Justin Taylor's Blog, page 12
January 21, 2021
What’s New from Crossway in January?
Here is a list of the new and notable resources releasing from Crossway this month:
Frank Thielman’s short biblical theology of new creationGerald Bray’s short systematic theology of the attributes of GodMike Reeves’s new books (a full version and an abridged one for groups and giveaway) on the joy of fearing the LordPaul Tripp’s 40-day devotional for LentLydia Brownback’s second volume—this one on 1–2 Peter—in her Flourish Bible Study seriesSharon Betters and Susan Hunt’s working on aging with grace in an age of anti-agingJani Ortlund’s book for ministry wivesThe ESV Preaching Bible, Verse-by-Verse Edition.
The Bible begins with the story of one perfectly good God creating a perfectly good universe. Forming two perfectly good human beings in his own image—Adam and Eve—was the crown jewel of his creative expression. Through humanity’s sin, however, God’s creation fell into a fallen state—yet he promised to bring restoration. In this book, Frank Thielman traces the theme of the new creation through the Bible, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation. He shows us that at every turn, God invites his people to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6), exemplifying the new creation to a needy and watching world until the return of Jesus.
“Well-known author Frank Thielman succinctly unfolds the central plot of the whole Bible. He does not just retell the story; he explains it. And he does not merely explain it; he applies it so we can see the Bible’s point right now: ‘This is the great hope of the follower of Jesus in the midst of life’s many present difficulties.’ To grasp that hope, read this book! It is a delightful, deeply biblical, clear, and compelling narration and proclamation of God’s antidote to our world’s painfully visible breakdown. There’s a new world order taking shape. This book equips and invites the reader to join in right now.”
—Robert W. Yarbrough, Professor of New Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary
God is the Creator of all things. As Creator, he is unique and cannot be compared to any of his creatures. Throughout history, the church has recognized the importance of studying and understanding God’s attributes. In this addition to the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series, theologian Gerald Bray examines the attributes of God, presenting their biblical foundations, systematic-theological structure, and practical relevance for the church today. Bray separates the attributes into two categories: God’s relational attributes (which focus on how he interacts with his creation) and his essential attributes (which describe his essence and relation to time). As Christians better understand the attributes of God they will see, delight in, and apply what Scripture reveals concerning who God is and what he is like.
“Recently, evangelical theologians have shown a renewed and welcome interest in the biblical, classical doctrine of God; but for lay people the debates often seem weighed down by technical jargon and historical obscurity. The result is that the practical importance of this theological renaissance for praise, prayer, and everyday life is often missed. In this context, Gerald Bray’s helpful summary of the nature of God’s attributes is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature, offering clear exposition and practical application in the tradition of forebears such as Stephen Charnock. In addition, a helpful appendix lets the reader situate contemporary theological discussion against the backdrop of catholic debates from the early church up until today.”
—Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies, Grove City College
Fear is one of the strongest human emotions, and it is one that often baffles Christians. When they turn to the Bible, the picture seems equally confusing: Is fear a good thing or a bad thing? While God commands his people to fear him, they are also told to fight fear. Michael Reeves brings clarity where there is confusion as he encourages readers to rejoice in the strange paradox that the gospel both frees them from sinful fear and leads them to godly fear. This book argues from Scripture that godly fear is the opposite of being afraid of God or his punishment, as if he were a tyrant. Instead, it is the intensity of the saints’ love for, delight in, and enjoyment of all that God is. Rejoice and Tremble examines what it looks like when a believer is filled with a right and healthy fear of God, and how this fear is the means by which the people of God exhibit to the world the divine qualities of holiness, blessedness, happiness, wholeness, and beauty as they point to Christ Jesus.
“Modern people often view the fear of God with disdainful suspicion, but Michael Reeves shows us that godly fear is really nothing other than love for God as God. Reeves also helps us to see that the greatest factor in promoting the fear of God is knowing his grace in Christ. As John Bunyan said, ‘There is nothing in heaven or earth that can so awe the heart as the grace of God.’ This wonderful book not only teaches but sings, leading us to ‘rejoice with trembling’ (Ps. 2:11).”
—Joel R. Beeke, President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; author, Reformed Preaching; coauthor, Reformed Systematic Theology
The Bible says that a wise person fears God and keeps his commandments. But what does it actually mean to rightly fear God while also trusting him? In What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord?, Michael Reeves calls Christians to see God as the object of their fear—a fear marked not by anxiety but by enjoyment of God. In Scripture, God’s people are commanded to put off sinful fears and instead cultivate a healthy and happy fear of their awesome God. As believers learn to truly fear the Lord, they will take part in the pivotal role the church plays in exhibiting to the world his divine qualities of holiness, blessedness, happiness, wholeness, and beauty.
“Ours is a day of great fears—fear of financial collapse, fear of terrorist attacks, fear of climatic disasters, fear of a deadly pandemic—all kinds of fears, except the most important of all: the reverential fear of God. How needed then is this marvelous study of a much-neglected theme, one that is central to the Scriptures and vital to human flourishing.”
—Michael A. G. Haykin, Chair and Professor of Church History, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Lent is one of the most significant times of the yearly Christian calendar. It is often associated with solemn observation and preparation—mourning past and present sin and letting go of the worldly things that keep the heart from experiencing God more fully. In this 40-daily Lenten devotional, best-selling author Paul David Tripp invites readers to set aside time from the busyness of their lives to focus on the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus. Each short reading encourages believers to abide in the abundant joy found in Christ as they encounter the Savior more fully and follow him more faithfully.
“Paul Tripp has once again led us past feel-good platitudes and into focused, Christward reflection. Through tension and tenderness, lament and thanksgiving, the Lenten season will transform us when it leads us to the cross of Christ.”
—Ruth Chou Simons, Founder, GraceLaced Co.; author, GraceLaced and Beholding and Becoming; coauthor, Foundations
When the apostle Peter wrote his letters, the young church was facing intensifying persecution, and Peter encouraged believers to persevere through hardship. This 10-week study explores the theme of suffering in Peter’s letters, displaying how God uses hope, humility, and holiness to prepare believers for their final home in heaven.
The Flourish Bible Study series is designed to equip women—from baby believers to seasoned saints—to study God’s word. Bible study teacher Lydia Brownback guides women chapter by chapter through multiple books of the Bible, helping them come away with a deeper understanding of God’s word, its context in redemptive history, and how it uniquely reveals God and his gospel.
“The brilliant and beautiful mix of sound teaching, helpful charts, lists, sidebars, and appealing graphics—as well as insightful questions that get the reader into the text of Scripture—make these studies that women will want to invest time in and will look back on as time well spent.”
—Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Even Better than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible’s Story Changes Everything about Your Story
There are many blessings that come with age: retirement, grandchildren, travel, and life experience. Today’s culture, however, marginalizes old age, often portraying it as burdensome and hopeless. Many older women can feel like an encumbrance rather than a blessing to their friends and family members. In response to these struggles, Sharon Betters and Susan Hunt encourage women to find hope through both real-life and biblical accounts of women who rediscovered gospel-rooted joy later in life. In each chapter, readers will be encouraged as they experience afresh a gospel that is big enough, good enough, and powerful enough to make every season of life significant and glorious.
“My childhood dream was to one day become a ‘godly old lady.’ At the time, that goal didn’t seem particularly daunting. Now that I’m in my sixties, it sometimes feels like climbing Mount Everest. Always a few steps ahead of me, Susan Hunt has encouraged and inspired me to press on in my journey. She has also been a spiritual ‘grandmother’ to the True Woman ministry since it launched. She has given us all a vision of flourishing in old age, for the glory of God and the good of his people. In this book, Susan and Sharon Betters have teamed together to provide perspective, wisdom, and hope for women coming behind them. They call us to keep our eyes on Christ—the prize—and to persevere to the summit, dependent on his grace every step of the way.”
—Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author; Founder, Revive Our Hearts and True Woman
A woman marries a man, not his ministry, but all too often her husband’s calling infringes upon many aspects of their life together. What if ministry life isn’t what they bargained for? What happens when their children aren’t perfect? How do they deal with church gossip, or even slander? As a pastor’s wife of almost 50 years, Jani Ortlund addresses these questions along with many others as she offers encouragement and guidance to ministry wives, reminding them that God works out his delightfully good purposes in and through their sacrifice.
“While being a pastor’s wife is not an office in the church, it comes with hidden expectations and undefined responsibilities. While knowing intimately the integrity of the man behind the pulpit holds enormous blessings, living in the constant, unyielding spotlight can weary the soul. A pastor’s wife must learn how to feed on the word of God, turn the other cheek, cling to Christ, embrace the means of grace, protect her children from criticism and callings that they did not choose, and support a husband whose calling demands he lay down his life again and again. And all of this is done in the public eye. A pastor’s wife needs a trustworthy friend, and she will find that friend in Jani Ortlund’s book. Jani’s wisdom has been refined by almost fifty years of being the wife of her pastor. Her writing style is simple, straightforward, and sane. Practical, poignant, and personal, this book is—like Jani—wise and tender and most of all, faithful to the call of Christ to join in the ‘fellowship of His sufferings’ (Phil. 3:10 NKJV). I love this book.”
—Rosaria Butterfield, Former Professor of English, Syracuse University; author, The Gospel Comes with a House Key
The ESV Preaching Bible, Verse-by-Verse Edition builds upon the foundational features of the ESV Preaching Bible with a new verse-by-verse format. The primary vision behind this edition was to create a Bible specifically tailored to the task of preaching. To that end, this edition maintains a preacher-friendly layout with each verse on its own line to ensure ease in public and personal reading. This elegant Bible features a highly readable type, enlarged and bolded verse numbers, extra-wide margins, high-quality paper, a durable smyth-sewn binding, and a premium goatskin cover guaranteed to last a lifetime.
January 19, 2021
We Will Feast and Weep No More
Psalm 126:1–3:
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad.
Sandra McCracken, “We Will Feast in The House of Zion”:
Chorus
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things, we will say together
We will feast and weep no more
We will not be burned by the fire
He is the LORD our God
We are not consumed, by the flood
Upheld, protected, gathered up (Chorus)
In the dark of night, before the dawn
My soul, be not afraid
For the promised morning, oh how long?
Oh God of Jacob, be my strength (Chorus)
Every vow we’ve broken and betrayed
You are the Faithful one
And from the garden to the grave
Bind us together, bring shalom. (Chorus)
January 10, 2021
The Expulsive Power of a New Affection
An excerpt from John Piper’s foreword to the new edition of Thomas Chalmer’s classic, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, published in the Crossway Short Classics series.
I recall once being asked a trick question: If you had access to all the latest machinery in a sophisticated science lab, what would be the most effective way to get all the air out of a glass beaker? One ponders the possible ways to suck the air out and create a vacuum. Eventually, the answer is given: fill it with water.
That is the point of Chalmers’s famous message. It is intended as an illumination of 1 John 2:15:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Chalmers poses for himself the question: How shall the human heart be freed from its love for the world? (How shall the air of world-love be removed from the soul-beaker?) This “love” is not a duty one performs. It is a delight one prefers. It is an affection before it is a commitment.
He says there are two ways one might seek to remove this controlling affection from the heart. One is to show that the world is not worthy of our affection and will let us down in the end. (This argument corresponds to using a pump to suck the air out of the beaker.)
The other is to show that God is vastly more worthy of the heart’s attachment, thus awakening a new and stronger affection that displaces the former affection for the world. (This corresponds to pouring water into the beaker to displace the air.) Hence “the expulsive power of a new affection.” Chalmers himself states his purpose,
My purpose is to show that from the constitution of our nature, the former method is altogether incompetent and ineffectual and that the latter method will alone suffice for the rescue and recovery of the heart from the wrong affection that domineers over it.
You can read the whole foreword here, and purchase the book here.
January 7, 2021
Why Those Who Mourn Are Blessed in God’s Kingdom
From the introduction to Paul Tripp’s new devotional: Journey to the Cross: A 40-Day Lenten Devotional (Crossway, 2021).
It’s good to mourn, it’s healthy to be sad, and it’s appropriate to groan.
Something is wrong with us, something is missing in our hearts and our understanding of life, if we are able to look around and look inside and not grieve. You don’t have to look very far to see that we live, work, and relate in a world that has been twisted and bent by sin, so much so that it doesn’t function at all in the way God intended. The sin-scarred condition of the world is obvious in your home, your neighborhood, and your church. We see it in government, politics, business, education, entertainment, and the internet.
In Romans 8, Paul captures the sad condition of the world in three provocative phrases that should break our hearts: “subjected to futility” (v. 20), “its bondage to corruption” (v. 21), “in the pains of childbirth” (v. 22).
We should be rejoicing people, because we have, in the redemption that is ours in Christ Jesus, eternal reason to rejoice. But this side of our final home, our rejoicing should be mixed with weeping as we witness, experience, and, sadly, give way to the presence and power of evil. Christ taught in his most lengthy recorded sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, that those who mourn are blessed, so it’s important to understand why.
Mourning means you recognize the most important reality in the human existence, sin.
Mourning means you have been hit by the weight of what it has done to you and to everyone you know.
Mourning says you have considered the devastating fact that life right here, right now, is one big spiritual war.
Mourning means that you have come to realize, as you get up in the morning, that once again you will be greeted with a catalog of temptations.
Mourning means you know that there really are spiritual enemies out there meaning to do you harm.
Mourning results when you confess that there are places where your heart still wanders.
But mourning does something wonderful to you. The sad realities that cause you to mourn also cause you to cry out for the help, rescue, forgiveness, and deliverance of a Redeemer. Jesus said that if you mourn, you will be comforted. He’s not talking about the comfort of elevated feelings. He’s talking about the comfort of the presence and grace of a Redeemer, who meets you in your mourning, hears your cries for help, comes to you in saving mercy, and wraps arms of eternal love around you. It’s the comfort of knowing that you’re forgiven, being restored, now living in a reconciled relationship with the one who made you, and now living with your destiny secure.
Mourning sin—past, present, and future—is the first step in seeking and celebrating the divine grace that is the hope of every-one whose heart has been made able to see by that very same grace.
The Self-Pity and Irresponsibility of President Trump
There has always been something of this unreality about Trump’s behavior in the presidency. From the very beginning, it has seemed that Trump almost fully inhabits a boorish, narcissistic psychodrama playing in his head. Through the power of his personality and celebrity, he has been able to draw others into that fantasy world for decades, and through the power of the presidency he has now been able to project it onto the real world and draw yet more followers into it.
This hasn’t left Trump simply dysfunctional in the presidency. He has proven to have a solid political sense and a nose for where his voters are. And he made some good appointments and some policy moves that any Republican president would have been proud of. And yet, the entire time, if you had spoken to people around Trump, you would have heard mind-boggling stories of their direct experiences with him—tales of a president bizarrely disconnected, obsessive, impervious to information, fixated on personal loyalty, endlessly repeating patent nonsense.
All of this somehow held together for his first three years in office. It often took unprecedented acts of insolence and insubordination from his staff, and of course he was still an outrageously irresponsible president. But he averted catastrophe. Then, however, came the year of plague and of election, when Trump’s escapism and unwillingness to face reality became untenable. He tried to talk the pandemic out of existence and then to wish away the election results. But the yawning distance between his fantasy world and the real world finally became unbridgeable.
This is what we are seeing play out now, and what was most disturbing about Wednesday’s events. The riot at the Capitol itself was inexcusable, and we can hope that at least some of those involved will be prosecuted and punished. But more troubling by far was the way in which their actions were embedded in a fantasy spun up by conspiracists, and especially the way in which the President of the United States took up his place in that fantasy world and sought to govern from within it.
In his tweets and video statement on Wednesday, Trump asked the Capitol rioters to go home while also praising them and thanking them. You could almost see him struggling to separate his fantasy world from the real world and proving unable to do it. He seems plainly incapable of performing his job at this point as a result, and even more of the people around him than usual have said so since Wednesday morning.
The curious power and appeal of Trump’s conspiracism is deeply intertwined with its irresponsibility. At its core is a form of self-pity. The president blames others for disrespecting and abusing him, and therefore refuses both to take ownership of his obligations and to face reality. This has proven an intoxicating mix for an extraordinary number of Republican politicians and voters in the Trump era, and it has utterly defined the president himself.
If Trumpism means anything, it would seem to mean this distinct kind of irresponsibility. It’s not the same as populism—which always risks entanglements with demagogues but also has legitimate concerns and priorities that deserve to be heard and should not be confused with one man’s failings. It’s not any particular policy agenda or set of reforms, as President Trump clearly doesn’t care about any of the particular ideas that others have sought to attach to him. Ultimately, Trumpism is a style, an ethic that amounts to a dangerous and highly toxic irresponsibility.
That ethic did not begin with Trump, of course. Forms of it are now widespread, not only in our politics but also throughout many American institutions. It shows itself in a tendency to performative outrage and exaggerated victimhood, both of which are failures to take ownership of one’s particular roles and obligations. And it shows itself in a blurring of the lines between reality and fantasy, expression and action.
But Trump has embodied it in an exceptionally concentrated form, and at the highest levels of our government—in a job that uniquely requires responsibility, and is defined by the need to deal with reality. A recovery of responsibility, broadly understood, is called for in many arenas of American life. But putting Trumpism behind us would certainly be a start.
January 6, 2021
A Simple Explanation of Divine Simplicity
From Gerald Bray’s new The Attributes of God: An Introduction, in Short Studies in Systematic Theology, ed. Graham Cole and Oren Martin (Crossway, 2021), 26–29.
The most fundamental attribute of God’s being is its simplicity.
God is “simple” in the sense in which the word is used in chemistry—his nature is not compounded of different elements.
An analogy with water may help us to understand what this means and why it matters. Water is a compound substance made up of hydrogen and oxygen, and it can be separated into its component parts.
God is not a compound. If he were, he could not be the ultimate being. His parts would all be logically prior to him. Presumably there would also have to be some force that produced “god” out of those different parts, and that force would also be a greater being than the resulting “god” is. Such a being does not and cannot exist, and therefore we have to say that God is “simple”—he is what he is, and that is all there is to it.
Divine simplicity means that whatever we say about God applies to the totality of his being. God is not partly invisible or partly immortal. When we meet with God, we meet with him in the fullness of his being, because he cannot be anything less than that. There is much about God that we do not know, but we can be certain that whatever is hidden from our eyes is consistent with what has been revealed to us. Paul told the Corinthians: “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully” (1 Cor. 13:12). In other words, we have partial knowledge of the fullness of God, not full knowledge of only a part of him. That knowledge will expand, but as with an image in a mirror, it will come into better focus, not be something completely different from what we already know.
Divine simplicity also means that God’s attributes interpenetrate each other. Theoretical analysis is useful because it allows us to concentrate on different aspects of his being, but we cannot extract one attribute, like invisibility, and treat it as if it had nothing to do with the others. Whether we think of God as immortal, impassible, or eternal, what we say about him is true of everything in him. If God is righteous, then he is immortally and eternally righteous. If he is impassible and invisible, then his righteousness is also impassible and invisible.
Divine simplicity prevents us from calling personality a divine attribute. If it were, there would be only one person in God, not three.
Simplicity also makes it impossible to say that God is wrathful by nature. Wrath is the way disobedient people experience God’s justice, but it is not a divine attribute. If it were, God would be angry with everybody all the time.
In these and other similar ways, simplicity serves as a check on our analysis of God’s being and helps us to understand what can (and cannot) be classified among his attributes.
God’s simplicity is not explicitly mentioned as such in the Bible, but it is consistent with what James says about the Father of lights, “with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). James is speaking primarily about God’s consistency in giving gifts to his people, which will never be diminished or taken away, but he justifies that statement by referring to the nature of God, which is consistent with itself.
The doctrine can also claim support from a number of biblical passages that say things like: “Hear O Israel, ‘The Lord our God, the Lord is one’” (Deut. 6:4, quoted by Jesus in Mark 12:29).
Isaiah 44:6 goes further and says, “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
And this statement is echoed in Revelation 1:8, where God reveals himself to John as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.
Another important verse is Ephesians 4:6: “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
None of these texts speaks directly of the divine simplicity, but they all bear witness to God’s oneness and exclusiveness—there is no other god besides him.
Properly understood, “simplicity” covers both “unity” and “perfection,” terms that have sometimes been used to indicate divine attributes thought to be distinguishable from it. In reality, they go together. If God is who he says he is, then his simplicity ties everything together, and as James put it, there is no variation in him.
January 4, 2021
What Does It Mean to Be Human? An Anthropology of Embodiment
If you have benefited from Carl Trueman’s new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, may I recommend as companion reading O. Carter Snead’s What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics.
It was listed as one of the top ten books of the year for the Wall Street Journal, with Yuval Levin writing: “A rare achievement: a rigorous academic book that is also accessible, engaging and wise. . . . By sketching out an ethic of mutual obligation rooted in our common vulnerabilities, the book opens a path toward a more humane society. . . . Among the most important works of moral philosophy produced so far in this century.”
Professor Snead is director of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture and Professor of Law at the university. He is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of “public bioethics,” which looks at how science, medicine, and biotechnology should be governed in the name of ethical goods.
The novelist Walker Percy once wrote: “Everyone has an anthropology. There is no not having one. If a man says he does not, all he is saying is that his anthropology is implicit, a set of assumptions which he has not thought to call into question.” That’s the big idea behind the book. At its core, he argues that bad anthropology makes bad law. In its place he calls for a wise, just, humane, and fully human approach to public bioethics. And that, he argues, must begin by remembering the body. Our embodiment entails certain obligations and virtues—which are uncovered and elucidated in this brilliant treatment.
The conclusion to the book—excerpted below—provides a nice summary of the argument. Every sentence is worth reading carefully.
The fundamental purpose of law is to protect and promote the flourishing of persons.
Accordingly, the richest understanding of the law is an anthropological one, obtained by inquiry into its underwriting premises about human identity and thriving.
In order to be fully wise, just, and humane, the means and ends of the law must correspond to the reality of human life, humanly lived.
The defining character of this reality is embodiment—the fact that we experience ourselves, one another, and the world around us as living bodies.
As living bodies in time, we are vulnerable, dependent, and subject to natural limits, including injury, illness, senescence, and death.
Thus, both for our basic survival and to realize our potential, we need to care for one another. We need robust and expansive networks of uncalculated giving and graceful receiving populated by people who make the good of others their own good, without demand for or expectation of recompense.
The goods and practices necessary to the creation and maintenance of these networks are the virtues of just generosity, hospitality, and accompaniment in suffering (misericordia), as well as gratitude, humility, openness to the unbidden, tolerance of imperfection, solidarity, respect for intrinsic equal dignity, honesty, and cultivation of moral imagination.
Viewed through the lens of the anthropology of embodiment, all living members of the human family are worthy of care and protection, regardless of age, disability, cognitive capacity, dependence, and most of all, regardless of the opinions of others. Everyone can participate in the network of giving and receiving, even if only as the passive recipient of unconditional love and concern.
There are no pre or post personal human beings in the anthropology of embodiment. Through the nurture and protection of these networks we survive, and eventually become the kind of people who can give to others in proportion to their need, without the hope or expectation of receiving. In this way, we take responsibility for sustaining such networks of care so that they can endure for future generations.
But, more deeply, it is through becoming a person capable of unconditional and uncalculated care of others that we become what we are meant to be. By virtue of our existence as embodied beings in time, we are made for love and friendship.
Our modern dominant anthropology in the three perennial conflicts in public bioethics—the legal disputes over abortion, assisted reproduction, and end of life decision making—is insufficient. It is rooted in expressive individualism, a reductive and incomplete vision of human identity and flourishing. While this captures a truth about human particularity and freedom, it misses crucial aspects of embodied reality.
Through the lens of expressive individualism, there are no unchosen obligations, relationships are instrumental and transactional, and natural givens offer no guidance for understanding or negotiating the world.
Vulnerability and dependence—that of others and even our own—are not intelligible.
And those around us whose freedom and agency are diminished or absent because of age, disease, or disability, are invisible and not recognized as other selves to whom we owe duties of care (in the absence of a prior agreement).
Again, this is a careful, brilliant book showing how the philosophy of expressive individualism simply cannot account for what it means to be an embodied human. Snead shows in clear and painstaking detail how this works out in abortion, assisted reproduction, and end-of-life decision making.
(At time of writing, the book is out of stock at Amazon, but you can get it directly from the publisher.)
January 1, 2021
Happy New Year: “All Glory Be to Christ!”
The Peterson Family singing King Kaleidoscope’s “All Glory Be to Christ” to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne.” Happy New Year!
[Verse 1]
Should nothing of our efforts stand
No legacy survive
Unless the Lord does raise the house
In vain its builders strive
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain
Tell me, What is your life?
A mist that vanishes at dawn
All glory be to Christ!
[Chorus]
All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ!
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing
All glory be to Christ!
[Verse 2]
His will be done, His kingdom come
On earth as is above
Who is Himself our daily bread
Praise Him, the Lord of love
Let living water satisfy
The thirsty without price
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
All glory be to Christ!
[Chorus]
All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ!
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing
All glory be to Christ!
[Verse 3]
When on the day the great I Am
The faithful and the true
The Lamb who was for sinners slain
Is making all things new
Behold our God shall live with us
And be our steadfast light
And we shall e’er his people be
All glory be to Christ!
[Chorus]
All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ!
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing
All glory be to Christ!
December 31, 2020
How to Grow in Self-Criticism in Your Theology
From John Frame’s “How to Write a Theological Paper.”
Be self-critical. Before and during your writing, anticipate objections. . . . A truly self-critical attitude can save you from unclarity and unsound arguments. It will also keep you from arrogance and unwarranted dogmatism—faults common to all theology (liberal as well as conservative).
Don’t hesitate to say “probably” or even “I don’t know” when the circumstances warrant.
Self-criticism will also make you more “profound.” For often—perhaps usually—it is objections that force us to rethink our positions, to get beyond our superficial ideas, to wrestle with the really deep theological issues. As you anticipate objections to your replies to objections to your replies, and so forth, you will find yourself being pushed irresistibly into the realm of the “difficult questions,” the theological profundities.
In self-criticism the creative use of the theological imagination is tremendously important. Keep asking such questions as these.
(a) Can I take my source’s idea in a more favorable sense? A less favorable one?
(b) Does my idea provide the only escape from the difficulty, or are there others?
(c) In trying to escape from one bad extreme, am I in danger of falling into a different evil on the other side?
(d) Can I think of some counter-examples to my generalizations?
(e) Must I clarify my concepts, lest they be misunderstood?
(f) Will my conclusion be controversial and thus require more argument than I had planned?
December 21, 2020
O Come Let Us Adore Him (feat. Chandler Moore & Jekalyn Carr)
“O Come Let Us Adore Him” featuring Chandler Moore and Jekalyn Carr by Maverick City Music.
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