Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Deborah Upstaged Barak

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Douglas Wilson recently shared his initial observations on Sarah Palin. He concludes,

An issue that will be discussed among some conservative Christians is the propriety of electing a woman. Evangelical Christians are overwhelmingly hostile to feminism, and so what is with that? I have argued before from Isaiah 3:12—“children are their oppressors, and women rule over them”—that feminism is one of the things Scripture uses as an indicator of God’s judgment on a culture. I still believe that, and also believe that we are in fact under this particular judgment in our culture. But as a biblical absolutist, and not a simple traditionalist, I also want to make room for the occasional Deborah. Life is funny, and you should remember that in the Bible Deborah was the dame who upstaged a fellow named Barak. Kinda spooky when you think about it.

Pretty witty. See Judges 4–5. Deborah rose to the occasion when Barak lacked courage (e.g., 4:8, 14).

(The analogy Deborah : Barak :: Sarah Palin : Barack Obama breaks down, of course, not least since Deborah and Barak were on the “same team.”)

Mohler on Sarah Palin’s Fifth Child (May 2008)

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This morning John McCain announced his VP: Sarah Palin.

Almost four months ago, Al Mohler highlighted the Palin family in an article (“Welcome to the World, Trig Paxson Van Palin“) and on his radio show (also titled “Welcome to the World, Trig Paxson Van Palin“).

Here’s a description of the radio show:

A little boy with an extra chromosome was born on April 18. His name is Trig Paxson Van Palin and his new home is the Alaska Governor’s Mansion in Juneau. His mom is Governor Sarah Palin, who along with her husband Todd, has welcomed Trig as their second son and fifth child.

On today’s show, Mohler explains why Trig’s very existence defies the Culture of Death and gives us all hope.

Baker Collections from Logos Bible Software

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Logos Bible Software has recently released nine new collections of books published by Baker:

  1. Robert Webber Ancient-Future Collection (4 Vols.)
  2. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics (4 Vols.)
  3. Baker New Testament Studies Collection (14 Vols.)
  4. Baker Encountering the Bible Collection (3 Vols.)
  5. Baker Preaching Collection (8 Vols.)
  6. Baker Theology Collection (11 Vols.)
  7. Baker Old Testament Studies Collection (6 Vols.)
  8. Baker Hermeneutics Collection (14 Vols.)
  9. Baker Counseling Collection (3 Vols.)

I ordered the collections in bold. Kudos to Logos and Baker.

Themelios in HTML

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The Gospel Coalition’s first issue of Themelios was published In early July as a single PDF. It’s now available in HTML format as D. A. Carson announced in his opening editorial:

Readers will note that we are producing this digital Themelios in two formats, both PDF and HTML. The former preserves pagination for accurate referencing; the latter enables Internet users to search the material, cite snippets, copy convenient chunks, and so forth.

Bloggers will especially appreciate the ability to hyperlink directly to specific articles and book reviews. For example, I can link directly to my two book reviews in that issue:

Review of Collin Hansen, Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists. Themelios 33:1 (2008): 91–93.

Review of Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love. Themelios 33:1 (2008): 102–3.

Bruce Little on the Problem of Evil

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Matt Capps interviews Bruce Little (CV) on the problem of evil.

Here are a few examples of where I’d raise questions:

  1. BAL: These are not things God planned or caused, they are, in light of Genesis 3, the result of man’s disobedience in the Garden.
    ADN: Is this a false disjunction? Doesn’t Scripture affirm both?
  2. BAL: I am not saying that we may not learn valuable lessons in our suffering, but that does not mean that is why the suffering came to us. God may bless, but if He does, it is in spite of the suffering, not because of the suffering.
    ADN: Does this square with Jesus’ suffering on the cross?
  3. BAL: We must ask the question: if God allows evil to bring about a good, is that good a necessary good? If it is a necessary good, then the evil that brings it is necessary and the only way it could be necessary is if God planned it. This makes God responsible for evil, something I think is clearly contrary to scripture because God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If on the other hand the good is not necessary then we are back to asking the question why the evil?
    ADN:     Is this trying to relieve logical tension by over-qualifying or denying what Scripture says about God’s sovereignty? (See 3.6 here.)