Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Systematic Theology

Five Arguments for the Deity of Christ

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In this chapter Robert Peterson marshals five arguments for the deity of Christ:

Robert A. Peterson, “Toward a Systematic Theology of the Deity of Christ,” in The Deity of Christ  (ed. Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson; Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 193–227.

(You may preview the book at WTS Books [click the Google Preview button] or Amazon [click on the book cover to “Look Inside”].)

1. Jesus is identified with God.

  • Jesus’ name is divine.
  • Yahweh passages are applied to Jesus.
  • Jesus is interchangeable with God.
  • Jesus is called God.

2. Jesus receives devotion due God alone.

Is there any basis for hope that those who do not hear of Christ in this life will be saved?

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Christopher W. Morgan, “Inclusivisms and Exclusivisms,” in Faith Comes by Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism (ed. Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson; Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 18, 26, 36:

The Traditional Classification

  1. Exclusivism: Jesus is the only Savior of the world, and one must believe God’s special revelation culminating in the gospel of Christ to be saved.
  2. Inclusivism: Jesus is the only Savior of the world, but one does not have to believe the gospel to be saved.
  3. Pluralism: All paths are valid and lead to God.

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Figure 1. What about those who have never heard the gospel? [Read more…] about Is there any basis for hope that those who do not hear of Christ in this life will be saved?

Letham Reviews Giles on Subordinationism

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Robert Letham reviews Kevin Giles’s The Trinity and Subordinationism (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002) in this eight-page appendix:

Robert Letham. “Appendix 2: Kevin Giles on Subordinationism.” Pages 489–96 in The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2004.

Letham explains,

Kevin Giles, vicar of St. Michael’s Church in North Carlton, Australia, has for thirty years contended for the ordination of women. . . .

He targets conservative evangelicals who maintain a hierarchical view of the sexes on the basis of a presumed hierarchy of being, function, or role in the Trinity. By subordinationism he means the idea that the Son is eternally set under the Father. . . . All forms of subordinationism [Giles argues] are ruled out, both by Scripture and church tradition. From this it follows that arguments for the subordination of women cannot be buttressed by appeal to the Trinity.

Letham disagrees with Giles for three major reasons: [Read more…] about Letham Reviews Giles on Subordinationism

Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be

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From a funeral homily by Jack Collins:

On Saturday, I heard Jackie say, “No parent should ever have to outlive their own child.” I heard the same words from my father’s mother when my father died; and my wife and I said the same thing when we lost our first child. The pain is horrible; the loss is beyond our ability to describe.

When we feel this grief, we are feeling that it’s just not right for this to happen. We don’t want our loved ones to suffer; we don’t want to be separated from them by death. We want to be sure that they are happy, and we want to be able to enjoy their company always.

The Bible tells us that these feelings we have are right. Death and suffering are intruders in God’s good world; they don’t belong here. And the story of Adam and Eve, the first human beings, tells us how these evil things came in: When these, the parents of us all, disobeyed God, they opened the door to all manner of sin and evil, not only for themselves, but also for us.

You don’t need me to prove it; it’s all around us. It’s why we are here today.

But the Bible story doesn’t end there: instead it tells us about how God wants to help us, to heal us of what is wrong with us.

—C. John Collins, Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? Who They Were and Why You Should Care (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 136. [Read more…] about Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be

Translation and the Doctrine of Inspiration

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Gordon D. Fee and Mark L. Strauss, How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 35–36.

One of the surprising, and from our perspective unfortunate, recent developments in the story of English translations is the reappearance of an old argument that “literal” versions are more compatible with the doctrine of the verbal inspiration of Scripture. We say “old,” because this is precisely what drove Robert Young . . . to produce a version vis-á-vis the KJV (first ed. 1862). . . .

Our first point, then, is that, as with beauty, “literal” is in the eye of the beholder, in this case meaning “in the perception of the user.” This is why we have tried to avoid the word “literal” in this book and have often put it in quote marks when we use it—because those who use it tend to have such a wide range of meanings. Unfortunately, it is also often used in the literature simply as a rhetorical device over against “meaning-based” versions.

Second, much of this rhetoric represents a poor understanding of the doctrine of verbal inspiration, which historically does not refer to the words as “words in themselves,” but “words as they convey meaning.” [Read more…] about Translation and the Doctrine of Inspiration

Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Bible

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Wayne Grudem, “Foreword,” in Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical and Scientific Responses (ed. Norman C. Nevin; Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2011), 9–10:

This is a highly significant book because it persuasively argues that Christians cannot accept modern evolutionary theory without also compromising essential teachings of the Bible.

It may at first seem easy to say ‘God simply used evolution to bring about the results he desired’, as some are proposing today. That view is called ‘theistic evolution’. However, the contributors to this volume, both scientists and biblical scholars, show that adopting theistic evolution leads to many positions contrary to the teaching of the Bible, such as these: [Read more…] about Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Bible

Sympathetic Evangelicalism

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Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 15–19 (numbering added):

[Th]e most strategic decision we ever make is the decision of what to emphasize.

Evangelicalism has always been concerned to underline certain elements of the Christian message.

  1. We have a lot to say about God’s revelation, but we emphasize the business end of it, where God’s voice is heard normatively: the Bible.
  2. We know that everything Jesus did has power for salvation in it, but we emphasize the one event that is literally crucial: the cross.
  3. We know that God is at work on his people through the full journey of their lives, from the earliest glimmers of awareness to the ups and downs of the spiritual life, but we emphasize the hinge of all spiritual experience: conversion.
  4. We know there are countless benefits that flow from being joined to Christ, but we emphasize the big one: heaven.

Bible, cross, conversion, heaven. These are the right things to emphasize. But in order to emphasize anything, you must presuppose a larger body of truth to select from. . . . [Read more…] about Sympathetic Evangelicalism