Archives For Historical Theology

George Whitefield: “I am content to wait till the judgement day for the clearing up of my reputation”

Andy Naselli —  January 10, 2013 — 2 Comments

abridgedGeorge Whitefield wrote,

  • Let the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified.
  • Let my name die everywhere, let even my friends forget me, if by that means the cause of the blessed Jesus may be promoted.
  • But what is Calvin, or what is Luther? Let us look above names and parties; let Jesus be our all in all—So that He is preached. . . . I care not who is uppermost. I know my place . . . even to be the servant of all.
  • I am content to wait till the judgement day for the clearing up of my reputation; and after I am dead I desire no other epitaph than this, “Here lies G.W. What sort of man he was the great day will discover.”

Quoted in Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century  (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1990), 154.

(This book adapts, rewrites, and abridges Continue Reading…

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The New Go-to Book on the NT Canon

Andy Naselli —  September 7, 2012 — 3 Comments

Michael J. Kruger. Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books.  Wheaton: Crossway, 2012. 368 pp.

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Dedicated to Michael Barrett

Andy Naselli —  May 28, 2012 — 3 Comments

This book is dedicated to Michael P. V. Barrett (Hebrews 13:7), who for almost thirty years taught Old Testament at Bob Jones University and Seminary:

Here’s how Mark Gignilliat concludes his acknowledgments:

I am grateful for my undergraduate and seminary teachers—now more than ever. I have been blessed with many good and caring professors who have taken a special interest in my academic and spiritual growth. I am dedicating this book to one teacher in particular, Dr. Michael P V Barrett. It was in Dr. Barrett’s Old Testament courses where as an undergrad a fire was lit in me for rigorous and thoughtful exegesis of Scripture. I have vivid memories of lecture halls filled with students, mouth agape at the clarity and profundity of Dr Barrett’s lectures. We were all scared of him. “Where did that come from, Dr Barrett?” one of my friends shouted out in a moment of self-forgetfulness. “Well, Mr Gage, I got it from the Bible. Do you ever read your Bible?” Though we were scared of him, we loved him and still do. I have not been very good at keeping in contact with Dr Barrett. Intended letters are still left unwritten. I imagine he is not especially happy about all of the ecclesial and theological decisions I have made; I’m not sure I’m happy with all of them either. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the light and heat of Dr. Barrett’s lectures and life. The academicians and theologians who walk the halls of an ETS, SBL, or AAR conference may never know Dr Barrett’s name. I am quite sure he does not care. But he had a shaping influence on me, and I am deeply thankful I dedicate this book to him in grateful appreciation. (p. 10)

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Warfield on the Christian Life

Andy Naselli —  March 14, 2012 — 1 Comment

This book, the first in a promising new series that Stephen Nichols and Justin Taylor are editing, comes out later this month:

Fred G. Zaspel. Warfield on the Christian Life: Living in Light of the Gospel. Theologians on the Christian Life. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012. 240 pp.

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Do You Think I Wouldn’t Obey My Own Rules?

Andy Naselli —  March 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

In C. S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , Lucy reads a spell to make hidden things visible.

To her surprise, Aslan appears in the doorway:

“Oh, Aslan,” said she, “it was kind of you to come.”

“I have been here all the time,” said he, “but you have just made me visible.”

“Aslan!” said Lucy almost a little reproachfully. “Don’t make fun of me. As if anything I could do would make you visible!” Continue Reading…

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Converting to Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism

Andy Naselli —  February 22, 2012 — Leave a comment

This book releases on March 6:

Robert L. Plummer, ed. Journeys of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

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How Did C. S. Lewis View War?

Andy Naselli —  January 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

J. Daryl Charles and Timothy J. Demy, War, Peace, and Christianity: Questions and Answers from a Just-War Perspective (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 377–81 (numbering added):

[Question 99 of 104]

How did C. S. Lewis view war?

Lewis’s views on war sprang out of deep conviction and were tempered by personal experience. As an infantry officer wounded in the First World War, Lewis experienced firsthand the death and devastation wrought by war. [n. 77: For a fuller evaluation of Lewis’s experiences and reflections on war, see Timothy J. Demy, “Technology, Progress, and the Human Condition in the Life and Thought of C. S. Lewis” (PhD diss., Salve Regina University, 2004), 76–84, 250–67.] Yet he can be understood to stand firmly within the just-war tradition, as his writings indicate. As a matter of conviction, Lewis thought that most people would become confused if they tried to sort out just-war principles and apply them to each real or potential conflict. Therefore, he encouraged citizens and soldiers, especially those of religious faith, to be keenly aware of their responsibilities vis-à-vis unlawful orders. In so doing, not only would they serve the cause of justice, but they would also provide a unified witness of moral principle to the onlooking world. Continue Reading…

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