Review: "Too Good to Be True: Finding Hope in a World of Hype"

Too Good to Be True: Finding Hope in a World of Hype by Michael Horton has much good in it, as Horton’s books usually do, but I found the structure of the book a bit confusing: the dust jacket says that this book is a collection of readings on suffering and the hope that is to be found in Jesus. Yet, the book has been edited (?) in such a way as to look like a single work. Yet, it reads more like a collection of essays. This is, perhaps, a minor point, but it made the books more difficult for me to read than it needed to be.

The first half of the essays are collected under the heading, “God of the Cross.” These six essays compare and contrast the prosperity gospel and the biblical Gospel, the theology of glory and the theology of the cross, look at the Fall and its consequences, understanding the Sovereignty of God and Christ as the center of all Scripture, and the difference between redeeming grace and common grace. While some may not know the terminology off hand, Horton explains them thoroughly and shows that these are major misunderstandings and lacks of knowledge among many today – issues that must be understood if we are to understand why there is suffering in the world and God’s place in the scheme of things.

The second half are collected under the heading of “God of the Empty Tomb.” These four essays look at Job and our need for an advocate, Adam and Christ as both “federal” and “organic” heads, the difference between justification and sanctification – or “redemption accomplished” and “redemption applied,” the “already” and the “not yet,” spiritual warfare and the armor of God, ending with the understanding of Jesus as the Resurrection, not merely giving resurrection. Again, Horton explains all of these things well for the lay person and shows the biblical understand of the hope that there is in Jesus, no matter what “slight affliction” we incur on earth.

The issues Horton covers in this work are important and well-addressed, so I would recommend this work strongly. Yet, as I said to begin with, my reading of it left me wishing it was edited differently.