Book Review: Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me

Kevin DeYoung has done it again with his latest book, Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me. With this work he has provided his readers with a precise and very readable treatise on the Bible. I think this surpasses other works in this genre and will become a standard for Christians and their churches everywhere. Knowing, trusting and applying God's Word today has become a lost art and function today for evangelicals and DeYoung gets us back on track.

DeYoung comes right to the point in chapter 1, The goal of this book is to get us believing what we should about the Bible, feeling what we should about the Bible, and to get us doing what we ought to do with the Bible. Why? Because we are to, Sing, speak, study, store up and pray - this is how men and women of God handle the Scriptures. I couldn't agree more.

Chapter two takes the reader on a brief journey of the historicity of the Bible. This cannot be stated too strongly: From the very beginning, Christianity tied itself to history. The most important claims of Christianity are historical claims, and on the facts of history the Christian religion must stand or fall.
Throughout DeYoung pulls no punches as he ties the Bible to our daily living. For example, referring to 2 Peter 1:16, he states that, Ungodly living is inconsistent with the glory of Christ. That's Peter's point, and it depends on history, on the evidence of eyewitness testimony. Agreed.

The study deepens in chapters four through seven as the author defines and develops an understanding of the sufficiency, clarity, authority and necessity of the Bible. This is where the reader will profit much from DeYoung's artful and adept writing style. An understanding of these four premises is crucial for every believer and these chapters are a great place to start.

Jesus had much to say about the Scriptures and DeYoung brings to light some of these passages when he asks in chapter eight, What did Jesus believe about the Bible? A page later he elaborates, So if you are investigating Christianity or trying to figure out not only what Christians believe but the foundation for everything they believe, this is one of the best places to start: figure out what Jesus believed about the Bible. He continues by looking at some key passages to answer this question.

DeYoung concludes his book with an admirable admonition to Stick with the Scriptures. Keep going, keep pressing forward. It is the heart and soul, the foundation, of everything Christians believe. Don't stop now.

I know there has to be a flaw in this little book but I couldn't find it. Five out of five stars - wonderful book. I learned much and was reminded of much and am thankful for DeYoung's dedication to his readers. This would certainly be a great Sunday school, or home group study book. Every church ought to have a stack of these for new members and visitors. The Bible is the foundation of our religion - we should get to know it well.

Crossway has provided a complimentary copy of this book through Beyond the Page.