Justin Taylor's Blog, page 133

John Lennox: “Seven Days That Divide the World”

John Lennox is professor of mathematics and a fellow in the philosophy of science at Oxford University. In the lecture below, delivered at Socrates in the City (at the Union Club in New York City on January 31, 2013), he provides an accessible overview of his Seven Days That Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science (Zondervan, 2011).

Essential Writings on the Doctrine of Scripture from the Reformation to Today

Al Mohler says that “no serious defender of Scripture can be without this vital volume that amounts to the most massive arsenal of documentation for the inerrancy of Scripture ever assembled in a single book.” John Frame writes, “I know of no body of literature that can be of more help to people wrestling with this vital question.” They are referring to the big new book, Thy Word Is Still Truth: Essential Writings on the Doctrine of Scripture from the Reformation to Today, edited by Peter Lillback and Richard Gaffin and published by P&R.

WTS has the book for 45% off, and you can read a sample here.

You can watch a brief discussion below among the editors and Carl Trueman, and after that see some of the endorsements.

“Against those who think a ‘high’ view of Scripture was the creation of nineteenth-century Princetonians, and against those who think such a view of Scripture amounts to a defensive posture devoid of profound theological reflection, this excellent volume is a much-needed resource. It stands as a bulwark against every form of the question, ‘Did God really say?’ The excerpts and essays drawn from Martin Luther to the present represent an immense reservoir of diverse reflections—from Calvin’s Institutes to Monod’s Farewell, from Owen, Turretin, Gaussen, and Edwards to Spurgeon, Hengstenberg, and Machen, from Reformed confessions to the advent of contemporary biblical theology. Although this collection includes statements on recent controversies at Westminster Theological Seminary, its strength is not its coverage of the last half-century but its ample demonstration that today’s Reformed Christians find themselves, on this subject, within a heritage rich in theological reflection and powerful synthesis. To lose sight of this heritage or to stand aloof from it is to impoverish our souls and to distance ourselves from the God who ‘looks’ to those who are contrite and humble in spirit and who tremble at his Word.”

—D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL

“Lillback and Gaffin have assembled a trove of resources that will enable serious students of Scripture to mine the wealth of the church’s testimony on one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith—the doctrine of Scripture, which proclaims the abiding truthfulness and inerrancy of the Word of God. Thy Word Is Still Truth offers a scholarly exploration from a great cloud of witnesses that is historical, exegetical, and theological, yet eminently practical and hence immensely beneficial. This volume will serve the church for generations to come.”

—J. V. Fesko, Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, Westminster Seminary California

“Since its founding in 1929, Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia has specialized in the doctrine of Scripture. Nearly everyone who has taught there over the years has made some contribution to the subject. The Westminster faculty published three collections of essays on Scripture: The Infallible Word (1946), Scripture and Confession (1973), and Inerrancy and Hermeneutic (1988). The present volume, however, is a contribution of a higher order. It not only republishes some of the best articles from the previous collections, but contains important writings on biblical authority from the Reformation and post-Reformation periods (including the churches’ creedal statements) down to the present day. There are articles from the faculty of Old Princeton, from which Westminster takes its bearings, articles on controversial matters, and articles describing the rationale for Westminster’s distinctive emphasis on biblical theology. And the volume is honest in facing up to the recent controversy over Scripture at Westminster itself and the seminary’s forthright response reaffirming biblical inerrancy. Throughout the years, I have been moved again and again by Westminster’s willingness to stand against the world and for the Word of God. The issue before the world today, as in the garden of Eden, is ‘Has God said?’ I know of no body of literature that can be of more help to people wrestling with this vital question.”

—John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

“The affirmation of the epistemological heart of the Christian faith in the Reformation watchcry of sola Scriptura necessarily entailed what the generations since the apostles had believed in, namely, the infallible nature of the Bible. Since the battles of the Reformation, this truth about God’s Word has come under attack again and again—whether it be from Quaker enthusiasm, deistic rationalism, or liberal Protestantism—and only when this truth has been ardently defended have the fires of Christian piety continued to burn brightly. This tremendous collection of sources about the infallibility and inerrancy of the Scriptures is both a powerful reminder of these facts and a stirring impetus to be ‘a people of the Book.’ Wrought in recent conflict over this very issue, this volume is a welcome addition to the key reference works of all those who genuinely desire to be Christ-centered and gospel-focused.”

—Michael A. G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“We have needed this book for a long time. In Thy Word Is Still Truth, Peter Lillback and Richard Gaffin have drawn together the comprehensive witness of the church on behalf of the total truthfulness and inerrancy of Scripture. No serious reader can doubt the case for inerrancy made so consistently and clearly in these pages, and no serious defender of Scripture can be without this vital volume that amounts to the most massive arsenal of documentation for the inerrancy of Scripture ever assembled in a single book.”

—R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY

“A magnificent compendium! It has drawn from the best, the truest, and the deepest works on, and affirmations about, the doctrine of Scripture. We need to hear these voices from our past. They are wise, discerning, and profound.”

—David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA

 

Advice to Seminarians

Some good advice below from Mike Bird, author of a new biblical and systematic introduction to Evangelical Theology. For more along these lines, see the forthcoming How to Stay Christian in Seminary by David Mathis and Jonathan Parnell.

Michael Haykin on Luther and the 95 Theses

Michael Haykin of Southern Seminary provides some background:

Go here to see his overviews on Luther’s conversion and his stand at the Diet of Worms.

9 Ways to Become a Boring Writer

A great post by Matt Anderson. Here’s an outline:

If a book with a unique concept or message makes the New York Times bestseller list, copy it.
Read everything your peers write.
Spend all your free time consuming “pop culture.”
Read the people you want to imitate, not the people they learned from.
Publish right away.
Spend all your time on social networks.
Never miss your chance to chime in on a controversy.
Be a contrarian.
Always strive to be first.

You can read the whole thing here for an explanation of each point.

#4 is especially significant, it seems to me, for a younger generation of pastors. It is a wonderful thing (in my opinion) that John Piper and Tim Keller, for example, are so influential. But if they don’t then take the next step and read the writers who shaped Piper and Keller, the next generation will simply be dealing with copies of a copy.

What Does the Bible Teach about the Conscience and Why Does It Matter?

This talk below below by Andy Naselli, assistant professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Bethlehem College and Seminary, is a very helpful introduction to the conscience.

Naselli surveys the biblical evidence to show what conscience is and what it does, and concludes that your ”conscience” is “your consciousness of what you believe is right and wrong.” He then argues that this is crucial for the Christian life, as understanding the conscience helps us

cultivate a good conscience
love other believers when we disagree about disputable matters
calibrate our convictions about specific disputable matters in order to be more scripturally informed
evangelize and edify others in different cultures
treasure Jesus’s conscience-cleaning cross-work

It’s worth hearing and applying.

A Q&A with the Apostle Paul on What Is Wrong with Us and What Can Be Done about It

We sometimes think of the second half of the first chapter of Romans as a discourse about atheists. (And indeed, according to Romans 1 the answer to the question “Does God believe in atheists?” is “no.”)

But in reality, it’s a universal text that applies to all of us apart from Christ—what we are, what we do, and what we would do apart from God’s restraining and redeeming grace, with graphic examples to illustrate our truth-suppression and idolatrous identity.

Here are some questions for the Apostle Paul, with his answers:

What do all of us know?

(1) We know God himself.

(2) We know God’s decree.

(3) We know God’s judgment—that those who practice sinful things deserve death.

What is our responsibility?

We are without excuse.

How clear is the evidence for God’s knowability?

What can be known about God is plain.

Who showed us the evidence for God?

God himself has shown us what can be known about him.

What is it about God that every one of us knows?

We have clearly perceived God’s invisible attributes (= his eternal power and divine nature).

Where do we see God’s invisible attributes?

In the things that God has made.

What do we fail to do in response?

(1) We fail to honor God as God.

(2) We fail to give thanks to God.

(2) We fail to acknowledge God.

What do we do instead of honoring and thanking God?

We suppress the truth.

How?

By our unrighteousness.

What do we claim about our thinking?

We claim to be wise.

What are we in reality?

We are fools.

What happened to our minds?

We became futile in our thinking.

What happened to our hearts?

Our foolish hearts were darkened.

What is the result?

We exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling

mortal man
birds
animals
creeping things

We exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

What did we do with created things?

(1) We worshiped the creature rather than the Creator.

(2) We served the creature rather than the Creator.

What is the result of this idolatry?

God gave us up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.

What kind of impurity?

The dishonoring of our bodies among ourselves.

How did we become entangled in dishonorable passions?

God gave us up to dishonorable passions.

Which dishonorable passions did women commit?

Women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

Which dishonorable passions did men commit?

The men gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

What does God do to us for failing to acknowledge him?

God gave us up to a debased mind.

To do what?

To do what ought not to be done.

What are we filled with?

All manner of

unrighteousness
evil
covetousness
malice

We are full of

envy
murder
strife
deceit
maliciousness

What are we?

We are

gossips
slanderers
haters of God
insolent
haughty
boastful
inventors of evil
disobedient to parents
foolish
faithless
heartless
ruthless

What do we know?

God’s decree.

What is God’s decree?

Those who practice such sinful things deserve to die.

What do we do?

(1) We do these sinful things.

(2) We give approval to those who practice these sinful things.

What does God do in response?

God reveals his wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

Is there any hope?

The gospel.

What is the gospel?

The power of God for salvation.

For who?

To everyone who believes—to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

What is revealed in the gospel?

The righteousness of God, from faith to faith.

As Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Romans 1:16-32

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

What God Made Is Good — And Must Be Sanctified: C.S. Lewis and St. Paul on the Use of Creation

This was a very helpful talk from John Piper on the demonic nature of some forms of asceticism and the need to sanctify the good gifts of God with the word of God (1 Timothy 4:1-5):

You can also get the manuscript and audio here.

Why (Some) Cessationists and (Some) Continuationists Don’t Disagree about Prophecy as Much as (Some) People Might Think

Vern Poythress, “Modern Spiritual Gifts as Analogous to Apostolic: Affirming Extraordinary Works of the Spirit Within Cessationist Theology“:

People debate about whether “prophecy” in the New Testament and the early church was divinely inspired and infallible. Did it possess full divine authority?

Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., says that it was inspired.

Wayne A. Grudem argues that it was not.

Many people believe that the outcome of this debate is crucial for the future of the charismatic movement.

But actually the outcome of the debate makes very little practical difference today.

Poythress asks us to to “suppose that Gaffin is right”:

Then “prophecy” ceased with the completion of the apostolic era and the completion of the canon of Scripture. Modern phenomena are fallible and hence are not identical with New Testament prophecy. But modern nondiscursive processes with teaching content is analogous to prophecy, just as modern preaching is analogous to apostolic preaching. Hence the general principles concerning spiritual gifts, as articulated in 1 Cor 12-14 and elsewhere, are still applicable. What charismatics call “prophecy” is not really the “prophecy” mentioned in the New Testament. Rather, it is a fallible analogue. It is really a spiritual gift for speaking fallibly through nondiscursive processes. It contrasts with preaching, which is a spiritual gift for speaking fallibly through discursive processes.

Modern nondiscursive processes with circumstantial content are in a sense not really analogous to inspired biblical prophecy. But they can function positively in the service of the Spirit, just as does circumstantial content through discursive processes.

Then, on the other hand, Poythress asks us to “suppose that Grudem is right”:

Then “prophecy” continues. But such “prophecy” is fallible. It is not identical with the inspired prophecy of the Old Testament. It is in fact a spiritual gift for speaking fallibly through nondiscursive processes. If the content is biblical, its authority derives from the Bible. If the content is circumstantial, it is not an addition to the Bible (not divinely authoritative). Hence it is just information and has no special authority. Hence Grudem ends up with substantially the same practical conclusions as does Gaffin.

Poythress clarifies where Grudem and Gaffin agree and where they differ:

Hence, there is no need for Gaffin and Grudem to disagree about the modern phenomena. They disagree only about the label given to the phenomena (“not-prophecy” versus “prophecy”), and about whether the New Testament phenomena were identical or merely analogous to the modern phenomena.

Both Gaffin and Grudem already acknowledge the fallibility of the modern phenomena.

Gaffin needs only to take the additional step of integrating the modern phenomena into a theology of spiritual gifts. Given this theological integration, we find that there is an analogical justification for the use of these gifts in the church today.

Grudem, on the other hand, needs only to clarify the status of “prophecy.” “Prophecy,” he says, is fallible, but still revelatory. It still derives from God, and still is important for the well-being of the church. Gaffin and many others find this sort of description difficult to grasp or classify. How can something be “revelatory” and still not compete with the sufficiency of Scripture? I explain how partly by distinguishing teaching content from circumstantial content. Teaching content must not add to Scripture, but can only rephrase what is already there in Scripture. Circumstantial content has the same status as information received through a long-distance telephone call—that is, it has no special claim to authority. It is therefore obvious that neither type of content threatens the sufficiency of Scripture.

Poythress applies this beyond Grudem and Gaffin:

If charismatics and noncharismatics could agree on these points, I think that the debate on modern spiritual gifts would be largely over. But there are practical adjustments. People who value nondiscursive gifts have tended to migrate into charismatic circles, where nondiscursive gifts are prized. People who value discursive gifts have migrated into noncharismatic circles, where discursive gifts are prized. Each group tends to prize only people of its own kind. We all need to learn again from 1 Corinthians 12 the importance of every gift, including those with which we have yet to become comfortable.

You can read the whole thing here.

Why an Atheist Philosopher Named a Defense of Christianity His Book of the Year

Popular philosopher Alain de Botton writes that his favorite book of the year was a defense of Christianity:

This year, I was touched by Francis Spufford’s Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense. . . . As a non-Christian, indeed a committed atheist, I was worried about how I’d feel about this book but it pulled off a rare feat: making Christianity seem appealing to those who have no interest in ever being Christians. A number of Christian writers have over the past decade tried to write books defending their faith against the onslaughts of the new atheists—but they’ve generally failed. Spufford understands that the trick isn’t to try to convince the reader that Christianity is true but rather to show why it’s interesting, wise and sometimes consoling.

You can read Wesley Hill’s review of the book here and read an excerpt from Mockingbird’s interview with the author.