TAKING THE BIBLE AT ITS WORD
By Paul Wells
Christian Focus. 272 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 845 509 699
For many years Paul Wells has been a highly respected theologian and Bible teacher, especially in the French-speaking world. He is adjunct dean of the Faculté Jean Calvin in Aix-en-Provence and editor of La Revue réformée.
This excellent book is a distillation of a lifetime of study and teaching and provides a comprehensive presentation of the doctrine of Scripture. Dr. Wells leads us through potentially complex theological questions in a clear and easy to read style using a wide range of illustrations. Subjects considered include revelation, inspiration, authority, Christ-centredness, illumination, and Word and Spirit. It would have been helpful to have a subject index.
The main target readership of the book seems to be Christians. It is a good introduction for new Christians and will also help mature Christians answer those who challenge the authority of the Bible.
Dr. Wells’s main purpose, however, is to encourage us to encounter God afresh in his Word. The Bible, he writes, is ‘a book that tells the story about the living relationship between God and men. For this reason the Bible speaks personally about the God who makes himself known to his people in the Old Testament and by the coming of Jesus in the New’.
