‘Redeemed, redeemed’

Rebecca Stark unpacks a new theological term: redemption.

Trinity Debate debrief

Part I is up at The CBMW Gender Blog:

“On October 9, 2008, in Deerfield, Ill., the Henry Center hosted a debate concerning the nature of the Trinity featuring Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware versus Keith Yandell and Tom McCall. Since the content of the debate consisted of 2 ½ hours of video, we have just now been able to digest and offer some thoughts …”

On assurance of salvation

Fred Sanders shares a paper he read at the recent Evangelical Theological Society conference:

“To state the doctrine too objectively is to leave the believer as an onlooker to a redemptive spectacle which assures him with absolute confidence that somebody is saved, but leaves open, disturbingly open, the question whether he is that somebody. To state the doctrine too subjectively, however, directs the believer’s attention to phenomena of his own biography, experience, and consciousness, where the ground of salvation cannot be seen. A well-ordered doctrine of assurance must underwrite the confident confession that even though I am condemned if considered in myself, I am not in fact in myself but in Christ, where I, truly I, am saved.”

Read all of “How Assurance of Salvation Works.”

Reclaiming the Mind to open first local branch

… in Edmond, Oklahoma. Post here.

“Introducing CREDO - HOUSE OF THEOLOGY. Credo - House of Theology is a proposed new headquarters in Edmond Oklahoma that would not only facilitate our current ministry, but also allow us to take the ministry to the next level in so many ways without falling outside of our current monthly budget. Think ‘evangelical theological hub.’ Better, think of Francis Schaffer’s L’Abri Fellowship and you will catch some of the vision.”

Thanksgiving/Weekend Walkabout, Nov. 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

26 posts from the week that escaped mention (almost!):

Advent on your iPhone - Father Z

“Those of you who have an iPhone may want to know about a fun application for Advent for $0.99.”

The Blind Spot of the Spiritual Formation Movement - Craig Brian Larson

“Read books on spiritual formation and you will be hard pressed to find anyone who lists listening to the preaching of God’s Word as a first-order spiritual discipline.”

Check out free downloads from Christian music artist Josh Garrels - Joanne Brokaw

“Like other indie acts with a blatant faith message but an unconventional delivery … Garrels doesn’t quite fit the typical Christian music mold.”

The Day I Schmoozed - Amy Scott:

“Just tell her what she wants to hear.”

Evangelicals Adopting Advent - Cathy Lynn Grossman (HT: SharperIron)

“They’re giving a new, personalized spin to the prayers, candles and calendars to track the building excitement, and set a spiritual tone day by day.”

Faith and Politics - Doug Pagitt

“I was asked by the folks at Conservative Reformed Mafia blog to discuss my thoughts on faith and politics in light of my interest in running for the Minnesota State Legislature. I responded to questions with a video …”

Gordon Brown sells the nation’s soul to Satan - Cranmer

“As Gordon Brown has already sold the nation’s soul to the EU, all further treaties with the Devil are subject to EU scrutiny.”

Helpful Books on Justification - Mark Driscoll

It’s Time to Rethink the Issue of Homosexuality - Ken Silva

“Yes, you read that right; I do believe the time has come to rethink how we’re handling the issue of homosexuality in the Body of Christ. But maybe not like you think.”

The Jelly Bellies of Christendom - Prodigal Jon

“Super Sweaty Pastor – usually wrapped in a monogrammed handkerchief, these beans are slightly salty and super sticky from perspiration, taste like licking a Thompson Chain Reference and smell like a locker room”

Kids and Philanthropy: Teaching Your Children To Be Charitable - Beth Kanter

Logos360 Announced - The Wait Begins - ChurchCrunch

“It is, without question, simply a matter of time before we see what’ll it’ll really do to the digital landscape for Church Management Software.”

Meditations on Thanks and Giving - Carolyn McCulley

“As I prepare for Thanksgiving, one image is burned into my mind …”

National Geographic on Qeiyafa - Todd Bolen

“Much of the story reports what has been covered elsewhere, but there are some problems with the article.”

Of Crusaders and the West - Joshua Claybourn

“Our understanding of society and the individual certainly has its roots in the Crusaders.”

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day October 3, 1863 - Abe Lincoln/Worship.com

“In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict …”

Q 2009 - Greg Atkinson

“Q is a gathering where church leaders and cultural influencers from the fields of business, politics, media, education, entertainment and the arts are exposed to the future of culture and the church’s responsibility to advance the common good in society.”

Recessions Are Good? - Rob Moll

“Recessions, before the Great Depression, were often viewed as good things.”

Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints (review) - Rebecca Writes

“I’ve reached the age where I think more and more about getting old, and I’ll let you in on a secret if you promise not to tell …”

Twilight (Book Review) - Tim Challies

“Admittedly, this is my first foray into fiction written for teen girls.”

An Unwanted Detour - Suzanne Hadley:

“A week later I sat in a doctor’s office trying to hold back tears.”

Video Interviews with John Lennox - Justin Taylor

“Creator or the Multiverse?”

What is the Church Year? - Mark Daniels

“The Church Year is a human invention. Observing it won’t make us better than anybody else. Nor does keeping it ’save’ a person from sin and death. But …”

50 eXcellent Blog Footer Designs - Hongkiat.com (sorry, had to reach for this one)

“In the eye of a visitor, the footer is perhaps one of the most unnoticeable section but to a designer who knows how important user experience, navigation and designs, they are treated the same.”

You May Be a Hyper-Calvinist If … - Phil Johnson

“Within the militantly Arminian sector of the Southern Baptist Convention, it seems there are still those who insist that ‘by the definition of Phil Johnson,’ James White is a hyper-Calvinist …”

Zane Hodges (1933–2008) - Dan Wallace (I mentioned Hodges’ passing, but it means much more coming from an accomplished Greek scholar):

“Zane taught Greek and New Testament courses at Dallas Seminary from 1960 to 1987. I took him for more courses than from any other NT prof, and learned a great deal from him. His skills with the Greek text were breathtaking. I never knew a professor who could sight-read as well as Hodges (except for Johnson). And he thought through his positions well. I didn’t agree with him on everything; in fact, I would say that I disagreed with him on most of his positions. I was always a bit nervous coming into his class because I wasn’t sure what he would say that hour that might rock my world. But I enjoyed immensely how he structured the courses, how he argued his positions, and how charismatic he was in the classroom. He was a superb preacher and very persuasive. His electives always had the highest enrollment by far of any NT electives at DTS. … Zane Hodges will be dearly missed. But he now knows the joys of his Savior and is finally home.”

“Amend ETS: A Successful Effort”

Denny Burk, one of the co-sponsors (with Ray Van Neste) of a proposal to amend the ETS doctrinal basis which was recently rejected, offers a debrief about the vote:

“In short, we feel that our effort was successful, even though the Society decided not to adopt our specific proposal. The final vote was 130 opposed and 47 in favor (with 177 total votes cast, it was an abysmal turn-out for such an important vote). How can I claim that our effort was a success after we got only 26 percent of the vote? Let me explain.”

“Why Professors Blog”

Fred Sanders posts at The Scriptorium:

“It’s easy enough to find horror stories of professors “fired for blogging” (just google the phrase), or job applicants who suspect their strong online opinions have rendered them less than hireable. But what I wanted was evidence that somebody had been hired for blogging, or promoted for it, or that professors were using new media activity to make progress on their professorial goals. Instead of just brainstorming about my own reasons, I interviewed a handful of my favorite academic bloggers in my own field, Bible and theology …”

Read the whole thing.

Two reviews of Beckwith’s Return to Rome (update)

Michael Haykin’s is here (he provides a link to a pdf):

“Beckwith further admits that his return to Rome ‘had as much to do with a yearning for a deeper spiritual life as it did with theological reasoning.’ … Why he couldn’t find such in Evangelicalism is a very important question that we who remain committed to Evangelical verities need to answer. On every hand, we see a shallowness in Evangelical life and piety that will not go away and needs to be addressed. Though, if the truth be told, nominal commitment in the Roman Church is equally problematic.”

Steve Hays’s critique is posted at Triablogue:

“Let’s now evaluate his case for Catholicism. The first thing I note is that he merely recycles the stock arguments for Catholicism, as if no Protestant had ever heard of these before, much less answered them. Likewise, he recycles the hackneyed objections to Protestantism, as if this would leave us speechless. It’s all rather childish.”

Francis Beckwith’s homepage.

For background on Beckwith’s exodus from evangelical Protestantism, see this list of articles at Christianity Today.

(Update 11/18) Beckwith has responded to Steve Hays … Hays has responded to Beckwith’s response (and the seasons they go round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down …)

(Update 11/21) Dr. Beckwith has posted a last reply to Steve Hays.

Yeah – they’re called universalists …

Beliefnet editor-in-chief Steven Waldman responds to questions about Obama’s faith which have been put forth recently by Joe Carter and others (see this post), with the following observation:

“But here’s the rub for orthodox Christians: millions and millions of people call themselves Christian, worship at Christian churches and believe that acceptance of Christ is not required for entry into heaven. In a recent Pew poll, 70% said ‘many religions can lead to eternal life.’ 66% of Protestants and 79% of Catholics said they agreed with that idea. … Many liberal Christians argue that Christianity is defined through actions not theology, and some dispute the idea that John 3:16 should define Christianity on this point.”

More books reviewed …

Noel Piper discusses the biography of Brian Gault, who was born without hands after his mother took the drug Thalidomide – Look, No Hands!: The Inspiring Story of Brian Gault:

“Just as with any other community of people, “the disabled” are not a homogenous, one-attitude-fits-all group.  My natural assumption would be that a man with no arms is disabled. But that would be jumping to conclusions. I need to wait and find out from him who he is and through him how God is working.”

Adrian Warnock talks about The Atonement Debate: Papers from the London Symposium on the Theology of Atonement.

Adam Walker Cleaveland finds grounds (eh-hem) to appreciate Ed Cyzewski’s Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life, but warns that schooled theologians may find it a little, umm … weak.

And at the Preaching Today blog, Brian Lowey reviews Kary Oberbrunner’s The Fine Line: Re-envisioning the Gap between Christ and Culture:

“This book has a lot to say to us as Christians, but I would contend it has a lot to say to us as preachers. How do we help people navigate the complexity of being “in the world but not of it?” How can we illustrate that complexity in our own preaching—in our weekly opportunity to speak of culture, speak to culture, speak into culture, speak of a new, transformed culture, or even, as Andy Crouch says, speak in such a way that we create culture?”

Wrestling with the Sabbath

Michael Dewalt, a student at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, offers the first of a series of posts in which he examines the arguments of those who hold that Sabbath-keeping is not a requirement for Christians:

“These post[s] that I plan are only and will be only my thoughts as this next 3 months I plan to study the other side (against the keeping of the Sabbath) and just place them up for whoever wants to read, whoever wants to comment, and whoever wants to bash me.”

Christian Carnival #250

Find it here (make sure you ride the Tilt-a-Whirl while you’re there).

Post titles include

• “Theism Implies Open Theism”
• “A Million Good Things”
• “5 Bible verses about money every Christian should know”
• “Why Some Marriages survive and others perish.”

Propishy-what?

Find some helpful commentary on the meaning of the theological term propitiation at Rebecca Writes.

“Is sola Scriptura a help or heresy?”

A provocative guest post at the Everyday Liturgy blog (HT: Jake Bouma):

“If we hold Scripture and tradition hand-in-hand, reminding ourselves what tradition has to say about Scripture, and Scripture about tradition, it influences our worship and how we live as ‘God’s people.’”

On Peter Leithart and the Federal Vision

The views of theologian Peter J. Leithart were recently evaluated by the Pacific Northwest Presbytery. A majority of the committee found them consistent with the Westminster standards.

R. Scott Clark has some background links.

Ordinary Means provides a podcast interview with Jason Stellman, who chaired the committee that examined Leithart’s views.

And Bob Mattes discusses the committee’s conclusions:

“I spent some time last night going over the two NW Presbytery reports in some detail. I had said in this post that I would be writing a series of critiques of the majority report, but have changed my mind. It has already been done. The minority report thoroughly covers anything that I would have said. Together with the podcast, the minority report captures all of Leithart’s key errors that place him outside the Westminster Standards and strike at the vitals. In addition, Lane has an index of his posts engaging Leithart’s views on justification here. I have engaged Leithart’s position on final justification here, here, and here; and touched on baptismal efficacy here. In those posts, I draw on early Reformed writers to show the historical errors in both Leithart and, as it turns out, Rayburn’s argumentation.”

Peter J. Leithart’s website

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