Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Historical Theology

David Bebbington Reviews “Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism”

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Several years ago Collin Hansen and I coedited a debate-book on evangelicalism.

David Bebbington’s famous quadrilateral features prominently in our book (cf. pp. 70, 73, 75, 95, 106, 119, 121, 122, 128, 151, 153, 157, 169–76, 182, 188, 196, 209–10), so I was eager to see what Bebbington thinks of our book in his review. I read his review in December 2012, and I’ve been checking regularly since then for this review to become available online. It’s now available as a PDF:

David W. Bebbington. “About the Definition of Evangelicalism . . . .” Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals 83 (2012): 1–6.

Overall, his review is favorable and generous. I’m grateful.

C. S. Lewis at War: The Dramatic Story Behind Mere Christianity

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warFocus on the Family Radio Theatre has done it again: they’ve produced another first-class audio drama.

This one is titled C. S. Lewis at War: The Dramatic Story Behind Mere Christianity.

It’s only 2.5-hours long, and the time goes by very quickly.

It also comes with an unabridged audiobook of Mere Christianity (~7.25 hours).

2-minute video: [Read more…] about C. S. Lewis at War: The Dramatic Story Behind Mere Christianity

Two New Church History Surveys by My Former Seminary Professors

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Two of my seminary church history professors wrote textbooks that released this fall:

Beale1 Beale2 woodbridge

  1. David Beale. Historical Theology in-Depth: Themes and Contexts of Doctrinal Development Since the First Century. 2 vols. [Volume 1 | Volume 2] Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 2013. 532 + 505 pp. (“Look inside” here and here.)
  2. John D. Woodbridge and Frank A. James III. Church History, Volume 2: From Pre-Reformation to the Present Day; The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013. 864 pp. 25-page PDF sample. (This is the sequel to Everett Ferguson’s volume 1.)

David Beale taught me at Bob Jones University, and John Woodbridge taught me at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. [Read more…] about Two New Church History Surveys by My Former Seminary Professors

Evangelical Unity and Denominational Diversity

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chuteChute, Anthony L., Christopher W. Morgan, and Robert A. Peterson, eds. Why We Belong: Evangelical Unity and Denominational Diversity. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. 251 pp.

My endorsement:

This book promotes a healthy Christian unity by showing how and why God’s family is much larger than any one denomination. [Read more…] about Evangelical Unity and Denominational Diversity

Lloyd-Jones: “I prefer to call myself a conservative evangelical”

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From a rare interview with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (see 5:45–7:18):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Z-MBHKREsS8&start=345s

Question [at 6:07 in the video]: Are you a fundamentalist?

Lloyd-Jones’s answer: Like many others I don’t like the term. I prefer to call myself a conservative evangelical. [Read more…] about Lloyd-Jones: “I prefer to call myself a conservative evangelical”

Spurgeon: A Living Theology of Suffering

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9781781911228v3Tom Nettles, “Sickness, Suffering, Depression,” ch. 17 in Living by Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Fearn, Scotland: Mentor, 2013), 594:

Spurgeon never doubted that his exquisite pain, frequent sicknesses, and even despondency were given to him by God for his sanctification in a wise and holy purpose. [Read more…] about Spurgeon: A Living Theology of Suffering

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

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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 [Read more…] about George Whitefield: “I am content to wait till the judgement day for the clearing up of my reputation”