Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

A Test Case for How to Put the Bible Together: Baptism

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Christians disagree—sometimes sharply—on how themes unfold in the OT and NT. Here are a few examples:

  1. the old covenant and new covenant
  2. law and grace
  3. Israel and the church
  4. promise and fulfillment
  5. type and antitype
  6. the Sabbath and Lord’s day
  7. circumcision and baptism

People cannot study such issues in an isolated way without raising larger biblical and theological structural issues. The hermeneutical spiral is complicated, and the way people approach such issues reveals how they put the Bible together. That’s why, upon the recent recommendations of some friends, I spent several hours this afternoon carefully reading the following essay:

BaptismStephen J. Wellum. “Baptism and the Relationship Between the Covenants.” Pages 97–161 in Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. Edited by Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright. NAC Studies in Bible and Theology. Broadman & Holman: Nashville, 2006.

(Note the free PDF.)

This essay by Wellum, who is “neither Dispensational nor Covenantal (in the paedobaptist sense of the term)” (p. 123n44), is a fine example of what it looks like to approach an issue like baptism responsibly in light of Bible’s storyline.

What follows is an outline of Wellum’s essay with quotations from the introduction and conclusion. (I’ve added the numbering.) [Read more…] about A Test Case for How to Put the Bible Together: Baptism

Biblical Parenting Conference with Tedd Tripp

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This week I profited from listening to a series that has been in my MP3 queue for months: a biblical parenting conference with Tedd Tripp from September 19-20, 2008 (see the audio and video below). Particularly memorable is one of Tripp’s illustrations in session 4: tying good apples to a bad apple tree is as profitable as behavior modification that doesn’t deal with heart issues.

Tedd Tripp has authored the following books (and corresponding media):

[Read more…] about Biblical Parenting Conference with Tedd Tripp

Q and A with D. A. Carson and Mark Dever

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D. A. Carson and Mark Dever ministered together to pastors in South Africa in January 2007, and they jointly conducted four edifying Q&A sessions:

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Related: Dever interviewed Carson on June 13, 2008:

CrossWay Milwaukee

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Yesterday my family visited CrossWay Community Church in Milwaukee for second time since our church planted it a little over a year ago. If you or people you know live near the high school building where they’re meeting, I’d commend this gospel-centered assembly to you.

The preaching pastor, Jason Dahlman, is a good friend. (The picture below is old; he and his wife now have three children!) Jason and I first met in Dr. Carson’s Advanced Greek Grammar class in spring 2007, and Jason is now finishing his PhD dissertation under Doug Sweeney at TEDS on Puritan preaching. Jason is unusually humble and gifted—a dynamic combination. He’s probably the finest young preacher I’ve ever heard. (Sermons are available here.)

They are still a young, small church (if I remember correctly, their assembly started off around 40 people, and about one year later they are running about 90-120). More information about them is available here, including a 4.5-minute video that they prepared last year.

Voddie Baucham: What He Must Be

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Crossway has just published a provocative book:

Voddie T. Baucham Jr. What He Must Be: …If He Wants to Marry My Daughter. Wheaton: Crossway, 2009. [PDF of chapter 1]

Baucham explains what this book is about (p. 9):

My desire in this book is to kill two birds with one stone. First, I want to lay out a clear, balanced, realistic, biblical picture of what moms and dads should be looking for on behalf of their daughters and seeking to produce in their sons. . . .

In addition, I want to provide a road map for men who have a desire to lead their families biblically but simply do not know how.

He concludes (p. 206),

I intend to walk my daughter down the aisle one day. When I do, the minister is going to ask, “Who gives this woman to be married?” If I am going to answer, “I do” with a clear conscience, then I simply have no choice but to invest significant time into vetting any potential suitor. I cannot give my approval of a man whom God’s Word disqualifies. I love my daughter too much. I love my grandchildren too much. But most importantly, I love my Lord too much to settle for less.

The book is provocative in at least two ways: content and tone.

  1. Content: Baucham holds no punches when he describes what he thinks biblical manhood involves.
  2. Tone: Baucham is bold, confident, and direct. This is often refreshing, but to people in some contexts, this dogmatism will not be well received.

[Read more…] about Voddie Baucham: What He Must Be

Five Conclusions about Material Possessions

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Here’s how D. A. Carson introduces Craig L. Blomberg‘s Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions (ed. D. A. Carson; New Studies in Biblical Theology 7; Downers Grove: IVP, 2001) in the series preface (p. 9):

Dr Blomberg’s volume is an extraordinary achievement. With remarkable compression, this book not only guides the reader through almost all the biblical passages that have a bearing on poverty and wealth, but weaves the exegesis into a biblical theology that is simultaneously faithful to the historic texts and pastorally sensitive to the immense issues facing today’s church. Dr Blomberg cannot simplistically condemn wealth: he has learned from Abraham, Job and Philemon. Nor can he exonerate acquisitiveness: he has learned from Amos, Jesus and James. The result is a book that is, quite frankly, the best one on the subject. It will not make its readers comfortable, but neither will it make them feel manipulated. Read it and pass it on.

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