Category: Recommended

yep, I recommend this link, article or whatever it is

Quote to Note 1: Theology and Preaching

~ Bob Hayton ~ 5 Comments

From time to time, I’ll be bringing Quotes to Note. Most often they will be quotes good enough to stand on their own two feet. And hopefully they will indeed be quotes worth noting.

Today’s concerns theology and preaching.

“Theology without proclamation is empty, proclamation without theology is blind.“

— Gerhard Ebeling

After providing this quote in his article “Preaching and Biblical Theology” for The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP, 2000), P. J. H. Adam elaborates:

So theologians should never be satisfied when their theology serves only the needs of the academy. Any theology, including biblical theology, must serve the Christian ministry of the word. Likewise preachers should not be satisfied when they have communicated only their own insight, the ideas of contemporary sociologists, or even current theories of Christian or church life. Nor should they be content with ritual repetition of a text of Scripture, reference to a token Bible verse, or preaching on a text to which they have not first applied Paul’s instruction to Timothy: “Reflect on what I am saying” (2 Tim. 2:7).

The dangers of the Western academic tradition are its assumptions that knowledge can be discovered only by those who share secular, naturalistic, or contemporary world views, and that knowledge is a satisfactory end in itself. These are damaging assumptions for any Christian academic to adopt, but particularly damaging for the theologian. Many preachers today, even many who know the Bible, do not use it in their preaching, or use it in a trivial way. We should not meet the challenge of postmodernism by abandoning the Bible, but by using it carefully, theologically and effectively. If we abandon theological reflection on the meaning of the text of the Bible, we will indeed be blind guides. ¹

 ¹ Pgs. 105-106, The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, edited by T. Desmond Alexander, Brian S. Rosner, D. A. Carson, Graeme Goldsworthy & Steve Carter (Inter-Varsity Press: Downers Grove, Illinois, 2003).

 ² P. J. H. Adam is the Vicar of St. Jude’s Carlton, Melbourne, Australia. The quote by Gerhard Ebeling is from his book Theology and Proclamation (London, 1966), pg. 20.

Puppets, Popoli & The Open Theism Debate

~ fundyreformed ~ 5 Comments

I’m sure my astute readers are all up to speed on the open theism debate. Then again, some of you probably aren’t. And I haven’t really ever debated the issue, so I had to do some homework too.

The Issue

Open Theism is the belief that God is in a sense bound by time. He knows as much as can be known, but not absolutely all things in the traditional sense of “omniscience”. He can’t know the free decisions of humans before those decisions occur, otherwise they wouldn’t be completely free.

This is obviously not a Calvinistic idea, but even most Arminians would repudiate the idea as just plain wrong. Yet the open theists have some verses they will marshal, verses showing that God changes his mind, repents, is surprised by things, and gives contingent prophecies. They also have some logical arguments at their disposal. It can sound plausible, and even helps make Christianity more palatable for the post-modern atheists of today. And– surprise, suprise– open theism is gaining in popularity among evangelicals today.

Puppets & Popoli?

I mention all of this because my friend “jamsco” runs a blog named “The Responsible Puppet“. His title stems from his adherence to what he dubs “hyper-compatibleism”: God is the puppetmaster, yet we are totally responsible for our actions. He is still working out his position which is not quite 5 point Calvinism, he tells me.

Jamsco links to Vox Popoli (with the “read at your own risk” warning, for Vox’s sometimes-edgy views & speech), who he knew personally in college, largely because he takes issue with Vox’s adherence to OT. Vox does a great job of tearing down popular atheistic arguments, yet he often employs OT in his efforts to disarm his opponents. Jamsco wants to defend a compatibleist view and I’m sure wishes he could convince Vox of the error of his ways.

So Vox for most of this year has had Jamsco on his blogroll under the section “target-rich environments”. And he has promised to interact on the issue.

Round 1

So round 1 of the debate has begun. Vox has responded to Jamsco’s “A Defense of the Omniderigence of God” (where Jamsco had interacted with some of Vox’s views). In his characteristic witty style, Vox does a good job advancing his argument (and answering Jamsco). Jamsco has yet to respond, but its easy to get lost in the hundreds of comments Vox’s posts generate.

Now Vox mentions me in the post, since I had commented under Jamsco’s original post. I stand corrected, yet I did follow up with some comments of my own on the issue. I look forward to Jamsco’s response, and Vox’s promised follow up of Scriptural proof for his view. It will be good to be aware of what kind of arguments are out there on this, and gain an education on this issue.

Recommendations

In doing my homework for my comment under Vox’s post, I came across some excellent articles I should recommend here. A couple are fairly short and yet give a good overview of a conservative response to OT. They are worth reading at some point.

John Piper on Small Groups and Perseverance

~ fundyreformed

I’m getting ready to pick up my series on man-centered Christianity (see posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) again. And I thought highlighting what my pastor, John Piper said in a recent message would help move us back into thinking about perseverance, eternal security, and God-centered Christianity.

Every year Pastor Piper preaches a message in the Fall, encouraging us to get involved with small groups. And as is often the case, this year, his text was Hebrews 10:19-25. You can read the printed version of the message here, as well as easily find links for watching or listening to the message online, or even downloading it (for free). What follows is an excerpt (transcribed imperfectly by me) from that message dealing specifically with the doctrine of perseverance.

…toward the end of the age, when the day [of judgment] draws near… [meeting together in small groups] will be essential increasingly. Have you ever thought about that?…

The Bible says that in the last days there will be times of great difficulty… it’s not going to get easier to be a Christian, it’s going to get harder to be a Christian. So what’s your plan for staying a Christian?

Or do you have this cavalier lackadaisical, eternal security thing that you can just live like the devil and do whatever you want and you’re gonna’ go to heaven no matter what. That’s not the biblical doctrine of eternal security. The biblical doctrine of eternal security is that the evidence that you are eternally secure is that you’re following the biblical means to stay safe in Jesus. And He’ll keep you—[for] those [in] whom he began a good work, He completes the good work. Yes, He will and He’ll do it by putting you into the kind of groups that will sustain your faith.

So, I take this real seriously: that as the day comes, the need for being together in mutually praying, mutually ministering, mutually encouraging groups goes up not down. Don’t think, “Oh the end’s almost here. Quick, Lord Jesus come! And I’m just holing up in my basement, or wherever.” Don’t hole up—unless you hole up with 8 or 10 other people, and of course if 8 or 10 people are there, then the Holy Spirit’s gonna’ move and you will learn that you don’t hole up. You go out and risk your lives to testify to Jesus.

To that I say amen! I encourage you to listen to the entire message. And more importantly, to get involved in small groups for the sake of your perseverance in faith!

A Call to Stand

~ fundyreformed

I apologize for the scarcity of posts around here of late. It’s been a very busy few weeks and on top of it all I can’t shake this cold. I thought I would at least highlight the recent Desiring God Conference, although I’m sure many of my readers know of the free audio/video from it already.

Recently we’ve been discussing Man-Centered Christianity and specifically the doctrine of perseverance. This year’s Desiring God Conference which ended Sunday, was devoted to that same theme.

It was entitled “Stand: A Call for the Perseverance of the Saints“. Randy Alcorn, John MacArthur, Jerry Bridges, John Piper, & veteran missionary Helen Roseveare were the speakers. And all the messages and panel sessions are now available online for free. You can view message summaries or download the audio or video of each message. You can also listen/watch online. Just click here, for access to all the messages.

If you’re interested, all the messages from the Desiring God Conferences (2003-2007) and the Bethlehem Baptist Conference for Pastors (1988-2007) are now available online for free at DesiringGod.org. Just click here for a complete listing of Conference titles, with links to the messages.

Online Gospel Resources

~ fundyreformed

Today’s online world presents a great opportunity for Christians to spread the gospel electronically. I want to highlight a few online gospel resources here, and encourage you all to share them via email, or promote them on your blogs.

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“Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face” is an excellent online presentation of the gospel. It uses clear visual illustrations as it presents the heart of Christianity. I really appreciate its perspective and emphasis on following Christ as Lord. It also connects people to many helpful resources for further study.

2 Ways to Live, an online presentation of the Gospel, the heart of Christianity -- why don't you click it to learn more? You've got nothing to lose.I found the button on the right at Justin Taylor’s blog, and it is a great way to link to 2 Ways to Live. Feel free to save the button and use it on your blog.

2 other helpful tools are needgod.com and proofthatgodexists.org. The buttons below can be found at their websites and can be used to link to their presentations. Both are great resources to share with others on the web.

Are you a good person? Proof that God Exists, check it out!

Finally, let me post a video clip of John Piper sharing the gospel in 6 minutes. Video clips like these are something people can easily share and promote at video sites like YouTube. You could easily put that video in the sidebar of your blog too.