Baptist History, Multiple Services, and Multiple Campuses

Tom Nettles, The Baptists: Key People Involved in Forming a Baptist Identity (Beginnings in Britain), recounts a debate between the early Baptist Hanserd Knollys and one of his Presbyterian contemporaries, John Bastwick: Bastwick argued that the Jerusalem church had only one body of elders over several assemblies or congregations. Believers meeting at the Temple in …

The Power of God’s Word and Spirit

From Tom Nettles, The Baptists: Key People Involved in Forming a Baptist Identity (Beginnings in Britain), on the distribution of the New Testament by William Carey, William Ward, and Joshua Marshman in India: When the New Testament was printed, the missionaries began to distribute it carefully. William Ward and Krishna Pal, the first convert of …

Don’t get taken in by fads

I’m reading Andreas Köstenberger’s commentary on John, and I found the statement I’ll quote in a moment fascinating. Before I quote Köstenberger, let me set the stage. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century it was fashionable for scholars to view the Gospel of John as the product of a community, circle, or Johannine …

Salvation through Judgment for the Glory of God

This post is mainly in response to Damion’s question in a comment on my previous post. Damion asked about how judgment fits in the equation. Brett commented that this is a no-brainer, and all I can say is that when you look at typical surveys of Biblical Theology in resources such as the Anchor Bible …

The Center of Biblical Thoelogy

When I was doing my Ph.D. at SBTS I took a seminar on New Testament Theology with Mark Seifrid. As we read surveys of the issues and discussions, I was surprised by what I thought was missing from one aspect of the scholarly dialogue. One of the things that gets bantered about in these discussions …

Addressing Our Lack of Spiritual Wisdom

My friend Eric Schumacher, one of the most gifted poets and hymn writers I know, has posted a thoughtful reflection on the first thing for which those Irish Baptists invited the Baptists in London to join them in repentance: our lack of spiritual wisdom to reprove reprove sin plainly in all without respect of persons. …

Why I Think Romans 7 Is Describing Indwelling Sin in Believers

The main argument employed by those who don’t think that Romans 7 is describing the experience of believers is simply that in Romans 6 Paul has described believers as dead to sin (6:2), crucified with Christ and no longer enslaved to sin (6:6), and thus, having died, believers are set free from sin (6:7). These …

Together for the Gospel: May the Lord Bring Revival

This past week, at the generosity of Baptist Church of the Redeemer, I had the privilege of attending the Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville, KY. The God-centered, mercy magnifying, Bible proclaiming humility of the men who spoke at the conference was enormously encouraging. This is a kind of evangelicalism, a way of being …

R. C. Sproul on the Holiness and Justice of God

The Wednesday that Together for the Gospel began (April 26), R. C. Sproul spoke in chapel at SBTS. I was not there, but I heard that the message was phenomenal and that the place was packed. Sproul’s address at TFG was very impressive, and you can download the Chapel address here or listen to it …

Dan Fuller and Inerrancy

From the following quotations it would appear that Daniel P. Fuller holds to inerrancy (quotations from The Unity of the Bible, 1992): “. . . rather than simply stating at the outset that the Bible is indeed the verbally inspired, inerrant Word of God, I arrive at this conclusion by beginning with facts and axioms …

What do you expect from the books you hope to write?

I’m reading George Marsden’s book, Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism, which I would highly recommend to anyone who does what I do (teach at an evangelical institution of higher learning). This is a fascinating story, and here I just want to note one thing that struck me last night. Marsden recounts how …

Trinitarian Expository Exultation

Dr. Bruce Ware is one of the leading theologians of our generation. He is one of the most loving people I have ever met, and he enthusiastically proclaims the greatness of the God he loves. As soon as possible you should download Dr. Ware's sermon on the Trinity in Ephesians 1 and relish this joyful …