The Inerrant Word: Biblical, Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives by John F. MacArthur Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am beginning a long term study of the doctrine of Scripture. I wanted to prime the pump a bit and chose this book to do so. It was an excellent choice. None of the articles discuss an issue comprehensively. Each chapter could have been a book. But what the book does do is give you a good orientation to the major issues, such as the character of God, textual criticism, the Spirit’s work, inspiration, illumination, apparent contradictions, pastoral implications of inerrancy, and numerous footnotes directing you to other sources.
This book is not an all in one comprehensive guide to the doctrine of Scripture or even to inerrancy. But it does give a good lay of the land from high up that will allow a student or pastor to explore other areas more in depth.
My Rating System
1 Star-Terrible book and dangerous. Burn it in the streets.
2 Stars-Really bad book, would not recommend, probably has some dangerous ideas in it or could just be so poorly written/researched that it is not worth reading. Few books I read are 1 or 2 stars because I am careful about what I read.
3 Stars-Either I disagree with it at too many points to recommend it or it is just not a good book on the subject or for the genre. Would not read it again, reference it, or recommend it. But it is not necessarily dangerous except as a time waster.
4 Stars-Solid book on the subject or for the genre. This does not mean I agree with everything in it. I would recommend this book to others and would probably read it again or reference it. Most books fall in this category because I try not to read books I don’t think will be good. There is a quite a variety here. 3.6 is pretty far from 4.5.
5 Stars-Excellent book. Classic in the genre or top of the line for the subject. I might also put a book in here that impacted me personally at the time I read it. I would highly recommend this book, even if I do not agree with all that it says. Few books fall in this category. Over time I have put less in this category.
Singing & Slaying 