Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Archives for November 2008

Doug Moo on Justification in Romans

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In Douglas J. Moo’s concise article on Romans in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, he highlights “six aspects of justification in Romans”:

  1. “God justifies people through faith and not through ‘works of the law,’” which “refer to obedience to the OT law, the Torah” and “exclude all works.”
  2. “Justification is available for all human beings, Jew and Gentile, on the same basis of faith.”
  3. “God justifies people by a completely free act of his will: in a word, by ‘grace.’”
  4. “Justification by faith is rooted in the OT.”
  5. “Justification is the product, or extension, of ‘the righteousness of God,’” which “refers to an activity of God: his acting to put people in right relationship to himself.”
  6. “Justification by faith is based in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. . . . In a bold metaphor, Paul claims, in effect, that Christ is now the final, eschatological ‘mercy seat,’ the place where God draws near to human beings for their redemption.”

Moo concludes,

While not the centre of Romans, justification by faith is nevertheless a critical component of Paul’s presentation of the gospel in Romans. The doctrine expresses, in the sphere of anthropology, a crucial element in Paul’s understanding of God’s work in Christ: its entirely gracious character. Not only, then, does justification by faith guard against the Jewish attempt to make works of the law basic for salvation in Paul’s day; it expresses the resolute resistance of Paul, and the NT authors, to the constant human tendency to make what people do decisive for salvation.

I can’t wait to sing about this tomorrow morning with my church!

Ossified Orthodoxy

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Although I think it extremely dangerous to pursue a second blessing attested by tongues, I think it no less dangerous not to pant after God at all, and to be satisfied with a merely creedal Christianity that is kosher but complacent, orthodox but ossified, sound but soundly asleep.

-D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12–14 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 160.

D. A. Carson on Logical Fallacies

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D. A. Carson opens his chapter entitled “Logical Fallacies” in Exegetical Fallacies (2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996; pp. 87–123) with this:

Why Are Fire Engines Red?

They have four wheels and eight men;
four plus eight is twelve;
twelve inches make a ruler;
a ruler is Queen Elizabeth;
Queen Elizabeth sails the seven seas;
the seven seas have fish;
the fish have fins;
the Finns hate the Russians;
the Russians are red;
fire engines are always rushin’;
so they’re red.

I do not remember where I learned this little gem, but it raises in an extreme form the subject of logic. We see the argument is ridiculous; but why is it ridiculous? What is the nature of the breaches as we move from line to line, or even within one line? Why should we not accept this argument as a valid answer to the question, “Why are fire engines red?”

Carson proceeds to discuss “The Nature and Universality of Logic” followed by “A Select List of Logical Fallacies” (with explanations and illustrations):

  1. False disjunctions: an improper appeal to the law of the excluded middle
  2. Failure to recognize distinctions
  3. Appeal to selective evidence
  4. Improperly handled syllogisms
  5. Negative inferences
  6. World–view confusion
  7. Fallacies of question–framing
  8. Unwarranted confusion of truth and precision
  9. Purely emotive appeals
  10. Unwarranted generalization and overspecification
  11. Unwarranted associative jumps
  12. False statements
  13. The non sequitur
  14. Cavalier dismissal
  15. Fallacies based on equivocal argumentation
  16. Inadequate analogies
  17. Abuse of “obviously” and similar expressions
  18. Simplistic appeals to authority

Carson concludes,

These are certainly not the only logical fallacies than can trip up those of us who are intimately involved in the exegesis of the Bible; but they are among the most common. All of us will fall afoul of one or more of these fallacies at some time or another; but alert awareness of their prevalence and nature may help us escape their clutches more frequently than would otherwise be the case.

Like the other chapters of this book, this one is more negative than positive; but if it results in interpreters who are marginally more self–critical in their handling of Scripture, and in readers who are somewhat more discerning when they devour commentaries, expositions, and other studies, this sustained critique will be amply rewarded (p. 123).

Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint

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About four hours ago, I downloaded The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint, edited by Randall Tan. A Logos employee emailed, “I believe you are the first person outside of Logos to get it.” Cool. The product is projected to ship on November 24, so the pre-pub special ($109.95) will soon elevate to a sale price ($122.95), so now is the time to lock in on the best price.

You can get a decent overview of this LXX by reading the product page.

Here are some thoughts after playing with my new toy/tool: [Read more…] about Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint

Bob Jones University “Profoundly Sorry” for Being “Racially Hurtful”

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Excerpt (emphasis added):

Bob Jones University has existed since 1927 as a private Christian institution of higher learning for the purpose of helping young men and women cultivate a biblical worldview, represent Christ and His Gospel to others, and glorify God in every dimension of life.

BJU’s history has been chiefly characterized by striving to achieve those goals; but like any human institution, we have failures as well. For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the segregationist ethos of American culture. Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding race to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it.

In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry. Though no known antagonism toward minorities or expressions of racism on a personal level have ever been tolerated on our campus, we allowed institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.

On national television in March 2000, Bob Jones III, who was the university’s president until 2005, stated that BJU was wrong in not admitting African-American students before 1971, which sadly was a common practice of both public and private universities in the years prior to that time. On the same program, he announced the lifting of the University’s policy against interracial dating.

Read the whole thing.

Righteousness by Faith Is Accessible!

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Douglas J. Moo concisely summarizes the meaning of Romans 10:6–8 in the NLT Study Bible:

10:6-8 Here Paul quotes three phrases from Deut 30:12–14 dealing with the law, and he applies them to the Good News about Christ. We do not need to go up to heaven to find Christ (and thus to be made right with God), because God has already brought him down to earth as a man. Nor do we need to go down to the place of the dead to find Christ, because God has already raised him from the dead. To find Christ, we must simply believe in the message that is close at hand.