This evening John Piper wrote a moving short essay: “Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge Collapsed.”
Systematic Theology
D. A. Carson on “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”
An edited manuscript of D. A. Carson‘s “The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-19)” is now available at The Gospel Coalition site. Carson preached this message in May at The Gospel Coalition’s first conference: video | audio.
Other resources at TGC site: articles (including an RSS feed for new articles), audio & video (including interviews), foundational documents.
Blomberg Reviews Roy’s "How Much Does God Foreknow?"
In the latest RBL, Craig Blomberg positively reviews Steven Roy‘s How Much Does God Foreknow: A Comprehensive Biblical Study. The review is available as a four-page PDF.
Piper: "Is There Injustice with Our God?"
While meditating this morning on Romans 9:14-18, I recalled a hymn that John Piper penned to accompany his sermon “The Hardening of Pharaoh and the Hope of the World.” It’s entitled “Is There Injustice With Our God?” Glorious. Check it out.
D. A. Carson on “Hidden” Elements in Current Discussions over Science and Origins
The Spring 2007 edition of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology just came out (SBTS press release). The editorial and forum are available as PDFs.
D. A. Carson leads the forum by answering this question:
In any complex debate, it is not long before there are “hidden” elements in the discussion, i.e., elements that are gumming up the integrity of debate because one side or the other fails to recognize their existence and significance. What “hidden” elements are there in current discussions over science and origins? (p. 78)
Carson’s 7.5-column answer (pp. 78-81) includes three major points:
“(1) Considerable confusion exists over what a biblically faithful understanding of the relationship between God and the created order ought to be. Consider three possibilities.”
- “(a) In an open universe (not to be confused with “open theism”), God interacts openly with the created order.”
- “(b) The direct opposite of the first option is the closed universe. By this I mean that everything that happens in the universe is caused by other things in the universe. There is no outsider, and certainly no God who reaches in and controls things. Cause and effect take place within the closed order of creation.”
- “(c) An alternative to both is the ordered and controlled universe. Here everything that happens takes place within God’s control: not a bird falls from the heavens, Jesus reminds us, apart from God’s sanction.”
- “My point, in any case, is simple: all sides often bring certain assumptions about this relationship to the table, and rule certain arguments out of order simply because they cannot see beyond their assumptions.”
“(2) Two views of what science is are battling to prevail in the public square.”
- “Although the two overlap, the first is more narrowly methodological than the second. The first asserts that science is tasked with understanding as much as possible of the physical order, using the time-tested tools of careful observation, measurement, controlled experiments that can be replicated, deploying testable hypotheses that win consensus or are modified or overturned by subsequent advances, and so forth.”
- “The second view of what science is adopts all the methodological commitments of the first, but adds a philosophical commitment: science in this second view steadfastly refuses to allow into the discussion, at any level, any appeal whatsoever to anything supernatural.”
- “But my point is at the moment a simpler one: Very often conflicting definitions of ‘science’ lurk behind the intensity of our debates.”
“(3) Hermeneutical discussions regarding the opening chapters of Genesis often hide another set of assumptions. . . . [M]y point is the simpler one: on all sides of this discussion, very often hidden elements gum up the quality of the discussion.”
CCGG MP3s
Scott Aniol just announced that he has made available the MP3s and PDF notebooks for the past one-day annual conferences at his church called “The Conference on the Church for God’s Glory.” I profited from attending the first two conferences in May 2003 and 2004.
Carson’s Review of N. T. Wright’s “Evil and the Justice of God”
Today the Review of Biblical Literature published D. A. Carson‘s review of N. T. Wright‘s Evil and the Justice of God. Carson’s penetrating review is available as a 10-page PDF.
Kevin Bauder on "The Use of Scripture in Theology"
“The Use of Scripture in Theology” is another first-class mini-series of short essays by Kevin Bauder.
- Part 1
- Part 2: The Problem of Ambiguity
- Part 3: The Analogy of Faith
- Part 4: Principles of Comparison
- Part 5: Remaining Considerations
Note: Central Seminary emails these essays every Friday afternoon. You can join the mailing list (as well as access the archives) here.