New Biblical Patriarchy Book List

For those interested in gender issues (specifically biblical manhood), I have added a book list to the side bar on biblical patriarchy a.k.a complementarianism (the view that men and women are created equal, but have distinct roles to be fulfilled). You can read the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood here. See the books here or go to the link from the sidebar.

Adorare Mente

There is a new student journal coming out by some guys at Southern called Adorare Mente. The editorial board includes Matt Crawford, Owen Strachan, Oren Martin, Will Kynes, Greg Van Court, and Adam Winters. All the article will be available from the website. Here is the blurb from the website:

The purpose of Adorare Mente is summed up in the title – “To worship with the mind.” Contrary to the opinion and practice of some, rigorous academic study is not at odds with intense personal piety. In fact, learning to think well is a necessary component of Christian discipleship. Worship is at its peak when mind and heart flow together. Since the purpose of ministerial training is to educate the mind while warming the heart, this journal is designed to encourage students to use all of their mind, to be intellectually ambitious, but not for their own glory. Students should harness and direct those powers for the good of the kingdom. In the past this union of heart and mind was well represented in such pastor-theologians as Augustine, Calvin, Luther, John Owen, and Jonathan Edwards, and in the present-day, examples are found in John Piper and Mark Dever, among others. It is hoped that this journal is but a small step towards recovering the model of the pastor-theologian on a much wider scale today.

Happy Easter

"Christmas itself has now far outstripped Easter in popular culture as the real celebratory center of the Christian year--a move that completely reverses the New Testament's emphasis. We sometimes try, in hymns, prayers, and sermons, to build a whole theology on Christmas, but it can't in fact sustain such a thing. We then keep Lent, Holy Week, and Good Friday so thoroughly that we have hardly any energy left for Easter except for the first night and day. Easter, however, should be the center. Take that away and there is, almost literally, nothing left."
--N.T. Wright in "Surprised by Hope," p. 23.

This is a good word. On a different, but related note, in the name of "cross-centeredness" the resurrection can be unintentionally neglected at times in my circles. But the cross means nothing without the resurrection. Crucifixion occurred all the time in the first century. Resurrection didn't. He is risen. God has been vindicated. We will be raised and the cosmos will be renewed. Celebrate.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!

Secularized Salvation

David Well's writes in "Losing Our Virtue" that in our individualistic, self-centered, consumer-driven culture, the twin healers of the day are "psychotherapists and advertisers." This is no doubt true, and we have the merging of the two with the plethora of commercials about psychotropic drugs. You have seen the commercials: smiles, confidence, joy, the mending of broken families, contentment with work, with your spouse, with life. Redemption is here...in a bottle! Sin and salvation have been psychologized. "Are you tired, unmotivated, ready to quit? Do you suffer from anxiety, shame, or guilt? You may have _____?" Fill in the blank. Never mind asking your doctor (or pastor) about symptoms and the proper treatment. Just come right in and ask for our product. And your doctor probably won't mind dishing out the prescriptions. After all, that particular drug representative just took him out for lunch and a round of golf last Friday!

All this to say, I read a fascinating article today from the public library of science showing the disconnect between what is advertised on television, and what scientific data actually says concerning SSRI's (Paxil, Zoloft, etc). The title is "Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature." Here are some excerpts:

"In fact, there is no scientifically established ideal “chemical balance” of serotonin, let alone an identifiable pathological imbalance."

"To our knowledge, there is not a single peer-reviewed article that can be accurately cited to directly support claims of serotonin deficiency in any mental disorder, while there are many articles that present counterevidence. Furthermore, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association and contains the definitions of all psychiatric diagnoses, does not list serotonin as a cause of any mental disorder. The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry addresses serotonin deficiency as an unconfirmed hypothesis, stating, 'Additional experience has not confirmed the monoamine depletion hypothesis'"

"Yet, as previously mentioned, there is no such thing as a scientifically established correct “balance” of serotonin. The take-home message for consumers viewing SSRI advertisements is probably that SSRIs work by normalizing neurotransmitters that have gone awry. This was a hopeful notion 30 years ago, but is not an accurate reflection of present-day scientific evidence."

"The incongruence between the scientific literature and the claims made in FDA-regulated SSRI advertisements is remarkable, and possibly unparalleled."

For a great read on America and its psychologized salvation, see "Losing Our Virtue" by David Wells and "One Nation Under Therapy" by Sommers and Satel.

March Madness

The Big Dance is here. It time to fill out the brackets, and get behind in school. We filled ours out this morning. My final four has UNC, Kansas, Texas, and Duke with UNC over Duke in the final. This was hard, for I am a huge fan of both UT and UNC. I just don't think Texas can deal with Psycho T. Duke's whole team couldn't. Alicia went with UNC, Kansas, Texas, and UCLA with Texas beating UNC in the final.

The audio and video from the 08' Resurgence conference is now up for free.

N.T. Wright on the New Earth

Many Christians, including myself not long ago, have a distorted view of heaven. Doubtless, the popularity of the the Left Behind books and movies are partly to blame. This is unfortunate since hope is what should characterize the believer's life. But what are we hoping for? Is it some pie in the sky when we die? Hymns like "I'll Fly Away" point in that direction. What is "God's celestial shore" anyway? That hymn is more Platonic than Hebrew. No, the new earth will be physical. We will work, not simply sing and strum the harp on clouds for all eternity. God created the earth, and is in the process of redeeming it. Unlike some religions, it has been physical from the start. Man was made from the earth. Abram was told to cut his flesh. God revealed himself to Moses in a burning bush, not while Moses was reaching some high point in transcendental meditation. Jesus took on a human body. He commanded his followers to eat bread and drink wine. And after he was killed, he rose with a physical body and even ate fish afterwards! He also promised all those who believe in him that they will have resurrection bodies upon his return.

"Heaven" is going to be much better than life here on earth, for it is better to be with the Lord than to remain here, but heaven is the penultimate hope of the believer. The new earth where we will have resurrection bodies, reigning with King Jesus is the ultimate hope. N.T. Wright has a new book out on heaven, the resurrection, and the mission of the church. While we may not agree with Wright on everything (some very important!), we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater. His work on these issues has been a helpful corrective to get rid of the Platonism that is sloshing around in some evangelical systems.

Buy the book here.

Read an interview about the book here.

Watch the interview here.

Read his article "Farewell to Rapture" here.

Already but Not Yet

Tom Schreiner's forthcoming New Testament Theology has a strong "already/not yet" emphasis. This is entirely appropriate since the whole New Testament hinges on an already/not yet structure. The idea is that the Hebrew mind saw history in terms of two ages: the present age, and the age to come. They lived during the present age, and looked forward to the age to come, which would be ushered in by the Messiah, the Davidic King. In this new age, Israel's Messiah would rule the land and destroy all of Israel's enemies. What they did not expect was a suffering Messiah, and they did not expect two comings. We, the church, now live between the two comings, or during the overlap of the ages (Here are some helpful charts). The Messiah has come already, but he is not yet visibly ruling the new earth. The new creation has begun in Christ's resurrection, but the new creation has not been consummated. God has fulfilled his promises already in the first coming of Jesus Christ, but their full and final realization await his second coming.

This outlook is very important for understanding the New Testament. A couple of lectures ago, Dr. Schreiner, in his New Testament Theology class, took some time to show how very practical it is as well. He noted that everyone longs for a perfect world, but nothing satisfies in this life. We all long for the new earth. He made 6 points of application:

1. Politically - Many falsely desire heaven on earth (cf. Marxism) but it will never happen this side of the second coming. Promising or hoping for a new earth here and now is an over-realized eschatology.
2. Marriage - People falsely expect to find the perfect relationship in this world. When it doesn't occur, they quickly divorce to go and find "the one." This is over-realized eschatology. Yes, our marriages should be compelling (the already), but they will always be imperfect (not yet).
3. Church - Often, people hop around churches because "I don't like their preaching," or "Their music is much better over here." There are no perfect churches in this age. No church will meet all of your needs. Find a church committed to the Word and commit to a flawed body of people, just as Christ has.
4. Perfectionism - Saving faith always goes public in a transformed life, but everything we do is tainted by sin. We will not attain moral perfection. To believe so will lead to despair or arrogance. We are justified, yet sinners and sanctification is a life-long process. We have not yet arrived, but we press on.
5. Children - In this age, our children are fallible, so we shouldn't be perfectionistic in our expectations of them. Many who have left the faith were brought up in an overly strict family that lacked grace. Discipline must take place, but it must be rooted in love.
6. Prosperity Gospel - In this present evil age, we are promised affliction, not riches (not yet), but we do have joy in the Holy Spirit (already).

This last point reminds me of an excellent article by Richard Gaffin called "The Usefulness of the Cross," showing the inevitability of suffering in the life of the church during the overlap of the ages. Here is an excerpt:

"But now, with this clear, with this absolutely crucial eschatological reservation made, we must go on to appreciate that as long as believers are in the mortal body, that is, for the period between the resurrection and return of Christ, with Paul it is difficult to overemphasize the intimate correlation of life and death in the experience of the believer, the interpenetration of suffering and glory, weakness and power. For this period, for as long as we are in the mortal flesh and the sentence of death is written into our existence, resurrection-eschatology is eschatology of the cross, and the theology of the cross is the key signature of all theology that would be truly “practical” theology."

I would just add a note on vocation. We all long for the "perfect" job, but in this age we will not find complete satisfaction in our work. For Adam it was "thorns and thistles" and for us it is any number of things. Still, we work hard as unto the Lord. God has called us to our jobs.

We must learn to be content in this age, but not too content, with lives characterized by faith, love, and hope until Christ comes and ushers in the new earth where he will reign with his saints. Until then we do all things, even eating and drinking, to the glory of God.

Dr. Moore on Gender Roles and Pastoral Ministry.

Pastors and seminarians, read this excellent post by Dr. Russell Moore on gender and pastoral ministry. Then read the always thoughtful Owen Strachan comment on Dr. Moore's post here and here. Then, check out all the resources at CBMW on this most important issue.

Review: Letters Along the Way

"Letters Along the Way: A Novel of the Christian Life" by D.A. Carson and John Woodbridge (283 pp) is must-reading for all Bible college students and seminarians, although they are not the only ones who would benefit from this book. I mentioned Carson in the last post, but he is professor of New Testament, and Woodbridge is professor of church history, both at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). This is a set of fictional letters between Timothy Journeyman and Dr. Paul Woodson, professor of systematic theology at TEDS. Timothy became a believer, went to Princeton, Cambridge, Trinity, then Yale for a year, then back to Trinity where he graduated with an Masters of Divinity before pastoring his first church. Dr. Woodson was a friend of Tim's dad before he passed away and became a life-long mentor to Tim when be became a believer. Some of the topics covered in the letters are:

assurance, saving faith, carnal Christians, Lordship salvation, TBN, naturalism, theistic evolution, evangelical life in Britain, the secularization of France, temptation, repentance, sexual sin, communism, universalism, revelation, evangelism, dissatisfaction, psychology, preaching, political involvement, self-fulfillment, what makes a good pastor, how to pick a seminary, the call to ministry, engagement and marriage, apologetics, Reformed epistemology, inerrancy, seminary life, mind and heart, academic responsibility, pluralism, building a theological library, being prepared for pastoral ministry, liberation theology, evangelical scholars, humanism, women's ordination, the already/not yet, battling heresy, lay ministry, time management, church discipline, sports and recreation, worship, HIV, homosexuality, the new spirituality, prayer, evangelical unity, criticism, revolutionary events in the Soviet Union, Marxism, culture shift, barrenness, Darwinism, the new perspective, and dying well

So if you would like "personal" advice and reflections on these issues and more from Carson and Woodbridge, this book is for you. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.