Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Carson and Moo on the Contribution of Revelation’s Eschatology

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D. A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), pp. 721–22 (bold emphasis added):

If, as we have argued, Revelation focuses on the end of history, then it is in the area of eschatology that it makes its most important contribution. Nowhere are we given a more detailed description of the events of the end; and while many interpreters have been guilty of finding far more specifics in John’s visions than his symbolism allows and of unwisely insisting that only their own circumstances fit those specifics, we should not go to the other extreme and ignore those details that John does make relatively clear.

But it is shortsighted to think of eschatology simply in the sense of what will happen in the end times. For the End, in biblical thought, shapes and informs the past and the present. Knowing how history ends helps us understand how we are to fit into it now. Particularly  is this so because the New Testament makes it clear that even now we are in “the last days.” Thus, Revelation reminds us of the reality and severity of evil, and of the demonic forces that are active in history. . . . At the same time, the degree to which Revelation exhorts believers should not be neglected. . . .

John’s visions also place in clear relief the reality of God’s judgment. A day will come when his wrath will be poured out, when sins will have to be accounted for, when the fate of every individual will depend on whether or not his or her name is “written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Equally clear, of course, is the reward that God has in store for those who “keep the word of endurance” and resolutely stand against the devil and his earthly minions, even at the cost of life itself. John’s visions are a source of comfort for suffering and persecuted believers in all ages.

An Illustration of Eisegetical, Manipulative Evangelism

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tract

I was reminded of this tract today while re-reading George Mish Marsden‘s Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism: 1870-1925 (2d ed.; New York: Oxford, 2006), p. 100. (It also occurs on p. 100 in the 1980 edition.) I spent a while searching for an image of it and finally found one on Timmy Brister’s blog.

Although no doubt well intentioned, this tract illustrates (1) evangelism that is both eisegetical and manipulative and (2) yet another reason that theology matters.

Minnick: “Theology Matters”

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I benefited immensely in 2003 from these two four-page articles by my former pastor, Dr. Mark Minnick:

  1. “Theology Matters” (part 1)
  2. “Theology Matters” (part 2)

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The two PDFs above occur in the middle of the Sept./Oct. and Nov./Dec. 2003 issues of Frontline. These two articles condense Minnick’s outstanding four-part sermon series:

  1. Theology Matters (7-20-03)
  2. Theological Accountability (7-27-03)
  3. Theological Definition (8-10-03)
  4. Assessing Theology (8-17-03)

Carson on Ezekiel 1-3

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This new article is available as a PDF:

D. A. Carson, “Excerpts From A Sermon: The Call of the Prophet in Declining Time: Ezekiel 1–3,” The Spurgeon Fellowship Journal (Fall 2007).

Highlights:

“Now what is vital for us, in the opening chapters, is the nature of God’s call on Ezekiel’s life. For God does not call all prophets in exactly the same way.”

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Review of Yarbrough’s “The Salvation Historical Fallacy?”

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Yarbrough, Robert Wayne. The Salvation Historical Fallacy? Reassessing the History of New Testament Theology. Edited by Robert Morgan. History of Biblical Interpretation Series 2. Leiden: Deo, 2004. xiv + 402 pp.

1. Introduction

Yarbrough is a NT professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he serves as chair of the NT department. The Salvation Historical Fallacy? (henceforth SHF) builds on Yarbrough’s “The heilsgeschichtliche Perspective in Modern New Testament Theology” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1985; xiii + 520 pp.), incorporating two additional decades of research (cf. many of the articles in Yarbrough’s Curriculum Vitae).

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Review of Harrisville’s and Sundberg’s “The Bible in Modern Culture”

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Harrisville, Roy A. and Walter Sundberg. The Bible in Modern Culture: Baruch Spinoza to Brevard Childs. 2d ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. xiii + 349 pp. $35.00.
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Harrisville and Sundberg (henceforth, HS) are professors at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Harrisville is professor emeritus of NT, and Sundberg is professor of church history. This second edition updates the 1995 edition, subtitled Theology and Historical-Critical Method from Spinoza to Käsemann, by slightly revising the pervious chapters and adding new ones on Schlatter, Ricoeur, and Childs.

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Review of Neill’s and Wright’s “The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861-1986”

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Neill, Stephen and Tom Wright. The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861–1986. 2d ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. 464 pp. $39.95 paper.

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Stephen Neill (1900–1984) was a missionary, Anglican Bishop, professor, and linguist, and N. T. Wright (b. 1948), who earned his Ph.D. from Oxford in 1980, is now the famous and influential Bishop of Durham. The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861–1986 (henceforth, INT) attempts to summarize the major people and events in the vast field of NT interpretation over a 125-year period. Neill’s first edition, which was the outgrowth of his Firth Lectures at the University of Nottingham in 1962 (p. ix), was published in 1966 and covered one hundred years of NT interpretation (1861–1961). Neill began updating INT for its second edition, but he died before completing it. He did, however, discuss the second edition with Wright, who edited Neill’s work (chapters 1–8, pp. 1–359) and replaced Neill’s previous conclusions with a final chapter that accounts for twenty-five more years of NT interpretation (pp. 360–449). The subject matter is almost exclusively British with some discussions of significant advances elsewhere (e.g., Germany), so the volume could be appropriately titled The Interpretation of the New Testament in Britain from 1861 to 1986.

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