May 28, 2007
Simon Gathercole and Second Temple Judaism
I previously mentioned my upcoming exegesis paper on Galatians, as part of my intensive course in a few weeks. Well, no sooner had I chosen Galatians 3:10-14 as my passage as a classmate informed me that those verses are the most hotly contested in the entire book. Oh well.
They seem to be crucial for the issue of how salvation by faith relates to works and the law. I found a very helpful article by Simon J. Gathercole, lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen. It is called, "Torah, Life, and Salvation: Leviticus 18:5 in Early Judaism and the New Testament." (Leviticus 18:5 is explicitly used by Paul in both Gal. 3:12 and Rom. 10:5, and possibly alluded to elsewhere in the New Testament.) And that reminded me that Dr. Gathercole wrote a respected book called Where Is Boasting: Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5
Different Types of Singles?
My wife and I recently wrote on singleness in With One Voice. Our interest in the topic was rekindled with Pastor John Piper preaching a series of messages on marriage (with his last two sermons being more related to singleness). He also pointed to a provocative, exegetical study by Barry Danyluk. All of this got us thinking about whether there might be different kinds of adult single Christians in the church today. The following graph (I am an engineer) is the fruit of our musings. We welcome any and all feedback on it, as we recognize that any one-page graph necessarily involved making a finite number of categories.
May 26, 2007
Hats Off To Mark Dever and Crossway
Mark Dever’s The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made
Crossway president Dr. Lane Dennis notes, “The Message of the Old Testament is a tremendous resource for understanding and applying the teachings of the Old Testament. With remarkable clarity, Dr. Dever guides readers through each book, highlighting the central themes and teachings of each and showing how they apply to the church today. The book is scholarly yet highly accessible. We are delighted to publish a work that is so valuable in helping readers understand the richness and depth of the Word of God.”
The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made and its counterpart text, The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept
Mark Dever is Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (in Washington, D.C.) and Executive Director for 9Marks Ministries. He also serves as visiting professor at both Beeson Divinity School and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
Thanks, Pastor Mark, for your ministry to us!
(HT: Michele)
Our Wedding Vows
A couple friends over the last few years have asked Marni and I for our wedding vows. I asked Marni if she'd mind if I posted them. Her reply was excellent: "Are you sure you want all that extra accountability?" Well, since we're already accountable to God and those who attended our wedding, we figure it can't be that much scarier to add you. Here they are -- you'll recognize that they are a mixture of the traditional vows with some of our own thoughts. I also should add that we are indebted to Pastor Tom Steller and his wife Julie, who were willing to share their vows with us before we wrote our own. Towards the bottom you might recognize Marni's allusion to Rom. 15:6, which is also where we got the title for our book.
By God’s grace and in His name, I, Alex, take thee, Marni, to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until we are parted by death. I promise to be yours exclusively, a loving and faithful husband, forsaking all others, and to honor you above all except God.
I recognize today with thanksgiving that you are the greatest treasure that God has given me—given to complete me, and that I might complete you. I cannot become what God would have me be apart from you. I love so many things about you, dearest Marni. Your tender heart, your warm smile, your ever positive attitude, your intelligence, your tendency to be on top of things. It is staggering that you would agree to marry me. In learning to love you, my heart is enlarged. I marry not just because I love you, but so that I can love you.
I promise to love and respect you as a woman, and to honor you as my partner and fellow heir of the grace of life. I promise to take with utmost seriousness my responsibilities to you as a Christian husband, to pray for you, to protect you, to provide for you, to comfort you, to encourage you, and to always seek your deepest well-being. By God’s grace, I promise to listen to you, to spend time with you, to tell you what I’m thinking, to include you, and to be there for you. I promise to deny myself when we discover our differences as we live together. I promise to cherish you above all others and above achievements. I promise to raise with you any children God gives us, and to train them in the way they should go.
I pray that I will make you happy by appreciating and accepting you as God made you and by enjoying and appreciating your love. I pray that God will enable me to preserve and increase your enjoyment of God so that your heart can overflow to bless others. I pray that God would increase our capacity to enjoy Him through the love he builds in us towards each other for as many years as He gives us. I pray that we will both live and die in a way that makes much of Jesus.
By God’s grace and in His name, I, Marni, take thee, Alex, to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until we are parted by death. I promise to be yours exclusively, a loving and faithful wife, forsaking all others, and to honor you above all except God.
Alex, blessed am I among women! You are the man I have prayed for my whole life. I am continually awed and delighted by your strong leadership, your intelligence, your sensitivity, your wit, your tender affection, and your intensity as you strive to know and please God. I am blessed by how you move toward me and how we grow closer in difficult situations. You make me so happy! My sweet Alex, you are God's precious gift to me. It is my desire that our covenant becomes more important than we are as individuals, so that when I love you and deny myself for you, I am loving myself.
I promise to love and you respect you and submit to your headship intelligently and joyfully, trusting your leadership. I promise to uphold you in prayer, to support you, to encourage you, to comfort you, to respect you, to be your helpmate in all situations of life, hoping always to be that refuge where you might find rest. I promise to keep careful watch over our household, endeavoring to make it a happy and pleasant place to live. Should God bless us with children, I promise to continue to honor you as my highest priority after God, and to raise them to love the Lord and respect you.
I pray that we would each seek daily to delight in and commit ourselves more fully to Christ, our Shepherd and Savior. I pray that God would use us in each other’s lives as He sanctifies us. May the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant us to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May 25, 2007
Foundational Documents for the Gospel Coalition
The twelve page paper, originally envisioned by Don Carson and Tim Keller, is now available.
A brief outline:
I. The Gospel For All of Life: Preamble
II. Confessional Statement
A. The Triune God
B. Revelation
C. Creation
D. The Fall
E. The Plan of God
F. The Gospel
G. The Redemption of Christ
H. The Justification of Sinners
I. The Power of the Holy Spirit
J. The Kingdom of God
K. God's New People
L. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
M. The Restoration of All Things
III. Theological Vision for Ministry
A. How should we respond to the cultural crisis of truth? (The epistemological issue)
1. Truth is corresponding to reality.B. How should we relate to the culture around us? (The contextualized issue)
2. Truth is conveyed by Scripture.
3. Truth is correspondence of life to God.
4. This vision of truth shapes us.
1. By being counter-cultural.C. How should we read the Bible? (The hermeneutical issue)
2. For the common good.
3. How this relationship to culture shapes us.
1. Reading 'along' the whole Bible.D. In what ways is the gospel unique?
2. Reading 'across' the whole Bible.
3. How this reading of the Bile shapes us.
E. What is gospel-centered ministry?
1. Empowered corporate worship.IV. Conclusion
2. Evangelistic effectiveness.
3. Counter-cultural community.
4. The integration of faith and work.
5. The doing of justice and mercy.
(HT: Justin Buzzard)
May 24, 2007
Gospel Coalition Conference
Justin Buzzard has been providing live-blog posts of the Gospel Coalition Conference, which is getting wrapped up today.
Tom Schreiner - Gregg Strawbridge Debate on Baptism
Tom Schreiner (co-editor with Shawn Wright of Beleiver's Baptism) debates Gregg Strawbridge (editor of The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism
When: May 24, 10:00-11:30 PM EST
This debate is sponsored by the Converse with Scholars series (organized and led by a ministry called Reclaiming the Mind).
Participants are allowed to call in and join the discussion.
Update: Though it is called a debate, in fact Strawbridge gave his presentation last week (May 17), and Schreiner is speaking tonight (May 24). I apologize that my post, prior to this update, was probably misleading.
(HT: Erik Schaefer)
May 23, 2007
An Array of Christ-Centered MP3s
Looking for a vast array of sermons and messages from men like Ken Sande, Voddie Baucham, Sovereign Grace Ministries, and Sinclair Ferguson? Look no further.
May 22, 2007
Family Driven Faith
This book is about the crucially important role of parents in raising godly children with a view to multigenerational faithfulness. Voddie Baucham (quoting a 2001 study from the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee) notes that "between 70 and 88 percent of Christian teens are leaving the church by their second year in college." This immediately grabbed my attention because a similar trend was reported 15 years ago when I was in high school. If it was happening back then, I imagine the ascendancy of post-modernism has only increased this disturbing trend. For example, George Barna noted in 2003 that 85% of "born again teens" do not believe in the existence of absolute truth.
In the opening chapter, Baucham asks: "What if our sons and daughters are merely going through the motions as they walk through life as goats among the sheep or tares among the wheat?" What a frightful thought! Yet in spite of this possibility, Baucham laments that "most pastoral search committees never even bother to meet a man's wife and children, let alone observe him at home or question those close enough to know how he teaches the Word to his family, leads them in family worship, disciplines, instructs, and encourages his children or wife."
Eighteen years ago, having barely turned twenty, Voddie married his wife Bridget. The two share unideal family backgrounds: over the past two generations on both sides of their family, there have been twenty-five marriages and twenty-two divorces (their marriage being one of the three that has not ended in divorce). Voddie explains that he and Bridget have three commitments: First, staying together and thriving as a couple. Second, investing in their children with a view to multigenerational faithfulness. And third, doing whatever they can to reproduce the first two commitments in the lives of others.
As a young father, I am eager to be equipped by Pastor Baucham to raise children into young adults with an internalized Christian worldview that promotes multigenerational faithfulness -- an uphill battle, given our post-Christian, anti-family society. Having read the first chapter, I know this book will be a must-read for me this summer.
The blurbs:
"Voddie Baucham has written an insightful and convicting book challenging parents to prioritize the spiritual development of their children. Only read this book if the salvation and sanctification of your children is of the utmost importance to you."
--Tony Evans
Pastor, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship (Dallas, TX)
"Every Christian parent ought to read Family Driven Faith. I've never encountered a book on family life that compressed so much biblical teaching, provocative thinking, sound theology, and practical help into one volume."
--Don Whitney
Professor of Spiritual Formation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY)
"Sending young people out into the world without a biblical worldview is like sending an athlete onto the field without a playbook, says Voddie Baucham. Yet few Christian parents even hold a biblical worldview to pass along to their children. Family Driven Faith gives parents winning principles to disciple children who will grow into spiritually mature adults capable of influencing all spheres of society."
--Nancy R. Pearcey, Author of Total Truth
Update: I posted a lengthy review for a similar book, reThink - Decide for Yourself: Is Student Ministry Working?
New Audio Books from Desiring God
Desiring God has made available a number of new audio books, including What Jesus Demands from the World
May 21, 2007
Intensive Course on Galatians with Tom Schreiner
This June 4-8 I'll be participating in a week-long intensive course on the book of Galatians with Dr. Tom Schreiner of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Schreiner will be hosting this class at Bethlehem Baptist Church as part of The Bethlehem Institute (TBI) Apprenticeship program. Given the number of e-mails I've received asking me about TBI, I thought I'd list for you what we have been doing since September in preparation for Dr. Schreiner's arrival.
First of all, we have been diagramming and ARCing all six chapters of the Greek text. ARCing is a technique for tracing an argument that Tom Schreiner (and Tom Steller and John Piper) gleaned from Dan Fuller, and which Dr. Schreiner described in his book Interpreting the Pauline Epistles (Guides to New Testament Exegesis)
Secondly, after we produce our diagrams and ARCs for a particular section of the book, we then see how various commentators understand the passage. We've primarily been using the Richard Longenecker's commentary, Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 41, Galatians
Thirdly, we've been reading some essays from an interesting and challenging anthology edited by Mark Nanos, The Galatians Debate: Contemporary Issues in Rhetorical and Historical Interpretation
I've finished all my pre-course work, and now I'm just trying to select a passage on which to write an exegesis paper. Any ideas?
May 18, 2007
D.A. Carson on Intelligent Design (and more)
The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (SBJT), Spring 2007 issue, is now available. The forum is entitled "In the Beginning..." and it features responses from D.A. Carson, Kirk Wellum, Todd Miles, Terry Mortenson, and C. Everett Berry on matters pertaining to science, origins, and the Christian faith. Don Carson provides a very helpful perspective for understanding the discussion on Intelligent Design in Christian and non-Christian circles.
May 17, 2007
Summer Reading Plan
(HT: Tim Challies)
May 16, 2007
John Piper on the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness
When we teach that our right standing with God is attained through the imputation of Christ’s obedience to our account (Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:6, 11; 10:3), does this imply that the work of Christ on the cross—his final suffering and death—is insufficient for our justification?That is the question which John Piper answers.
The importance of Christ's righteous (i.e., obedient) life is also unpacked in David VanDrunen's excellent chapter "To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice: A Defense of the Active Obedience of Christ in the Light of Recent Criticism" is By Faith Alone: Answering the Challenges to the Doctrine of Justification
Related: Introduction to By Faith Alone
(HT: JT)
May 14, 2007
Gospel Growth versus Church Growth
Nine Marks in association with Matthias Media announce the Conference Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth: Understanding the difference sets you free.
The Conference Description
It's hard for pastors not to be mesmerized by church growth. Who doesn't want their congregation to grow? Who doesn't want to see numbers and budgets increasing year by year? And who isn't greatly interested when the latest growth model comes along, the latest research, the latest insight that promises us the key to such growth?
But there's growth and there's growth.
Understanding what the New Testament means by growth, and how that growth happens, sets us free. It liberates us from anxiety and self-doubt, and from the slavery of chasing the latest program.
Matthias Media, in association with 9Marks, is pleased to present ‘Gospel Growth vs Church Growth’, a conference for pastors, evangelists and ministry trainees.
At this conference, you will learn about the growth that is central to God's plan, and how that growth is achieved. But the conference will not just be about biblical ‘principles’. It will also be about the practicalities of what these principles mean for your local ministry, and about making you more effective in it.
Four key addresses by Phillip Jensen will be the foundation of our conference, with Mark Dever also contributing a valuable keynote address. Tony Payne and Phillip will also give two practical seminars, and there will be a forum with all three speakers answering questions and engaging in further exploration of the ideas.
Details
When: Tuesday, October 30 through Thursday, November 1, 2007.
Where: Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.
Cost: $95. Early-bird registration $80 (by 31 August).
Special rates apply for students and pastors of small churches. Please contact us for details.
Speakers: Phillip Jensen, Mark Dever, Tony Payne
More information is available.
May 13, 2007
The Faith of Condoleezza Rice
Being a political aficionado, I am always intrigued about the faith (and supposed faith) of popular politicians. Condoleezza Rice is particularly intriguing because of her rising prominence, first in Bush 41's administration, and now in the second term of Bush 43's administration. In addition, she was the Provost of Stanford University when my wife Marni attended the school. I went to the rival (I mean, superior) school, the University of California at Berkeley. But even though she was in Washington, DC while I was in graduate school at Berkeley (2000-2004), Dr. Rice was a known figure among Christian circles. So when I saw Tim Challies' review of this book, it naturally perked my interest.
The book is an entertaining and interesting read. It spends several chapters looking carefully at Rice's upbringing in Birmingham, Alabama, tracing her deeply Christian roots back to her grandparents (and maternal great-grandmother). A dogged perseverance seems to have marked each of her ancestors as they sought to resist slavery. Rice's father (John Wesley Rice) was a Presbyterian minister and a dedicated family man. Condoleezza was their only child, and her parents poured love, time, and money into her intellectual, musical, and athletic development. For example, Condoleezza had piano and ice skating lessons (both rarities for African American girls of that era).
The future Dr. Rice experienced racial prejudice in her childhood, but her parents refused to let it get them down. While her parents were friends with civil rights leaders, it seems they themselves were not particularly involved in protests and the like. Rather, they wanted Condi to "beat the system" by being more educated and thereby more accomplished than others, and to never let her race be an excuse for failure. I was impressed by the tireless can-do attitude of her parents, and it seems to have obviously shaped Condoleezza.
She began her college years majoring in music, but realized she could not compete with younger, more talented pianists. So she shifted to another passion --- international politics, and Russia in particular. Interestingly, she was mentored by Josef Korbel, a Professor at the University of Denver who was simultaneously mentoring his daughter Madeline, who later took the surname Albright by marriage. Two future female Secretaries of State mentored by the same man.
A bit about Dr. Korbel: He had been an advisor to exiled Czech president Edvard Benes, who lived in London until the Nazis were defeated in WWII. Korbel then moved back to Czechoslavakia, became an Ambassador to Yugoslavia, but was forced to flee when the Communists captured the nation. He was tried and sentenced to death in absentia, but fortunately obtained asylum in the United States.
Through her reputation as an expert on Russia, she eventually impressed key people in President George H.W. Bush's administration, which led to an appointment. The current President later tapped her for a more prestigious position, and in between she was the Provost of Stanford.
A member of the PC-USA, Condoleezza's faith in Christ strikes me as deep, sincere, and genuine. However, the last chapter reveals a somewhat swirling manner of expressing her spiritual pilgrimage. She tends to see a dichotomy between faith and reason, as if one hinders the other. In her own words, she "needs to have a better unity of faith and reason" in her personal life, in her personal relationship with God (p. 198). I found myself wanting to send Dr. Rice the text of John Piper's excellent message on this topic from the Ligonier Conference this past March.
Overall, the book is a fun, stimulating read. If you are at all interested in what has shaped Condoleezza Rice, I think you will find it worthwhile. Montgomery gives readers a fuller picture of Rice's personal history by interweaving critical historical events (e.g., in the Civil Rights Movement) with the various junctures of Rice's life. I only wish more treatment was given for how Rice came to her own political convictions, which (as I understand them) tend to be conservative on fiscal and military issues, but more moderate/liberal on social issues. For example, I would really like to know more about how Rice views affirmative action, and how she defends her pro-choice position as a Christian.
Francis Beckwith Interview with CT
Francis Beckwith granted an interview with Christianity Today earlier this week in which he recounts his return to the Roman Catholic Church. Beckwith notes:
"The issue of justification was key for me. The Catholic Church frames the Christian life as one in which you must exercise virtue—not because virtue saves you, but because that's the way God's grace gets manifested. As an evangelical, even when I talked about sanctification and wanted to practice it, it seemed as if I didn't have a good enough incentive to do so. Now there's a kind of theological framework, and it doesn't say my salvation depends on me, but it says my virtue counts for something. It's important to allow the grace of God to be exercised through your actions. The evangelical emphasis on the moral life forms my Catholic practice with an added incentive. That was liberating to me."
It is sad to see the classical Protestant understanding of sanctification so egregiously misrepresented. Justification is a once-for-all declarative, forensic act whereby God counts us righteous in Christ because of the work of Christ received by the instrumentality of faith. He then proceeds to restore the image of God in us (i.e., sanctification, cf. Col. 3:10). Sanctification is the inevitable result of justification. When Paul faced the question, "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" (Rom. 6:1) his response was not "No, that would be unwise", but rather "You can't!" His retort, "How can we who died to sin still live in it?" implies the impossibility that those who are justified could continue living in sin (cf. I John 3:6).
The entire interview is a worthwhile read.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
The Pain of Infertility
What does Paul mean when he says, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions?” Is your vision of God and your understanding of the biblical theology of suffering sufficient to sustain you if (when!) God calls you to suffer for the sake of His Name both here on the home front or perhaps on the mission field? This seminar is designed to prepare you for such suffering and to help you “count it all joy.”
The above is the description of the 9th seminar of our Practical Theology course entitled "Suffering for the Sake of the Body: The Pursuit of People through Pain."
The requirements were to read Chapter 3 of Let the Nations Be Glad! 2d ed.
Lastly, we were to write a 1-3 page letter to someone who has experienced a significant measure of suffering, "using pastoral sensitivity and Biblical insight to bring truth-based, faith-sustaining, Christ-exalting comfort." Given the fact that this letter is due tomorrow, and today is Mother's Day, I decided to write my letter to a couple that struggles with infertility.
Though unassigned, the book Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
Update: My friend graciously gave his permission for me to publish the letter, which he said was "helpful....along with other literature we received.....as we read them in our own timing." He also noted that (as I had suspected) "it is the friend who stands by in silence [immediately after a personal tragedy] that is the most comforting."
May 10, 2007
The Fruit of Immaturity
Ted Slater and his team have now published my essay, The Fruit of Immaturity, which I previously mentioned.
May 09, 2007
Called to the Ministry
Since I started blogging about a year ago, I've received numerous e-mails from young men contemplating leaving a technical career (or graduate school in engineering) and pursuing vocational ministry. Joe Thorn offers a pair of interesting posts on this topic, and there is also a helpful discussion in the comments section. The discussion includes the recommendation of many excellent books on two relevant topics: the calling to the ministry and the preaching ministry itself (Charles Bridges, Edmund Clowney, Lloyd-Jones, Spurgeon).
May 08, 2007
ETS Response To Beckwith Resignation
The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) has now issued a statement, accepting the resignation of Dr. Frank Beckwith from membership in the Society, who also had been president of the Society in 2007 until that point.
Here is the ETS statement:
Statement of the ETS Executive Committee regarding
Dr. Frank Beckwith’s Resignation as ETS President
May 8, 2007
On May 5, 2007, Dr. Frank Beckwith resigned as President of the Evangelical Theological Society. This resignation has come as a result of his decision to be received into full communion in the Roman Catholic Church, which he did on April 29, 2007. Dr. Beckwith has informed the Executive Committee that this was a decision he came to “after much prayer, counsel, and consideration.” Subsequently, after further prayer and reflection, Dr. Beckwith has voluntarily withdrawn his membership from the Society as well.
The members of the Executive Committee wish Dr. Beckwith well in his ongoing professional work. We have come to appreciate him as a scholar and a friend. On behalf of the Society, we want to express our gratitude for his work organizing and coordinating the 2006 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., with the theme, “Evangelicals in the Public Square.” No one, perhaps, appreciates how much labor is involved in such a task, except those who have undertaken it in the past, as is the case with most of the members of the Executive Committee. And so, we thank Dr. Beckwith for his service to the Society.
At the same time, the Executive Committee recognizes Dr. Beckwith’s resignation as President and subsequent withdrawal from membership as appropriate in light of the purpose and doctrinal basis of the Evangelical Theological Society and in light of the requirements of wholehearted confessional agreement with the Roman Catholic Church.
The work of the Evangelical Theological Society as a scholarly forum proceeds on the basis that “the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs.” This affirmation, together with the statement on the Trinity, forms the basis for membership in the ETS to which all members annually subscribe in writing. Confessional Catholicism, as defined by the Roman Catholic Church’s declarations from the Council of Trent to Vatican II, sets forth a more expansive view of verbal, infallible revelation.
Specifically, it posits a larger canon of Scripture than that recognized by evangelical Protestants, including in its canon several writings from the Apocrypha. It also extends the quality of infallibility to certain expressions of church dogma issued by the Magisterium (the teaching office of the Roman Catholic Church), as well as certain pronouncements of the pope, which are delivered ex cathedra, such as doctrines about the immaculate conception and assumption of Mary.
We recognize the right of Roman Catholic theologians to do their theological work on the basis of all the authorities they consider to be revelatory and infallible, even as we wholeheartedly affirm the distinctive contribution and convictional necessity of the work of the Evangelical Theological Society on the basis of the “Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety” as “the Word of God written and . . . inerrant.”
In recent years, Evangelicals and Roman Catholics have often labored together in common cause addressing some of the critical social and moral issues of our contemporary culture. We welcome this and fully expect it to continue. A number of publications have appeared comparing Evangelicalism and Roman Catholicism. Certainly, the two traditions share many common Christian doctrines. However there are important theological differences as well. We expect that the events of these days will bring a renewed discussion of these matters. We welcome and encourage this as well.
Finally, regarding the Presidency of ETS, Dr. Hassell Bullock, President-elect will also serve as acting President until the annual meeting at which time elections for the officers for 2008 will take place.
We are grateful for Dr. Beckwith's past association with ETS, and we pray that God will continue to use his considerable gifts.
C. Hassell Bullock, President-Elect
(Wheaton College)
Bruce A. Ware, Vice-President
(The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Edwin M. Yamauchi, At-large member
(Miami University)
Craig A. Blaising, At-large member
(Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Gregory K. Beale, At-large member
(Wheaton College)
David M. Howard, Jr., At-large member
(Bethel Seminary)
James A. Borland, Secretary-Treasurer
(Liberty University)
Andreas J. Köstenberger, JETS Editor
(Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)
(HT: Collin Hansen via Between Two Worlds)
Immaturity & Maturity in Young Men
I just finished an article for Boundless on the topic of immaturity and maturity in young men. It should appear this week, and I'll link to it when it does. Having attended the Children Desiring God conference, I have been re-reading portions of Addresses to Young Men: A Young Man’s Friend and Guide
"True piety [godliness] is the parent of every virtue which is either useful to man or pleasing to God; and when confirmed and illustrated by a faithful life, is the best recommendation a youth can offer to one whose confidence he wishes to secure." (p. 169)
May 05, 2007
Francis Beckwith steps down from ETS Presidency
Francis Beckwith explains both his decision to return to the Roman Catholic Church and his reasons for resigning as President of the Evangelical Theological Society.
As I suggested in my earlier post, in resigning his presidency of ETS, I think Dr. Beckwith did the right thing. I'd just like to add that, on a personal level, I bear no ill will toward him whatsoever. That said, I do believe he is in serious error and that his decision to affiliate with the Roman Catholic Church is tragic.
Francis Beckwith Returns to Roman Catholicism
Dr. Frank Beckwith has apparently returned to the Roman Catholic Church. I say "returned" because he was raised a Roman Catholic (his biographical info notes that he had a Roman Catholic education through high school). The reason this is newsworthy, in my opinion, is that he is currently the President of the Evangelical Theological Society (of which I am a student member). The word evangelical has historically been associated with Protestants, not Roman Catholics.
I do not believe Dr. Beckwith has yet published an explanation of his reasons for "crossing the Tiber." However, his decision is being both praised and criticized by several high-ranking blogs.
Though I am unqualified to speak to Dr. Beckwith's motives for conversion, I would agree with James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries that it would be most appropriate for him to resign from the Presidency of the Evangelical Theological Society, since when he was elected to that office, he was elected as a Protestant. [Thus whether or not ETS already contains Roman Catholic members is immaterial.] I don't think we've heard the last of this.
Update: I have left comments on several blogs seeking to verify details, including a blog to which Dr. Beckwith contributes.
[HT: Nick Nowalk]
May 04, 2007
Gravity and Gladness in Congregational Worship
I've mentioned before that I'm taking a Practical Theology course at The Bethlehem Institute (seminary-level training vehicle of Bethlehem Baptist Church).
I just completed my most recent assignment, which included attending Pastor John Piper's five-hour seminar on the topic Gravity and Gladness on Sunday Mornings: The Pursuit of God in Corporate Worship , as well as reading Chapters 1 and 7 in Let the Nations Be Glad! 2d ed.
I found it quite challenging to write a brief paper on the complex topic of music in worship. I was greatly helped by reading, in addition to Pastor John's lecture notes and the titles mentioned above, a book by Harold Best, Dean Emeritus at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, entitled Music Through the Eyes of Faith
May 02, 2007
Martyrs in Turkey
Denny Burk and Darryl Bock continue to inform us about the recent brutal killings of Christians in Turkey by Muslim extremists.
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