Review: Where are all the Brothers? by Eric C. Redmond
Posted by Anthony on July 1, 2008
A review of Where are all the Brothers? Straight Answers to Men’s Questions About the Church. Buy from Amazon.com for $9.99
Book Description
In this unique book, Pastor Eric Redmond confronts the important question of “Where are the black men in the African-American church?” with a candid approach that combines wisdom with a conversational tone.
Instead of side-stepping issues, Redmond converses with readers about some of their reasons for not going to church—the church seems geared toward women, the preacher is just an ordinary man, Islam appears to offer more for the black man, organized religion is not necessary, churches are just after your money—and approaches their skepticism with respect but also with corrective truth. On these and other topics, Where Are All the Brothers? speaks about the things that men think about in private or discuss at the barbershop when it comes to church and religion, challenging them to reexamine their long-held assumptions.
About the Author
Eric C. Redmond is pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Maryland. A former assistant professor of Bible and theology at Washington Bible College and a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, he is the 2007-2008 second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He blogs at The Council of Reforming Churches and A Man from Issachar.
Product Details
- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Crossway Books (May 31, 2008)
- Website: http://ericredmond.wordpress.com/
- ISBN-13: 978-1433501784
Pastor Redmond has produced a punchy little book that covers nine areas where people, men in particular, give reasons for not going to ‘church.’ These nine areas are broken up into nine days, and Pastor Redmond invites the reader to invest just ten minutes a day for nine days to hear his answers to their objections. Each chapter is just a few pages long and definitely manageable, even for those who protest that they don’t like to read. By necessity the book only touches lightly on each topic, but I was impressed to see authors like FF Bruce and CS Lewis brought to bear in the ‘Further Study’ sections. Those who want to go deeper will be able to.
Pastor Redmond writes with a distinct audience in mind that is evident from the beginning. He wishes to address the questions that men ask, but black men in particular. Their absence from the African American Christian community is something he highlights and wishes to remedy. Still, apart from one chapter, I’d say that the book could be useful for most men. That chapter is an evaluation of Islam versus Christianity and the sense among black men that Islam is more ‘manly.’
Here are the chapters: “Isn’t the Church Full of Hypocrites?” “Wasn’t the Bible Written by Men?” “Isn’t the Church Geared Toward Women?” “Isn’t the Preacher Just a Man?” “Doesn’t Islam Offer More for Black Men?” “Aren’t Some Churches Just After Your Money?” “Is Organized Religion Necessary?” “Jesus Never Claimed to be God, Did He?” “What to Look for to Find a Good Church” There are two appendici- Appendix A is “The Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecies about Christ in the New Testament” and Appendex B is “The Church Does Not Welcome Homosexuals.”
There is some pretty impressive apologetical reasoning bundled into some of these chapters. Read the rest of the entry… »
