Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique

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This 1007–page book releases this month:

J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Christopher Shaw, Ann K. Gauger, and Wayne Grudem, eds. Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.

Check out this 79-page PDF excerpt. It includes …

  • the endorsements
  • the Table of Contents
  • Stephen Meyer’s scientific and philosophical introduction
  • Wayne Grudem’s biblical and theological introduction

I recently spent about twenty hours surveying the book. I micro-read the introduction, macro-read or surveyed the sections on science and philosophy (each article has a helpful short summary at the beginning), and more carefully read the section on theology.

My take: The book is impressive, comprehensive, and compelling. [Read more…] about Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique

Please No Explanations inside the Church

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Those words appear behind me in this picture:

That picture is about a week old. Rick Segal took it while we were visiting Israel. It made us laugh because directly behind me is a Catholic church building in Jerusalem. You can navigate 360 degrees on Google maps and see that in the above picture my back is to the building’s entrance while I am directly facing the temple mount’s eastern wall.

The authorial intent of the words on the sign are probably to request that tour guides not talk openly inside the church building. But the words made me laugh because in some ways they encapsulate why Protestants are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation today.

Happy Reformation Day!

Related:

  1. 20 Resources on the Protestant Reformation
  2. “Here I Stand”: Elsa (from Frozen’s “Let It Go”) vs. Luther (at the Diet of Worms)
  3. Reeves Recommends Reformation Reading

Systematic Theology Study Bible

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This new study Bible releases tomorrow:

Morgan, Christopher W., Robert A. Peterson, and Stephen J. Wellum, eds. Systematic Theology Study Bible: Theology Rooted in the Word of God. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.

This graphic highlights the book’s features:

Here’s a 20-page PDF excerpt from Genesis.

The book’s introduction highlights its four features: [Read more…] about Systematic Theology Study Bible

Con Campbell’s Video Series on Paul

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I recently purchased and watched Con Campbell’s seven episodes in his video series In Pursuit of Paul the Apostle.

Here’s a one-minute preview:

New Testament scholars know of Con as an expert on the ancient Greek language. He’s also skilled at presenting the historical-cultural context of the New Testament in an interesting and accessible way.

I look forward to his forthcoming videos series on Peter (2018) and John (2019).

(I just returned home from a trip to Israel, and I enjoyed visiting several of the sites Con features in these videos.)

Eureka! Discovering Gold in God’s Word

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That was the title of a conference Bethlehem College & Seminary hosted last month. It featured new books on how to read the Bible by three of our professors.

Here are the five videos from the conference (three talks, two Q&As): [Read more…] about Eureka! Discovering Gold in God’s Word

The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation by Bryan Garner

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I recently finished micro-reading this mammoth reference book:

Bryan A. Garner. The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation. Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. xxvii + 583 pp.

You can survey the contents using Amazon’s “look inside” feature.

Here are three thoughts I had while reading the book: [Read more…] about The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation by Bryan Garner

How Should You Pronounce J. Gresham Machen’s Middle Name?

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John Gresham Machen (1881–1937) is a famous NT scholar who departed the theologically liberal Princeton Seminary and took the lead in forming Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

People often mispronounce Machen’s middle name:

  • Incorrect: GRESH-ahm
  • Correct: GRESS-ahm

Support:

  • Ned Stonehouse’s biography of Machen explains, “The name J. Gresham Machen, and especially the maternal family name Gresham, is frequently mispronounced. At the request of the publisher of The Literary Digest, Machen wrote at some length on the subject, and on the background of this information the magazine in its issue of July 14, 1934 carried the following key over the name of the lexicographer Frank H. Vizetelly: ‘gress’ am, not gresh’ am; may’ chen, not may’ ken.’ The chief pitfall in the pronouncing of the name, as Machen said, is in the drawing of the ‘s‘ and ‘h’ together in Gresham. The ‘h’ is silent as in ‘Markham’ or Badham’” (p. 511).
  • William Edgar and Scott Oliphint, two current Westminster professors, edited a book in which they write, “John Gresham (pronounced ‘Gressam’)” (p. 2:435).

Related: John Piper engagingly tells Machen’s story: