Justin Taylor's Blog, page 296

Johnny Cash, "Hurt"

Russell Moore:

Cash's haunting music video for the song features faded film shots of his youthful glory days—complete with the images of friends and colleagues, once at the height of their fame, who are now dead. As the camera pans Cash's wizened, wrinkled face, he sings about the awful reality of death and the vanity of fame: "What have I become? My sweetest friend / Everyone I know goes away in the end / You could have it all / My empire of dirt / I will let you down, I will make you hurt."

Whereas, the Nine Inch Nails delivered "Hurt" as straight nihilism, Cash gives it a twist—ending the video with the scenes of crucifixion, which, for Cash, was (and still is) the only answer to the inevitability of suffering and pain.

The video of "Hurt" communicated exactly what the dying Cash seemed to understand, echoing Solomon of old: wealth, celebrity, fame, all of it is vanity in the maw of the grave. By contrasting images of the young celebrated Cash with images of the old, gasping, arthritic Cash, his "House of Cash" closed down and boarded over, the video turned then to what Cash saw as the only real alternative to his empire of dirt: the cross of Christ Jesus.

For more, listen to Dr. Moore's latest "The Cross and the Jukebox" podcast.

The Pattern of the Kingdom: "God's People, in God's Place, Under God's Rule"

In his book Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching Graeme Goldsworthy traces in broad strokes the God-people-place schema through the unfolding revelation of the kingdom:

In the Garden of Eden

God, his people, and the place all exist in the perfect relationships intended by God.

Outside the Garden of Eden

The relationships established by God at creation are dislocated and confused because of sin. They are not totally disrupted, and the world goes on while under sentence of death.

In redemptive history

God calls one family of people, and their successors, to be the con­text within which he reveals his plan and purposes for the redemp­tion of people out of every nation. The relationships of the kingdom of God are put in place but never fully realized by sinful people.

In prophetic eschatology

The pattern of redemption, and the promised kingdom of God that failed to eventuate in Israel's history, constitute the pattern of a fu­ture glorious salvation and kingdom promised by the prophets.

In Jesus Christ

Where Adam failed, and where Israel failed, Jesus comes as the last Adam and the true Israel to carry out God's purposes perfectly. Be­lievers from all periods of history are credited with his perfection and righteousness as a gift.

In the consummation

The perfection that is in Jesus, and that believers possess by faith, is only fully formed in believers and the world when Christ returns in glory.

Here's another way that Goldsworthy summarizes this:

The pattern of the kingdom is established in the Garden of Eden.
This pattern is broken when sin enters in.
The pattern is reestablished in salvation history in Israel but never fully realized.
The same pattern shapes the prophetic view of the future kingdom.
The pattern of the kingdom is perfectly established in Jesus in a repre­sentative way.
The pattern of the kingdom begins to be formed in the people of God through the gospel.
The pattern of the kingdom is consummated at Christ's return.

He then explains the "mechanics" of this salvation as follows:

that what is lost with the fall God foreshadows in the history of redemption in Israel. Then the solid reality comes, namely, Jesus, who bears in himself the fullness of the king­dom in that he is God, man, and created order, all existing in perfect relation­ship. (pp. 87-88)

For more on how Goldsworthy outlines the biblical storyline through this pattern, see:

The Main Chapters in the Biblical Storyline
Outline of Biblical History

If you're a parent, note that The Big Picture Story Bible was written for kids explicitly using the pattern of "God's people in God's place under God's rule" to trace the storyline of Scripture.

Great Grace

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Pet. 4:8)

"Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense." (Prov. 19:11)

A powerful scene from the 1998 film version of Les Miserable:

HT: Tullian

How Books Are Made

HT: Joe Carter

Preaching and Preachers

Here is a helpful discussion on preaching with Jared Wilson and Tony Merida, facilitated by Brandon Smith.

Smelling the Difference Between Those Who Sit Under and Those Who Stand Over

Dane Ortlund:

Bible; Bible; Bible. Sit under, not stand over. Self-consciously, not assumingly. It's tantalizingly easy (I have found in my own thinking) to slip from claimed biblical authority with functional biblical authority to claimed biblical authority with functional personal-framework authority. Anyone can extract a few texts and make 'the Bible' say what they want. The question is: whose delineation presents biblical truth with the rhythm and flavor of the Bible itself? We can sound clever, and quote texts, all the while lacking the aroma of truth that arises from a wise synthesis of all the Bible says. You can smell when someone's really sitting under the Bible, the whole Bible, or not.

Was Blind But Now I See

The Blind Boys of Alabama singing their version of "Amazing Grace" (to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun") from their album Spirit of the Century. (You can download a previously unreleased studio version of the album by going here.)

Eleven Theses on Revelatory Gifts for Today

I think this is a good dose of wisdom here from Doug Wilson.

The Great Books Reader

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute, a great books program at Biola. And he's now edited The Great Books Reader, designed to introduces readers to the most influential books of the Western canon.

Here is the publisher's description:

The Breadth of a Great Books Program—All in One Volume

To be a well-read Christian, it's important to know the writings that have had the greatest influence on our civilization. Although many of us are familiar with names like Plato, Dante, Descartes, etc., few today have read their works. A growing number of Great Books programs in colleges and private schools are filling this void, but now you too can interact with the classics for a fraction of the time and expense.

In this volume you will be guided by esteemed professors and writers who have selected excerpts from the most important books in Western Civilization. A brief essay illuminates each excerpt and puts the work in context. Take your education to the next level by letting some of the best thinkers of today walk you through the most influential books in history.

In The Great Books Reader you'll find excerpts from such writers as: Aquinas, Aristotle, Augustine, Calvin, Chaucer, Chesterton, Dante, Descartes, Dostoevsky, Locke, Marx, Milton, Nietzsche, Plato, and Shakespeare.

The distinguished faculty includes: William Dembski, Hugh Hewitt, Anthony Esolen, Philip Johnson, Peter Kreeft, Frederica Matthewes-Green, Russell Moore, Fred Sanders . . . and many more!

You can read below the table of contents, the introduction—including Reynolds's "defense of a (nearly) indefensible project"!—and the first chapter (on Homer and The Odyssey):

The Great Book Reader

7 Lessons from the Father of Modern Missions

Timothy George, celebrating William Carey's 250th birthday, looks at seven lessons we can learn from his theology, ministry, and life.