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Donald Roth

Redeeming Negative Emotion: a review of The Power of Regret Book ReviewsCulture

Redeeming Negative Emotion: a review of The Power of Regret

Title: The Power of Regret: How Looking Back Moves Us ForwardAuthor: Daniel H. PinkPublisher: Riverhead BooksPublishing Date: February 1, 2021Pages: 256 (Hardcover)ISBN: 978-0735210653  I have a playlist of memories that I can summon at will. Sometimes my brain hits “play” on the playlist even when I don’t tell it to: that…
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July 27, 2026
Distilling Kuyper: A Review of Calvinism for a Secular Age Book ReviewsTheology

Distilling Kuyper: A Review of Calvinism for a Secular Age

Title: Calvinism for a Secular Age: A Twenty-First-Century Reading of Abraham Kuyper’s Stone Lectures Author: Jessica R. Joustra, Robert J. Joustra Publisher: IVP AcademicPublishing Date: February 8, 2022Pages: 248 (Paperback)ISBN: 978-1514001462 The goal in distilling spirits varies depending on what you’re trying to make. Good vodkas are almost tasteless, ready to mix in…
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July 27, 2026
The Catechism as Counter-Culture: A Review of You Are Not Your Own Book ReviewsTheology

The Catechism as Counter-Culture: A Review of You Are Not Your Own

Title: You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman WorldAuthor: Alan NoblePublisher: IVPPublishing Date: October 12, 2021Pages: 232 (Hardcover)ISBN: 978-0830847822  “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” In his new book, Alan Noble takes the first question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism and uses it as a…
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July 27, 2026
Neo-Calvinism for the Nations: Reviewing Part 2 & 3 of Reformed Public Theology Book ReviewsTheology

Neo-Calvinism for the Nations: Reviewing Part 2 & 3 of Reformed Public Theology

Title: Reformed Public TheologyEditor: Matthew KaemingkPublisher: Baker AcademicPublishing Date: August 17, 2021Pages: 336 (Paperback)ISBN: 978-1540961976 Iam less of an unlikely Neo-Calvinist than my colleague who began this review series. Even though I don’t have a Dutch surname, I grew up in a little Dutch pocket of Southern California in the shadow of Westminster…
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July 27, 2026
Learning to Eat your Vegetables: a review of Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition from a teacher’s perspective Book ReviewsTheologyUncategorized

Learning to Eat your Vegetables: a review of Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition from a teacher’s perspective

Title: Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition: A Systematic Introduction Author: Craig G. BartholomewPublisher: IVP AcademicPublishing Date: March 21, 2017Pages: 379 (Hardcover)ISBN: 978-0830851584 This academic endeavor emerges in response to a student and professor summer book read and discussion about understanding more deeply the reformed perspective of the Christian faith. This review is…
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July 27, 2026
He is Strong When We are Weak: A Review of Gentle and Lowly Book ReviewsTheology

He is Strong When We are Weak: A Review of Gentle and Lowly

Title: Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and SufferersAuthor: Dane OrtlundPublisher: CrosswayPublishing Date: April 7, 2020Pages: 224 (Hardcover)ISBN: 978-1433566134 When our consciences are truly pricked, we are repulsed by our sins. When we are in anguish, we often feel disconnected from others, including our God, and we naturally…
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July 27, 2026
Too Much of a Good Thing?: A Review of Overdoing Democracy Book ReviewsPolitics

Too Much of a Good Thing?: A Review of Overdoing Democracy

Title: Overdoing Democracy: Why We Must Put Politics in its PlaceAuthor: Robert B. TalissePublisher: Oxford University PressPublishing Date: October 25, 2019Pages: 216 (Hardcover)ISBN: 978-0190924195 Sometimes a joke can capture a cultural sentiment as well as any other social commentary, so I’ll begin my review of Robert Talisse’s Overdoing Democracy with one that demonstrates his thesis:   How do you know if an…
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July 27, 2026
Cultivating Organic Creativity: A Review of The Imagination Machine Book ReviewsCulture

Cultivating Organic Creativity: A Review of The Imagination Machine

Title: The Imagination Machine: How to Spark New Ideas and Create Your Company’s FutureAuthor: Martin Reeves and Jack FullerPublisher: Harvard Business Review PressPublishing Date: June 8, 2021Pages: 224 (Paperback)ISBN: 978-1647820862 Creativity touches on something close to the heart of humanity. It’s not what makes us human, but it is a distinctive…
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July 27, 2026
Fixing Metric Fixation: A Review of The Tyranny of Metrics Book ReviewsCulture

Fixing Metric Fixation: A Review of The Tyranny of Metrics

Title: The Tyranny of MetricsAuthor: Jerry Z. MullerPublisher: Princeton University PressPublishing Date: February 6, 2018Pages: 240 pages (Hardcover)ISBN: 978-0691174952 “Any measure used for control is unreliable.” This is author Jerry Muller’s summary of Goodhart’s Law, and it captures the spirit of this excellent cautionary book. Muller’s book deals with a phenomenon he…
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July 27, 2026