Tag: J.I. Packer

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

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

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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Clearing the Deck II: Tweet-length thoughts about books I can’t find time to write about

By HCNewton

On January 11, 2024

In Audiobook, Comics, DC Smith & Kings Lake, Don Winslow, Faith Hunter, Fantasy, Fiction, Fletch, General Fiction/Literature, Gregory Mcdonald, Harry Bosch, Harry Dresden, Humor, Jim Butcher, M. W. Craven, Michael Connelly, Michael R. Underwood, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Renée Ballard, Science Fiction, Theology/Christian Living, Urban Fantasy, Washington Poe, YA/MG/Children's Books

I did this back in January 2020, and need to do it again.

I frequently mention how looming Mt. TBR is getting for me, but what’s worse is my “To Write About” pile, I know I’m never going to catch up with that properly and it bugs me to no end. But in the interest of something being better than nothing, a dash of realism, and a heavy dose of self-care, I’m cutting myself some slack. So I’m clearing the deck of everything from 2020-2022 that I haven’t made time for. This was painful to do, I was looking forward to writing about most of these, and I have so much that I want to say. But I’m just not going to get to them—and other books are starting to pile up, too. So, in 144 characters or less, here’s me cutting myself some slack.

How bad am I at keeping up with my To-Write-Titles? I put together the list of books for this post in January 2023. And am just now getting to it. I wish that was a joke.

(Click on the cover for an official site with more info)

	Battle Ground by Jim Butcher I just can’t talk about this one yet. I need more time. (yeah, they’re fictional characters, but I’ve spent too long with them to not be reeling)
	Desert Star by Michael Connelly Loved it while reading it. But I have more and more questions about all of it the longer I think about it. Not Connelly’s best but well worth it
	Dead Ground by M. W. Craven Not a typical Poe and Tilly case, just as good and gripping as the rest though.
	The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis, Flora Thomson-DeVeaux (Translator) A strange and somewhat humorous look at a ghost’s POV on his life. I want to read it a few more times to really get a handle on it. Heckuva read
	Nightwing: Year One Deluxe Edition by Chuck Dixon If there’s a better Nightwing writer out there, I’d like to see it. A great, great, great telling of his origin.
	Mythos by Stephen Fry Drags a little. Wish he could pick a tone for his retellings/commentary on the classic stories. Still, it’s Stephen Fry talking—worth the time.
	Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry See above, but felt it dragged a bit more.
	Teen Titans: Beast Boy by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Penciller) A solid, believable update of Gar Logan’s backstory. Very promising follow-up to the Raven book. Really impressed with Picolo.
	Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Penciller) Bring the two together and it’s even better. I’m curious about the overall story, but would read just them being awkward together. Like the art.
	Missing Pieces: A Kings Lake Investigation by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackosn (Narrator) The Murder Squad tackles a cold case and is as excellent as ever. I don’t know how to talk about this series w/o being redundant. I want more!
	Junkyard War by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator) This was utterly fine. A lot didn’t go the way I expected. But I’m still in this series for the long haul.
	The Dime by Kathleen Kent One of the best first chapters ever. The rest is pretty good. Not sure I buy the motive for the murders, nor that I want to see what comes next.
	Batman: City of Crime by David Lapham If you buy (I can’t) Batman losing sight of his mission, this story about him recovering it is great. If you can’t…well, it’s pretty good.
	Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, J.D. Jackson (Narrator) A stunning work of fiction. Words fail me. A deeply compromised Texas Ranger tries to solve a potential hate crime and keep his job.
	Flynn by Gregory McDonald, Donald Corren (Narrator) I expected the Fletch narrator for some reason, but Corren won me over in minutes. One of my favorite novels of all-time. Great audio version.
	Son of Fletch by Gregory McDonald, Dan John Miller (Narrator) Oh, I wanted to love this. But I just liked it. I’ll probably hear Miller in my head anytime I read Fletch in print.
	Fletch Reflected by Gregory McDonald, Dan John Miller (Narrator) This is not the way the series should’ve ended. Some fantastic moments, but not sure it was worth it. Miller was solid as always.
	Last Couple Standing by Matthew Norman Norman’s best female characters (to date). Stupid premise, but it almost convinces me to like it by the end. Lots of great moments.
	Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength by J.I. Packer Packer’s great on 2 Corinthians and what Paul tells about weakness as a way of life for the Christian.
	The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson I’m not sure I loved the way the story went in this one, but I grew to appreciate it. Characters are still great.
	The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson Whatever my misgivings about the last one, this was the right way to end the series. Just what I wanted (if mildly predictable)
	Deathstroke, Vol. 1: The Professional by Christopher J. Priest I prefer the version Wolfman and Perez initially told about his origin, but this ain’t a bad version. And I see why it was necessary. Good ’nuff
	There Goes The Neighborhood by S. Reed I stopped working with a book tour company because they wouldn’t let me be honest about this book ever. So I won’t be. Loved ALL of it. <3<3<3<3
	Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator) If Percy Jackson edited D’Aulaires’s book you’d get this. A great way to introduce the myths to young readers. Bernstein is a spot-on Percy.
	Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator) See above, but with heroes.
	I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider If someone looked into my brain, took all of my ideas and feelings, and improved them, you’d get this book. But only one-third as good as this.
	All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator) Taylor and Porter are unbeatable together. This is funny (duh), and the grief and sadness are real. As is the anger. Is the ending too easy?
	The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) Serkis nails the narration (as you’d expect). Is there a better first book of a series in Fantasy?
	The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) Serkis is tremendous here. This whole book is ridiculously good.
	The Return of the King by by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) One day the pacing on this won’t surprise me. The book gets better every time. Serkis was phenomenal.
	Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood Found family stars in this fun, space opera about archeologists fighting an empire.
	The Cartel by Don Winslow The best of the trilogy. Shocking. Moving. Gripping. All-too-real—if you told me this was non-fiction, I’d almost believe it. A true classic.

What Did the Cross Achieve? by J.I. Packer: A Beginning of an Answer to a Vital Question

By HCNewton

On September 10, 2023

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

What Did the Cross Achieve?

by J.I. Packer, Mark Dever (Foreword)

DETAILS:
Series: Crossway Short Classics Series
Publisher: Crossway
Publication Date: August 29, 2023
Format: Paperback
Length: 109 pg.
Read Date: August 27, 2023

Some Thoughts on the Series as a Whole

The point of this series is to take classic short works—sermons, tracts, articles—package them attractively, edit a bit (modernize language, eliminate footnotes, tweak grammar, etc.), and make them widely available. Each is given a short introduction to help the reader get the context and a bit of information about the author.

They published seven books in this series last year, and I discussed them here. Three have come out this year (so far), but I’m hoping for more in this series soon.

What’s What Did the Cross Achieve About?

This essay was originally a lecture Packer delivered but it lives on far after that time. It’s essentially a defense of the Penal Substitutionary Theory of the Atonement—and a critique of some alternate theories. Which is not to say that Packer doesn’t have some words of correction for other proponents of substitutionary atonement, nor is he without appreciation for alternate theories.

Packer holds that when people like Socinius attacked the Reformation’s preaching and teaching on the atonement, the Reformed (in particular) responded to his rationalistic arguments on the same grounds—and spent centuries refining things along those lines, losing the declaratory, doxological, and kerygmatic power of the doctrine. For this “preliminary survey,” he states:

My plan is this: first, to clear up some questions of method, so that there will be no doubt as to what I am doing; second, to explore what it means to call Christ’s death substitutionary; third, to see what further meaning is added when Christ’s substitutionary suffering is called penal; fourth, to note in closing that the analysis offered is not out of harmony with learned exegetical opinion. These are, I believe, needful preliminaries to any serious theological estimate of this view.

So, what did I think about What Did the Cross Achieve?

Can we then justify ourselves in holding a view of the atonement into which penal substitution does not enter? Ought we not to reconsider whether penal substicution is not, after all, the heart of the matter? These* are among the questions that our preliminary survey in this lecture has raised. It is to be hoped that they will receive the attention they deserve.

* And other questions that I snipped due to lack of context.

This was a good reminder to me of just how good J.I. Packer was—it’s been a long time since I’ve read a much by him, and it’s easy to remember really liking his writing and learning a lot from him, but to forget most of the details. And then you read him and are reminded why I spent so much of the 90s immersed in his work.

His approach to the idea was great and easy to follow. This wasn’t for a popular audience, but the language isn’t that difficult to follow. I appreciated and benefited from his argumentation—and thought his analysis and argumentation were spot-on (and would still be pretty sufficient for what I’ve seen for people today who struggle with penal substitution).

Essentially, this was a great way to spend an hour or so, one of the best of this series, and one I’ll return to again and again. I’d suggest you do the same.

4 1/2 Stars