Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Systematic Theology

Ten Theses on Union with Christ and Transformation

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Robert Letham, Union with Christ: In Scripture, History, and Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2011), 123–28:

Ten Theses on Union with Christ and Transformation

  1. The union we enjoy with Christ is more real and more fundamental than the union we have with members of our own bodies. . . .
  2. This is not a union of essence—we do not cease to be human and become God or get merged into God like ingredients in an ontological soup. This is not apotheōsis. . . .
  3. We do not lose our personal individual identities in some universal, generic humanity. . . .
  4. Union with Christ comes to expression in, and is cultivated by, the Word and sacraments. . . .
  5. The body and blood of Christ are not materially, corporeally, or physically present in the Lord’s Supper. . . .
  6. In the Lord’s Supper we are lifted up by the Holy Spirit to feed on Christ. . . .
  7. We are not hypostatically united to the Son. . . .
  8. We are united with Christ’s person. . . .
  9. It is effected and developed by the Holy Spirit through faith, in and through the means of grace: the ministry of the Word, the sacraments, and prayer (WSC 88). . . .
  10. It will eventually lead to our being “like [Christ]” (1 John 3:1–2; see also Rom. 8:29–30; 2 Cor. 3:18), for “it is the intention of the gospel to make us sooner or later like God” (Calvin).

Related: Phil Gons has collected a helpful list of resources on union with Christ.

Tim Keller Started Redeemer Church Because of Watergate

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Sort of.

  1. Tim Keller planted Redeemer Church because he entered a Presbyterian denomination that encouraged church planting.
  2. Keller entered that denomination because in his last semester at seminary he took two courses with a professor who convinced him to adopt Presbyterian theology.
  3. Keller sat under that professor because at the very last minute the professor arrived at the seminary after having bureaucratic visa problems. (The professor was British.)
  4. While that professor was having visa problems, the seminary dean prayed one day about how he didn’t know how they were going to get the professor to arrive, and his prayer partner happened to be a seminary student named Mike Ford.
  5. Mike Ford happened to have some clout to get them through the bureaucratic snag because he was the son of Gerald Ford, the sitting President of the United States. [Read more…] about Tim Keller Started Redeemer Church Because of Watergate

Ministry by His Grace and for His Glory

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Over twenty men recently honored Tom Nettles with a Festschrift:

Thomas K. Ascol and Nathan A. Finn, eds. Ministry by His Grace and for His Glory: Essays in Honor of Thomas J. Nettles. Cape Coral, FL: Founders, 2011.

They presented the book to Nettles on November 10, 2011 at Southern Seminary, and it releases today.

The book divides into three parts: historical, theological, and practical. You can view the contents and contributors here.

Warning to Calvinists: Don’t Let Your Love for Truth Excuse Factionalism

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Two new books address a familiar controversy:

  • Michael Horton. For Calvinism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.  [PDF sample]
  • Roger E. Olson. Against Calvinism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011. [PDF sample]

(Horton wins hands-down on the more attractive book cover—not to mention the argument!)

Horton’s last chapter is entitled “Calvinism Today: A SWOT Analysis.” Here’s how he introduces it:

We know from daily experience that our greatest strengths can also become our greatest weaknesses.

  1. Persistence can become stubbornness;
  2. sympathy can devolve into sentimentality; and
  3. genuine concern for others sometimes turns into an obsequious craving for approval.
  4. Remarkable gifts of leadership and creativity can be used for good or ill, depending on the motivation and the goals.
  5. The same is true of movements, since they are largely the collective activity of people like us.

It has become popular for businesses and organizations to conduct a periodical “SWOT” analysis, [Read more…] about Warning to Calvinists: Don’t Let Your Love for Truth Excuse Factionalism

HCSB vs. ESV vs. NIV

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Two months ago Liberty University hosted a discussion on Bible translation between three Bible translators:

  1. Ray Clendenen (HCSB)
  2. Wayne Grudem (ESV)
  3. Doug Moo (NIV)

I watched the three presentations and Q&A this week, and they helpfully introduce the issue:

HCSB

ESV

NIV

Panel Q&A

I’m looking forward to B&H’s book next year that will present four perspectives on Bible translation authored by the three men above plus Philip Comfort (NLT), edited by Dave Croteau and Andreas Köstenberger.

Related:

  1. The Best All-Around Book on Bible Translation
  2. How Not to Argue about Which Bible Translation Is Best

Update on 3/31/2017: In my latest attempt to explain how to interpret and apply the Bible, I include a chapter on Bible translation (pp. 50–81).

Six Videos and Related Resources

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When Alex Crain asked me some questions about Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism back in April, he also asked six other questions:

1. What is the gospel? How can God save me?

Related:

  1. “The Definition of the Gospel” (a talk I gave at a conference on April 8, 2011). Outline (3-page PDF).
  2. D. A. Carson. “The Biblical Gospel.” Pages 75–85 in For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future. Edited by Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon. London: Evangelical Alliance, 1996.
  3. ———. “The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1–19).” May 23, 2007. Text, audio, and video available. (A lightly edited manuscript of a sermon preached at The Gospel Coalition’s conference in Deerfield, IL.)
  4. ———.  “What Is the Gospel?—Revisited.” Pages 147–70 in For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. Edited by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.
  5. Greg Gilbert. What Is the Gospel? IX Marks. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.  (Foreword by D. A. Carson. Small, short (127 pp.), clear.)
  6. Milton Vincent. A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love. Bemidji, MN: Focus, 2008.  (Cf. my review.)

2. Are Mormons Christian?

Related:

  1. Ron Rhodes, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism),” in The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2631–32.
  2. The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9:2 (Summer 2005) [Read more…] about Six Videos and Related Resources

Five Exegetical Flash Points in the Justification Debate

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An introductory essay to IVP’s latest debate-book elaborates on five exegetical flash points in the justification debate:

  1. Paul’s attitude toward Judaism
  2. The role of works in final justification/judgment
  3. Justification/righteousness in the Old Testament
  4. Justifying righteousness: imputation, transformation or incorporation?
  5. The meaning of pistis

—Paul Rhodes Eddy, James K. Beilby, and Steven E. Enderlein, “Justification in Contemporary Debate,” in Justification: Five Views (ed. James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy; Spectrum Multiview Books; Downers Grove: IVP, 2011), pp. 67–81:

Here are the book’s five views:

  1. Michael S. Horton, traditional Reformed
  2. Michael F. Bird, progressive Reformed
  3. James D. G. Dunn, new perspective view
  4. Veli-Matti Käkkäinen, deification
  5. Gerald O’Collins, S.J. and Oliver P. Rafferty, Roman Catholic

Cf. Tom Schreiner’s review.

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).