written in a workbook format, and it includes questions, sample dialogues, exercises, and role-

play guidance to aid in competency development and build confidence in family counselors.4

Figure 2.2 is an especially useful tool for family counseling. It is a concise table with

1 Robert W. Kellemen, Gospel-Centered Family Counseling: An Equipping Guide for Pastors and

Counselors (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2020), 10.

2 Ibid, 14.

3 Ibid, 15.

4 Ibid, 11.

descriptions of various styles of parenting and their relation to love and holiness.5 It offers clear

ways to recognize godly parenting versus pharisaical parenting, neglectful parenting, and

permissive or possessive parenting. The author also provides biblical examples to further

expound upon each parenting dynamic.

Further help in family counseling is found in a prescribed parental prayer that is an

excellent reminder of the need for dependency on God and not self in fulfilling parenting

responsibilities.6 In chapter three, Dr. Kellemen teaches that parents can improve family life by

learning how to parent their children with grace and truth.

In the discussion of practical training for biblical family counselors, part two of the book,

readers learn strategies for infusing hope in hurting families. The author uses the letters in the

word hope to explain elements of hope that have utility in the counseling experience. H is

having hope as a counselor, O is offering hope to families in need, P is prompting parents to use

God-given resources, and E is encouraging the family to recognize Christ in action.7

To assist parents in connecting with their child’s suffering and soul, family counselors are

admonished to help parents nurture core elements of empathy for their children. Those elements

include deepening levels of involvement with their child, listening past what their child says,

entering their child’s pain, putting their child’s feelings into words, and inviting their child to hold to comfort that is found in Christ.8

5 Ibid, 46.

6 Ibid., 57-58.

7 Ibid, 96.

8 Ibid, 136-140.

Gospel-centered strategies to offer hope, healing, and reconciliation for hurting families

fill the pages of this book, enabling pastoral counselors to be better equipped to serve. It

specifically addresses counseling from the perspective of using and applying God’s Word, which

help families learn and practice godly principles in their households. The book is intended by

the author to be an equipping guide for counselors and pastors, and the author accomplishes that.

The concepts in this book will not just help a pastor or counselor in his or her work with

troubled families; it will also support the pastor or counselor in his or her personal family life.

For example, some of the questions asked throughout the book focus on the counselor’s family,

which builds awareness and empathy and provides an opportunity for personal growth.

If a counselor prefers to offer a list of action items to hurting families in family

counseling, this book will not support that method. Instead, it lends itself to promoting

dependence on God as a means to a healthier family. Because the book is Scripture-based and

Scripture-laced, one can sense God’s presence through the pages.

The strength of this book is its helpful, well-organized content. One area that had less

appeal was the illustration of putting on the family armor of God as spiritual workout gear and

equating God-dependency to a spiritual workout room in chapter one.9 I do agree with the

author’s point that the armor of God and dependence on God is needed in family life.

The author of Gospel-Centered Family Counseling is a dean of students, academic dean,

and professor of biblical counseling at Faith Bible Seminary in Indiana. He is the founding

9 Ibid., 34.

executive director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, has written more than 20 books and has

served as a pastor at four churches. Dr. Kellemen is well-qualified to educate others about

family counseling based on God’s Word. The prescribed counseling techniques in his book are

gospel-centered and support the development and discipling of hurting families. Therefore, this

book will benefit all counselors and pastors who work with families willing to increasingly

submit to lifestyles that please the Lord.

I recommend that pastors and counselors read this book, answer the questions in it, and

keep it as a reference for future family counseling.

J. Brent

Scot McKnight and Nijay K. Gupta. The State of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019. Pgs. 496. 978-1-5409-6240-9. $44 (PB).

In The State of New Testament Studies, Scot McKnight and Nijay Gupta have provided a

fresh successor to The Face of New Testament Studies, co-edited by Scot McKnight and Grant

Osborne. In keeping with the intent to give insight into the “landscape of NT studies” in the

preceding book, The State of New Testament Studies offers an update for readers who are

interested in similar questions about issues involving New Testament studies but who recognize

that things have changed since the initial publication on McKnight and Osborne’s work. On page

1, McKnight and Gupta describe the objective of their work as an attempt “to orient readers to

the field of NT studies today.”

The volume features various biblical scholars covering a host of issues related to the

study of the New Testament. The book is divided into four parts: 1) Ancient Context, 2)

Interpretation, 3) Jesus, Paul, and New Testament Theology, and 4) New Testament Texts. Each

part consists of several essays that explore pertinent issues in New Testament studies. This

review would be far too long if I attempted to summarize each chapter in each part. For those

interested, I would encourage them to see the Baker Academic website for the table of contents

in each of these sections.

Admittedly, I am tempted to engage the issues in the book that are of particular interest to

my research. Still, instead, I want to conclude this brief review with a few suggestions regarding

how this volume could be used by students, pastors, and professors alike.

For students, especially those in Ph.D. studies, The State of New Testament Studies

provides you with a reliable overview of the essential resources you need to be familiar with as

you attempt to research and write a dissertation on a particular section of the New Testament.

McKnight and Gupta chose experts in their respective fields to write the chapters in the sections

mentioned above. Given the number of books written on the New Testament, it is likely

impossible for a student to read every available resource. However, it is not only likely but

necessary that a student read every important resource available to them. With The State of New

Testament Studies, students will learn the difference between the latest published work in New

Testament studies and the enduring, influential seminal works that have shifted and formed

paradigms over several decades. From here, the student will be able to dig deeper into the

scholarship they encounter and possibly even find the research question they will need to begin

their Ph.D. work.

I believe a work like this allows pastors to stay current on the scholarship that impacts

their preaching and teaching in the local church. Not only will this sharpen the pastor’s mind, but

it will also allow them to choose and use better, more reliable commentaries in their weekly

preparation. For pastors that want to keep growing, I commend McKnight and Gupta’s work.

Finally, for the busy professor who once spent hours researching and writing but now

struggles to remember the title of their dissertation, McKnight and Gupta’s work provides you

with a scholarly multi-vitamin to reinvigorate and refresh your love for research without

overwhelming you. Furthermore, it allows you to explore research outside of your discipline,

which will result in a more balanced, more profound appreciation for the New Testament. As the

authors noted, in recent years, New Testament studies have become narrow and focused on

particular issues that many have “lost the forest in the trees.” McKnight and Gupta’s work guides

us out of the narrow path we started on when we were Ph.D. students and reminds us of the

forest.

I thoroughly commend this book to the serious student, pastor, and professor who wants

to stay up to date on the studies of the New Testament. McKnight and Gupta have done us all a

tremendous benefit by bringing together a group of world-class scholars in one affordable,

accessible volume.

Casey B. Hough Luther Rice College & Seminary

Ben Witherington III and Jason A. Myers. Voices and Views on Paul: Exploring Scholarly Trends. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020. 234 pp. 978-0-8308-5231-4. $30 (Paperback)

In Voices and Views, Ben Witherington and Jason Myers provide a helpful survey of the

seminal works of several Pauline scholars. The book begins with a reflection on how the study of

Paul has developed over the last few decades. Specifically, the so-called “new perspective is no

longer new,” having been “coined by James Dunn in 1983” (1). At this point, it would be

inaccurate to act as if there is only one “new” perspective on the apostle Paul and his theology.

Instead, scholars would be better served to speak of “new perspectives,” which have developed

out of the scholarship of men like Krister Stendahl. The first chapter previews where

Witherington and Myers intend to cover throughout the rest of the book, giving summaries of the

significant works in Paul with anticipation of greater interaction in future chapters.

In chapter 2, Witherington and Myers consider the impact of E. P. Sanders and his work,

Paul and Palestinian Judaism, explaining the background to the text and providing a helpful,

introductory summary of Sanders’ argument. In addition to their engagement with Sanders’

seminal work, Witherington and Myers also address and critique his more recent work, Paul: The

Apostle’s Life, Letters, and Thought. While they both have issues with some of Sanders’

conclusions, they encourage the reader to evaluate the worth of his contribution to Pauline

scholarship not in terms of agreement but in terms of “whether one is stimulated to think deeper

about the subject” (50).

In chapter 3, Witherington and Myers tackle the work of N. T. Wright, who has, as one of

my doctoral supervisors put it, “hardly ever had an unpublished thought about the apostle Paul.”

But this is no knock to Wright’s contribution to the study of the apostle Paul. Given the amount

of writing that Wright has done on Paul, Witherington and Myers delimited his most significant

work, Paul and the Faithfulness of God, as the focus of their chapter, which does a wonderful job

summarizing over 1500 pages of argumentation. The authors appreciate Wright’s contribution,

even where they disagree with him. Though, it is clear that they find more right about Wright

than with Sanders.

Chapter 4 considers the work of James D. G. Dunn, who is often credited with coining

the phrase “the new perspective on Paul.” As with previous chapters, Witherington and Myers

focus on a particular work, which in this case, is Dunn’s Theology of Paul the Apostle. Of

Dunn’s contributions to the study of Paul, Witherington and Myers rightly note his analysis of

the phrase “the works of the law” as referring to “boundary markers” like circumcision that

perpetuated division within the community of Christians in the first century.

In chapter 5, Witherington and Myers turn their attention to apocalyptic readings of the

apostle Paul. The authors helpfully discuss the debate that swirls around the study of all things

apocalyptic, noting that the confusion and perspectives that have flooded the market of Pauline

studies in the last few decades have not made the issue much clearer. After catching the reading

up on the history of the apocalyptic in New Testament studies, the authors consider the

contributions of J. Christaan Beker, J. Louis Martyn, Martinus de Boer, and Beverly Gaventa.

While recognizing some benefit in these scholars’ works, Witherington and Myers rightly point

out problems that must be overcome before the apocalyptic readings can be justified.

In chapter 6, Witherington and Myers introduce the reader to the work of John Barclay

and Stephen Chester. Barclay’s work is highlighted for its potential to represent a “landmark”

work in Pauline studies. In Paul and the Gift, Barclay argues that to understand “grace” as taught

by Paul, one must understand something about gift-giving in antiquity. Contrary to the idea that

grace does not entail an obligation of response, Barclay shows that gift-giving established “social

ties,” which entailed “an obligation to respond” (184). After engaging Barclay, Chester’s work,

Reading Paul with the Reformers, is considered by Witherington and Myers. Chester’s work

chiefly represents a “corrective” to misreadings among advocates of the new perspectives

regarding how the reformers understood Paul. While Chester’s work will likely not have the

impact of Barclay’s, it is still deemed an important work for students of the apostle Paul.

In the final chapter, Witherington and Myers recap their assessments from the preceding

chapters, making suggestions for future studies in Pauline scholarship. For those that might be

considering reading this book, I would heartedly recommend it if you were looking for an entry-

level survey of the landscape of Pauline studies, especially one that covers the last few decades

concerning the “new perspectives.” If I were to mention one potential shortcoming with the

book, it would be that the so-called “radical new perspective” on Paul does not receive enough

attention. To be sure, this is not because I believe this perspective has had a strong influence on

Pauline studies (yet), but because, if someone were coming to this book to find a more

comprehensive survey of Pauline studies, they would be disappointed by the absence.

Nonetheless, it is quality work worthy of commendation to students who want to get acclimated

to the water of Pauline studies.

Luther Rice College & Seminar Casey B. Hough

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Spiritual Powers of Ephesians 6:10–18 in the Light of African Pentecostal Spirituality,”

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Footnote Examples

1 B. Witherington, Paul’s Narrative Thought World: The Tapestry and Tragedy of Triumph (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 3–5.

2 J. Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Language (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), 237–38.

490. 3 P. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians (PNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 457,

4 C. Arnold, Ephesians, Power and Magic: The Concept of Power in Ephesians in the Light of its Historical Setting (SNTSMS 63; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 66–68.

D. Reinhard, “Ephesians 6:10–18: A Call to Personal Piety or another Way of Describing Union with Christ,” JETS 48 (2005): 521–32.

6 M. Kitchen, The ἀνακεφαλαίωσις of All Things in Christ: Theology and Purpose in the Epistle to the Ephesians (Ph.D. thesis, University of Manchester, 1988), 74, 76–77.

Bibliography Examples

Arnold, C. Ephesians, Power and Magic: The Concept of Power in Ephesians in the Light of its Historical Setting. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 63. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Barr, J. The Semantics of Biblical Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961.

Kitchen, M. “The ἀνακεφαλαίωσις of All Things in Christ: Theology and Purpose in the Epistle to the Ephesians.” Ph.D. thesis, University of Manchester, 1988.

O’Brien, P. The Letter to the Ephesians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

Reinhard, D. “Ephesians 6:10–18: A Call to Personal Piety or another Way of Describing Union with Christ.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48 (2005): 521–32.

Witherington, B. Paul’s Narrative Thought World: The Tapestry and Tragedy of Triumph. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 199

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