Category: YOUTUBE VIDEO

Disclaimer: Mouw’s recent attempts of ecumenicism are not endorsed by this blog, though I am thankful that he has introduced the discussion in this book.

The first book I have read this year was Richard Mouw’s Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport. I read the book in preparation for a study on the doctrines of grace. Of course, over the last ten years I have read most of the major biblical and systematic studies on Calvinism, but this one, in my estimation was a happy addition to the ever-growing market for Calvinistic literature. Continue reading “Video Book Review #9: Calvinism in a Las Vegas Airport”

Welcome to another episode of Book Reviews. This is episode #8. On this episode I want to briefly review Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula. I began reading this in book form, but when I discovered it was available for free download on kindle I switched half way. I confess it took me almost 3 months to complete the novel. Somehow Stoker’s narrative detailing every significant and often unnecessary detail through an infinite amount of journal entries did not keep me glued to its pages.

In summary, the story begins with Jonathan Harker. Jonathan is an English solicitor who travels to Transylvania to meet Count Dracula. His purpose is to explain “particulars of his London real estate purchase.”[1] But what is intriguing is actually what happens before he arrives at Count Dracula’s castle. The area residents seem particularly frightened by the mere mention of the name Dracula. Jonathan, of course, oblivious pays no attention to their fears. One of the residents hands Jonathan a crucifix, which in many ways symbolizes good. When Jonathan arrives at the last checkpoint, a coach arrives to take him to Count Dracula, but the mysterious strong man driving is actually Dracula himself. From thereon, Jonathan’s encounters with Dracula take on an entirely different purpose than he imagined. The remaining of the story is truly a wealth of journal entries detailing the Count’s activities and what others are planning to do to terminate this dead, but Un-dead creature.

Let me conclude by offering a few thoughts on this classic novel:

a)    The first thing I want to observe is that Dracula is a picture of tyranny. Tyrants want to make duplicates of themselves. They don’t want to create equally powerful duplicates, but image-bearers who will spread their evil agenda. Dracula is a satan-like figure. He gives and takes blood as a sort of demonic covenant between he and his newly created disciples. Continue reading “Video Book Review #8 – Bram Stoker’s Dracula”