Justin Taylor's Blog, page 234

Christ's Grace and Your Suffering

I have recommended this material more than once, but given the constant drumbeat of pain and sickness and suffering among God's people, it seems wise to highlight it again and again.

It was delivered by David Powlison on October 8, 2005, at the Desiring God National Conference on Suffering and the Sovereignty of God. You can listen to the audio, read the chapter from the book, or watch the video below:

Covenantal Apologetics and the Doctrine of Scripture

Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, talks about the relationship of philosophy, apologetics, and the doctrine of Scripture:

A few of Professor Oliphint's books include The Battle Belongs to the Lord: The Power of Scripture for Defending Our Faith (P&R, 2003); Reasons for Faith: Philosophy in the Service of Theology (P&R, 2006); God with Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God (Crossway, 2011)

Piper's Greatest Book?

So argues Ryan Harper in Books & Culture:

I was not prepared for so careful a treatment of race and Christianity as I found in Bloodlines. No Piper text of which I am aware displays the pathos and intelligence of Bloodlines. The book contains passages that I never thought I would read from a popular, supposedly "conservative" evangelical—on white normativity, on whites' funding of negative black media images, on sin as not simply self-aggrandizement but also self-hatred. Piper's adumbration of individualistic-versus-structural accounts of racism in the book's second section is informed and cautious against reduction. True, concerns remain; despite Piper's insistence that Christ challenges individualists and structuralists alike on race matters, the primacy of Christ-initiated heart transformations in Piper's argument belies an inclination toward individualistic anthropologies. But great books prompt as many concerns as they resolve. Bloodlines is Piper's greatest book.

You can read the whole thing here, which is also a review of James Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

Old Books Are Like Good Friends

Kevin DeYoung is undoubtedly in the minority for our generation, but I really resonate with his post, "Why I Hope Real Books Never Die (and They Won't)."

An excerpt:

Perhaps I am a wishful thinking bibliophile, but I just don't think the physical book is going the way of the dodo bird. No doubt, many scholars and students will house parts of their reference libraries on an electronic device. Some frequent flyers will stick books on their tablets instead of in their brief cases. And some techno-geeks will conclude that everything is better on an Apple product. I'm sure e-readers will make inroads. They serve a useful purpose. But only to a point.

Old books are like old friends. They love to be revisited. They stick around to give advice. They remind you of days gone by. Books, like friends, hang around.

And they prefer not to be invisible.

Amen. Read the whole thing.

Archaeology and the Exodus from Egypt

James K. Hoffmeier is Professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity International University, Divinity School. Since 1994 he has directed the North Sinai Archaeological Project.

Oxford University Press published his books Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition (1999), and then Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition (2011). (His latest book, co-edited with Dennis Magary, is entitled Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture [Crossway], with contributions from Darrell Bock, Craig Blomberg, Alan Millard, Eckhard Schnabel, Robert Yarbrough, etc.)

Below is his fascinating lecture from the Lanier Theological Library on what recent archaeological and geological work in North Sinai tell us about the exodus from Egypt:

Alister McGrath on Christianity and the Discipleship of the Mind

A lecture by Alister McGrath at the Lanier Theological Library on the way in which the Christian faith can engage and transform the mind:

Here is a description:

In his . . . recent book, The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind, Alister McGrath discusses theology as a discipline that not only informs and sustains the Christian vision of reality, but also serves a passion of the mind to understand God's nature and ways. While proposing that vibrant theology can have a positive impact on Christian life, worship and faith, McGrath also explores other benefits of theology that include a deeper engagement with the culture and concerns of the modern world.

D. A. Carson: Livestream Lecture and Q&A Tonight

Tonight (Monday, February 20, 2012), D. A. Carson will be lecturing at Liberty University's Biblical Studies Symposium: "One Focus of the Gospel: John 3."

It begins at 7:30 PM EST, and you can watch it online here.

You can tweet questions with the hashtag #libertycarson

Jean Bethke Elshtain: "Neither Heroes nor Victims: Disability and Identity"

On October 27, 2011, Professor Jean Bethke Elshtain, one of the great public intellectuals of our day, gave an hour-long Norton lecture at Southern Seminary.

You can listen to it or watch it below:

Her two other Norton lectures can be seen or heard here.

A Lutheran and a Baptist Testify before Congress

Matthew C. Harrison (President of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) and C. Ben Mitchell (Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University) testifed before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday, Feb. 16. 2012, discussing the recent HHS ruling regarding the coverage of abortifacient contraceptives:

The True Story behind the Movie "The Vow"

I have not seen the movie "The Vow," but from what I understand there is no mention of the faith commitment of the real-life couple. If you want to read the true story in their own—now reissued as a paperback with an additional chapter and photos—see The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie, by Kim and Krickitt Carpenter and published by B&H. Here's a description:

Life as Kim and Krickitt Carpenter knew it was shattered beyond recognition on November 24, 1993. Two months after their marriage, a devastating car wreck left Krickitt with a massive head injury and in a coma for weeks.

When she finally awoke, she had no idea who Kim was. With no recollection of their relationship and while Krickitt experienced personality changes common to those who suffer head injuries, Kim realized the woman he had married essentially died in the accident.

And yet, against all odds, but through the common faith in Christ that sustained them, Kim and Krickitt fell in love all over again. Even though Kim stood by Krickitt through the darkest times a husband can ever imagine, he insists, "I'm no hero. I made a vow."

You can watch below a Today Show appearance by the couple: