The message of sonship

Disappointing child

THE MESSAGE OF SONSHIP
A home in God’s household
By Trevor J. Burke
IVP. 241pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 844 745 388

The Message of Sonship is the latest in the popular BST theme series expounding passages of the Bible around a central theme.

The book is divided into two parts, the first taking five Old Testament passages and the second taking a spread of New Testament passages. The book is orthodox and thorough and the highlight is most certainly the introduction in which Burke gives a clear and helpful overview of Sonship and its importance as a Bible theme, articulating passionately the joy of moving from being slaves to sin to adopted sons destined for glory.

If the book has a weakness, it’s doubtless its readability, particularly in the OT section. We read the book together as a church staff team and we all struggled our way through finding it hard going and at times short on application. This was disappointing, because Burke clearly knows the theme well, but the way the book is written means that the book will probably be largely inaccessible to regular church members and too dry for church staff.

Steve Palframan,
pastor, Aigburth Community Church, Liverpool

© Evangelicals Now - February 2012
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Main Articles

• UN: two steps forward...
• The Commentary
  Secular grace deception
• Martin Holdt, 1941-2011
  Obituary
• How to visit your missionary
• The story on an Albanian atheist
  Interview with Pastor Gani Smolica
• How accountable are you?
  Graham Hooper applies the gospel to the 'untouchable people' of the modern world
• Mark Drama
• Court chaplains
• Moving in for the love of God
  A challenging new initiative from Canada
• Why read Dickens?
  February is the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens's birth
• Unapologetic Christianity
  A rage against religion
• The Music Exchange
  Harmonising with the devil
• Crossing the culture
  Brontes' 'eternal powers'
• Notes to growing Christians
  Bible in a busy life
• Monthly youth leaders column
  Recessional?
• The Third Degree
  Student Christmases
• Letter from America
  The great and the good

Other articles

• Isaiah by the day - An extract
• Lit! A Christian guide to reading books - Secular shelf life
• Good to grow - Building a missional church in the 21st century — one church’s story
• Reality beyond reason - The story of TELit
• Seeking a city with foundations - Theology for an urban world
• The Book that made your world - How the Bible created the soul of Western civilisation
• The message of sonship - A home in God's household
• Everyday church - Mission by being good neighbours
• Did Adam and Eve really exist?
• Letters by a modern mystic
• Beyond the gold - What every church needs to know about sports ministry
• The message of Obadiah, Nahum & Zephaniah
• The Bible now - Homosexuality, abortion, women, death penalty, earth
• No ordinary view
• The Corinthian question - Why did the church oppose Paul?
• The people's theologian - Writings in honour of Donald Macleod
• New proofs for the existence of God
• Twelve hidden heroes - More Bible people who lived behind the scenes