"The New Testament in Color" (Esau McCaulley, Janette H. Ok, Osvaldo Padilla, & Amy Peeler)

TITLE: The New Testament in Color - A Multiethnic Bible Commentary
AUTHOR: Esau McCaulley, Janette H. Ok, Osvaldo Padilla, & Amy Peeler
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2024, (792 pages).
 

There are many commentaries out there in the market. Most are written by scholars and theologians who are male, white and live in the North Western Hemisphere. Contributions from women are just becoming more regular. Those from Asian, African, and non-white backgrounds are also appearing. We have all been shaped by commentaries from the Majority-White cultural backgrounds. For all their good intent, there is a danger of mainstream commentaries that lack diversity in biblical interpretation. All commentaries are interpretations from a specific background. They are influenced by culture, historical contexts, and to some extent, ethnic backgrounds. How can we present a more holistic commentary that encompasses a wider representation of the human race? This book is an attempt to do just that. With esteemed scholars from all over the Christian world, this "Multiethnic Bible Commentary" brings together a host of scholars from different ethnic groups. The African-American section interprets from the lens of slavery and the quest for fuller acceptance in society. The Asian-American chapter interprets from an immigrant's perspective while the Hispanic-American views Scriptures from a marginalized position. For the Native-American, they see things from the goodness of their culture. Writing on the White-Majority perspective, the starting point is "repentance, humility, unity, and communion."

Following that are commentaries by a multiethnic community on every book of the New Testament.

"Trust" (Dominique Shelton Leipzig)

TITLE: Trust.: Responsible AI, Innovation, Privacy and Data Leadership
AUTHOR: Dominique Shelton Leipzig
PUBLISHER: Charleston, SC: Forbes Books, 2024, (399 pages).
 

It is not easy to trust what we see today. From Artificial Intelligence to Deep Fake technologies, it is becoming easier to manipulate data for illegitimate ends. With innovation comes the tendency for cheating and criminal activities. Data security is critical to preserve the integrity of businesses and maintain positive public trust. All it takes is a data leak, hacking, systems malfunction, or an infiltration of ransomware, and the corporation's activities easily come to a standstill. According to Dominique Shelton Leipzig, the problem with modern corporate boardrooms is that data management is typically delegated to backroom staff, like data scientists or IT professionals. Some don't know the right questions to ask about their data in the first place. This calls for a more proactive approach when dealing with data and information in the company. Data stewardship cannot be left to consultants, or engineers in the data center, or outsourced to cheaper IT professionals outside. They need to be managed responsibly. Senior management needs to be held accountable. Data breaches and data security lapses cannot be blamed on data center staff. CEOs must take an active interest in the integrity and use of data in their organizations. With more businesses and information being collected and stored both inside and outside the organizations, there needs to be a heightened awareness and responsibility about its collection, management, protection, and usage. Companies of all sizes need a proper data strategy. The thesis in this book is that to re-establish trust in organizations, it is high time for senior management to take leadership of their corporate data as a critical asset. In Leipzig's words, one must "lead with trust." That means three things:

"Rethinking the Police" (Daniel Reinhardt)

TITLE: Rethinking the Police: An Officer's Confession and the Pathway to Reform
AUTHOR: Daniel Reinhardt
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023, (224 pages).
 

The general perception of the Police force has taken a beating these days. From Michael Brown to Breonna Taylor, Daniel Prude to George Floyd, instances of police brutality on minority communities are becoming far too common. Those who claim that the issue is due to individual racists will have to explain why in 2023, five African American policemen killed Tyre Nichols, a black. According to author Daniel Reinhardt, the problem is beyond individuals. It is embedded in a system that nourishes systemic discrimination. In other words, if the perpetrators are guilty, the environment that breeds them is worse. As a 24-year-veteran of the police force, Reinhardt knows the system from the academy to street patrols. The question remains. If law enforcement agencies, courts, the federal agencies are aware of the problem, then why is there so little progress for better policing? Reinhardt puts his finger on the lack of changes from the inside out. With so much attention on external factors, internal factors have unwittingly been minimized. These factors refer to culture, worldview, and "implicit social structures." He goes on to describe the three key cultural factors: "Social distance," "Unchecked power," and "social structures." 

"Reforming Criminal Justice A Christian Proposal" (Matthew T. Martens)

TITLE: Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal
AUTHOR: Matthew T. Martens
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers, 2023, (416 pages).

The American leadership system comprises three branches that counterbalance one another: The Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial branches of government. This ingenious system of government was first drawn up by the framers during the Declaration of Independence. Most people would have taken sides in the oft-divisive decisions taken by the first two branches. On a relative scale, the legal system seems to be the last branch standing when it comes to having a fair and just society. The Executive and the Congress frame the laws. The judicial system enforces the laws of the land. By definition, the American criminal justice system is essentially about "state-sponsored violence." This is because the state is legally empowered to inflict physical punishment on lawbreakers. While most of the time the punishment is legitimate, there are times in which injustice happens. As far as the law is concerned, justice means enforcing the laws of the land. The highest court of the country is the Supreme Court. As far as the Word of God is concerned, the highest order is love. This book is essentially about how the imperfect and flawed American criminal justice system can be reformed from this biblical perspective. Such flaws include the "us-versus-them" mentality that leads to societal divisions, the presumed "law and order" which could be overly subjective for comfort, and the infusion of political concerns into the practice of laws. Written in two parts, author Matthew Martens aims to "fashion a criminal justice system more in line with biblical teaching." Part One looks at what a biblical justice system looks like where Martens sketches out the contours of Christian ethic of justice. The first thing he does is to blur the lines of "social justice" and "criminal justice" to put them under the umbrella of redemption: of forgiven past and present love.

"Digital Liturgies" (Samuel D. James)

TITLE: Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age
AUTHOR: Samuel D. James
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers, 2023, (208 pages).

Just saying that the digital revolution has changed the world is an understatement. Like the story of two young fish that fail to understand what water is, some of us who have been so immersed in technology do not understand what it means to live without technology. Digital immigrants are those who have "immigrated into" the modern technology platforms while digital natives are those who grew up in technology right from the start. Regardless of whether one is a digital immigrant or native, the inherent threats to personality are the same for all. No one will be able to escape the far-reaching tentacles of the Internet and modern digital technologies. This book is a critical look at the way technology is shaping us and its implications for Christians wanting to live fruitfully in an increasingly complex world. He attempts to help us discern the digital world with biblical wisdom ethically, practically, and theologically. Concerned about the incredible amount of time people spend online, author Samuel James reflects on the significance of living in a world of "screens, algorithms, and pixels." From the threat of fake news to the dangers of disembodied living, this book is a crucial alarm to wake us up from becoming too trusting to the point of idolizing technology. It is also a wake-up call for any uncritical use or reliance on the technology we have gotten so used to using. He asks questions like:

"More Than Things" (Paul Louis Metzger)

TITLE: More Than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture
AUTHOR: Paul Louis Metzger
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023, (464 pages).

There is a worrying trend in society today. Socially, people are being reduced to statistics. Medically, the health and wellness of a person are defined by numbers displayed in life support systems. Individual identities are based on their social security numbers. In a paranoid environment about privacy, people give themselves anonymous avatars or reduce themselves to mere email addresses or Twitter handlers. Social media fame gets defined by the number of likes or viral streams. The list can easily apply to many facets of modern society. All of these come to the hilt when people start asking about who they are and why they exist. With a mixture of humour and seriousness, people might even be wondering if they are dealing with amber alerts about "Missing Persons." Author Paul Louis Metzger approaches ten "hot issues" with regard to the threat to personhood by arguing that these ten issues need to be constantly addressed with the maxim, "People are more than things."  Using his training as an ethicist, Metzger engages ethical theories with the ten issues to give us a moral compass to navigate from using things to appreciating persons. Before dealing with ethical issues, Metzger goes back to the fundamental truths about faith, hope, and hope. He reasons that a major cause for our focus on things is the onslaught of "cynicism, pessimism, and narcissism." The way to deal with these three impediments to human relationships is via the three core virtues of faith, hope, and love. Faith helps counter cynicism as it tries to navigate belief amid a culture of unbelief, largely because of a checkered past. Hope reminds us that we are made for more while things have limits. Love is the way we need to live in the present. In all these virtues, Metzger connects us to the Triune God who embodies timeless Truth and everlasting Faith, Hope, and Love. 

"Untrustworthy" (Bonnie Kristian)

TITLE: Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community
AUTHOR: Bonnie Kristian
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2022, (240 pages).

There was a time when many people had to deal with information overload. With technological advancement, the challenges of managing information have not only grown but have also multiplied. No longer can we simply trust the stuff thrown at us, we need to question their authenticity more and more. Questions like: Who is the publisher? What is their agenda? What kind of people are they hiring? What do they stand to gain? What political alliances are they a part of? Who is funding their business? Is it fake news? These are fundamental questions dealing with the tip of the iceberg of published "facts" and gross misinformation trolling the Internet daily. Sometimes, when a piece of news is published, one has to ask why before accepting what was dished out to us. We are in an information crisis. How do we trust news that is presented to us as "facts?" Author Bonnie Kristian goes beyond such mass misinformation by calling this a "knowledge crisis" (technical term: "epistemic crisis") that permeates wide segments of society. For Christians, this is also a faith crisis. Based on her wide experience as a journalist, she notices the incredible amount of half-trust being masqueraded as facts for public consumption. Whether it is the left or the right, moderate or middle-ground, all are guilty of manipulating facts for their own ends. The difference lies in the extent of the manipulation. Unfortunately, those who believe such information wholesale had lept to drastic measures on their own lifestyles. Kristian shares how some folks who feared a Trump loss would lead to an economic disaster stopped buying a house or curtailed their economic activity. From gay marriages to conspiracy theories, politics to Covid-19 matters, and how news media has led to divisions in various communities, misinformation dominates our media. These have driven a wedge that divides societies all over the world, even families. In writing this book, author Bonnie Kristian has three key objectives:

"Christianity and Modern Medicine" (Mark Wesley Foreman & Lindsay C. Leonard)

TITLE: Christianity and Modern Medicine - Foundations for Bioethics
AUTHOR: Mark Wesley Foreman & Lindsay C. Leonard
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2022, (384 pages).
 

How do we make critical medical decisions that do not have easy answers between right and wrong? Do we accept answers just because everybody is doing it? In matters that do not seem to have clear-cut answers, we need biblical guidance. We also need trained scholars and practitioners to help us interpret biblical principles in our modern contexts. Authors Mark Wesley Foreman and Lindsay Leonard combine their expertise in biblical studies, bioethics, law, and practical theology to give us an updated resource for tackling the controversial issues such as abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, assisted suicide, alternative procreation techniques, genetic ethics, clinical ethics, human experimentation, etc. Calling it "Foundation for Bioethics," the authors narrow down these discussions to legal and moral implications for bioethics. The authors define bioethics as " the analysis and study of ethical conflicts and problems which arise due to the interrelationship between the practice of the medical/biological sciences and the rights and values of human beings." Bioethics essentially cover difficult and complex decision pertaining to:

• Life and Death Issues
• Clinical or health-care issues
• Medical Research
• Social Health-care policy

"Beautiful Resistance" (Jon Tyson)

TITLE: Beautiful Resistance: The Joy of Conviction in a Culture of Compromise
AUTHOR: Jon Tyson
PUBLISHER: Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2020, (256 pages).
 

Before Jesus left this earth, he prayed for all disciples that though they are not of the world, they are still in the world. Why? That they may be the salt and light of the earth. They are not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed through the renewing of the mind. In a compromised and worldly culture, Christians are called to stand for the truth. How do they do that in an aggressively anti-Christian culture? Learning to be firm in our convictions but gently persuasive in our interactions. Resist the world but do it in a way that honours Christ. How could we make such a resistance "beautiful?" Author Jon Tyson shows us the way. He points to how a small ragtag group of resistance led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during WWII, and describes how their legacy inspires us today. Reflecting on the WWII martyr, Tyson offers us two key premises for a beautiful resistance:

• "Discipleship must be stronger than Cultural Formation"
• "Loyalty must be stronger than compromise"

Almost immediately, the author goes on to apply these to basic Christian Living. In relating to Church, he is aware of the broken images that the Church has been going through. Yet, the Church is still the Bride of Christ, the Temple of God, and God's main channel of resistance. That is why it must begin there. 

"Professional Christian" (Sarah Bereza)

TITLE: Professional Christian: Being Fully Yourself in the Spotlight of Public Ministry
AUTHOR: Sarah Bereza
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022, (198 pages).

Are Christian ministers more "play-actors," mere "professionals," or "authentic persons?" With sky-high expectations from the public, the temptation is to become something less of ourselves. As the famous Shakespeare phrase says, "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players." With a keen understanding of the human psyche, Shakespeare's comedy, "As You Like It," reminds us of the way we all tend to behave in front of other people. Like the professionals in a commercial on TV, people get paid to put on a facade by exaggerating the quality of a particular product or service. In fact, anyone in a public-facing environment would be tempted toward becoming something that they are not. Those of us in public ministries are not exempted from such temptations. We prefer praises rather than criticisms. If acting a little bit unlike ourselves would win more applause, many would. If doing something authentic invites vicious criticism, most dare not. This book casts a spotlight on situations where ministry personnel become professionals to look good in front of people rather than humble servants faithful to God's calling in Jesus. The thesis of this book is that the more we are in Christ, the more ourselves we become which in turn improves our authenticity in ministry. What does it mean to be fully ourselves? This is the key question that the author, Sarah Bereza will address. She adds that the closer we are to God's glorious light, the truer our colours will shine. Before one could deal with authentic ministering in love, there are seven barriers to overcome. These are:

"Rich Thanks to Racism" (Jim Freeman)

TITLE: Rich Thanks to Racism: How the Ultra-Wealthy Profit from Racial Injustice
AUTHOR: Jim Freeman
PUBLISHER: Ithica, NY: Cornell University Press, 2021, (308 pages).

Mention the name "George Floyd" and immediately people would think of systemic racism, social injustice, Black Lives Matter, and protests against any form of inequality and inequity. The trouble is, when the demonstrations are active and widespread, public media pay attention and join in the chorus against hate and systemic inequity. Once the demonstrations die down, many revert to the "normal" they are used to. So, what is the point of protesting if the results are mere short-term? Is it even possible to eradicate systemic racism? Can BLM provide enough impetus to ensure all races and all ethnic groups can be treated fairly? This book aims to look at how we can join in this long-term effort at rebuilding society into a fair and just one. The phrase "systemic racism" cannot simply be left to anybody's imagination. It needs to be defined clearly and that expectations are communicated justly. More importantly, we need to know the root of it all. As a justice advocate and a long-time civil rights lawyer, author Jim Freeman learns that systemic racism that most of us are saying comes from something far more sinister: "Strategic racism." Many of the efforts to bring about greater equality and eradication of poverty fail eventually. That is because programs alone are never bigger than policies. Solutions alone are not any bigger than strategies. If reforms are only made after vigorous demonstrations and protests, such reforms too are not sustainable. The Freeman starts noticing several patterns. Behind the bad policies are the same few hands that feed the problem. These organizations are profiting from the policies that are encouraging systemic racism in the first place! These are the ultra-wealthy, the powerful, the influencers, and the profiteers. Seeing such things made the author reconsider the words of the late civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr who famously said that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." After examining the contexts of systemic racism, Freeman laments that current contexts point to this moral "was being forcibly bent toward injustice." Strong words. How could that be? How is that so? What could one do about it? These questions are dealt with in this remarkable book about a perennial problem in American society, and maybe many others too. 

"Reading the Times" (Jeffrey Bilbro)

TITLE: Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News
AUTHOR: Jeffrey Lyle Bilbro
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, (208 pages).
 

A few decades ago, we receive news via the radio or the daily printed newspaper. We hear the daily digest or news bites with the radio and for more details, we open up the editorial pages or the news reports for both local and foreign news. Then comes the Internet. Our hunger for news and information remains but the medium we use differs. This also coincides with the cellphone revolution accompanied by the rise of social media platforms. The new technological landscape has also broken up the dominion of the humble newspaper or printed magazines. Now, we read news snippets via short texts such as Instagram, Tik-Tok or Twitter; and longer pieces via blogs or websites. For information that matters to friends, we might opt for FaceBook. We look for jobs via LinkedIn, read books on electronic devices, do quick updates on Twitter, and watch videos on YouTube, and many more. When freedom of the press meets freedom of individual expression, everybody becomes a reporter, an editor, and sometimes, an expert. In such a decentralized environment, it becomes more challenging to sieve out the truth from falsehood. Even celebrity gossip and news opinions have become so decentralized that the world sees only specific angles from any one social media user. On the topic of news, Bilbro raises several specific questions on reading the news. Underlying these is a growing awareness that our daily habits are more effective than what we say or believe. 

"Sanctuary" (Heidi B. Neumark)

TITLE: Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump
AUTHOR: Heidi B. Neumark
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans, 2020, (240 pages).

No matter where we go or what we read, one thing is for sure. The current President of the United States cuts a controversial figure. Just mentioning his name could easily stoke all kinds of emotions. It is common knowledge that Trump's rise to the top post in American politics is credited largely to the white evangelical support. If Trump is truly Christian, and if his support base is what they claim to be, surely, our society would be better off from a biblical standpoint, right? Hard to say. In fact, it could be worse. In this no-holds-barred critique of the POTUS, and how the age of Trump is making society worse, author and pastor Heidi Neumark speaks out boldly against the ills of power politics. She talks about how the age of Trump resembles the age of Herod in terms of fear instilled by the powers on common citizens. In a sharp rebuke of one of Trump's most controversial policies, she writes: "Jesus welcomes children and Trump locks them in cages." This was with reference to the forced removal of children from their parents during the "zero tolerance" immigration policy in 2018. Neumark was appalled at the arrogance of Trump who boasted about himself being a "great Christian." This boasts happen even as many low-income people suffer with livelihood issues. Big businesses are preferred to small time shops. Trump's "great relationship with the blacks" is contrasted with his apparent refusal to distance himself from white supremacy groups. With a whole list of dissatisfaction with the current POTUS, Neumark critiques his policies (and his tweets!) from the perspectives of the vulnerable and marginalized groups in America. Fortunately, this is not the only thing she does. At the end of each chapter, she offers up a plea to be heard, and for the disenfranchised to be heard. People need a sanctuary from all the injustice and hurts happening around society at large. Even if problems have no immediate solution, at least show some empathy and understanding. 

"Our Good Crisis" (Jonathan K. Dodson)

TITLE: Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes
AUTHOR: Jonathan K. Dodson
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2019, (192 pages).

The word "crisis" nowadays is very much an understatement. With the recent pronouncement of the Covid-19 as a pandemic, many people are living in a state of an emergency. There are chaos in many places, though some may say organized pandemonium. Author Jonathan K Dodson brings clarity to the meaning of crisis. He presents a whole potpourri of moral conundrums that are fast becoming confusing and troubling. He compares and contrasts the difficult choices behind abortion, sex, financial scandals, and various forms of injustice on age, gender, ethnicity, etc. He also questions the way the society at large have been using (or abusing) the word "crisis." How can it be good? In order to answer that, author Jonathan Dodson adopts three approaches. The first is the etymological approach, to study the origins of the word 'crisis.'  He goes all the way back to the original mention of trees in Genesis, namely, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Secondly, he traces the history of how the word crisis has developed through the ages. What was originally used for moral judgment, the word has evolved to describe "momentary uncertainty." This parallels the rise of relativism and comes at a time where there is increasing dilution of moral clarity. He laments how this leads to the confusion surrounding the essence of what is good and what is not.

"Materiality as Resistance" (Walter Brueggemann)

TITLE: Materiality as Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World
AUTHOR: Walter Brueggemann
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020, (120 pages).

Like many of Brueggemann's books, this book is a corrective against the excesses of the past. It is not about materialism which is bad. It is about materiality, which is the rightful understanding and constructive use of material things. There was a time where the Church has played a key role in "sanitizing" material things. In the sixth century, many people were overly preoccupied with all things spiritual to the detriment of material things. With dualism and gnostic beliefs, people were quick to segregate the material from the spiritual. Taken to the extreme, they consider all material things bad and all spiritual things good. "Materiality as Resistance" is about resisting such dualistic beliefs and to redeem the creative use of material things, without compromising on our spiritual beliefs. The five elements are: Money; Food; Body; Time; and Place.

On Money, Brueggemann begins with a push-back against John Wesley's popular maxim: "Earn all you can; give all you can; save all you can." While generally accepted by believers, especially Methodists and those from the Wesleyan tradition, this common saying about earning, saving, and giving has often been accepted without much critique. Yet, Brueggemann boldly pushes against this by asking three formidable questions:

"Intensional" (D.A. Horton)

TITLE: Intensional: Kingdom Ethnicity in a Divided World
AUTHOR: D.A. Horton
PUBLISHER: Carol Stream, IL: NavPress, 2019, (224 pages).

Different groups describe justice differently. For some, it is about retaliation. For others, it is about making sure the culprits are brought to justice and punished accordingly. Then, there are those who would use perceptions of injustice to do other forms of injustice. In a divided world, it is not just definitions or perceptions that are divided. People are deeply divided over matters of religion, political stance, language, looks, and especially ethnicities. If there is one thing that is badly needed, it is reconciliation. It is about building bridges instead of walls. It is about learning how to live and to accept one another's differences with grace and humility. This is what the kingdom of God looks like when it comes into the world. The biblical story is divided into four seasons: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration. As Horton works through the process of conciliation, he guides us with a theological principles of how the Church should practice and embody Galatians 3:26-28, the part about all people baptized into Christ, regardless of human distinctions. He warns the Church, especially the American Church about the "sin of partiality." If we take sides among our human race, then we are sinning against God. Looking at James 2, we learn about the dangers of using poverty and social ranks to judge people. We need to apply the golden rule. We need a "Color Blind Christianity," one that affirms a person's ethnicity. Affirmation is neither idolizing nor ignoring. Accepting one another's ethnic differences means we don't make it superior nor inferior.

"Christian Ethics" (Wayne Grudem)

TITLE: Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning
AUTHOR: Wayne Grudem
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers, 2018, (1296 pages).

What are the basis for moral reasoning? What are the differences between morality, immorality, and amorality? Are the Ten Commandments still relevant today? Absolutely! Indeed, as society becomes more secular and moral reasoning replaced by amoral philosophies, we become more confused and less convicted about what is the right thing to do. Things may be legally right but ethically wrong. How then do we do our part to retain basic human decency in the things we do or say? Without any guide, we are left to our own devices and we are prone to make serious misjudgments about what we ought to do in the light of societal pressures and what basic norms should be. This is especially so for Christians who are increasingly been challenged by the world to give a defense of the gospel and the basis for moral reasoning. We need help in order to structure our thoughts and to understand the Bible's principles for moral reasoning. Here we see the brilliance of Bible teacher and theologian, Wayne Grudem, who guides us through the basics of understanding what ethics was; what the Bible teaches; the purpose of ethics; the need for God's laws in society; and many fundamental elements on how we should anchor our ethical framework based on biblical principles. In a clear and concise manner, he leads us through each of the ten commandments and shows us the relevance of the ancient laws for modern times. Most crucially, he tells us why we follow ethical principles. That is because of the glory of God. He explains the different kinds of ethics that we have today: Deontological; teleological; relativism; virtue ethics; among the various normative ethics, and compares them with biblical ethics. He cautions us as we study Christian Ethics not to presume we could "improve upon" biblical ethics. The reason why we study is because we want to better know God's will for us. This is perhaps the key point to take home as we read this book. For reference, the ten commandments are:

"Just Capitalism" (Brent Waters)

TITLE: Just Capitalism
AUTHOR: Brent Waters
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017, (352 pages).

Words like globalization, capitalization, or internationalization have all been demonized in recent years. People point to the increasing rich-poor divide and the unfair distribution of food and power throughout society. Can there really be justice in a capitalist world? As far as author and professor Brent Waters is concerned, capitalization is more needed than before. In fact, he contends that "globalization is the only credible means at present for alleviating poverty on a global scale." Arguing against "naive anticapitalism," he asserts that capitalism has become the unfortunate "bogeyman" for all the problems in the world economy. Whether it is poverty or unemployment, income equality or environmental concerns, people are quick to point a finger at greedy executives, big-box companies, and the money politics that have corrupted many corners of the world. Thus, Waters tries to distance himself from such presumptions, choosing instead to see the solutions capitalism can offer, and to look at how it can create wealth for all. This is a bold move that would ruffle many conventional feathers. Fully aware of this, the author lists three levees to stem the likely tsunami of protests.

1. Complexity Problem: Capitalism is not the main culprit for world poverty nor greed. Instead, it is a complex set of factors that are preventing individuals from productive contribution and equitable distribution of resources.
2. Contextualization Problem: It is too simplistic to blame the problem in the rich-poor divide. Instead, there is insufficient contextualization and understanding of the circumstances surrounding the challenges in each region's market situation. 
3. Ideological Problem: Where conventional thinking often puts blame on globalization and capitalization as the bogeymen for economic problems of the world.

"Is Justice Possible" (J. Paul Nyquist)

TITLE: Is Justice Possible?: The Elusive Pursuit of What is Right
AUTHOR: J. Paul Nyquist
PUBLISHER: Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2017, (176 pages).

What is legal is not necessarily right. What is right is not necessarily protected by the law. Put it another way, just because we have a legal system does not mean we have a justice system With startling stories of unfair imprisonment, abuse of power, lopsided punishment, and lack of fairness in meting out the punishment, we are reminded once again how elusive justice is even in societies that pride themselves about their premier justice systems. Petty crimes get crushing punishments. Suspicions are tied more to skin colour rather than the evidence of the crime. Wrongful convictions get overturned without much compensation. It is entirely human to crave justice for we are born with that inner desire to seek fairness. Distinguishing between social justice and legal justice, author Paul Nyquist focuses on the latter mainly because it tends to be more neglected. He also limits his description to the American scene and seeks to give a Christian response. With the big picture about possibilities surrounding the issue of legal justice, readers can use four key questions to probe the main issue:

1. What is Justice?
2. Why is Justice Elusive?
3. How Should we do justice?
4. Will we ever see Justice? 

"Return to Justice" (Soong-Chan Rah and Gary VanderPol)

TITLE: Return to Justice: Six Movements That Reignited Our Contemporary Evangelical Conscience
AUTHOR: Soong-Chan Rah and Gary VanderPol
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2016, (228 pages).

Some Christians go way out to fight for social justice. Others simply swing to other direction to talk a lot but end up nothing pretty much nothing. Om 1947, the late Carl F. Henry's book The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism pretty much sums up the situation, where the general mood is distancing from the world and preserving the Church's fundamental images. Henry's conviction was moot, that the Church must walk the talk. They must engage the world in the manner that lives as salt and light to the world. Against a backdrop of a Church that tends to be apathetic to social justice matters, Henry placed much hope on an up and coming generation called "the evangelicals." Since that call, the evangelicals of then require a new wake up call. This is where this book comes in to highlight not just one but six movements to update, to renew, and to revitalize the evangelical conscience toward social justice and biblical responsibility.

The first is the Power of Personal Story. Rah laments the divorce of social action and evangelism as white churches fled the city to the suburban neighbourhoods. There is a need to re-integrate personal evangelism and social justice. John Perkins is an example of one who had done just that. Perkins has the unique position of growing up as a minority African-American community and also connected to a larger white community. He straddles both sides of the divide and is able to see the needs and nuances of both groups. He grew up without privilege and was able to understand in a very unique way the people who are marginalized in various ways.