From the Editor...

Welcome to the first online issue of The Inklings Review, which has been renamed and reformatted from the Inklings newsletters we published in 2006. We believe that publishing our book reviews on a website will make them more easily accessible to our readers. As always, we welcome comments.

Our theme this month is Epiphany, the season of the year in which Christians celebrate the glory and grace of God "manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 1:9-10).

The glory of the infinite Triune God, even when subdued in His incarnate Son, infinitely exceeds the bounds of our finite minds and language. Many Christian writers have adopted mythmaking to try to capture and communicate more of that glory. We are pleased to offer this month a review of Rolland Hein's Christian Mythmakers contributed by David L. Neuhouser, Director of the Center for the Study of C. S. Lewis & Friends at Taylor University. We are republishing this review by permission from Wingfold, an elegant website authored by Barbara Amell, who researches and publishes rare works by George MacDonald. Please see David Neuhouser's article for links to the Center and to Wingfold. We plan to publish other reviews by David L. Neuhouser in the coming year.

Art is another medium in which Christians have attempted to convey God's glory. Elizabeth Hopkins Mickle, our assistant editor, contributes a review of two brief, but illuminating books about Christianity and art: Philip Graham Ryken's Art for God's Sake and Francis A. Schaeffer's Art & the Bible.

The Epiphany season begins by recalling the visitation and gifts of the Magi to the infant Jesus; it continues by recalling other events in which His glory shone: His baptism, His miracle at Cana, His calling and training of the disciples, His Transfiguration. He manifests His glory in disciples today in their praying and in their serving.

Our scribe S.N.D. reviews two recent New Testament studies that relate to two of these themes, one on Jesus's earliest inner circle of disciples, the other on petitionary prayer: What Have They Done With Jesus by Ben Witherington III, and Knocking on Heaven's Door by David Crump.

We hope you find these reviews helpful and the books reviewed enlightening and edifying.

Blessings to all.

Under the mercy,