My friend Rob Lister recommended to me The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm, illustrated by Gail Schoonmaker. Following Graeme Goldsworthy, this fine volume teaches the Bible’s story to little tots. What a great thing to read to the children before bed! I found its depiction of the fall particularly moving. Thankfully, unlike presentations …
Category Archives: Bible and Theology
Schreiner’s Stuff Now Online!
My Ph.D. mentor, Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner, has done us another invaluable service. He has posted links to many of his articles, presentations, book reviews, and editorials on his faculty web-page on Southern Seminary’s website. Here’s the full address: http://www.sbts.edu/theology/faculty/thomas-schreiner/ I think that Dr. Schreiner’s book reviews are so helpful that they’re one of the …
Elders in Baptist Churches
Two recent books have taken up the question of how churches ought to be led, Who Runs the Church and Perspectives on Church Government. I’m a Baptist, so my main interest is in the arguments in these books as to whether congregational churches ought to be led by a single elder or a plurality of …
Where the Battle Rages
Justin Taylor recently posted this famous quote from Martin Luther: "If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. …
Calvinism and Arminianism: A Debate over First or Third Order Issues?
Dr. Al Mohler has written a helpful piece on theological triage. Briefly, theological triage is an attempt to "sort" the doctrines of Christianity according to their relative significance to the faith. First order doctrines are things that one must believe to be a Christian—things like the Triunity of God and the two natures of Christ. …
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Typological Fulfillment?
Earlier this month I presented a paper to the Biblical Theology Study Group of the Tyndale Fellowship arguing that when Matthew claims that the events of Jesus’ birth "fulfill" the words of Isaiah 7:14 he is referring to typological fulfillment. If you’re interested, the essay is posted here. May the Lord help us to understand …
A Call to Reformation: Chapter 3, Revived to Trinitarianism
I’m still blogging for revival, and one of the things that we evangelicals need to be revived to is Trinitarianism. If we do not know God as he has revealed himself—as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ever one, ever three, equal in every perfection—then we do not know God at all. Let us pray for …
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The Resurrection of the Son of God
Everyone interested in the resurrection of Jesus and careful study of the Bible should read N. T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God. For an entrée, see my review. My other book reviews, as well as some published articles and presentations, are available on my faculty webpage.
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ
Proverbs 25:11 states that "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." John Piper and Justin Taylor have edited a volume that speaks apples of gold in a setting of silver to our culture. In the sin and misery we find ourselves in after the fall, it is all …
Seeking to Pray like Jesus and Paul: Without Ceasing
In addition to the daily pattern of reciting a liturgical prayer at regular intervals on a daily basis (see earlier post), Paul and Jesus would have engaged in "continual prayer." This does not mean that they disengaged from life, hid themselves away in a monastery, and gave every conscious thought to prayer. Rather, continual prayer …
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Seeking to Pray like Jesus and Paul: Daily Patterns
It is no surprise that many pastors are unsatisfied with the way they pray. I think some of this dissatisfaction is due to unrealistic (unbiblical?) expectations, and some more of it is due to a desire to be "pressing on" toward more faithfulness (Phil 3:12). When asked if we are satisfied with our prayer lives, …
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A Call to Reformation: Chapter 2, The Church
Much of evangelicalism seems to have a "take it or leave it" attitude to the Church. For some, regular attendance at a parachurch meeting counts as church membership. Is this a legitimate approach to being the bride of Christ? Acknowledging that believing Christians disagree on the nature of the church, I am convinced that there …
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A Call to Reformation: Chapter 1, The Bible
The reformation we need (thanks to Mel Feldsbar for noting that this is needed across evangelicalism) will be one that returns us to the great Solas of THE Reformation (for a brief summary go here). I am posting the first chapter of A Call to Reformation. One of the most insidious dangers in evangelicalism is …
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A Call to Reformation: Introduction
I have been trying to think for a while now about what is needed in the average Southern Baptist Church. I am in the process of trying to write A Call to Reformation: A Plea for Christian Teaching in Southern Baptist Churches. I am posting what I have so far in the way of an …
Free Will
Thanks to Justin Taylor for bringing this interview with Dr. Bruce Ware on the nature of free will to my attention. Every student of theology should read this 4 page, easy to understand interview.
Mother’s Day Alphabet Acrostic
God designed marriage as a mini-drama of the relationship between Christ and the church. This is an important reason for those of us who are husbands to love our wives extravagantly. I am glad for this opportunity to publicly proclaim the virtues of my sweet wife in acrostic form (the first 6 and 1/2 lines …