Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Practical Theology

Seven Synthesizing Conclusions about Ethnicity

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Here’s how D. A. Carson introduces J. Daniel Hays’s From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race (ed. D. A. Carson; New Studies in Biblical Theology 14; Downers Grove: IVP, 2003) in the series preface (pp. 9–10):

This volume combines fine technical scholarship on complex matters of history and race with a prophetic call to Christians to abjure racism. On the one hand, it traces out much of what the Bible says about the diversity of races and cultures, against the background of Ancient Near Eastern social history (its treatment of the ‘curse of Ham’ is particularly penetrating and convincing); on the other, it exposes some of the glib, unbiblical, and frankly immoral stances that not only characterize a fair bit of Western scholarship, but continue to surface in our attitudes and relationships. Dr J. Daniel Hays is able simultaneously to make us long for the new heaven and the new earth, when men and women from every tongue and tribe and people and nation will gather around the One who sits on the throne and around the Lamb, and to cause us to blush with shame when we recognize afresh that the church of Jesus Christ is to be already an outpost of that consummated kingdom in this fallen world. This book deserves the widest circulation and the most thoughtful reading, for it corrects erroneous scholarship while calling Christians to reform sinful attitudes. If the book is sometimes intense, it is because the problems it addresses are not trivial.

Hays concludes with seven “main synthesizing conclusions” that summarize the book (pp. 201–5): [Read more…] about Seven Synthesizing Conclusions about Ethnicity

Christopher Ash on Christianity and Sexuality

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The sixth CCI esssay is now available: Christopher Ash, “Christianity and Sexuality” (PDF | HTML). (All CCI essays are now available in both PDF and HTML format.)

Christopher Ash is Director of the Cornhill Training Course for the Proclamation Trust in London. He studied theology at Oxford University, where he was awarded the University Prize. He is the author of several books including Marriage: Sex in the Service of God (Leicester: IVP, 2003) and Married for God: Making Your Marriage the Best It Can Be (Leicester: IVP, 2007).

Here’s an outline of his 34-page essay: [Read more…] about Christopher Ash on Christianity and Sexuality

You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead

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That’s the thesis of Randy Alcorn’s The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2001).

Also available are an audio book, study guide, and DVD presentation:

The Treasure Principle is a short, pocket-size book (122 pp.) that one can easily read in one sitting. It’s very edifying.

Summary

Alcorn calls this “the treasure principle”: “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.”

He supports this with six “treasure principle keys”:

  1. “God owns everything. I’m His money manager.”
  2. “My heart always goes where I put God’s money.”
  3. “Heaven, not earth, is my home.”
  4. “I should live not for the dot [life on earth] but for the line [eternity in heaven].”
  5. “Giving is the only antidote to materialism.”
  6. “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.”

Highlights

Two portions are especially memorable.

[Read more…] about You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead

Biblical Parenting Conference with Tedd Tripp

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This week I profited from listening to a series that has been in my MP3 queue for months: a biblical parenting conference with Tedd Tripp from September 19-20, 2008 (see the audio and video below). Particularly memorable is one of Tripp’s illustrations in session 4: tying good apples to a bad apple tree is as profitable as behavior modification that doesn’t deal with heart issues.

Tedd Tripp has authored the following books (and corresponding media):

[Read more…] about Biblical Parenting Conference with Tedd Tripp

Q and A with D. A. Carson and Mark Dever

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D. A. Carson and Mark Dever ministered together to pastors in South Africa in January 2007, and they jointly conducted four edifying Q&A sessions:

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Related: Dever interviewed Carson on June 13, 2008:

Voddie Baucham: What He Must Be

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Crossway has just published a provocative book:

Voddie T. Baucham Jr. What He Must Be: …If He Wants to Marry My Daughter. Wheaton: Crossway, 2009. [PDF of chapter 1]

Baucham explains what this book is about (p. 9):

My desire in this book is to kill two birds with one stone. First, I want to lay out a clear, balanced, realistic, biblical picture of what moms and dads should be looking for on behalf of their daughters and seeking to produce in their sons. . . .

In addition, I want to provide a road map for men who have a desire to lead their families biblically but simply do not know how.

He concludes (p. 206),

I intend to walk my daughter down the aisle one day. When I do, the minister is going to ask, “Who gives this woman to be married?” If I am going to answer, “I do” with a clear conscience, then I simply have no choice but to invest significant time into vetting any potential suitor. I cannot give my approval of a man whom God’s Word disqualifies. I love my daughter too much. I love my grandchildren too much. But most importantly, I love my Lord too much to settle for less.

The book is provocative in at least two ways: content and tone.

  1. Content: Baucham holds no punches when he describes what he thinks biblical manhood involves.
  2. Tone: Baucham is bold, confident, and direct. This is often refreshing, but to people in some contexts, this dogmatism will not be well received.

[Read more…] about Voddie Baucham: What He Must Be

Five Conclusions about Material Possessions

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Here’s how D. A. Carson introduces Craig L. Blomberg‘s Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions (ed. D. A. Carson; New Studies in Biblical Theology 7; Downers Grove: IVP, 2001) in the series preface (p. 9):

Dr Blomberg’s volume is an extraordinary achievement. With remarkable compression, this book not only guides the reader through almost all the biblical passages that have a bearing on poverty and wealth, but weaves the exegesis into a biblical theology that is simultaneously faithful to the historic texts and pastorally sensitive to the immense issues facing today’s church. Dr Blomberg cannot simplistically condemn wealth: he has learned from Abraham, Job and Philemon. Nor can he exonerate acquisitiveness: he has learned from Amos, Jesus and James. The result is a book that is, quite frankly, the best one on the subject. It will not make its readers comfortable, but neither will it make them feel manipulated. Read it and pass it on.

[Read more…] about Five Conclusions about Material Possessions

Purity is always smart; impurity is always stupid

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That’s the thesis of Randy Alcorn‘s The Purity Principle: God’s Safeguards for Life’s Dangerous Trails (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003).

I read through this little 94-page volume in one sitting this evening. It’s outstanding. Alcorn’s approach to the issue of purity is biblically informed, sobering, wise, refreshing, and motivating.

Related: Alcorn lists the following resources on his website:

  1. The Purity Principle Study Guide
  2. articles on sexual purity: page 1 | page 2
  3. Alcorn’s MP3s, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentation on sexual purity
  4. Guidelines for sexual purity (Alcorn originally prepared this for his daughters.)
  5. Links to resources for sexual purity
  6. Selected Scriptures related to sexual purity