Archive for October 2011
“Zeal to promote the common good”: The story of the King James Bible
By Michael A.G. Haykin The sixteenth century was one of the great eras of English Bible translation. Between 1526, when William Tyndale’s superlative rendition of the New Testament was printed, and 1611, when the King James Bible (KJB), or Authorized Bible, appeared, no less than ten English-language Bible versions were published. The translators of the…
Read MoreThe Future: How Does God Know It?
By Fred G. Zaspel One aspect of God’s omniscience is his knowledge of the future. Open Theists have denied this, of course, but the question is not really a difficult one. Over and again in Scripture God is presented as knowing what will happen. Not just selectively but exhaustively God knows all that will be.…
Read MoreA Gracious and Compassionate God
Over on Credo’s “Reviews and Interviews” page, Nate Wood has written a helpful review of A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah, by Daniel Timmer (IVP). He begins, The book of Jonah is often known for the famous story of Jonah and the great fish, but Daniel Timmer…
Read MoreThis Week’s Book Notes
By Matthew Barrett Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books. By Tony Reinke. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. If I had to choose a handful of books that I would classify as some of the most helpful resources for 2011, Tony Reinke’s Lit! would be on that list. I do not say this lightly. I am…
Read MoreHow Seminarians Can Learn to Preach to Normal People, Part 2
By Tim Raymond In my first article in this 3-part miniseries, I briefly warned those with formal theological training of the dangers of preaching to normal people as if they were seminarians. It is possible to so breathe academic air that we come to the point where we can’t imagine any true Christian not being…
Read MoreB. B. Warfield on Inerrancy
By Fred Zaspel The Significance of Warfield The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is so closely linked to the name of Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851-1921) that they sometimes seem nearly synonymous. This is not because Warfield originated the doctrine, of course, although some have mistakenly charged him with that. Inerrancy and Warfield belong together,…
Read MoreWhat Does It Mean to Confess Our Sins to One Another? (Part 4 on James 5:16)
By A. B. Caneday If we become seduced by popular teaching to confess private and secret sins publicly, we unwittingly promote more sin, especially the sin of gossip. After we have confessed a sin, if we confess it again to others against whom we did not commit the sin, we stumble into another sin, for…
Read MoreSouthern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism
On Credo’s “Reviews and Interviews” page, Aaron Menikoff, senior pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, has written an insightful review of Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism, edited by David S. Dockery (Nashville: B&H, 2011). I did not grow up Southern Baptist. In fact, I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. At…
Read MoreIt is not time to write the Eulogy…not yet Schmidt
By Matthew Barrett Frederick Schmidt, an Episcopal priest and the Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Southern Methodist University, wrote an article back in March (2011) that has motivated (at least partially) patheos.com to conduct an online symposium on the future of seminary education. Schmidt’s provocative title reads, “Is It…
Read MoreReview of Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy
Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy. By Paul C. Gutjahr. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Reviewed by Jeff Straub Professor of Historical Theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary One of the best ways to understand important historical movements is through the lives of those most directly involved. Charles Hodge (1797-1878) lived through the turbulent…
Read MoreJesus Loves Religious People, Too
By Luke Stamps Jesus is a friend of sinners. It is a glorious gospel truth that Jesus befriends those who are entangled in sinful and complicated circumstances and loves them even when ostensibly religious people do not. We see this countercultural acceptance of sinners throughout the Gospel accounts, as Jesus extends divine forgiveness to tax…
Read MoreInterview with Mark Strauss
Should we interpret the Old Testament differently than the New Testament? When and how should we apply a passage of scripture to our contemporary situation? Was the Bible written to us? These are questions that get to the heart of the discipline of hermeneutics. Over at Credo’s “Reviews and Interviews” page, Mark Strauss answers questions…
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