Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Practical Theology

Carson: How Do We Know If God Is Disciplining Us?

by

Don Carson answered that question recently for TGC’s blog.

He draws three inferences:

  1. We are likely to make exegetical and theological mistakes when we take any one of these passages and treat it as if it explains all suffering.
  2. In any suffering, or in any other event for that matter, God is doubtless doing many things, perhaps thousands of things, millions of things, even if we can only detect two or three or a handful. [Cf. Piper’s tweet.]
  3. It follows that when we face suffering of any kind, we should use the occasion for self-examination.

Conclusion: “We sometimes observe that hard cases make bad theology. But easy, formulaic answers to questions of suffering are invariably reductionistic — and they make bad theology, too.”

Read the whole thing.

Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films

by

Bourne_0Wayne Grudem evaluates the Jason Bourne films (his critique applies to The Bourne Legacy as well) when he discusses the CIA in Politics—According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 424–25:

THE CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the primary organization that gathers and analyzes information about other countries, especially about potential enemies of the United States. In other words, the CIA coordinates America’s spy network abroad. [Read more…] about Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films

Keller and Carson: Greco-Roman Slavery ≠ Race-Based Slavery

by

Many modern readers assume that slavery in the New Testament is equivalent to the race-based slavery of the African slave trade. While not defending the Greco-Roman institution of slavery, Tim Keller and Don Carson explain why it’s important not to equate it with the race-based slavery that we may be more familiar with.

Tim Keller

KellerTimothy Keller, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (New York: Dutton, 2012), 213–14, 280–83.

Paul is speaking to servants and masters [in Ephesians 6:5–9], and this raises many questions in the minds of modern readers about the Bible’s depiction of the evil of slavery. While much can be said about this subject,* it is important to remember that slavery in the Greco-Roman world was not the same as the New World institution that developed in the wake of the African slave trade. Slavery in Paul’s time was not race-based and was seldom lifelong. It was more like what we would call indentured servitude. But for our purposes, think of this passage as a rhetorical amplifier and consider this: If slave owners are told they must not manage workers in pride and through fear, how much more should this be true of employers today? And if slaves are told it is possible to find satisfaction and meaning in their work, how much more should this be true of workers today? [Read more…] about Keller and Carson: Greco-Roman Slavery ≠ Race-Based Slavery

Keeping Holiday: “You don’t find the Founder; he finds you. He’s not just the Founder; he’s the Finder, too.”

by

Meade_0I recently read this book to my daughter Kara, and she hung on every word:

Starr Meade. Keeping Holiday. Illustrations by Justin Gerard. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 192 pp.

Here’s what Jenni and I wrote about it in 2008 in a Themelios review entitled “Theology for Kids: Recommending Some Recent Books for Younger Children”: [Read more…] about Keeping Holiday: “You don’t find the Founder; he finds you. He’s not just the Founder; he’s the Finder, too.”

Sale This Week for God’s Love: A Bible Storybook (iPad App = $0.99; Audio = Free; Book = $13)

by

champThere’s a sale this week (through Nov. 25) for God’s Love: A Bible Storybook:

  • The iPad app is $0.99 (normally $9.99).
  • The MP3 download is free.
  • The book is $13 (normally $24.95) with free shipping. Just use the code “MK12THK” during checkout.

I interviewed the author, Champ Thornton, about this children’s book in July.

Critiquing William Webb’s Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic

by

Reaoch - coverFive months ago I highlighted Don Carson’s critique of William Webb’s trajectory hermeneutic (copied at the end of this post).

Now there’s a more comprehensive, book-length critique:

Benjamin Reaoch. Women, Slaves, and the Gender Debate: A Complementarian Response to the Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2012.

It revises Reaoch’s PhD dissertation at Southern Seminary under Tom Schreiner, who writes the foreword.

Reaoch makes several arguments:

  • Slavery and the role of women are two critically different issues.
  • The NT neither condemns nor commends slavery.
  • Gender passages apply transculturally because they are rooted in creation.

[Read more…] about Critiquing William Webb’s Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic