Category Archives: Theology

Book Reviews, SBL, Theology

Review of Biblical Literature – 11/15/2008

Ward Blanton
Displacing Christian Origins: Philosophy, Secularity, and the New Testament
Reviewed by Clare K. Rothschild

Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem
 Reviewed by Craig L. Blomberg

Katherine J. Dell
Opening the Old Testament
Reviewed by Bill T. Arnold
Reviewed by George Heider

Brad E. Kelle and Megan Bishop Moore
Israel’s Prophets and Israel’s Past: Essays on the Relationship of Prophetic
Texts and Israelite History in Honor of John H. Hayes
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Jens Kreinath, Jan Snoek, and Michael Stausberg, eds.
Theorizing Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts, Annotated Bibliography
Reviewed by Brian B. Schmidt

Daniel A. Smith
The Post-Mortem Vindication of Jesus in the Sayings Gospel Q
Reviewed by William Arnal

Fred Strickert
Rachel Weeping: Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Fortress Tomb
Reviewed by Samuel Thomas

Emily Teeter and Douglas J. Brewer
Egypt and the Egyptians
Reviewed by Roxana Flammini

Ben Zion Wacholder
The New Damascus Document: The Midrash on the Eschatological Torah of
the Dead Sea Scrolls: Reconstruction, Translation and Commentary
Reviewed by Gregory L. Doudna

Jürgen Zangenberg, Harold W. Attridge, and Dale B. Martin, eds.
Religion, Ethnicity and Identity in Ancient Galilee: A Region in Transition
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Apologetics, Books, Culture, Current Events, Debate, Movies, Promotionals, Theology, Videos

Hitchens vs. Wilson: A Collision of Lives – Part II

This post stands as a compilation of the recent debate and commentary on the debate that has been posted by Doug Wilson, Nate Wilson and Christianity Today. Below I have also included links to one of my fellow Bloggers who wrote some good commentary about Presuppositional Apologetics last year during the Christianity Today debate between Wilson and Hitchens.

Here is an interview of Wilson and Hitches on the Debate/Book tour:

by Doug Wilson

  1. Common Ground
  2. The Helichopper Was Fun
  3. No Moderator, and We Both Behaved
  4. Teaser Trailer

by Nate Wilson

Christianity Today Debate – 2007

  1. “Is Christianity Good for the World?” Part I
  2. “Is Christianity Good for the World?” Part II
  3. “Is Christianity Good for the World?” Part III
  4. “Is Christianity Good for the World?” Part IV
  5. “Is Christianity Good for the World?” Part V
  6. “Is Christianity Good for the World?” Part VI

Commentary on the Debate – by James Grant

Here is that awesome video preview of the documentary again:

Here is a link to the published book of the debate hosted by Christianity Today in 2007. You can support out ministry by purchasing this book and others through our book store.

Culture, Current Events, Law and Faith, Politics, Prayer, Promotionals, Reforming, Theology

Ten Things to Keep in Mind After the Election

Here are some helpful thoughts from Doug Wilson about how Christians should respond to the election of Barack Obama.

1. God is still Father, Christ is still at His right hand, and the Holy Spirit is still abroad in the world, recreating that world according to the image of Christ. When the nations conspire against Him, He laughs at them.

2. The most important thing we can do for our nation, and for the world around us, is to gather for worship every Lord’s Day. The privilege of voting in presidential elections comes to us every four years, while we are graced with the opportunity to take the Lord’s Supper week to week. Right worship reforms the Church, and is therefore God’s central instrument for remaking the world. For this reason, we must insist on worship that is in accordance with Scripture. Judgment begins with the household of God. Our generation is fatherless. In the power of the Spirit, in the name of the Son, we must therefore worship the Father.

3. The first and greatest command is to love God, and the second is to love our neighbor. When the question arises, as it will, as to who is our neighbor, a good policy is to always begin with the smallest, the least, the most defenseless. Never apologize for a crawl-over-broken-glass pro-life stance. Live in such a life-affirming way as to expect apologies from those who would redefine the lives of others (always the lives of others, isn’t it?) into expendible insignificance.

4. Honor women. Honor your mother, your wife, and your daughters. We live in a culture that despises women, and which has engineered a vast machinery of propaganda designed to get them to surrender to it. If you don’t know how to honor, on a day-to-day basis, the women in your life, then learn. Make it a priority.

5. Don’t doubt in the dark what you knew in the light. The late Francis Schaeffer taught evangelical Christians to think like Christians as they engaged with unbelief in the public square. But a goodly number of his proteges, disciples, and name-appropriators have begun to “engage with the culture” in a way that looks more like going native than it looks like missionary work. Melancthons fall apart more rapidly than they used to. Get used to it, but don’t you do it.

6. While pro-life work is at the very center of all mercy ministry, it should not be allowed to distract from the broader kind of mercy ministry that offers gospel help to those who have contributed to their own misery — addicts, convicts, the uneducated and the unemployable. Such mercy ministry must be consistently tenderhearted and hardheaded. Sentimentalists are never able to give themselves away in the ongoing way that bleeding (but thinking) Christians must.

7. Learn something about economics. Please.

Continue reading Ten Things to Keep in Mind After the Election →

Books, Culture, Evangelism, Pop Christianity, Promotionals, Reforming, Theology

Evangellyfish

Doug Wilson has finished writing a satire related modern day Church culture and their pastors. I encourage you to visit the book’s web site. All of the material is available by chapter in blog format for free. So you can read the whole thing online if you want. Here is the link to the first chapter of the book. Here is some information about the book:

John Mitchell is the pastor of a small, modestly successful Reformed Baptist church in a city in the Midwest. Chad Lester is one of the most successful pastors in North America, and he is the leading light at Camel Creek Community Church in the same city. He is, speaking in theological terms, a dirt bag. And yet, his quasi-secret sexual misbehavior leads only to church growth success followed by publishing success, followed in turn by ever more church growth. John Mitchell hates everything that Lester stands for and yet, unbeknownst to him, envy of Lester’s success has him secretly by the throat. He thinks of it as indignation, or righteous concern, or something, but the real issue is that he is peeved that Lester appears to be blessed by God for being a creep, and he, Mitchell, struggles in obscurity for being faithful. But of course, Mitchell is faithful, and Lester is a creep, and the reader is not surprised that Mitchell can’t see it. None of us would if we were in his place.

When Lester is falsely accused of the one rotten thing he didn’t do, and his ministry starts to implode, John Mitchell is dragged into it much against his will, All this said, Evangellyfish is not really a dark comedy, but rather a medium brown comedy. In some sense, it is a satire on a world that defies satire.

Book Reviews, SBL, Theology

Review of Biblical Literature – 11/8/2008

Kevin L. Anderson
‘But God Raised Him from the Dead’: The Theology of Jesus’ Resurrection in Luke-Acts
Reviewed by Ron Clark

Paul Barnett
Paul: Missionary of Jesus
Reviewed by Don Garlington

David A. Brondos
Fortress Introduction to Salvation and the Cross
Reviewed by Ron Clark

Donald Capps
Jesus the Village Psychiatrist
Reviewed by Pieter F. Craffert

Robert R. Ellis
Learning to Read Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar
Reviewed by Max Rogland

Alec Gilmore
A Concise Dictionary of Bible Origins and Interpretation
Reviewed by Jan G. van der Watt

Thomas L. Leclerc
Introduction to the Prophets: Their Stories, Sayings, and Scrolls
Reviewed by Bo H. Lim

Andrew T. Lincoln and Angus Paddison, eds.
Christology and Scripture: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Reviewed by Mark Elliott

Theo A. W. van der Louw
Transformations in the Septuagint: Towards an Interaction of Septuagint Studies and Translation Studies
Reviewed by Francis Dalrymple-Hamilton

Grant Macaskill
Revealed Wisdom and Inaugurated Eschatology in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
Reviewed by Brian Han Gregg

Frank J. Matera
New Testament Theology: Exploring Diversity and Unity
Reviewed by Udo Schnelle

Sarianna Metso
The Serekh Texts
Reviewed by Ian Werrett

Ela Nutu
Incarnate Word, Inscribed Flesh: John’s Prologue and the Postmodern
Reviewed by Larry D. George

Alexander Samely
Forms of Rabbinic Literature and Thought: An Introduction
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Klyne R. Snodgrass
Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus
Reviewed by Ernest van Eck

David E. S. Stein, ed.
The Contemporary Torah: A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation
Reviewed by Linda S. Schearing

Marvin A. Sweeney
I and II Kings: A Commentary
Reviewed by Ernst Axel Knauf

John S. Vassar
Recalling a Story Once Told: An Intertextual Reading of the Psalter and the Pentateuch
Reviewed by Philippus J. Botha

Gary Yamasaki
Watching a Biblical Narrative: Point of View in Biblical Exegesis
Reviewed by David R. Bauer
Reviewed by Helmut Utzschneider

Apologetics, Atheism, Culture News, Debate, Eschatology, False Religion, History, Movies, New Testament Theology, Promotionals, Reforming, Theology, Videos

Bill Maher and John Piper

2 Comments

Denny Burk says:

You have probably seen by now one of the ads for Bill Maher’s new documentary “Religulous.” If you haven’t seen it, it’s a movie that was produced for the expressed purpose of denigrating religion. The fundamental point seems to be that having faith in any religion is ridiculous—thus “Religulous.” In the trailer for the movie, the following exchange takes place between Maher and a person dressed up like Jesus.

Maher: Why doesn’t [God] just obliterate the devil and therefore get rid of evil in the world?

Jesus Impersonator: He will.

Maher: He will?

Jesus Impersonator: That’s correct.

Maher: What’s he waiting for?

The whole point of the exchange is to show how ridiculous it is that the Christian God will not do anything about evil in the world even though He’s supposed to be both good and all-powerful. Even though it’s delivered with sarcastic humor, Maher is asking a serious question. At bottom the exchange is really about the classical question of theodicy, and the whole thing is framed in a way to discredit the Christian faith.

In a recent blog post, John Piper answers Maher’s question, though he doesn’t mention Maher’s name. Nevertheless, the title of Piper’s essay reads like an allusion to “Religulous”: “Why not destroy the devil now?” Piper gives an answer that is (as you might expect) grounded in God’s passion for His own glory. God is most glorified by allowing Satan to remain for a time. He writes:

“The glory of Christ is seen in his absolute right and power to annihilate or incapacitate Satan and all demons. But the reason he refrains from destroying and disabling them altogether is to manifest more clearly his superior beauty and worth. If Christ obliterated all devils and demons now (which he could do), his sheer power would be seen as glorious, but his superior beauty and worth would not shine as brightly as when humans renounce the promises of Satan and take pleasure in the greater glory of Christ.”

Maher’s question deserved a serious answer, and I am grateful that Piper took the time to write one. You should read the rest.

“Why Not Destroy the Devil Now?” – by John Piper (desiringgod.org)

Books, Devotionals, Mp3s, Prayer, Promotionals, Reforming, Theology

Free Audiobook of the Month – November

Free Audiobook of the Month:
Calvin: Of Prayer and The Christian Life

Prayer as Calvin describes it is not giddy, and he goes on to give Scriptural definitions of proper thought, engagement, and attitude. What do the roles of patience and self-denial play in the role of the Christian life and what does Christian piety look like? What should our views be of the present life and the future life? These two sections of The Institutes guide us ever so thoughtfully and gracefully into his theology and practice of Christian living.

Just use the coupon code NOV2008 during checkout. Add the download format of Calvin: Of Prayer and The Christian Life to your cart and then enter the coupon code NOV2008 when prompted during checkout.

Covenant Theology, Dutch Reformed, Eschatology, New Testament Theology, Promotionals, Protology, Reforming, Systematic Theology, Theology

Bavinck’s Covenant Christology

Covenant Christology: Herman Bavinck and the Pactum Salutis
By Rev. Mark Jones, Leiden Universiteit

For Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) ‘the doctrine of the covenant is of the greatest importance.’ Behind the temporal covenants of works and grace stands the pretemporal pactum salutis (counsel of peace/covenant of redemption). The pactum salutis is an intratrinitarian covenant between the Father, Son and Spirit that provides the eternal, inviolable foundation for the temporal covenant of grace (foedus gratiae). The Reformed orthodox in particular, since the sixteenth century, used the pactum salutis as an argument for the ad intra trinitarian grounding for the ad extra work of salvation. Thus, soteriology is decidedly trinitarian, that is, ‘salvation is an undertaking of the one God in three persons in which all cooperate and each one performs a special task.’ Consequently, this doctrine is the starting-point for any Christological discussion of the person and work of the Mediator, Jesus Christ.

In defending and giving expression to the pactum salutis, Bavinck is conscious that this doctrine has a fairly long and illustrious history among Reformed covenant theologians. And though this doctrine is ‘rooted in a scriptural idea’, Bavinck suggests that not a few of the Reformed were guilty of ‘scholastic subtlety’ by quoting various Scriptural passages (e.g. Zech. 6:13, translated by the Latin Vulgate as consilium pacis) that did not have reference to the pactum salutis. Thus, while clearly appreciative of his Reformed heritage, Bavinck is not uncritical of various formulations of the pactum salutis.

In order to understand why Bavinck gives such prominence to the pactum salutis, something of this doctrine’s history must be understood, which will show, among other things, that his theology reflects the broad parameters and concerns of the Reformed interpretive tradition.

(Continue Reading…)

[HT: James Grant]

Apologetics, Culture News, Current Events, Eschatology, History, New Testament Theology, Politics, Reforming, Theology

The Judgment of God continues…

As America has seen fit to usher in a man who will act in the ways that will destroy the foundations of this country’s constitution, the rights of individuals and states, and the freedoms that we have enjoyed for so many years… I cannot help but look to God in Jesus Christ for my only hope and joy and comfort!

God’s judgment is being revealed against all ungodliness and wickedness of mankind through the election of Barack Obama as President of the United Stated of America. America and the Church in America will receive the judgment that God sees fit to bring upon it in the coming months and years. Freedoms will be reduced and Government will seek to grow bigger and make more and more people dependent upon it. We can only hope that people will feel in their hearts that freedom and liberty are more important than peace and safety “at all costs.”

May God have mercy upon this country and may God glorify Himself and show forth the rule of Jesus Christ over all powers and principalities that seek to make themselves greater than He.

Thankfully, this is a day of change that will work against the glory of America and work for the glory of God in Jesus Christ! Amen.

In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
Glenn Jones