My Favorite Books

The Walking Drum
Ender's Game
Dune
Jhereg
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Curse of Chalion
The Name of the Wind
Chronicles of the Black Company
The Faded Sun Trilogy
The Tar-Aiym Krang

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Review: Let Truth Prevail: An Introduction to European Christian Renewal Movements

Let Truth Prevail: An Introduction to European Christian Renewal Movements Let Truth Prevail: An Introduction to European Christian Renewal Movements by Allen Diles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is, for all intents and purposes, an academic text exploring the beginnings of the restoration/reformation movements in Europe.  There is an indirect tie-in to the Stone-Campbell movement in the United States of which I am a product of; so I found this history an extremely interesting review of how the various schismatic communities developed the various beliefs that they came to hold.  Each chapter introduces a movement and some of the founders and/or main players in the movement evolution.  This usually includes a compare and contrast against the predominant Catholic view as well as other Protestant churches … and it is remarkable how they were nearly all in alignment except for a few specific disagreements and it was the subsequent persecution that forced some of the major changes/conflicts.  The author then sums up the chapter in a Legacy section that talks about where they went from there and closes with “Questions for Thought or Discussion” and a ton of reference notes.  While some of the list of names and dates typical of a history text can be tough slogging, the terms and language used were clear and easily accessible/understood.

Introduction: The Concept of Restoration 

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: The Medieval Church and the Need for Reformation “in Head and in Members” 
Chapter 2: “To Obey God Rather than Men”: The Waldensians 
Chapter 3: “Truth Prevails over All”: The Czech Reformation Part 1 
Chapter 4: “Jesus Christ, the Best Lawgiver”: The Czech Reformation Part 2 
Chapter 5: “Faith, Love, and Hope”: The Unity of the Brethren (Unitas Fratrum) 
Chapter 6: “For the Greater Glory of God”: The Protestant and Catholic Reformations of the Sixteenth Century 
Chapter 7: “Given, Surrendered, and Sacrificed Wholly to God”: Evangelical Anabaptists Part 1 
Chapter 8: “Overthrowing Religion and Civil Order”: Evangelical Anabaptists Part 2 
Chapter 9: “A Personal Religion of the Heart”: Pietism, Schwarzenau Brethren, and the Moravian Brethren 
Chapter 10: “No Such Thing as a National Church”: Scottish Restorationists 

Afterword: “Yet More Truth to Break Forth from His Holy Word”

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#LetTruthPrevail #NetGalley.

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My Ratings Explained ...

  • [ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
  • [ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
  • [ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
  • [ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
  • [ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.