Here is a good web site dealing with history and Christianity. I encourage you all to check it out and see what you can find. If there’s something there that you think would be helpful for us to read about, please come back and post a comment on this blog entry sharing the link and what you thought about it.
A short broadcast for historical renewal is available for download:
Historical Renewal with D.A. LaGue – John Witherspoon [4:37m]
Enjoy!
Well folks, it’s almost here! Thankfully JT over at Between Two Worlds is giving us some shadows and types of the book about to be released in the near future by Dr. John Piper. The first blurb is a commendation by the well known Dr. Darrell Bock:
A good biblical dialogue needs two good conversation partners, who work hard to understand each other and make their case biblically. Piper’s look at justification does this with a superb tone and a careful presentation of his case. He and Wright exchanged communication before this book went public. Piper appeals to the wisdom of the ages on justification, a wisdom deeply rooted in Scripture. Wright argues his approach is also deeply rooted in Scripture as seen through a fresh appreciation of the first century context of Paul’s writing, a context we too often underestimate. This dialogue is important for the church; Piper has put us in a position to hear both sides of the debate and understand what is at stake. He has served us all well by enabling the reader to be put in the place of considering what Scripture says as he or she listens to this conversation and to our God. Iron sharpens iron, and Scripture is a sword that cuts between the soul and Spirit. Be prepared to be sharpened by a careful dialogue about what justification is.
–Darrell Bock, Research Professor of NT Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
This book is going to be well worth buying as soon as it comes out, whether you are on one side of the New Perspective debate or the other. As Dr. Bock tells us… iron really does sharpen iron!
It is my hope and prayer that any mysteries will be dispelled in regards to the views of N. T. Wright as well as clear concerns stated by John Piper about where the New Perspective, embraced too strongly, can lead people.
I still do not know what the book will ultimately conclude, but I trust that (from past experience) John Piper will have done his best to do justice to the views of N. T. Wright. May God get all the glory and may this book help many, many people to understand the Bible even more than they did before having picked it up!
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
Before it’s too late, you should check out the sale going on at Westminster Bookstore. It is their best of Biblical Theology Sale. Details are as follows…
This weeks free book offer from the Pastorbookshelf is by Craig A. Evans. Here is the link:
Here is the book description:
Craig A. Evans. Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels. IVP, 2006. 290 pp.
Modern historical study of the Gospels seems to give us a new portrait of Jesus every spring—just in time for Easter. The more unusual the portrait, the more it departs from the traditional view of Jesus, the more attention it gets in the popular media.
Why are scholars so prone to fabricate a new Jesus? Why is the public so eager to accept such claims without question? What methods and assumptions predispose scholars to distort the record? Is there a more sober approach to finding the real Jesus?
Commenting on such recent releases as Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus, James Tabor’s The Jesus Dynasty, Michael Baigent’s The Jesus Papers and The Gospel of Judas, for which he served as an advisory board member to the National Geographic Society, Craig Evans offers a sane approach to examining the sources for understanding the historical Jesus.
Ray Van Neste and Denny Burk have started a web site for the co-sponsoring of an amendment dealing with the minimal doctrinal requirements of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). For an introduction to the site, see the changes that they want to make below:
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Before introducing the amendment to you, a little background is in order. In 2001 at the 53rd annual meeting of the ETS, Ray Van Neste proposed that the ETS adopt the doctrinal basis of the U.K.’s Tyndale Fellowship. The Tyndale fellowship unites around evangelical truths a broad group of Christian scholars from varying denominational and theological perspectives (Calvinists, Wesleyans, Baptists, Anglicans, etc). The members of the Tyndale fellowship agree to the statement of belief used by the U.K.’s Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF).
The current ETS doctrinal basis has two parts: (1) a statement on inerrancy, and (2) a statement on the Trinity. It reads as follows:
“The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory.â€
We are proposing that the ETS adopt the UCCF statement with the current doctrinal basis of the ETS incorporated into it. One other addition defines the “written word of God†as the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. So we propose to amend the current doctrinal basis as follows (underlined words indicate where the current doctrinal basis has been incorporated into the UCCF statement):
ARTICLE III. DOCTRINAL BASIS
1. The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs. This written word of God consists of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments and is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behavior.
2. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory.
3. God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgment.
4. Since the fall, the whole of humankind is sinful and guilty, so that everyone is subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
5. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, is fully God; he was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
6. Sinful human beings are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of their representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between them and God.
7. Those who believe in Christ are pardoned all their sins and accepted in God’s sight only because of the righteousness of Christ credited to them; this justification is God’s act of undeserved mercy, received solely by trust in him and not by their own efforts.
8. The Holy Spirit alone makes the work of Christ effective to individual sinners, enabling them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.
9. The Holy Spirit lives in all those he has regenerated. He makes them increasingly Christ-like in character and behavior and gives them power for their witness in the world.
10. The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ, to which all true believers belong.
11. The Lord Jesus Christ will return in person, to judge everyone, to execute God’s just condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to eternal glory.
As stated above, the UCCF statement unites a broad constituency of evangelicals in the U.K. We think there is great potential for it to be a unifying doctrinal basis for the various evangelical constituencies represented in the ETS as well.
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The current supporters of this amendment can be found here at this link.
The Pastor Bookshelf has posted this weeks “Free Book Friday” giveaway. The book is Preaching God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Preparing, Developing, and Delivering the Sermon by Terry G. Carter, J. Scott Duvall, and J. Daniel Hays. Here is a link to this weeks giveaway.
Here is the info on the Book:
Book Description
This user-friendly practical textbook helps preachers and homiletics students develop and deliver biblically based expository sermons relevant for the twenty-first century.
From the Back Cover
People in churches today are hungry for a word from God. Preachers need to prepare and deliver sound biblical sermons that connect with their audience in a meaningful way. Whether you are a student new to preaching or a veteran looking to brush up your preaching skills, here is a valuable resource.
Good preaching begins with good exegesis. Preaching God’s Word walks you through the steps of the “Interpretive Journey†from the biblical text to contemporary application:
• Grasp the text in “Their Town†(what it meant to the original audience).
• Measure the width of the river that separates the biblical context from today.
• Cross the “Principalizing Bridge†by identifying the timeless theological principles.
• Grasp the text in “Our Town.â€
While the science of solid biblical interpretation is essential to effective preaching, it must be married to the art of contemporary communication in order to bring the message home. Preaching God’s Word also shows you how to understand your audience, develop powerful applications, use illustrations well, and deliver the sermon effectively. The concluding chapters discuss the unique preaching challenges presented by the various biblical genres, providing interpretive keys, things to avoid, and numerous examples.
“Carter, Duvall, and Hays have given us a basic and worthy manual of how-to’s for preaching. Now since Haddon Robinson’s classic text has a book taken such a practical and understandable, step-by-step approach to the sermon.â€
-Calvin Miller, Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School
“In a day when the church-world is lulled into complacency by sermons that are little more than entertaining homilies on good values and fix-it paradigms, here is a guide to proclamation the way it was meant to be…biblical, understandable, and transforming.â€
-Joseph M. Stowell, Teaching Pastor, Harvest Bible Church; Former President, Moody Bible Institute.
This is a great opportunity to win a free book! Just go to this blog entry over at the PastorBookshelf and see how it works.
This weeks free book is by Allen P. Ross.
Here is the book description:
Recalling the Hope of Glory moves beyond worship wars over style and denominational proclivities to consider the heart of true worship–to recall and celebrate the hope of glory. This book looks at the many biblical events and teachings that develop this central focus of worship. Throughout the book, Ross emphasizes the integral issue of who we worship . . . and why. Pastors, worship leaders, and laypeople interested in the biblical themes of worship–regardless of their denomination–will benefit from this definitive resource.
Web site description: “In a penetrating and forthright style, Edward M. Bounds offers stimulating advice to Christian servants. “The preaching that kills may have insight and grasp of principles, may be scholarly and critical in taste, may have every minutia of the derivation and grammar of the letter, may be able to trim the letter into its perfect pattern, and illume it as Plato and Cicero may be illumined, may study it as a lawyer studies his text-books to form his brief or to defend his case, and yet be like a frost, a killing frost. . . .Preaching which kills is prayerless preaching. Without prayer the preacher creates death, and not life.†This audio book nourishes the heart and mind with Bounds’ message about the role of prayer in the life of the Christian servant.”
Click here for the free download details. Enjoy!
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
Anthony A. Hoekema has written an excellent book: The Bible and the Future
As I read through this book I hope to write some of my thoughts down for everyone to consider. But for now, you can think about buying the book and reading it for yourself! 🙂
Publisher Review: Writing from the perspective that the coming of God’s kingdom is both present and future, Hoekema covers the full range of eschatological topics in this comprehensive biblical exposition. The two major sections of the book deal with inaugurated eschatology (the “already”) and future eschatology (the “not yet”).
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
This past week on the Jerry Johnson Live radio program, two debates took place between Southern Baptist ministers. First, a debate over the doctrine of salvation with respect to Calvinism was held between between Dr. Mark Coppenger and Dr. Danny Akin. Second, a debate on the doctrine of Tongues was held between Dr. Russell Moore and Pastor Dwight McKissic.
Here are the audio files from the Jerry Johnson Live radio program:
Continue reading Southern Baptists debate Calvinism and Tongues
