Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Politics, Conscience, and the Church

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I recently teamed up with my friend Jonathan Leeman to write both a book and an article on politics, conscience, and the church:

New Book (Crossway)

Leeman, Jonathan, and Andrew David Naselli. How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics? 9Marks: Church Questions. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020. (63 pp.)

[Update on 9/2/2020: The book is available for free as an audiobook.]

New Article (Themelios)

Leeman, Jonathan, and Andrew David Naselli. “Politics, Conscience, and the Church: Why Christians Passionately Disagree with One Another over Politics, Why They Must Agree to Disagree over Jagged-Line Political Issues, and How.” Themelios 45 (2020): 13–31. (PDF | Web Version)

Here’s the abstract:

Today many evangelical churches feel political tension. We recommend a way forward by answering three questions:

(1) Why do Christians passionately disagree with one another over politics? We give two reasons: (a) Christians passionately care about justice and believe that their political convictions promote justice, and (b) Christians have different degrees of wisdom for making political judgments and tend to believe that they have more wisdom than those who differ.

(2) Why must Christians agree to disagree over jagged-line political issues? After explaining straight-line vs. jagged-line political issues, we give two reasons: (a) Christians must respect fellow Christians who have differently calibrated consciences on jagged-line issues, and (b) insisting that Christians agree on jagged-line issues misrepresents Christ to non-Christians.

(3) How must Christians who disagree over jagged-line political issues agree to disagree? We explain three ways: (a) acknowledge leeway on jagged-line political issues; (b) unite to accomplish the mission Christ gave the church; and (c) prioritize loving others over convincing them that your convictions about jagged-line political issues are right.

How the Book and Article Compare

The message is basically the same in the book and article, but we target different audiences. In the little book we target laypeople, and in the more academic article, we target church leaders. (The book contains no footnotes.)

3 Recent Presentations

I recently presented the gist of our work in three settings:

1. Bob Jones University Seminary (November 12, 2019)

I addressed this topic for the annual Stewart Custer Lecture Series: Part 1 | Part 2.

Sam Horn interviewed me about it (5.5 minutes):

2. Bethlehem College & Seminary Chapel (February 12, 2020)

3. Thabiti Anyabwile’s Just Gospel Conference in Alexandria, Virginia (March 6, 2020)

In the final video above, Thabiti’s introduction starts about 7 minutes in. About 49 minutes in (at the end of my talk), Thabiti joins me on stage for about 11 minutes to dialogue. He is a gracious man.

I spoke on Day 2 of 3 at the Just Gospel Conference. On Day 1 and at the beginning of Day 2, I got the sense that many of the Christians attending this conference were more left-leaning politically than I am. Rather than mask any differences or throw out red meat, I decided to try to love my brothers and sisters by uncomfortably addressing a controversial topic—political parties in America—in order to encourage some hard conversations. The controversial content I added is not in the book or article. It illustrates how I am wrestling with political issues in my American context this election season. Here’s that section from my manuscript: [Read more…] about Politics, Conscience, and the Church

The Millennial Maze: A Panel on the Millennium

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I recently moderated a panel on the millennium:

The title of the panel is “The Millennial Maze,” which misled many people at the conference to assume the panel would be about millennials!

The panel was part of the Bethlehem College & Seminary Conference for Pastors + Church Leaders and took place on February 4, 2020.

Here’s how I introduce the three panelists: [Read more…] about The Millennial Maze: A Panel on the Millennium

Four Reasons to Read Rebekah Merkle’s “Eve in Exile”

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9Marks just published my review of Rebekah Merkle’s Eve in Exile: And the Restoration of Femininity (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2016).

It’s not so much a critical review as it is a case for Christians to read it. I suggest four reasons:

  1. Her book is timely.
  2. Her book is wise.
  3. Her book is witty.
  4. Her book is motivating.

When my eleven-year-old daughter, Kara, was reading the book, I asked her what she thought of the author. [Read more…] about Four Reasons to Read Rebekah Merkle’s “Eve in Exile”

What the New Testament Teaches about Divorce and Remarriage

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I contributed an article on divorce and remarriage to the latest issue of the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal:

Andrew David Naselli. “What the New Testament Teaches about Divorce and Remarriage.” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 24 (2019): 3–44.

Evangelicals hold three main views on divorce and remarriage:

I argue for view 3b.

Here’s the outline: [Read more…] about What the New Testament Teaches about Divorce and Remarriage

Is Every Sin Outside the Body except Immoral Sex? Weighing Whether 1 Corinthians 6:18b Is Paul’s Statement or a Corinthian Slogan

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I may now share a PDF of this article that released eighteen months ago in the Journal of Biblical Literature:

Andrew David Naselli. “Is Every Sin Outside the Body except Immoral Sex? Weighing Whether 1 Corinthians 6:18b Is Paul’s Statement or a Corinthian Slogan.” JBL 136 (2017): 969–87.

Here’s the abstract:

In 1 Cor 6:18b–c, Paul writes, “Every sin, whatever a person commits, is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” This essay weighs whether 1 Cor 6:18b is Paul’s statement or whether Paul is quoting a Corinthian slogan, and it concludes that the second view is more plausible.

Update: 

  1. My Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians (August 28, 2020)
  2. Tracing the Argument of 1 Corinthians: A Phrase Diagram (April 28, 2023)
  3. John Piper agrees that 1 Cor 6:18b is a Corinthian slogan (April 6, 2026).

Evaluating Theological Interpretation of Scripture: An Interview with Brian Collins

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I recently micro-read this revised PhD dissertation:

Brian C. Collins. Scripture, Hermeneutics, and Theology: Evaluating Theological Interpretation of Scripture. Greenville, SC: Exegesis & Theology, 2012.

It’s outstanding. You can download a free PDF of the book here.

Brian Collins and I were PhD students together and were members of the same church. We used to spend the first half of each Saturday morning doing our Hebrew exegesis homework together for the upcoming week. Of all the students I took courses with, Brian is probably the most well-read.

Brian kindly agreed to answer some questions about his PhD dissertation. [Read more…] about Evaluating Theological Interpretation of Scripture: An Interview with Brian Collins

The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective

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This book releases this month:

Barrett, Matthew, ed. The Doctrine by Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019.

I contributed the essay on Romans.

Here are the contents:

Foreword (D. A. Carson)

Introduction: The Foolishness of Justification (Matthew Barrett)

Part One: Justification in Biblical Perspective

1. “He Believed the Lord”: The Pedigree of Justification in the Pentateuch (Stephen Dempster)

2. Singing and Living Justification by Faith Alone: The Psalms and the Wisdom Literature (Allan Harman)

3. Salvation Is the Lord’s: Prophetic Perspectives (Willem VanGemeren)

4. Setting the Record Straight: Second Temple Judaism and Works Righteousness (Robert J. Cara)

5. What Does Justification Have to Do with the Gospels? (Brian Vickers)

6. The Righteous God Righteously Righteouses the Unrighteous: Justification according to Romans (Andrew David Naselli)

7. By Grace You Have Been Saved through Faith: Justification in the Pauline Epistles (Brandon Crowe)

8. An Epistle of Straw? Reconciling James and Paul (Dan McCartney)

9. The New Quest for Paul: A Critique of the New Perspective on Paul (Timo Laato)

10. What’s Next? Justification after the New Perspective (David A. Shaw)

Part Two: Justification in Theological Perspective

11. “Behold, the Lamb of God”: Theology Proper and the Inseparability of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement from Forensic Justification and Imputation (Stephen J. Wellum)

12. Raised for Our Justification: The Christological, Covenantal, Forensic, and Eschatological Contours of an Ambiguous Relationship (Matthew Barrett)

13. The Theology of Justification by Faith: The Theological Case for Sola Fide (Mark Thompson)

14. The Passive and Active Obedience of Christ: Retrieving a Biblical Distinction (Brandon Crowe)

15. A Contested Union: Union with Christ and the Justification Debate (David VanDrunen)

16. Faith Works: Properly Understanding the Relationship between Justification and Sanctification (R. Lucas Stamps)

17. Justification, the Law, and the New Covenant (Jason Meyer)

Part Three: Justification in Church History

18. Reformation Invention or Historic Orthodoxy? Justification in the Fathers (Gerald Bray)

19. The Evolution of Justification: Justification in the Medieval Traditions (Nick Needham)

20. Can This Bird Fly? The Reformation as Reaction to the Via Moderna’s Covenantal, Voluntarist Justification Theology (Matthew Barrett)

21. The First and Chief Article: Luther’s Discovery of Sola Fide and Its Controversial Reception in Lutheranism (Korey Maas)

22. The Ground of Religion: Justification according to the Reformed Tradition (J. V. Fesko)

23. Not by Faith Alone? An Analysis of the Roman Catholic Doctrine of Justification from Trent to the Joint Declaration (Leonardo De Chirico)

24. The Eclipse of Justification: Justification during the Enlightenment and Post-Enlightenment Eras (Bruce P. Baugus)

Part Four: Justification in Pastoral Practice

25. Justification and Conversion: Attractions and Repulsions to Rome (Chris Castaldo)

26. The Ground on Which We Stand: The Necessity of Justification for Pastoral Ministry (Sam Storms)

Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11

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This debate-book releases this week:

Jared M. Compton and Andrew David Naselli, eds. Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11. Viewpoints. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2019.

You can preview the book with Amazon’s “Look inside” feature. [Read more…] about Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11