The Explicit Gospel

Short Review: I am pretty mixed on my review of this book. When I am mixed I get wordy. So I have a 1600 word review of the book. In short form, I think the point is right. We need an explicit gospel. I think he is right that a right eschatology helps influence a right understanding of our current lives. I think that his discussion of the difference between moralism and the gospel is right on track. But I have some real issues with the way he defines the gospel. Good writing, but some issues on the whole.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-expliciet-gospel/

The content of this book is good, and he does a nice job of covering the gospel and its implications from the perspective of individual salvation and redemptive history. The biggest negative of this book is that in the process of converting sermons to book form, a lot of the side-bars, light comments, and other features that make Chandler's sermons so engaging had the effect of being distracting and slightly annoying in book form. The other critique would be that when he goes on the offensive against opposing views, he is not charitable and thorough enough in his research. Those issues aside, there is much helpful material in here.

As to be expected, Chandler is coming from the hardcore neo-calvinist/young-restless-reformed theological perspective. In fact, I find it ironic that in a book that is supposed to be about the explicit Gospel, he doesn't see or acknowledge that his interpretation via Calvinism is an additional layer that he is putting on top of the Gospel, which can surely obscure it for many people. If you are already in that “camp” then I'm sure you'll enjoy this book. But if you're not, go read some books by Scot McKnight or N.T. Wright instead.