November 2007 - Protestant Reformed Churches in America

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Book Reviews Book Reviews Galatians, by Peter Barnes, Webster, New York: Evangelical Press. 364 pages (hardcover). [Reviewed by Herman Hanko.] Evangelical Press, with plants in Darlington, England and Webster, New York, is publishing a set of New Testament commentaries. The commentary on Galatians is the fifth book of Scripture on which commentaries have been written. The author of this commentary is pastor at Revesby Presbyterian Church in Sydney, Australia. He also is lecturer in Church History at the Presbyterian Theological Centre in Sydney. He has written other books as well as this commentary. The book has several important strengths. It includes a rather thorough evaluation and critique of the so-called Federal Vision and the New Perspective on Paul. A commentary on Paul’s letter to the Galatians is the proper place to give such a critique, for no book in the Scriptures, other than Paul’s epistle to the Romans, is as powerful a refutation of the heresy of making justification dependent on faith and works as is this book. Barnes’ critique is clear, concise, and uncompromising. It appears in different places in the book: it is found already in the Introduction and is continued in his analysis of Galatians 2:16, 17. The commentary is easy to read, and Barnes’ explanation of the text is characterized, for the most part, by sober and sound exegesis. I like his emphasis in his treatment of 1:8, 9, on the fact that there is only one true gospel that must be preached and not acceptable variations of it. The strength of this assertion is underscored by the author’s criticism of the ministry of Billy Graham and of ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together—a document signed by leading conservative evangelicals, including J. I. Packer). Another help in the commentary is the references to many other commentators. Guidance is given for locating additional help, to those who wish to make a more thorough study of Galatians than Barnes gives. The commentary is brief, but November 2007 85
Protestant Reformed Theological Journal intentionally so, I think, because A rather striking example of it is meant primarily for the layman Barnes’ failure to develop the who seeks guidance in his concepts of the federal and or- study of Scripture. Its very brevity, ganic headship of Christ is however, makes for some found in his treatment of the weaknesses. The exegesis is expression “crucified with very skimpy and at times does Christ,” found in 2:20. He interprets not give an adequate explanation the expression to refer of the text. Key concepts are not to the Damascus Road experience developed in a positive way. (117). These key concepts include I hope that his statement in terms such as redemption, God’s connection with his explanation promise, Christian liberty, the of Galatians 4:4 that pagan mythology federal and organic headship of is evidence of pagan an- Christ, etc.—terms that occupy ticipation of Christ’s work is a a crucial place in the great doctrines slip of the pen. ■ dealt with in this important book. The Netherlands Reformed Church: 1571-2005. Karel Blei. Translated by Allen J. Janssen. Grand Rapids, MI. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006. Pp. xiv-164. $25.00 (paper). ISBN# 978-0-8028-3286-3 [Reviewed by Prof. Russell Dykstra.] This book is part of “The Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America” (No. 51), which has been a rich source of material on Reformed doctrine and history, both in the Netherlands and in America. As the title of the book indicates, 86 this is a history of the Netherlands Reformed Church from the sixteenth century, when the Reformed faith became a significant part of the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands, to the present time. This is not a history of the Reformed churches or movement in the Netherlands. It is specifically a history of the Nederlandse Hervoormde Kerk, or what is sometimes called the state church in the Netherlands (NHK). The author, Rev. Karel Blei, is a leading minister in the NHK. Vol. 41, No. 1
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November 2007 - Protestant Reformed Churches in America

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