An interesting theory on “Christian graffiti,” with ample helpings of early church history thrown in. . . .
J. Daniel Hays. The Ichthus Christogram and Other Early Christian Symbols. 272p., $27.99, Kregel Academic.
Attentive modern-day visitors to the Mediterranean world will notice a symbol depicting an eight-spoked wheel carved into stone walls, floors, and funerary art. This symbol has long been considered the remnant of an ancient game or the work of vandals, but author J. Daniel Hays argues its proliferation was the work of the early church, and it should be included in the greater corpus of Christian art, iconography, and symbolism.
In The Ichthus Christogram and Other Early Christian Symbols, Dr. Hays examines the early church’s visual symbolic world and its history following the acts of the apostles–from the Great Persecution to the Christianization of the pagan world. Along the way, he takes the reader to key cities of ancient Turkey, Greece, and Israel to explore the political, architectural, and religious backgrounds of local churches and how such contexts informed their use of the eight-spoked Ichthus Christogram to teach orthodoxy and combat heresies, to remind illiterate believers of the basic tenets of the faith, and to declare victory over demonic forces. This is a must-read for students of church history and ancient Christian art.
Lay It Down 
Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs
Of transitoriness and love. . . .
Jordan W. Jones and Christopher Pascarella. Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. Kerux Commentaties. 360p., $34.99, Kregel Academic.
Kerux Commentaries enable pastors and teachers to understand and effectively present the main message in a biblical text. Each volume uniquely combines the insights of an experienced Bible exegete (trained in interpretation) and a homiletician (trained in preaching). These two authors work together to explain the essential message for the original listeners or readers, unpack its timeless truth, and then provide a contemporary restatement and communication insights for the key biblical concept. Every book is a resource designed and written with the real needs of the pastor and teacher always in view, providing many ways to creatively express the principal thought in a biblical passage.
Authors Jordan W. Jones and Christopher Pascarella demonstrate how Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs fit alongside other Old Testament wisdom literature. Ecclesiastes views echo the familiar biblical teaching on the eternality of God and the future judgment being a source of comfort in the face of stark realities acutely familiar to believers today. Song of Songs elevates the place of love and sexual intimacy in marriage relationships and prefiguring the analogy of the church as a spouse devoted to Jesus. Jones and Pascarella guide teachers and preachers to see how the holy disillusion of Ecclesiastes and the overflowing love in Song of Songs interact with other biblical teachings to present a coherent approach to life and love.
Based on the Big Idea preaching model, Kerux enhances the reader’s ability to deliver a message that is biblical, cohesive, and dynamic.