Justin Taylor's Blog, page 340

Crossway Impact: New Rewards Program

If you're at TGC11, you might want to stop by the Crossway Booth and learn about and sign up for a cool new rewards program from Crossway. Here's a little preview:

You can sign up online at crossway.org/impact. From their description:

Here at Crossway, we've been thinking of better ways to serve our readers and partner with like-minded ministries.

That's why we've created Crossway Impact—a rewards program for readers who want to invest their resources wisely—buying books AND making an impact.

Crossway Impact is designed to reward our readers with the following annual benefits:

3 FREE books (choose print or e-books from a monthly list)
25% OFF all your purchases on Crossway.org
Free shipping on orders over $50
Exclusive monthly offers

Crossway Impact also gives you an opportunity to make a difference with every book you buy by sending 5% of the money you spend at Crossway.org to a ministry of your choice. Now, ministries like Desiring God, The Resurgence, and Revive Our Hearts will benefit right along with you—a real win-win.

For the first year of the program, we're making these benefits available to as many Crossway readers as possible by letting you determine the value of your rewards (worth at least $40 in free books alone!). The only thing you have to do is name your own membership fee.

It's as simple as that.

Crossway Impact Members get a year-long discount, free books and shipping, special offers, and the chance to make an impact with every purchase. We hope you'll join us by signing up today.

TGC11: Live Video: Audio in Four Languages!

Everything on the main stage at The Gospel Coalition will be simulcast live—including the two concerts. The video and audio will all appear on this page.

I was especially excited to learn that the goal is to have all the audio online within an hour of the session, and that they will also be translated into French, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish. I'm very grateful for TGC investing this extra effort to serve more and more folks.

All times below are Central (UTC-5).

Tuesday, April 12

2 PM
R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus (John 5:31-47)


4 PM
Tim Keller
Getting Out (Exodus 14)


5:30 PM
White Horse Inn
Live Recording: The Great Commission and the Great Commandment


7 PM
Alistair Begg
From a Foreigner to King Jesus (Ruth)


8 PM
Tim Keller, John Piper, Crawford Loritts, Don Carson, Bryan Chapell
Preaching from the Old Testament


9 PM
Hymn Sing
Sing Them Again: An Evening of Old and New Hymns



Wednesday, April 13



9:30 AM
James MacDonald
Not According to Our Sins (Psalm 25)


12:30 PM
Matt Chandler, Kevin DeYoung, Trevin Wax, Jonathan Leeman
Gospel, Mission, and the Church


7 PM
Conrad Mbewe
The Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:1-8)


8 PM
Matt Chandler
Youth (Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14)


9 PM
Keith and Kristyn Getty
Concert



Thursday, April 14



7:30 AM
Don Carson, Tim Keller, Crawford Loritts, Kevin DeYoung, and Stephen Um
God: Abounding in Love, Punishing the Guilty


9:30 AM
Mike Bullmore
God's Great Heart of Love Toward His Own (Zephaniah)


11 AM
D. A. Carson
Getting Excited about Melchizedek (Psalm 110)

Scripture Memory Songs

I've linked before to Seeds Family Worship and their CDs, but thought it was worth highlighting their work again. It's the music our family turns to most for Scripture memory songs. I nice benefit is that the music doesn't grate on the parents' ears!

The regular price for the CDs are $12.98 each, but that price is for a two-pack of the same CD (so you can keep one and give one away).

The folks at SFW have been kind enough to create a special coupon for Between Two Worlds readers. At their store enter BTW20 and you'll get 20% off of regularly priced CDs. (It doesn't apply to DVDs or T-Shirts). So with the discount and the fact that they are two-packs, it essentially ends up being just over $5 per CD.

And here's some free stuff:

Worship leaders can get free chord sheets for all the songs here.

You can download a Scripture memory checklist, as well as memory cards for each album.

And they have three songs for free on YouTube using the style of kinetic typography:

Phillipians 4:6-7, "Do Not Be Anxious"

1 Timothy 4:12, "Young"

Psalm 55:22, "Cast Your Cares"

Historical Theology: An Introduction to the Development of Christian Doctrine

Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology has been one of God's great gifts to the contemporary church. Few would agree with every jot and tittle, but it has been a wonderfully doxological resource for thinking through what the Bible says about its major doctrines.

I was thrilled recently, to receive a copy of a brand-new companion volume: Gregg Allison's Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine (Zondervan), which has been over 10 years in the making.

Using an arrangement that is arranged topically, then chronologically, Dr. Allison introduces ordinary folks like us to historical theology, "the study of the interpretation of Scripture and the formulation of doctrine by the church of the past."

Why should we want to study historical theology?

In the introduction, "What Is Historical Theology?" (PDF), Dr. Allison explains some of the benefits the we can experience from studying historical theology:

It helps to distinguish orthodoxy from heresy.
It provides sound biblical interpretations and theological formulations.
It presents stellar examples of faith, love, courage, hope, obedience, and mercy.
It protects against the individualism that is rampant today among Christians.
It not only helps the church understand the historical development of its beliefs, but enables it to express those beliefs in contemporary form.
It encourages the church to focus on the essentials, that is, to major on those areas that have been emphasized repeatedly throughout the history of the church.
It gives the church hope by providing assurance that Jesus is fulfilling his promise to his people.
As beneficiaries of the heritage of doctrinal development sovereign overseen by Jesus Christ, the church of today is privileged to enjoy a sense of belong to the church of the past.

Here is the publisher's description:

Most historical theology texts follow Christian beliefs chronologically, discussing notable doctrinal developments for all areas of theology according to their historical appearance. And while this may be good history, it can make for confusing theology, with the classic theological loci scattered throughout various time periods, movements, and controversies.

In Historical Theology, Gregg Allison offers students the opportunity to study the historical development of theology according to a topical-chronological arrangement, setting out the history of Christian doctrine one theological element at a time. Such an approach allows readers to concentrate on one tenet of Christianity and its formulation in the early church, through the Middle Ages, Reformation, and post-Reformation era, and into the modern period.

The text includes a generous mix of primary source material as well, citing the words of Cyprian, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Barth, and others. Allison references the most accessible editions of these notable theologians' work so that readers can continue their study of historical theology through Christian history's most important contributors.

Historical Theology is a superb resource for those familiar with Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology or interested in understanding the development of Christian theology.

As noted, this book follows the table of contents from Grudem's volume, the major sections of which are:

Part 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God

Part 2: The Doctrine of God

Part 3: The Doctrine of Man

Part 4: The Doctrines of Christ and the Holy Spirit

Part 5: The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption

Part 6: The Doctrine of the Church

Part 7: The Doctrine of the Future

Grudem writes in the foreword:

This book is an amazingly rich resource that traces the development of thirty-two major doctrines from the time of the New Testament to writers in the present day.

Every chapter provides a fascinating story that is hard to put down because it shows how God has worked in Christians' lives over the centuries to allow one heresy after another to challenge the church, then to raise up courageous, wise teachers and writers to respond to the wrong teaching with a new and deeper understanding of Scripture, resulting in even stronger faith in God and his Word.

Therefore this book is the story of how the Holy Spirit has guided and protected the people of God over many centuries, and how he is still doing so today.

In the preface Dr. Allison explains several distinctives that guided his writing:

Present each doctrine in its chronological development.
Let the voices of the past be heard in their own words.
Exercise restraint in criticizing historical developments.
Focus on major developments in each doctrine.
Focus on the development of evangelical doctrine.
Discern "a sense of the urgent need for greater doctrinal understanding in the whole church."

You can read an interview with Dr. Allison here, where he answers 10 questions about the book.

I could not be more enthusiastic about this volume. Again, I hope this book does for introducing historical theology what Grudem's book did for introducing systematic theology.

Exposing Yourself on the Internet

"The Internet world we live in today is awash in narcissism and vanity, with some people taking their clothes off literally, because exposure gives them a rush, and others doing it spiritually—because the addicting power of talking about yourself, where anyone in the world can read it, is overpowering."

—John Piper, "The Pastor as Scholar," 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), p. 24.

The Gospel Coalition Conference Plenaries: Livestreamed for Free

For those unable to attend the Gospel Coalition Conference, you can at least watch the plenary sessions, which will be livestreamed on the Desiring God Live site.

Here's the schedule (all times listed are Central):

Tuesday, April 12

2 PM
R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus (John 5:31-47)


4 PM
Tim Keller

Getting Out (Exodus 14)


7 PM
Alistair Begg
From a Foreigner to King Jesus (Ruth)


8 PM
Tim Keller, Ligon Duncan, Crawford Loritts, Don Carson, Bryan Chapell
Preaching from the Old Testament




Wednesday, April 13

9:30 AM
James MacDonald
Not According to Our Sins (Psalm 25)


7 PM
Conrad Mbewe

The Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:1-8)


8 PM
Matt Chandler
Youth (Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14)




Thursday, April 14

9:30 AM
Mike Bullmore
God's Great Heart of Love Toward His Own (Zephaniah)


11 AM
D. A. Carson
Getting Excited about Melchizedek (Psalm 110)

Three Concerts in Chicago This Week + Free Sampler for the TGC Hymn Sing

If you'll be at the Gospel Coalition conference next week, note there there will three different concerts. The first two are only for TGC conference attendees; the last one is free and open to the public as part of the Christ and the City post-conference (register here).

I've listed the times below for the concerts (all at the McCormick Place). Note that there is also a way to listen to a sampler for the Gospel Coalition Hymn Sing. It features a song from each artist performing at the Hymn Sing. All these songs will be sung Tuesday night. The sampler also includes a PDF of the chord charts for the six songs.

Tuesday, April 12 at 9 PM

Sing Them Again: An Evening of Old and New Hymns

Brooks Ritter
Sandra McCracken
Matthew Smith
Melanie Penn
Isaac Wardell
Jonathan Gilley
Mike Cosper
Kevin Twit
Indelible Grace

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Wednesday, April 13 at 9 PM

Keith and Kristyn Getty

Thursday, April 14 at 8 PM

We Are Unashamed: Lecrae, Sho Baraka, KB, Trip Lee, and Tedashii

Doxology

The Joy Eternal

John Piper:

Big truths and beautiful sounds are a powerful combination. The Joy Eternal has touched me in both ways. One of my biblical sieves for what is real is the apostolic word "sorrowful yet always rejoicing." I hear that in these songs, and they ring true. Beautifully true. May God give them wings.

Here is a video trailer introducing their new EP, "Sweet and Bitter Providence" ($5.94 at Amazon):

Is Koran-Burning Pastor Terry Jones Morally Responsible for the Murders in Afghanistan?

Philosopher Christopher Tollefsen makes the case that we are morally responsible for the foreseeable side effects of our reckless actions.

Conclusion:

Jones should not be allowed to hide behind his right to free speech to shield him from moral blame, nor should he be allowed to hide behind the only apparent gap in gravity between what he did, and what was done by the rioters. Willingly to accept the risk of such great damage to innocent human life for such a meaningless bit of self-expression is a morally grave wrong, even if it is not the wrong of intentionally killing the innocent.