Justin Taylor's Blog, page 265

Sanctity of Human Life: A Conversation

David Mathis and I talk for 15 minutes about the theology of being pro-life and some of the implications for life and ministry.

If there's one book I'd recommend on this subject—philosophically and scientifically sound, winsomely persuasive, and gospel-centered—it'd be Scott Klusendorf's The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture.

Who Was Fanny Crosby?

Responding to Stetzer and Critics on the Mission of the Church

Ed Stetzer's critical review of the book What Is the Mission of the Church? has now been published by Themelios. In addition to this review, Ed took the unusual step yesterday of compiling and quoting critical quotations from all the online reviews of the book.

Kevin and Greg have now posted a response to Ed's review. If you want the "upshot" of their rejoinder, here it is: "We actually agree with many of [Ed's] critiques, because we think they do not fully describe our concerns or positions. Where we disagree on exegetical conclusions or theological distinctions we look forward to continuing to search the Scriptures together."

In my opinion Kevin and Greg effectively demonstrate that they are being misrepresented (or at least misunderstood) when Ed says in his review that they "equate 'making disciples' with evangelism" and "do not adequately acknowledge the role of love and good deeds in commending the gospel to unbelievers." I'd encourage you to read their rebuttal.

What surprised me the most about Ed's review was the clear sense that Kevin and Greg are out of their depth in this project, think they are qualified to write on this just because they read a few books, lack person "engagement" in missional endeavors, and are not going to convince anyone but the choir with this work. Kevin and Greg respond:

At the risk of sounding defensive, we can't help but express our disappointment that Stetzer sounded so dismissive of our arguments at times; indeed, even dismissive of our right to make them. . . .

At times, especially toward the end, Stetzer hints that we may be out of our depth in tackling this subject. He asserts that we are out of step with "the prevailing approach in evangelical missiology" and that "the truth is the reins of the missiological conversation and that task of mission will not be pulled back by the arguments in this book." He chides us by suggesting that "reading a couple dozen books is simply not adequate (or appropriate) to prepare themselves to stand against the careful theological thinking that has contributed to the widening of our understanding of mission." In his final paragraph Stetzer concludes that our book "will not succeed at its task" because those who will like the book will be "the theologically minded who think deeply but engage weekly" and those on the other end of the spectrum "who could benefit from the book will not read it because the authors lack the background and engagement to make the case to the missional and missiological community."

We're not sure what to make of this last sentence (the final one of the review). We are both pastors, and both our churches meet right next to university campuses. We talk to real people—on both sides—for whom the matters in our book are seriously important. Perhaps our thinking on the mission of the church has been "not adequate," and perhaps it is even "not appropriate" for us to think that we as non-scholars are prepared to make a contribution to this discussion. But we would hope that kind of judgment would be handed down on the basis of showing our arguments from the Bible to be wrong, rather than on the basis of pointing out that we are pastors and not missiologists or by implying that we don't have street cred in missional circles. We pastor churches that engage in significant "missional" efforts in the community from supporting crisis pregnancy centers to providing ESL classes to working with the local Rescue Mission. While we may understand this work differently than some in the missional conversation and we may vet the opportunities through a different grid, our congregations also care about the poor and are devoted to good deeds as Scripture commands.

In his critical round-up post Ed chose to highlight the especially biting perspective of Tim Gombis, who writes:

[DeYoung and Gilbert] equate a missional outlook with the view that Christians are responsible to return creation to its pre-fall, edenic state (p. 75). [JT: Actually, they are simply talking about the function of the cultural mandate for Adam in this point in the biblical storyline.] This is unfair and simply wrong. I know of no missional Christian who talks or writes this way, and no one even comes close. It seems that they know this, since they don't cite anyone who holds the views they so vigorously and roundly critique. . . .

Think "The Village." This book functions for the YRR crowd much like the fear-mongering that goes on in that film. The village's leaders spread word of monsters in the woods so that no one will venture beyond the borders of the village, discovering that they're walled off from the outside world. . . .

In light of this, I'm glad Kevin and Greg included this in their response:

One of the recurring themes in criticism of our book is that we don't really engage missional thinking. It's been suggested that we are insular, only talking with and listening to people who think just like us. We set up straw men, are ignorant of what missional Christians think, and may even demonize those who disagree with us. It's possible we have misread the authors we cite. It's possible we may not have our pulse on the best of missional thinking. But we hope anyone who reads the book carefully will be able to see that we honestly try to interact with people like McNeal, Wright, Bosch, and Stott. We certainly read from many more and, contrary to the assumption of some, we have talked with many people who do not see things the way we do. It's also worth pointing out that we explicitly state in the introduction that we are not anti-missional, let alone are we trying to condemn what everyone means by the term missional. Our concern is not with a term, but with determining a biblical view of the church's mission.

If it turns out that we are tilting against windmills and no one believes the things we are arguing against, no one will be happier than the two of us. Whatever embarrassment may come from finding out that no holds the positions we combat will be overcome by delight in discovering that more people agree with us than we thought. But we do not think our concerns are phantom concerns. There are voices calling for the church to work for the redemption of creation, for the shalom of the world, and for the restoration of the cosmos, to the end that we may "[turn] back the hands of time to give the world a glimpse of what the world looked like before sin entered the picture" (The Next Christians, 59).

Jesus Saves!

One of the unique things about Robert Peterson's new volume, Salvation Accomplished by the Son: The Work of Christ, is that he shows from Scripture the saving nature of nine events from Christ's life.

He quotes Robert Letham for an answer to what we mean by "the work of Christ":

In short, we refer to

all that Christ did when he came to this earth 'for us and our salvation',
all that he continues to do now that he is risen from the dead and at God's right hand, and
all that he will do when he returns in glory at the end of the age

While the death and resurrection of Jesus are the two central redemptive deeds, Peterson rightly includes seven additional saving events in the work of Christ. Here are his brief definitions for these additional seven:

The incarnation is the Son of God's becoming a human being by a supernatural conception in Mary's womb. [Phil. 2:5-9]

Christ's sinless life is his living from birth to death without sinning in thought, word, or deed. [Heb. 4:14-15]

His ascension is his public return to the Father by "going up" from the Mount of Olives. [1 Tim. 3:16]

His session is his sitting down at God the Father's right hand after his ascension. [Heb. 10:11-12, 14]

Pentecost, as much Christ's saving work as any other event on the list, is his pouring out the Holy Spirit on the church in newness and power. [Acts 2:32-33]

His intercession includes his perpetual presentation in heaven of his finished cross work and his prayers on behalf of his saints. [Heb. 7:24-25]

His second coming is his return in glory at the end of the age to bless his people and judge his enemies. [Heb. 9:28]

The first nine chapters of the book look at these saving events one by one, tracing each through Scripture and showing the role that event plays in the saving work of Christ.

3 Questions to Ask When Reading from the Bible

J. I. Packer and Gerald Bray—independently—suggest there are three questions we should ask of every passage we read in God's Word.

First, J. I. Packer:

Three questions must govern readers of the inspired Word:

First, in the passage being read, what is shown about God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? What does it say about what the holy Three are doing, have done, and will do in God's world, in his church, and in lives committed to him? What does it reveal about God's attributes, that is, God's power and character, how he exists and how he behaves? One reason, no doubt, for God's panoramic, multigenred layout of the Bible—with history, homily, biography, liturgy, practical philosophy, laws, lists, genealogies, visions, and so on, all rubbing shoulders—is that this variety provides so many angles of illumination on these questions for theological Bible readers' instruction.

Second, in the passage being read, what is shown about the bewildering, benighted world with all its beautiful and beneficial aspects alongside those that are corrupt and corrupting? Discerning the world's good and evil for what they are, so as to embrace the world's good and evade its temptations, is integral to the godliness that theological Bible reading should promote.

Third, in the passage being read, what is shown to guide one's living, this day and every day? The theological logic of this question, through which the reader must work each time, is this: since God, by his own testimony, said that to those people in their situation, what does it follow that he says to readers today in their own situation? The Holy Spirit answers prayer by giving discernment to apply Scripture in this way. Those who seek will indeed find.

Gerald Bray, more succinctly:

The first question we must ask of every biblical text is simply this—what does it tell us about God? What does it say about who he is and about what he does?

The second question is: what does this text say about us human beings? What are we meant to be and what has gone wrong?

The third and final question is: what has God done about this and what does he expect of us in the light of what he has done?

Bray goes on to offer an illustration regarding the reading of biblical genealogies.

An Live Interview on Gospel Wakefulness

David Mathis interviews Jared Wilson on Gospel Wakefulness:

Ministering to the Depressed

David Murray, author of Christians Get Depressed Too:

Beale's New Testament Biblical Theology

Greg Beale's magnum opus, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New, is now available. WTS Books has it at a special price of 45% off (until Nov. 23). Dr. Beale's courses on NT Theology and the OT in the NT changed the way I read Scripture, and I'm grateful that his work is finally available.

You can read online for free his full chapter on "The Eschatological Storyline of the Old Testament: The Old Testament Focus on the Latter Days."

Dr. Beale gives an overview of the book's perspective below:

A Game Plan for When You Start to Worry

David Powlison:

Do you want to hear a good description of what happens with anxiety? "A man who has no control over his spirit is like a city broken into and without walls." That's Proverbs 25:28. How do you get a grip when barbarians are rioting in the streets of your mind? Terrorist attackers, a gang of criminals, suicide bombers, cities invaded, fires everywhere, a lion in the street, chaos. Your mind loses its grip. Fear and anxiety have taken over. Nothing's safe or certain.

Anxiety is a universal human experience, and you need to approach it with a plan. Notice this is not a formula. When Andy Reid coaches the Philadelphia Eagles, he doesn't know a single thing that's going to happen after the opening whistle. He doesn't even know who's going to kick off until they flip a coin. But he's not unprepared. He goes in with a game plan, a basic orientation to the game ahead. I want to give you six things as a game plan for when you start to worry and obsess.

First, name the pressures. You always worry about something. What things tend to hook you? What do you tend to worry about? What "good reasons" do you have for anxiety? The very act of naming it is often very helpful. In the experience of anxiety, it seems like a million things. You're juggling plates, round and round and round and round. But really, you're juggling only six plates— or maybe obsessing on just one. It helps you to name the one thing or the six that keep recycling. Anxieties feel endless and infinite— but they're finite and specific.

Second, identify how you express anxiety. Spot the signs. How does anxiety show up in your life? For some people it's feelings of panic clutching their throat, or just a vague unease. What a huge step forward when you stand back and say, "Aha, a red light on the dashboard!" Rather than just indulging your worries, you can name them. For some people it's repetitive, obsessive thoughts: "Oh, now that's the fourth time I've repeated that scenario in my mind." For some people the sign is anger. They get irritated, but when they work back, they realize, "I was fearful and worried about something." For other people, worry shows up in their bodies (e.g., a tension headache) or in the cheap remedies that sin manufactures to make us feel better (e.g., gobbling ice cream, or an overpowering desire for a stiff drink). Spot the signs. How can those things become cues to you? "I'm losing it, I'm forgetting God, my flashlight is going dim."

Third, ask yourself, Why am I anxious? Worry always has its inner logic. Anxious people are "you of little faith." If I've forgotten God, who or what has edged Him out of my mind and started to rule in His place? Identify the hijacker. Anxious people have fallen into one of the subsets of "every form of greed." What do I want, need, crave, expect, demand, lust after? Or, since we fear losing the things we crave getting, what do I fear either losing or never getting? Identify the specific lust of the flesh. Anxious people "eagerly seek" the gifts more than the Giver. They bank treasure in the wrong place. What is preoccupying me, so that I pursue it with all my heart? Identify the object of your affections.

Fourth, what better reason does Jesus give you not to worry? What were those promises we just talked about? Go back and pick one to take to heart. I listed sevenfor you, seven things Jesus guarantees about how God runs His universe. We highlighted the sixth, "Your father is God," because it was the best of those better reasons. But they're all good reasons. That's why Jesus mentions every one. We're pretty uncomplicated people. It's tough to remember seven things at once, so pick one. For me, over the last month, the most helpful one has been, "If God feeds the crows, won't He provide for you?" It makes me laugh even to think about it, and anxiety can't coexist with hearty laughter! Those Crow Boys intercepted a lot of temptations to anxiety; they did me good. Grab one promise and work with it.

Fifth, go to your Father. Talk to Him. It's not as though your Father doesn't care about the things you worry about: your friends, your health, your money, your children, and so forth. Your Father knows what you need. You can go to Him with the things that concern you. Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you. You'll have to leave your worries with Him. They are always outside of your control! How will your kids turn out? Will you get Alzheimer's? What will happen with the economy? Will you ever get married? Will there be an anthrax attack? Will your dad come to know the Lord? Will you have money for next month's bills? You have good reasons to be concerned about such things, but you have better reasons to take them to Someone who loves you. Like that toddler whose mom trailed her, even the deep end of life is safe.

Finally, give. Do and say something constructive. Care for someone else. Give to meet human need. In the darkest hole, when the world is most confused, when there are barbarians in the streets, when life's the toughest, there's always the right thing to do. There's always some way to give yourself away. The problem might seem overwhelming. You could worry, worry, worry, worry. But what you're called to do is small, just a little itty-bitty thing. There's always something to give yourself to, and some way to give. Jesus said more about this in Matthew 6, the parallel passage to ours: "Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day thereof." Give yourself to today's trouble. Be about the business of today. Leave tomorrow's uncertainties to your Father.

Texting in the 17th Century: The Manuscripts Behind the KJV

A podcast lecture from George Guthrie:

Part 1: The copying of manuscripts in the early church. (18:16)

Part 2: Why there are 10 times more Greek manuscripts associated with the Byzantine Text Type than other types of manuscripts; the Greek New Testaments that were developed in the 16th Century. (15:07)

Part 3: Three reasons why modern translations differ from the KJV. (16:44)

For more on this issue, see:

D. A. Carson, The King James Debate: A Plea for Realism
James White, The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust the Modern Translations?
Daniel B. Wallace, "Why I Do Not Think the King James Bible Is the Best Translation Available Today"