Justin Taylor's Blog, page 339
April 15, 2011
Academicians: Avoid Being a Mere Quartermaster
D. A. Carson:
Now, any army needs quartermasters. They are the ones who provide the supplies to the frontlines. By all means, give appropriate honor to those who devote themselves to equipping and supplying—with books, training, courses, modeling, answering questions—those who will be on the frontlines.
Yet it is possible to write learned tomes on apologetics without actually defending the gospel in the current world; it is possible to write commentaries without constantly remembering that God makes himself present, he discloses himself afresh, to his people, through the Word.
If you are an academic, you need to put yourself into places where, as it were, you take your place with the frontline troops from time to time. This means engaging the outside world at a personal level, at an intellectual and cultural level; it means working and serving in the local church; it means engaging in evangelism. Avoid becoming a mere quartermaster.
I suppose I was at least somewhat shielded from initial temptations along these lines because I had been a pastor and was still preaching and teaching. My research area had to do with some elements of theology in John's Gospel against assorted Jewish backgrounds. My Doktorvater was a brilliant man who on many fronts had become convinced of what was essentially a naturalist approach to most biblical texts.
After I had been in Cambridge for several months and the initial glory of this spectacular university had faded at least a little, one Tuesday afternoon I was in my mentor's office for a supervision on the background to the notion of "new birth" in John 3. It was all very interesting, and impossibly uncontrolled, as I was finding my way around Jewish mystical texts, gnostic texts, Philonic thought, and so forth. But deep inside I was sort of grinning. For the previous weekend, I had preached in a chapel in the market town of March, and one of the village constables, a man known to be a bit of a brute, had got converted, rather dramatically. He was born again. I could not at that point read John 3 without thinking of that man.
My point is that by continuing in forms of pastoral ministry, even while engaging in technical scholarship, you will not only avoid some pitfalls, but you will avoid becoming a mere quartermaster.
—D. A. Carson, "The Scholar as Pastor," in The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry by John Piper and D.A. Carson, ed. Owen Strachan and David Mathis (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), pp. 82-83.
April 14, 2011
The Relationship Between Exodus and Leviticus in the Biblical Storyline
Jay Sklar, professor of Old Testament at Covenant Seminary, a contributor to the ESV Study Bible, and author of a forthcoming Tyndale commentary on Leviticus, has a very helpful explanation here about the place of Leviticus as the storyline of Scripture unfolds:
. . . [I]t is vital to remember that Leviticus is part of a much larger story, especially the one told in Exodus.
You could tell that story like this:
In Exodus the Lord delivers his people from slavery with mighty signs and wonders (1-15) and brings them to Sinai (16-19), telling them there that they are to be his "kingdom of priests and holy nation."
He confirms their kingdom status by entering into a covenant with them as their king and giving them kingdom laws to follow (20-24).
But that is not all! He is going to be a king who is near to them, dwelling in their very midst, and this is why he proceeds to give them directions for his tabernacle, his earthly palace (25-31, 35-40).
And all of this leads to a very burning question if you're an Israelite:
How in the world can the holy and pure king of the universe dwell among his sinful and impure people? How can he live here—in our very midst—without his holiness melting us in our sin and impurity?!
Answer: Leviticus, which begins by explaining the sacrifices that address sin and enable them to worship this king rightly (Leviticus 1-7).
Answer: Leviticus, which provides them with priests to intercede on their behalf and lead them in worship before the king (Leviticus 8-10).
Answer: Leviticus, which gives them laws to teach them how to deal properly with impurity (Leviticus 11-15).
Answer: Leviticus, which provides a yearly ceremony to remove every last ounce of sin and impurity from the kingdom (Leviticus 16).
Answer, Leviticus, which provides a whole series of laws in other areas to direct them in living like a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Leviticus 17-27).
TGC Lecture/Panel on Universalism, Love, and Justice
Rob Bell's Love Wins controversy is Time Magazine's new cover story.
Carson, talking about the view of atonement expressed in manipulative way, says this is the most painful thing about his representation: "I say it with respect, I say it with brokenness, but it is blasphemous." He also says to universalists, "We don't mind if you say demeaning things about us—but I beg of you, don't say demeaning things about the cross."
April 13, 2011
Why We Love Don Carson
John Piper's tribute is worthy of a hearty amen.
An excerpt:
We love you Don because of your work, and because of the life that gave it birth, and because of the Lord that gave you life. We delight in you. We have a deep affection for you. Because . . .
Because you have walked in purity and cherished your one wife.
Because you have loved your children and honored your father.
Because you heard and followed the call of God.
Because you have given your mind wholly to God not money.
Because you pursued learning, but even more, wisdom.
Because you have been tenderhearted and courageous.
Because you have been jealous for imputation and holiness of life.
Because your soul did not shrivel up in grammatical minutia, but lived in the broadness of adoration.
Because you embraced the sweet, deep, satisfying delights of historic, biblical doctrine, and exposed the folly of a hundred emerging departures.
Because you have soared in the verity of precious propositions, and in the evocative power of poetry.
Because you have been secondarily a great defender of Christ, but mainly a joyful advocate and witness.
Because you have honored the guild with your mind, but served the church with all your heart.
Because you have submitted to the whole counsel of God, and submitted to every sentence in the Bible.
Because you have kept the crucified and risen Christ at the center of it all.
And because you have done everything the name of Jesus and for the glory of God.
Sin: The Suicidal Action of the Human Will
In Tim Keller's excellent TGC11 talk, he quoted from W.G.T. Shedd's "Sin Is Spiritual Slavery," found in Sermons to the Natural Man (1871):
Sin is the suicidal action of the human will.
Shedd goes on:
To do wrong destroys the power to do right.
This is illustrated in the effect of a vicious habit in diminishing a man's ability to resist temptation.
But habit is the continual repetition of of wrong self-decisions, every one of which reacts upon the will as a faculty, and renders it less strong and energetic to good.
No man can do a wrong act, and be as sound in his will, and as spiritually strong, after it as he was before it.
Text SPREAD to 50555 to Equip the Global Church
If you are the type of person reading this blog, the likelihood is great that you have been unbelievably blessed by the abundance of gospel-rich resources we have today in the West.
I'm very thankful for Desiring God and The Gospel Coalition, who are giving us the opportunity to make a tiny contribution to increase our joy and to help our brothers and sisters around the world with God-centered resource. DG and TGC
are partnering together to raise $46,000 to send out 10,000 copies of Don Carson's The God Who Is There book and video series to English speaking countries around the world.
You can read more about the initiative here.
You can also view and pass along the following promo video:
April 12, 2011
How Do You Frighten Someone Raised from the Dead?
Ravi Zacharias:
Christian: You have died, you have been raised with Christ, your life is hidden with Christ in God, and your citizenship is in heaven. What can man do to you? (Col. 3:3; Col. 3:1; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 13:6)
New Resource from Crossway: ESV GreekTools
If you're at TGC be sure to go by the Crossway Exhibit Booth and see the launch of a great new tool that Crossway has developed: ESV GreekTools.
You can try it for free at ESV Online, under the Content tab. Or you can purchase it at crossway.org/GRKTLS.
You can see a video introduction and some explanation below:
ESV GreekTools puts the original language of the New Testament into the hands of beginning and advanced students, as well as seasoned pastors, scholars, and laymen looking for an affordable and accessible Greek reference tool. Intuitive, easy-to-use, and fully customizable, ESV GreekTools is an online application available through the ESVBible.org platform. Now you can do serious work with the Greek text, at home or on the go, no matter your level of proficiency.
Features:
Complete NA27 Greek text
ESV interlinear and reverse-interlinear renderings of the text
Complete data set for each word, including lexical data, contextual and morphological information (including parsings), and Strong's number.
Powerful search tool that lets users search by Greek word, transliterated Greek word, Strong's number, English word, or any combination of those values
Complete English and Greek concordances
Customizable interface that works seamlessly with other ESVBible.org features, including study resources and notes.
Helpful documentation and instructions can be found here.
Without the Gospel
Alistair Begg tonight closed his address with a quote from John Calvin's preface to Pierre-Robert Olivétan's 1535 translation of the Bible. "To all those who love Christ and his gospel," Calvin writes:
Without the gospel
everything is useless and vain;
without the gospel
we are not Christians;
without the gospel
all riches is poverty,
all wisdom, folly before God;
strength is weakness, and
all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.
But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made
children of God,
brothers of Jesus Christ,
fellow townsmen with the saints,
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,
heirs of God with Jesus Christ,
by whom
the poor are made rich,
the weak strong,
the fools wise,
the sinners justified,
the desolate comforted,
the doubting sure, and
slaves free.
The gospel is the Word of life.
Justin Taylor's Blog
- Justin Taylor's profile
- 44 followers
