HT: Google Blog
The Stain That Stays
Carl Trueman wrote this in March 2010 after the Tiger Woods saga:
Some years ago I found the argument of John Armstrong’s excellent book The Stain That Stays utterly convincing: post-conversion adultery, unlike other sins, is the one which permanently excludes one from leadership or office-bearing in the church; of course, there is forgiveness and restoration to fellowship for those who repent and ask for such; but as far as leadership goes, it’s over. I still point to that book, especially the superb last chapter on avoiding sexual sin, as required reading for men going in for ministry.
I promptly added that book to my reading list, and I finally read it this week.
John H. Armstrong. The Stain That Stays: The Church’s Response to the Sexual Misconduct of Its Leaders. Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications; Reformation and Revival Ministries, 2000.
Since writing this book, John Armstrong has shifted towards a big-tent evangelicalism and away from the conservative evangelical circles he used to be a part of (hence the foreword by Kent Hughes and endorsements by Al Mohler, John MacArthur, and Tom Nettles).
The book’s style is a bit cumbersome, but it’s an edifying read about a deadly serious issue. Here are Armstrong’s eight suggested ways that pastors should plan to prevent sexual sin (pp. 174–81):
- “Understand the nature of sexual temptation.” “In two areas, traveling and counseling, a pastor must take precautions.”
- “Understand the power of the seductive woman.” “The pastor must be especially careful to guard himself when he detects the first mannerisms that indicate a woman may have feelings that are beyond those of a healthy and pure relationship.”
- “Guard your mind.” “The pastor must guard his mind by staying away from explicitly erotic material, as well as television programs and images that fuel the fires of lust. . . . Pornography surrounds us, acting as a poison that corrupts healthy sexuality.” [Cf. Joe Tyrpak, “Help for Fighting Lust: A Meditation Plan“; Mike Salvati, “The God of Truth and the Lies of Porn.”]
- “Cultivate and protect your own marriage.” “This seems to be the plainest meaning of the wisdom given in Proverbs 5:15–23: You must enjoy your wife physically and her alone.”
- “Take precautions as you minister.” “The wise pastor cannot be overly careful.” [Cf. Mark Minnick, “Maintaining Moral Purity in the Ministry.”]
- “Maintain relationships where accountability is real.” “Every pastor needs several relationships where he is mutually accountable for his actions and relationships with others.” [Cf. Phil Gons, Matthew Hoskinson, and Andy Naselli, “Accountability.”]
- “Cultivate your spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being.” “You must know yourself and take care of your body and soul to remain strong.”
- “Consider regularly the consequences of sexual sin.” “What will this sin mean to your wife? Your children? Your congregation? Your closest friends? Your future ministry? We need to do this because the outcome of this particular sin is so deceiving.” [Cf. Randy Alcorn’s “purity principle“: purity is always smart; impurity is always stupid.]
I don’t agree with Armstrong’s thesis, but his book rightly treats sexual sin soberly. I find D. A. Carson’s argument more compelling: “Do You Think That a Fallen Christian Leader Can Ever Be Restored? If Not, Why Not? But If So, under What Conditions?” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 4.4 (2000): 87–89.
Update: Cf. 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. 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.” My 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 (contrary to how John Armstrong argues in the above book).
Video for Don Carson’s The God Who Is There
“Free audio and HD video downloads are now available for Don Carson’s 14-part overview of the Bible titled, ‘The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story'” (TGC announcement). Previously, only 10-minute video previews were available.
D. A. Carson. The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010.
Related:
Gospel-Centered Parenting
Brad Baugham served our church well on November 14 with a two-part series on gospel-centered parenting. Now it’s available online:
I’ve not heard anyone think as deeply about applying the gospel to the everyday life of little children.
Three Books on Politics
I grew up following politics more than the average kid because my Dad loved following politics. For example, he’s read just about every issue of National Review since the 1970s. He’s also one of the most brilliant people I know.
So it was a pleasure to coauthor this article with him for TGC: “Three Books on Politics: A Review Article” (14-page PDF). It summarizes and evaluates three recent evangelical books on politics:
- Wayne Grudem. Politics—According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. 619 pp.
- Carl R. Trueman. Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010. xxvii + 110 pp.
- Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner. City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era. Edited by Timothy Keller and Collin Hansen. Cultural Renewal. Chicago: Moody, 2010. 140 pp.
The format of our review is similar to these review articles:
- D. A. Carson. “Three Books on the Bible: A Critical Review.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 26 (1983): 337–67. [Reprinted in Collected Writings on Scripture.]
- D. A. Carson. “Three More Books on the Bible: A Critical Review.” Trinity Journal 27 (2006): 1–62. [Reprinted in Collected Writings on Scripture.]
- Robert Yarbrough. “The Embattled Bible: Four More Books.” Themelios 34 (2009): 6–25.
We review each book separately—tracing the argument and suggesting strengths and weaknesses—and conclude by briefly comparing the three books.
Carson’s Commentary on Matthew
The second edition of Carson’s commentary on Matthew just became available this week:
D. A. Carson. “Matthew.” Pages 23–670 in Matthew–Mark. 2nd ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary 9. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.
It’s bound with the commentary on Mark by Walter W. Wessel and Mark L. Strauss (pp. 671–989).
It’s not drastically different from the first edition (1984), but the entire commentary is updated to some degree in both content and wording. It’s about fifty pages longer than the first edition because it adds new discussions that interact with secondary literature over the past quarter-century.
Related: Zondervan also just released a superb commentary on Matthew by Grant Osborne in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series, which uses a format that serves preachers extremely well.
Two New NT Books from Baker
Two worthy additions to your library:
1. Frank Thielman. Ephesians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010. 520 pp.
Doug Moo: “This commentary will join Hoehner and O’Brien as the first references on Ephesians to which I turn.”
2. Craig L. Blomberg with Jennifer Foutz Markley. A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010. 298 pp.
Grant Osborne: “Among the many discussions of the interpretation of Scripture that have appeared lately, this is one of the best and most helpful.” That’s high praise coming from the prof who wrote this.
Why You Should Organize Your Personal Theological Library and a Way How
That’s the title of a 2600-word article (8-page PDF) I recently wrote for Reformation 21. (Pardon the formatting of the version on Ref21’s site; some of it didn’t transfer very cleanly in HTML.)
Here’s the outline:
- Why You Should Organize Your Personal Theological Library
- A Way to Organize Your Personal Theological Library
- Enter the bibliographic information for each resource in Zotero.
- Organize your resources in Zotero.
- Arrange your print books on your bookshelves in alphabetical order by author.
I created this three-minute video to supplement the article:
And here’s the article: [Read more…] about Why You Should Organize Your Personal Theological Library and a Way How