Category: Theology/Christian Living Page 7 of 32

REPOSTING JUST ‘CUZ: Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals by Gavin Ortlund: An Accessible Call for 21st Century Christians to Learn from the Past

On June 23, 2024

I ended up having more time in the day to write this post than I normally do, and as a result ended up a bit more rambling and less-focused than intended. Hopefully it’s worth the read, despite my laxness.

Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future

by Gavin Ortlund

eARC, 224 pg.
Crossway, 2019

Read: October 5-12, 2019

This is another one of those theological works that I feel really unqualified to discuss. There’s part of me that thinks I should stop requesting them from NetGalley, or buying them and deciding that I want to post about them, but I probably won’t. So, know that this is from the perspective of an opinionated and semi-(formally)educated reader and occasional armchair theologian. Not the reflections of an ordained minister or professional theologian.

I’m glad Ortlund talks about this right out of the gate—but the case he lays out for Theological Retrieval here, strikes me as very similar to Michael Allen and Scott R. Swain’s Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation and Kevin J. Vanhoozer’s Biblical Authority after Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant Christianity. Ortlund says they’re aiming for the same target, but those works are more oriented toward the Reformed, where he’s focused on Evangelicalism. I’d say that they’re all wanting the same thing, but his work is more accessible (by design) and less-inclined to advertise his scholarly awareness (particularly with the former).

One problem that you encounter right away is a nebulousness about the term “Evangelical.” If Ortlund defined his usage, I missed it. He seems to use it to apply to Bible-believing Protestants who aren’t Reformed or Lutheran. Which is fair enough, I guess, it’s just not an easily defined term anymore. Frankly, I’m with Carl Trueman and others, and consider the label “evangelicalism” meaningless as it can be applied to “everyone from Joel Osteen to Brian McLaren to John MacArthur.”

Ortlund doesn’t give a strict definition of Theological Retrieval—in fact, he avoids it, preferring to see it as a mindset or attitude toward the pre-Reformation Church and Theology, drawing from its strengths, seeing its weaknesses in our own, and putting the contemporary (and Reformation) Church in context of a developing understanding from the end of Acts to Second Coming. Given that, we should be more aware of, and interact more with, the Patristic and Medieval Church. He uses Turretin, in particular, to great benefit in showing that this was the mindset of the Protestant Reformation, and calls us back to it. Along the way, he uses Warfield (and the rest of Old Princeton) as emblematic of Evangelicalism’s departure from this thinking. I’m not sure that’s the best reading of Warfield, but it’s not worth arguing, because his overall point is so right.

The first Part of the book—roughly 60 pages in three chapters—sets the agenda, it’s “A Manifesto for Theological Retrieval.” He begins by asking if Evangelicals can Retrieve Patristic and Medieval Theology, before moving to asking why they need it, and then sketching out both the benefits and perils of it. All of which is profitable and well-worth reading.

But what makes this book different than so many, is that Ortlund doesn’t focus on the project, the theory behind it, or the method. He gives the rest of the book—120 pages or so—to examples of what he’s calling for people to do. Case-studies in theological retrieval—which is some of the best theological reading I’ve done this year, maybe the last couple of years.

The first is a chapter called “Explorations in a Theological Metaphor: Boethius, Calvin, and Torrance on the Creator/ Creation Distinction.” A nice mouthful, to be sure. To illustrate the Creator/Creature Distinction, he compares Tolkein’s relationship to The Lord of the Rings to God’s relationship to his creation, in terms of Boethius’ understanding, and how Calvin’s view would differ, before wrapping up with Torrance. Now, I have little use for what he tries to do with Tolkein—I think this sort of thing is almost as bad as trying to teach the Trinity by analogy (which always quickly lands the teacher in heresy). I know enough people do this sort of thing in teaching and writing, and I should try to pay more attention, but my eyes just glazed over. Most readers will get more out of this than I did. I did appreciate what he said about Boethius and Torrance in distinction from Calvin and feel like I understand the three a little better (not that I’m all that familiar with Boethius and Torrance), and think I got something from the chapter overall, but I know my own prejudices kept me from a full appreciation.

Things improve with “God Is Not a Thing: Divine Simplicity in Patristic and Medieval Perspective.” Rather than going head-on for contemporary critics of the doctrine, he takes a look at historic formulations (not limited to Aquinas’) of the doctrine and seeing how that should actually deepen Evangelical’s commitment to Simplicity as well as broaden our understanding of it. He interacts a good deal with James Dolezal’s wonderful All That Is in God and God without Parts here and reminds me that I need to re-read the former and read the latter. A better blogger (one also focused on theology, not the book) would camp out here for a few paragraphs, but I won’t. It’s just a great chapter and the kind of thing we need to see more of.

My favorite case study is the third, “Substitution as Both Satisfaction and Recapitulation: Atonement Themes in Convergence in Irenaeus, Anselm, and Athanasius.” I would read a book-length version of this tomorrow. Well, not tomorrow. I would start a book-length version of this tomorrow, and have a lot of fun over the following days. Ortlund shows the overlapping concerns of Irenaeus and Anselm (who are so often pitted against each other), how the Christus Victor and Substitutionary Atonement models are interdependent, not rivals (while not giving an inch to contemporary critics of Substitutionary Atonement, it should be pointed out). From there, he moves onto some of Athanasius’ work on the Incarnation, demonstrating that these works have a good deal to say about the Atonement, as well. If I got nothing else out of this book, I’d consider the time I spent reading it well-spent just for this chapter. I could’ve lived without the use of Aslan and the Stone Table portion of the study, but (contra the Tolkein), it proved to be a useful illustration.

“Cultivating Skill in the “Art of Arts”: Pastoral Balance in Gregory the Great’s The Book of Pastoral Rule” is the last case study. I remember reading healthy portions of this work by Gregory in a Church History class for much the same reason that Ortlund uses it. There’s a lot of wisdom for pastors of every age in this very old work—he also shows how manuals like Baxter’s or Spurgeon’s will say similar things. Timeless truths and advice put in ways that others wouldn’t. I really don’t have much to say about this, but it’s almost as good as the previous two.

This is one of the most-easily outlined books I’ve read this year (possibly the most), that’s a fantastic aid for referring back to it in the future or for going back and taking thorough notes. I’d go crazy if I read too many books like this, I prefer the more organic feeling approach. But when this is done right, it’s a handy bonus. Beyond that, as I said before, it’s very accessible. Sure, there are parts that are demanding, but nothing’s out of reach for the committed and attentive reader—and most of the time you don’t have to be that committed.

Like their counterparts from the previous century, Twenty-First Century Christians don’t know enough historical doctrine, and certainly don’t know how to treat what little they do know. Too often, Protestants will cede everything prior to 1517 to Rome (maybe Rome and the East), focusing only on the last 500 years—if they’ll even pay attention to anything prior to Fanny J. Crosby. Ortlund’s work is a great call for the everyday Christian to familiarize themselves with the past and learn from them as we ought the rest of the Church Militant. I strongly recommend this.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Crossway via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this stimulating read.

4 Stars

REPOSTING JUST ‘CUZ: Christ of the Consummation, Vol. 1 by O. Palmer Robertson: The Beginning of A Wonderful Trilogy

By HCNewton

On June 16, 2024

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Until the bugs get worked out, I really can’t do a whole lot. So, here’s one of my favorite reads from the last few years.

Christ of the Consummation:
A New Testament Biblical Theology
Volume 1: The Testimony of
the Four Gospels

by O. Palmer Robertson

DETAILS:
Publisher: P & R Publishing
Publication Date: June 1, 2022
Format: Paperback
Length: 321 pg.
Read Date: August 7-28, 2022

In these new phases of redemptive history, the heart of the revelation does not change, but it broadens and deepens in the realities of the truth. Jesus Christ is the same, but his church, his precious bride, is being built by the addition of nations being born in a day as a consequence of Christ’s pouring out the gifts of his Spirit on all flesh. The kingdom of God has come and continues to come. The kingdom of God is yet to come. It will arrive in all its fullness on that day, the great judgment day, the day of resurrection and restoration of all things. To God be the glory for the things he has done, is doing, and yet will do.

What’s Christ of the Consummation, Volume 1 About?

At some point when reading Vos’ Biblical Theology most readers like me* start to wonder, “How is he doing to have time to cover the New Testament? While Vos doesn’t give his readers the same kind of insight into the history of revelation of the NT as he does the OT, he does set out some principles. Robert’s work is the first book-length attempt to apply Vos’ directions to apply his method to the NT (actually, the first of three book-length attempts).

That’d be people who didn’t know what was coming from pre-knowledge about the book or reading the Table of Contents.

He begins by stating the difference between the two works—there are centuries upon centuries of history of OT revelation, and a maximum of one from the announcement of Jesus’ birth to Mary to the end of John’s writing on Patmos. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no development, but how best to approach that? Robertson focuses on three distinctives in his approach:

Retracing the Historical Progression across the Various Phases of New Covenant Revelation as the Organizing Principle
The Foundational Role of the Old Covenant Scriptures
Contemporary [to their writing] Application of New Testament Biblical Theology

With these distinctives in mind, Robertson looks at material concerning Jesus’ self-testimony; various phases of His life and work; the progressive revelation of the Kingdom during His life; His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension; and then he moves into closer looks at the various Gospels individually and corporately.

An Unexpected Bonus

A number of times throughout the text Robertson will hit pause on his exegetical work, the historical reflections, or the interpretative/theological conclusions from those, to offer application to the lives and hearts of the reader. Sometimes a broader or more general call and sometimes it’s a narrow focus. I really didn’t expect these at all, and I almost never saw them coming when he did pause for one. But I appreciated them all and found them to be a real enhancement to the work.

So, what did I think about Christ of the Consummation, Volume 1?

I’m clearly not qualified to evaluate Robertson’s application of Vos, but people like D.A. Carson and Richard Gaffin are, so I’ll take their word for it. Sure, they wrote the forward and a “further word” for this book, so it’s not like we’re talking about impartial evaluations.

Nor am I capable of—or willing to—give this a good and thorough review/evaluation. Although I do wish I could. So let me offer a few thoughts from my perspective as a lay reader. And I do think this is a book written with the layman in mind—it’s not a casual read by any means, but it is not a book solely for scholars.

I’m not sure I’ve read a Christian book this year that has made me think more, read slower/closer, and pushed my thinking more. It’s also been the most rewarding and I think it will prove the most fecund for my future reading, study, and devotion.

At the same time, the number of times that I read something I don’t think I’d ever been exposed to, or that was wholly novel to me is so small as to be negligible. This is not to say that it was all review or that he didn’t make me stop and think for a minute or ten to consider a point before moving on. But on the whole, it’s a reframing and refocusing of many things I’ve read in lay-friendly works or heard in sermons/lectures. It’s not “here’s a whole new way to read/think about the Gospels”—and Robertson would be the last to want something like that. Instead, this is a “here’s a way to profitably consider the way these things were revealed” and “here’s how the Gospels build upon one another and build up each other.”

I’m already trying to figure out when I can get in a re-read without ruining plans for next year—possibly in combination with a re-read of Vos’ Biblical Theology so I can more directly see for myself the connections between the two works and Vos’ influence.

This is the first in a trilogy—if the rest of the trilogy is as good as this one, the series will likely end up on shelves everywhere next to Vos. I know I’m already ready to dive into the next volume.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Strange Religion by Nijay K. Gupta: People Say I’m Strange, Does It Make Me A Stranger…

By HCNewton

On June 9, 2024

In History, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Strange Religion:
How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling

by Nijay K. Gupta

DETAILS:
Publisher: Brazos Press    
Publication Date: February 27, 2024
Format: Paperback
Length: 216 pg.
Read Date: May 12-19, 2024

I set out to spend a few years studying ancient religions in general and Roman religion in particular, and I came to a clear conclusion: by and large, early Christians were weird and were dangerous to many, and yet clearly some found this religion attractive and compelling.

This book is not a handbook for how to be Christian today or how to create a “weird” church. Largely, I see the work I have done as descriptive—these are the first Christians, warts and all. They were not bucking conventions and pop religion to be special or different. In their best and most genuine moments, they were simply following Jesus, like mice blindly chasing after the pied piper. As they did so, they deviated from the norm of religion, and, whether they were intend. ing to or not, they stood out in society. This deviation from the norm is one way of defining what it means to be “weird. Another way is simply to say that “weird” things belong in another category. l am hoping that an extended investigation of the belies, practices, and ethos of the early Christians will clarify their origins and foundations, and provide insight into authentic Christianity today.

What’s Strange Religion About?

Gupta’s observation/conclusion is that early Christians were strange or weird when compared to others in their culture—thanks to their beliefs, ways of acting, and ways they wouldn’t act (for starters). They didn’t set out to be strange, to rebel against the culture, or anything like that. Actually, their goals involved being good citizens and living quiet lives—but their religious convictions set them outside the norm, and they stayed there for a good long time.

While Gupta doesn’t shy away from the occasional application to the contemporary Western (particularly American) Church, by and large, this is a descriptive book. He just talks about Roman culture in certain areas and then talks about how Christians were oddballs in the midst of all that. As he says above—this isn’t an attempt to make Christianity weird again, or anything like that—just to remind us how out of touch with the culture we were at one point.

Some of the areas he covers are: how the Romans of the first couple of centuries saw Christianity as a superstition; some early Christian beliefs—like believing they were possessed by God’s Spirit, their reckoning of the meaning of Time, and wanting to be associated with a horrible criminal in the first place (only the worst of the worst were crucified, who’d want to be associated with someone like that?); worship practices; family practices; and the way they treated others.

Belief

Romans sometimes argued about the gods—not over personal “beliefs” but over what they thought was true of the gods, But the Christians took their views to a whole other level, “believing” things that seemed absurd, disturbing, and even impossible. This may be one reason that Christians originally referred to themselves as “believers.” Today, we take for granted that religion is all about “faith” and “belief.” We have “faith” statements, “faith” traditions, and “interfaith” dialogue. But in the ancient world, there wasn’t this natural association between religion and faith language.

This is one of the biggest differences—one that shapes a lot of the rest. The book as a whole comes from Gupta’s students asking, why early Christians called themselves “believers,” what did the other followers of other religions call themselves? And well, one of Gupta’s findings was that Christians were more than a little strange by focusing on faith and belief. It was just foreign to the status quo.

The priests of public Roman religion were not chosen for their piety. They were expected to be experts in performing rituals. In fact, they had to be masters of religious arts so as to maintain the pax deorum*. It was a bit like being a professional bomb-disposal expert. It really doesn’t matter what you believe about government, law enforcement, or justice as long as you are good at defusing bombs. French historian and archaeologist Robert Turcan refers to Roman ritual worship as “Taylorism”—a form of scientific management. Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) developed a theory of management that was meant to produce efficient and effective workflow. Taylor offered a kind of mathematical formula to get the most out of human and industrial resources. Turcan argues that this was the mentality of the Romans—efficient and “successful” ritual performance to keep the gods content and happy. Roman priests and other cultic personnel had to provide meticulous observance of time-honored rituals.

He goes further:

There was a pervasive Roman understanding that persona beliefs, best intentions, and heartfelt emotion did not enhance religion. What mattered was what the gods actually called for—sacrifice and compliance. The early Christians had ther own practices and rituals, of course…But one thing we learn when we read the New Testament is that these Jesus people were absolutely obsessed with belief.

Now, Gupta spends twenty pages making that case, I just gave a brief overview—but even here, you can get an idea of how he goes about talking about each topic addressed.

* “Keeping Peace with the Gods.” Gupta describes the function of the sacrifices and rituals as maintaining this peace. It’s most of the content of the first chapter, and the basis for most of the rest of the book.

Pobody’s Nerfect

The last chapter* is entitled “The Christians Were Not Perfect”—some of this covers similar ideas as Nadya Williams’ book, Cultural Christians in the Early Church, but not all of it.

I really appreciated this chapter for a couple of reasons: 1. It’d be easy to take Gupta’s material and walk away with the idea that the early Christians had it all together (something that Williams and Gupta really wanted to counter), and 2. Gupta hits on some things that a lot of people don’t cover along these lines.

That said, it’s not a perfect chapter—and maybe it’s the most obviously imperfect chapter—I’m not sure I’m willing to buy into all of his examples from the Scriptures showing those imperfections (actually, there are some I’m sure I don’t buy).

But the chapter as a whole is a nice, refreshing reminder about the feet of clay that even the best of us possess.

* There is a conclusion following it, but it’s not long enough (or something) to be considered a chapter—at least not a numbered one. I wanted to stress that because I’ve complained recently about too many books not having a conclusion.

So, what did I think about Strange Religion?

One thing I haven’t talked about yet is that one of the things that Gupta focuses on is that despite—or maybe because of—the strangeness of Christianity to the Romans of the first and second centuries is that it was attractive to them. The “freaks” kept drawing more and more people to them, converting them to the weirdness. Again—not because they were strange, but because following Jesus Christ made them that way.

As a reader, not only did I appreciate the material, but the way that Gupta presented it. He built his arguments carefully and clearly (and one assumes accurately). Throughout all of this Gupta’s sense of humor shines through—keeping the text engaging as it educates. I’m always going to say good things about a book that does that (as long as the humor doesn’t detract from the serious material), and Gupta got this part right.

This is really one of the better books that I’ve read this year. From the thesis to the conclusion, and most points in between, Gupta painted a much-needed picture of early Christianity and Christians and how they related to the culture around them. It’s encouraging to remember that’s the natural state of the Church and one that we shouldn’t find ourselves overly-worried to be in again. I encourage Christians and those curious about our early history to give it a read.

I know that my wife has another book by Gupta on her shelves, I’m probably going to have to borrow it soon.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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The Hope in Our Scars by Aimee Byrd: A Plea for Help

By HCNewton

On June 2, 2024

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Hope in Our Scars:
Finding the Bride of Christ in the
Underground of Disillusionment

by Aimee Byrd

DETAILS:
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Format: Paperback
Length: 206 pg.
Read Date: May 19-26, 2024

What’s The Hope in Our Scars About?

There are three strands of thought in this book (although two are pretty related, but they struck me as separate).

The first centers on Byrd and her family as they search for a new church home after the events that led to them leaving their long-time church.

The second deals with others—some by name, some more abstract and in a collective sense—who are dealing with disillusionment about the Church today—due to Spiritual abuse, sexual misconduct, financial fraud, coverups of all of the above, and so on. Some of this disillusionment leads to people wandering in a wilderness, looking for a local congregation to call home—others will wander far from the fold.

The third—and most important—discusses the way that the woman/the bride in the Song of Songs longs for her love/her husband. Individual believers should find themselves in that same situation—longing for the presence of our Lord in the place He promised to meet with us—as part of His Bride.

Song of Songs

As with her 2022 book, The Sexual Reformation, the primary portion of Scripture that Byrd focuses on is the Song of Songs. She rejects more contemporary approaches to the text in favor of an allegorical understanding. I really wish we’d get an entire book from her just on the song.

She’s not (as far as I know) a Hebrew scholar, so I’m not looking for a commentary. But Byrd’s a well-read layperson, and largely an autodidact, too—not the type for a technical work, but she has all the tools to provide a great reader’s guide or something along those lines.

So, what did I think about The Hope in Our Scars?

I really don’t know. I really didn’t get the organization—I’m assuming there was one, but I didn’t see it. It really felt to me while reading it that Byrd was just meandering around bouncing from one idea to another, picking up and dropping one of those strands every so often. It’s probably best to think of this as a series of mini-essays loosely connected by themes.

That said—I really appreciated a lot of what she said while pinballing all over. There was a lot of gold there—particularly in the Song of Songs discussion. But beyond that, she just expressed so well struggles so many of us go through. For example, when Byrd just discussed some of the challenges believers go through, how discouraging, how isolating, how alienating it is when we can’t be open with our brothers and sisters to talk about it—either because they refuse to listen, or can’t understand.

This is not her best work—but it might be Byrd at her most heartfelt. She’s definitely pointing to problems the Evangelical and Reformed expressions of the Church in the U.S. need to deal with, both for organizational health and the well-being of the members—more importantly to our witness to a lost and dying world. She’s light on solutions, or proposed solutions (which is probably for the best, as frustrating as it might be while reading). I hope she gets a hearing and that others who are pointing to the same issues do as well.

3 Stars

BLOGIVERSARY REPOST: Christ Of The Bible And The Church’s Faith by Geoffrey Grogan

By HCNewton

On May 26, 2024

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

To commemorate the 11th Blogiversary of The Irresponsible Reader, I’m reposting the first six books I blogged about this week. We’ll start here.

Christ Of The Bible And The Church by Grogan, Geoffrey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It’s tough to know what to say about this, it’s a wholly carefully-written, exhaustive, entirely orthodox look at Christ as set forth in Scripture and in the doctrines of the Church. It’s an apologetic for the Faith once delivered as well as an explanation of it.

However, wow. It just didn’t work for me at all. The points I liked, I’ve seen better developed, better explained elsewhere. His most evangelical moments seemed half-hearted and perfunctory (although I don’t think they were, it just struck me that way). He is far too concerned with unbelieving scholarship, and does not respond to critics with as much force and thoroughness as he ought. There’s just doesn’t seem to be much heart to this work.

Your results may vary, certainly any book carrying the cover blurbs on it that this does would catch my eye, and I’d expect to be well worth the time, but this just didn’t work for me.

Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age by J.I. Packer: A Rediscovered Gem from a 20th Century Great

By HCNewton

On May 19, 2024

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age:
The 1978 Lectures

by J.I. Packer

DETAILS:
Publisher: Crossway
Publication Date: February 27, 2024
Format: Hardcover
Length: 132 pg.
Read Date: May 5-12, 2024

What sort of communication is the gospel? Answer: It’s a story. Itsa story told about God. Ultimately, inasmuch as it’s a matter of revelation, it’s a story about God told to us by God. It’s a story in which God through his spokesman bears witness to himself. The theme of the story is precisely the living God at work—in this world, in the past, in the present, and in the future. It’s the story of what God has done, is doing, and will do.

What’s Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age About?

This book is made up of a series of five lectures inspired by 1 Corinthians 1:22-24:

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The lectures set out to talk about how we proclaim Christ in an age (as Paul’s was) dominated by other ideas about God, the world, Jesus Christ, and so on—starting with Christ crucified and then moving to Jesus’ humanity, his divinity, what he did (particularly the atonement, as Packer is focused on him crucified), and his uniqueness. Throughout these talks, his aim is to build up the understanding and confidence of believers in light of secular thought, universalism, pluralism, other forms of theological liberalism, and so on.

Apparently, this was supposed to be a book back in the 70s or 80s, but the project was abandoned (or maybe just overlooked—Packer has something like 70+ titles under his name, he’d have been bound to forget if he didn’t finish a book). But now Crossway has got the lectures cleaned up and polished and in our hands now. I, for one, am glad about that.

So, what did I think about Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age?

The chapters are a little over twenty pages each—so there’s not a lot of depth that he can get into (I wonder if Packer had put the book together himself if he’d have expanded on the talks). But he does cover each topic adequately—and Packer’s a little better at getting in details into a brief work than others are.

While he might not get as granular on some points as a reader (or me, to be specific) would’ve liked. He covers the breadth of the topic, pointing the reader in the right direction to go to dig deeper themsleves.

As always when one reads Packer, you have to be impressed with the clarity that he brings to his work. His desire to see Christ proclaimed correctly and passionately shines through and his perspective on them is like a breath of fresh air. It just rejuvenates you to read him.

Strongly written, convincing, and encouraging—Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age will satisfy the attentive reader.

3.5 Stars

The Return of the Kingdom by Stephen G. Dempster: A Quick Look at this Redemptive Historical Overview

By HCNewton

On May 12, 2024

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Return of the Kingdom:
A Biblical Theology of God’s Reign

by Stephen G. Dempster

DETAILS:
Series: Essential Studies in Biblical Theology
Publisher: IVP Academic
Publication Date: March 19, 2024
Format: Paperback
Length: 202 pg.
Read Date: April 14-28, 2024

What’s The Return of the Kingdom About?

I’m low on energy, so I’m just going to copy the back of the book here:

The biblical story begins and ends with God as king. Human beings rebel, however, rather than fulfilling their royal calling to rule creation on behalf of their Sovereign—and the world became enslaved to the rule of a dark, serpentine lord.

In this volume of IVP Academic’s Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout Scripture, illuminating the challenges, pain, and ultimate hope that the Bible offers. The story of God’s kingship is ultimately the fulfillment of a promise, a promise to restore the rightful rule of humanity over creation by defeating sin and death and to establish a world of peace and justice.

After a quick overview of his approach in this book and his understanding of the Kingdom, Dempster surveys the story of the Bible highlighting the teaching of the Kingdom throughout. After spending three chapters covering Creation and the Fall, he then covers Redemptive History–with two chapters on the Gospels. Then he wraps things up with a look at Revelation and the current status of the Church and Kingdom–and what we should expect after the present.

So, what did I think about The Return of the Kingdom?

Dempster’s survey was helpful, and on more than one occasion, insightful. But at the same time, it was a little too much like the other surveys in this series. What he brought wasn’t all that distinctive from the rest.

On the one hand, this is a very good thing–while focusing on other themes and motifs than the others, he’s picking up the same overarching storyline in the Bible the others were. And there should be a lot of overlap between those.

On the other hand, for the reader, while we can draw confidence from the unity, we can also get bored.

I thought the introduction (“The Return of the Kingdom: The Biblical Theology of God’s Reign”, the first chapter “The Big Picture: The Bible’s Bookends”), and the last chapter (“Grand Finale and Kingdom Come: Revelation and the Present”) were very strong and helpful. And they pretty much justified the time and money I invested in the book. The rest was utterly fine. I wanted more, but I can be satisfied with what I got.

For people who haven’t read all/most of the books in this series, you could probably gain a lot from this book. For those who have read the rest? Go in with the right expectations and you’ll be okay.

3 Stars

Institutes of Elenctic Theology Vol. 1: First through Tenth Topics by Francis Turretin: A Master Class on Theology and Methodology

By HCNewton

On May 5, 2024

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Institutes of Elenctic Theology
Vol. 1: First through Tenth Topics

by Francis Turretin, George Musgrave Giger (Translator), James T. Dennison, Jr. (Editor)

DETAILS:
Series: Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Vol. 1
Publisher: P & R Publishing
Publication Date: October 1, 1992
Format: Hardcover
Length: 685 pg.
Read Date: January 7- April 28, 2024

What’s Elenctic Theology Anyway?

Elenctic refers to a logical method involving asking questions, of defending a position (or arguing to persuade people to accept it) by proposing alternatives and asking a series of questions—practically cross-examing the alternatives, to show the problems of the alternatives. A good deal of what we call the “Socratic method” is elenctics.

Therefore, Elenctic Theology is a form of defending the the truth of Christianity or Christian dogmas by suggesting alternatives and demonstrating their lack by way of asking and answering questions about them. Or by asking a question about a true dogma and asking questions that affirm them. Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles is one example. This book is another.

What’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology Then?

For a long time, it was the standard textbook to train Presbyterian and Reformed ministers in various parts of the world—including the U.S.—until Charles Hodge’s systematic theology overtook it in popularity (Hodge, it should be noted had his students read Turretin’s Institutes).

Turretin wrote it at the height of Protestant Scholasticism, defending the Reformed understanding of Christianity in a post-Synod of Dordt and post-Westminster Assembly-era. He interacts with the best of Roman Catholic theology of the era, as well as Socinians, Remonstrants (read: Arminians), Lutherans, and others.

He examines the big issues of the time—and several smaller issues, as well. In this volume, he covers the first 10 of the 20 topics he’ll cover in the three volumes (which suggests something about the length he’ll discuss the second half of the topics in the following volumes). The topics in this volume are:

Theology

The Holy Scriptures
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The One and Triune God
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The Decrees of God in General and Predestination in Particular
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Creation

The Actual Providence of God
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Angels

The State of Man Before the Fall and the Covenant of Nature
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Sin in General and in Particular
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The Free Will of Man in a State of Sin

Turretin’s Method

I think the best way to show how Turretin approaches these discussions is to show you the list of questions from one of the topics. Here’s what he looks at in the roughly 120 pages of The Fourth Topic: The Decrees of God in General and Predestination in Particular:
I. Are decrees in God, and how?
Il. Are the decrees of God eternal? We affirm against Socinus.
Ill. Are there conditional decrees? We deny against the Socinians, Remonstrants and Jesuits.
IV. Does the decree necessitate future things? We affirm.
V. Is the fixed and immovable end of the life of each man with all its circumstances so determined by the decree of God, that he cannot die in another moment of time or by another kind of death than that in which he does die? We affirm against the Socinians and Remonstrants.
VI. Ought predestination to be publicly taught and preached? We affirm.
VII. In what sense are the words “predestination,” prognōseōs, eklogēs and prosthesōs used in this mystery?
VIII. Was there a predestination of angels, and was it of the same kind and order with the predestination of men? The former we affirm; the latter we deny.
IX. Whether the object of predestination was man creatable, or capable of falling; or whether as created and fallen. The former we deny; the latter we affirm.
X. Is Christ the cause and foundation of election? We deny against the Arminians and Lutherans.
XI. Is election made from the foresight of faith, or works; or from the grace of God alone? The former we deny; the latter we affirm.
XII. Is the election of certain men to salvation constant and immutable? We affirm against the Remonstrants.
XIII. Can the believer be certain of his own election with a certainty not only conjectural and moral, but infallible and of faith? We affirm against the papists and Remonstrants.
XIV. Is the decree of reprobation absolute, depending upon the good pleasure (eudokia) of God alone; or is sin its proper cause? We distinguish.
XV. Is infidelity, or unbelief of the gospel, presupposed as a cause of reprobation? We deny against the Remonstrants.
XVI. Is the will of God to save persevering believers and condemn the unbelieving, the whole decree of reprobation? We deny against the Remonstrants.
XVII. Can there be attributed to God any conditional will, or universal purpose of pitying the whole human race fallen in sin, of destinating Christ as Mediator to each and all, and of calling them all to a saving participation of his benefits? We deny.
XVIII. Is any order to be admitted in the divine decrees, and what is it?

I’m not sure if it was while reading this topic (I think so), or something a little later, but I remember texting a friend saying that I wish I could break down an idea like Turretin. He made me feel a little better by replying, “You and everyone else born in the 20th century.” Because from these questions, he’ll spend a few pages breaking down the idea further, systematically working his way through the question and seemingly every possible angle of it.

There’s part of me that wants to abandon this re-read and just focus on observing his method and trying to replicate it in my life.

So, what did I think about Institutes of Elenctic Theology Vol. 1?

Let me get this out of the way first: This is dry. Dry like a stale crouton. I know most people think that about Theology in general—and sure, bad theology is usually dry, but not the good stuff. This is one of those exceptions that proves the rule.

There are moments, I should note, that some of Turretin’s personality shows through, some moments expressing the awe appropriate to the topic, the emotions stirred by the Gospel, and even a little humor/snark at the thoughts of his opponents. But those moments are brief and rare.

As it’s dry, it’s a little harder to read than others (say, Calvin or Bavinck). But it’s absolutely worth the effort—and after a little while, you won’t notice the effort. It’s so crisp, so clear, so helpful that you relish getting to read it. Giger and Dennison likely are due as much credit for this as Turretin is. Giger’s also likely due some credit for the arid language (he was translating in the early Nineteenth Century, not one an era known for punchy prose).

I can’t recommend this highly enough.

5 Stars

Grandpappy’s Corner: Tiny Hands Hymns, Tiny Hands Prayers, and Tiny Hands Promises edited by Hannah Duguid Estes, illustrated by Jessica Hiatt: A Great Set of Starter Devotional Reads

By HCNewton

On April 28, 2024

In Grandpappy's Corner, Theology/Christian Living, YA/MG/Children's Books

Tiny Hands Hymns

Tiny Hands Prayers

and

Tiny Hands Promises

edited by Hannah Duguid Estes, illustrated by Jessica Hiatt

DETAILS:
Publisher: P & R Publishing
Publication Date: October 25, 2023
Format: Board Book
Length: 16 pg. (each)
Read Date: April 27, 2024

What are the Tiny Hands About?

These are little board books that serve as beginning devotional materials—training wheels for young worshippers, if you will.

Tiny Hands Hymns

These are the first stanzas/verses of some of the best hymns around (and easiest to learn, too): “Holy, Holy, Holy,” “Be Thou My Vision,” “Amazing Grace,” “This Is My Father’s World,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” and Thomas Ken’s doxology.

On the opposite pages are fitting illustrations, with some accent illustrations on the pages with text.

Tiny Hands Prayers

These are a selection of prayers—translated by Iain Duguid (Professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary), from various portions of Scripture to serve as models of prayer.

They include: Mary’s prayer from Luke 1, Hannah’s from 1 Samuel 2, a prayer based on Daniel’s Prayer from Daniel 9:4-19, a prayer based on Ephesians 3:14-19, David’s prayer from Psalm 130, The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6, and the prayer of the saints from Revelation 19, and the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6.

Again, opposite each is an appropriate illustration, with some accent illustrations on the pages with text.

Tiny Hands Promises

This is a collection of covenant promises from the Old and New Testaments to introduce and remind even the littlest members of the covenant of what God has promised them. These, too, are translated by Iain Duguid.

They are Isaiah 43:1-3; John 10:27-28; Matthew 7:7-11; 2 Corinthians 12:9; James 1:5; 1 John 1:9, 7*; Philippians 1:6; and Revelation 21:3-5.

*I’m not sure I get why he ordered them this way.

Yet again, opposite each is an appropriate illustration, with some accent illustrations on the pages with text.

Let’s Talk about the Art for a Minute

I’ve apparently appreciated Hiatt’s work as a cover designer on a few books (The Wonderful Works of God by Herman Bavinck, Things Unseen by J. Gresham Machen, and Struck Down but Not Destroyed by Pierce Taylor Hibbs), but illustrating board books calls for a slightly different skill set. Still, the illustrations remind me of those covers.

I think these are great. Bright and cheerful, without being cartoonish or silly (I have nothing against those kinds of illustrations, but they’re not fitting for the subjects).

How are they to Read Aloud?

They’re fine—although I can’t imagine that anyone, even those who can’t carry a tune, not singing the hymns instead of reading them.

The translations (I’d be tempted to call them paraphrases, but the books say translations—and I don’t know enough to contradict that) are foreign-feeling for people who are familiar with/have memorized the relevant portions from the AV, ESV, NASB, etc. Once you get past that feeling, there’s nothing about the text that’s difficult or odd to read—and they seem easy enough for young children to comprehend (to some degree).

What did the Little Critter think of Them?

Okay, I haven’t had the chance to read these with him, but his Momma has. She reports that he likes Tiny Hands Hymns, because she sings them, and he really responds well to singing. He doesn’t really seem to care about the others one way or another. That fits his personality—but doesn’t really reflect on the books, if you ask me.

So, what did I think about the Tiny Hands books?

I think they’re a great idea—and overall, I am pleased with the execution. I do recommend them without hesitation.

I have some questions about some of the technical bits of translation, verse choices, and whatnot—not so much that I have a problem with the books, I’d just like someone good with the original languages to sit down with me and walk through these.

But for a young child? I think they’re well done and would be great resources for regular use.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Cultural Christians in the Early Church by Nadya Williams: Same Song, Older Verses

By HCNewton

On April 21, 2024

In History, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

It’s done. It’s not good—or what I wanted it to be—but it’s done. Finally.

Cultural Christians in the Early Church:
A Historical and Practical Introduction
to Christians in the Greco-Roman World

by Nadya Williams

DETAILS:
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
Publication Date: November 14, 2023
Format: Paperback
Length: 207 pg.
Read Date: January 7-14, 2024

What’s Cultural Christians in the Early Church About?

First, let’s define “Cultural Christian”—for Williams, they’re “individuals who self-identify as Christians, but whose outward behavior, and, to the extent that we can tell, inward thoughts and motivations are largely influenced by the surrounding culture rather than by their Christian faith and teachings of Jesus.” It’s easy to find examples of these types of Christians today—and many ministers will talk about the struggle to minister in some areas (like the Bible Belt) because of this phenomenon. But clearly, from the title of this book, Williams holds they were present in the Early Church.

She has three reasons for writing (or reading) this book—the first is to combat the idea that the Early Church was too spiritual and correct to have to deal with these individuals—and because of that we can have some problematic ideas about the Church today. Secondly, because of our historical ignorance, we can fail to see how the Early Church was influenced by the culture around them. Third, if we see how the Early Church is susceptible to this, and that we are, too—we can more easily see the need to push beyond Cultural Christianity to the genuine article.

To pursue these aims, Williams considers Early Church History (the first five centuries A.D.) in three eras:

“Part 1 focuses on cultural Christians in the New Testament era and considers sins resulting from Christians’ culturally inspired treatment of property, food and drink, and sexuality.”

“Part 2 moves past the New Testament period and considers apostasy, the gendered nature of sin, and the sin of self-care among cultural Christians in the second and third centuries CE.”

“part 3 looks at the shifts that occurred after Constantine’s conversion, when Christianity went from being a persecuted minority to a privileged minority, and eventually, a privileged majority religion in the empire. How did the conversion of Constantine change the story of cultural Christianity in the church? The answer, we will see, is the rise of new forms of cultural Christianity, which were not possible when the Christians were a persecuted minority.”

Average Believers

Most books that I’ve read on or around these years in Church History focus on the heavyweight theologians and Church Leaders of the time—those people whose names we still recognize, who played significant roles in the development of Creeds and Dogmas, etc. And yes, Williams does cite and discuss some of them.

But her focus is on average believers—people like you (probably) and me. People who will never be cited in a history text, people that few will know existed 10 years after we die. But people who leave records, or who will be talked about (at least in aggregate) by others.

Again, this is not to say that the “big names” of history are ignored—for one thing, it’s frequently through them that we have records of, and access to, the average person. But to get a real flavor of what life is like we don’t just need the theological tracts and creeds, we need to know what people ate, wore, did for a living, and so on.

So, what did I think about Cultural Christians in the Early Church?

I absolutely loved this book and have brought it up in casual conversation a lot over the last couple of months (and repeatedly tossed out drafts of this post because I didn’t like it enough).

Because this book isn’t just a history, it’s about the current Church, too. How we are susceptible to the same—or similar—foibles. Frequently, the reader can see this just by reading the historical portions and reflecting (it usually doesn’t take deep reflection). But Williams will also focus on parallels, or draw out clear lines of comparison. This is a call to the reader to think about their own beliefs and practices and to examine them—are they based on Scripture or are they based on the culture around us?

While we may think that we are removed from the world of the early church, the nature of human sinfulness has not changed. The stories of these early Christians, therefore, are surprisingly familiar and convicting, if only we look closely. While it is at times jarring to admit, their stories are our stories too.

We have the same feet of clay as our forefathers did—and the same challenges to overcome. Thankfully, we have the same Savior. This book helps us to remember that—and I encourage everyone to pick this up (and not just so you don’t have to hear me do it in person).

4 Stars