Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Mediums

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Chapter 8 of this book is entitled “Mediums”:

John Dyer. From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011. [endorsements]

“The message is the content we transmit from our minds to our audience, while everything that surrounds those words can be considered a medium.” Mediums may include “an email, a handwritten note, a phone call, a Facebook wall post, or any other tool we use to communicate” (p. 117).

Dyer makes three arguments about mediums (pp. 117–31):

  1. “Mediums communicate meaning.” This is evident “in the way we use various communication mediums: formality, difficulty, and speed.”
  2. “Mediums create culture (and cultural divides).”
  3. “Mediums shape thinking.” Two examples: printing press and photography.

Related: Among other things, John Dyer maintains the extraordinarily useful “Best Commentaries” site.

Intelligent Design

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Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011), 329:

ID [intelligent design] should take its rightful place in the overall circle of evidence. Standing alone, it cannot provide a full apologetic for Christianity. Rather, ID provides strong evidence against the reigning naturalism in the realm of biology, as well as some support for theism as an overarching worldview.

That’s how Groothuis concludes his chapter “Evidence for Intelligent Design” (pp. 297–329).

Equipping Counselors

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This book releases today:

Robert W. Kellemen. Equipping Counselors for Your Church: The 4E Ministry Training Strategy. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2011.

It’s endorsed by Paul Tripp, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Ed Welch, and several others.

Kellemen’s 4 E’s:

  1. Envisioning God’s Ministry
  2. Enlisting God’s Ministers for Ministry
  3. Equipping Godly Ministers for Ministry
  4. Empowering/Employing Godly Ministers for Ministry

More info (including a video and endorsements) here.

The Barber Who Wanted to Pray

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Our three-year-old daughter enjoyed this new book after it arrived in the mail yesterday:

R. C. Sproul. The Barber Who Wanted to Pray. Paintings by T. Lively Fluharty. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011. 33 pp.

It’s about Martin Luther teaching his barber, Master Peter, a simple way to pray.

You can read the whole book online here (“Preview the Book”).

Related: See Carl Trueman, “A Lesson from Peter the Barber,” Themelios 34 (2009): 3–5. Trueman’s article ends with this footnote (numbering added):

Martin Luther’s treatise on prayer can be found in the following works:

  1. Martin Luther, “To Peter Beskendorf,” in Luther: Letters of Spiritual Council (ed. and trans. Theodore G. Tappert; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1955), 124–30;
  2. idem, “A Simple Way to Pray,” in Luther’s Works (ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann; trans. Carl J. Schindler; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968), 43:187–209;
  3. idem, “Luther the Confessional Theologian: A Practical Way to Pray (1535),” in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings (ed. William R. Russell and Timothy F. Lull; 2nd ed.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), 12–17.

Bill Barrick on Noah’s Flood

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Here’s a free PDF of the following article (posted with the publisher’s permission):

William D. Barrick. “Noah’s Flood and Its Geological Implications.” Pages 251–81 in Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth. Edited by Terry Mortenson and Thane H. Ury. Green Forest, AR: Master, 2008.

A lot of this discussion is above my pay grade (esp. re geology), but it’s disappointing when non-young-earth-creationists marginalize exegesis like this.

Outline:

1. The A Priori Status of the Biblical Record of the Flood

2. The Biblical Chronology of the Flood Narrative [Literary Issues] [Read more…] about Bill Barrick on Noah’s Flood

Conferences Debating Creation

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Two upcoming conferences debating creation:

1. Reading Genesis 1–2: An Evangelical Conversation (September 30–October 1, 2011, Chattanooga)

Speakers (moderated by Victor Hamilton) as listed here:

  1. John Walton: cosmic temple approach
  2. Tremper Longman: theistic evolution
  3. Dick Averbeck: literary/intertextual approach
  4. Jack Collins: analogical days approach
  5. Todd Beall: literal/recent creationist approach

2. Creation: Biblical Options; A Gracious Dialogue (October 28–29, 2011, Houston)

Speakers:

  1. Todd Beall
  2. Craig Blaising
  3. Ligon Duncan
  4. Walter Kaiser
  5. John Mark Reynolds
  6. Bruce Waltke
  7. John Walton

 

Rafting through the Grand Canyon

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In July I went on an eight-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.

Here are some reflections, videos, and pictures.

Reflections

  1. God’s power is immense. The sheer grandeur of the Grand Canyon is breathtaking.
  2. God’s creation is creative. He combines raging rapids with calm waters, towering rugged canyons with short sloping hills, hot desert landscape with refreshing waterfalls and greenery, painfully scorching heat with cool, crisp breezes. [Read more…] about Rafting through the Grand Canyon