Justin Taylor's Blog, page 251

Chandler and Ortlund Audio

Main audio sessions from the Lead11 conference hosted by the Gospel Alliance New England:

Matt Chandler  "The Explicit Gospel" 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 [this is the title for Matt's first book, coming out in April]
Ray Ortlund "Walking in the Light" 1 John 1:7 – Walking in the Light Q&A
Ray Ortlund "Praying according to the Gospel" Ephesians 3-14-21
Matt Chandler – "Which You Received" Romans 8:28-37 Which You Received Q&A
Matt Chandler "Grace Driven Effort" Colossians 3:1-11
Panel Discussion – Matt Chandler, Ray Ortlund, Stephen Um, Jared Wilson
"Biblical Revival for Christians who aren't good at being Christians" Psalm 85

You can get all of these sessions, plus more audio, here.

Start Off the New Year: Knowing God

You can download the audiobook for J.I. Packer's Knowing God for free. If you haven't yet digested the contents of this classic, you're in for a treat.

If You Want to Be a Writer You Have to Be a Reader

Stephen King:

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut. . . .

It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written, but I know it's true. If I had a nickel for every person who ever told me he/she wanted to become a writer but didn't have time to read, I could buy myself a pretty good steak dinner. Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

You can read the full chapter section after the jump:

On Writing by Stephen King, an excerpt

ESV on Kindle

A couple of encouraging trends at the Amazon Kindle store.

Of the free Kindle books, the ESV Bible is currently ranked #6 in terms of downloads.

The ESV Bible is also the #1 most highlighted of all the books in the Kindle Store, with the ESV Study Bible #5. The study Bible is only $9.99 there (80% off of the print retail price).

A Strange Lecture on World Religions from a Gospel-Centered Perspective

In October 2011 the contributors to the book Only One Way? Three Christian Responses to the Uniqueness of Christ in a Religiously Plural World gave a one-day conference with presentations on their positions regarding the relationship of Christianity to other religions: Daniel Strange (reformed evangelical; Oak Hill College); Gavin D'Costa (conservative Catholic; Bristol University); Paul Knitter (pluralist; Union Theological Seminary, New York).

You can find all of the talks here, or stream Professor Strange's lecture below. At the end of the post is an outline of his 30-minute address:

Only One Way? Dan Strange by Oak Hill College

A 'Subversive Fulfillment' Interpretation of Other Religions

From the presupposition of the triune God who speaks authoritatively through his inspired Word, non-Christian religions are an idolatrous refashioning of divine revelation, which are antithetical and yet parasitic on Christian truth, and of which the gospel of Jesus Christ is their subversive fulfillment.

Defending the indefensible?
We're all exclusivists you know . . .

1. Method: The Elephant Speaks

revelation
transcendent foundationalism
sola Scriptura

2. God: YHWH's 'Transcendent Uniqueness'

the Triune God as personal absolute and absolute personality

3. Creation and Fall: the 'Perilous Exchange'

Principial discontinuity
Practical continuity

4. Jesus Christ: The 'Subversive Fulfillment' of the Religious Other

Jesus as subversion
Jesus as fulfillment

5. Mission: Proclaiming the Preeminent Christ

The Art Conversation Continues

For those who want to think through art from a biblical worldview, you might want to take a look at an older work by Gene Edward Veith Jr.: State of the Arts. Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio writes: "State of the Arts wisely steers Christians between the two extremes of accepting inane cultural trends or dismissing all cultural pursuits as worldly. The book establishes a strong biblical context for understanding expressions of human creativity and powerfully defends art as a gift from God. Here is a much-needed counterattack on the aesthetic terrorism by entrenched enemies on the true, the good, and the beautiful."

Alvin Plantinga on Properly Basic Beliefs

An introduction:

T. S. Eliot Reads "Journey of the Magi"

First published in 1927, and read aloud by Eliot during a BBC interview broadcast during World War II:

You can read the text here.

HT: Eric Landry

How Spurgeon Understood the Warning Passages in the Bible

Tom Schreiner provides some good quotes in his irenic response to Scot McKnight.

2012 Christianity Today Book Awards

CT's 2012 Book Awards.

Crossway has three titles on the list:

Tullian Tchividjian's Jesus + Nothing = Everything (tied for first in the category of Christian Living)
Russell Moore's Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ (award of merit in Christian Living)
Jack Collins's Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? Who They Were and Why You Should Care (award of merit in Biblical Studies)