The House on the Rock
With coverage ranging from theological concepts to various prayers, The House on the Rock is a comprehensive introduction to Christian practice.
H. K. Chapman’s The House on the Rock is a Christian text concerning the fundamentals of the faith.
Drawing on Jesus’s comparison of people of faith to those who build their homes on sturdy foundations that are unmoved by rain, floods, and winds, this accessible text addresses basic questions about Christianity, including who God is, what God is like, who Jesus is, what Jesus accomplished, the role of the Holy Spirit, and the impact of sin on humanity. It is thorough in its explorations of each topic.
Indeed, many topics are treated via multiple chapters in order to examine them from several fronts. When the book is addressing the Holy Spirit, for instance, one chapter focuses on the ways the Holy Spirit leads, and another concentrates on being in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Reflection questions come at the ends of chapters to emphasize their main points. The result is a book whose pieces are concise and focused, with scriptural references used to support its concepts.
The book’s biblical references are mined for meaning, as when Chapman explores biblical concepts of suffering in terms of the types of suffering that the Bible names. Chapman addresses theological topics like theodicy, too, asking why, if God is good, bad things still happen in the world; the book muses over what specific portions of the Our Father prayer mean as well. In doing this various work, the book sticks to straightforward language, and asks rhetorical questions to stay approachable.
Theological terms and religious concepts are well defined throughout the text, and prayers are suggested for specific occasions. Indeed, each section of the book concludes with suggested actions, so that its lessons can feed a person’s faith. Encouragements, such as to remember and speak, are part of this work, as is a list of steps for receiving healing.
In design, the book makes use of italicization to highlight words, phrases, or sentences of import, while bold fonts are used to separate scriptures from the text proper; coloration is used to distinguish the included prayers. Soft backgrounds brighten the pages, while vibrant, familiar illustrations, as of a cross, a man kneeling in prayer, and a man at a crossroads, are used for visual appeal.
By focusing on the foundations of Christianity and arguing that they should be built upon when a person is developing their faith, The House on the Rock comes to seem like a comprehensive Christian guide.
Reviewed by
Edith Wairimu
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
