Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Dave Doran on Fundamentalism

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Last Friday I referenced Collin Hansen’s CT article “The Crisis of Modern Fundamentalism.” This led to an interesting exchange in the comments section, particularly seven posts by Dr. Dave Doran (“Dave” in the comments) as he interacted with Tim Baylor.

  1. Dr. Dave Doran is president of Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and senior pastor of Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park, MI. He wrote the foreword to Rolland McCune’s Promise Unfulfilled (part of which is reproduced here).
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  2. Tim Baylor grew up in fundamentalism, including a pastoral internship under Dr. Doran. He is currently working on an M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. (He is quoted in Collin Hansen’s CT article.)
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I’ve found this exchange to be helpful, especially how Dr. Doran articulates his understanding of fundamentalism.

  1. One of the major questions on the table here is whether fundamentalists can embrace a wider social involvement than some of them have traditionally embraced.
  2. Coming at the issue from another angle: Is secondary separation the crucial difference between fundamentalism and evangelicalism?

Update: Harold J. Ockenga’s foreword to Harold Lindsell’s The Battle for the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976) suggests that I asked the right two questions: “The ringing call for [1] a repudiation of separatism and [2] the summons to social involvement” were the two key notes of the address for which Ockenga coined the term “neo-evangelicalism” in 1948 (p. 11). HT: Brian Collins.

Review of “Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament,” ed. Porter

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Stanley E. Porter, ed. Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament. McMaster New Testament Studies 8. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006.316 pp. $29.00.

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In fall 2006 I reviewed the above book, and the review—now available here—was published in spring 2007:

Review of Stanley E. Porter, ed., Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament. Trinity Journal 28 (2007): 153–54.

Fall 2007 SBJT: Romans

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The fall 2007 Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (vol. 11, no. 3) is devoted to the epistle to the Romans. It includes eight articles, two of which are available as PDFs (linked below).

  1. Editorial: Stephen J. Wellum: “Learning from the Epistle to the Romans“
  2. John Polhill, “The Setting of Romans in the Ministry of Paul”
  3. Benjamin L. Merkle, “Is Romans Really the Greatest Letter Ever Written?“
  4. A. B. Caneday, “‘They Exchanged the Glory of God for the Likeness of an Image’: Idolatrous Adam and Israel as Representatives in Paul’s Letter to the Romans”
  5. Robert W. Yarbrough, “The Theology of Romans in Future Tense”
  6. Douglas Moo, “Paul’s Universalizing Hermeneutic in Romans”
  7. Mark A. Seifrid, “The Gospel as the Revelation of Mystery: The Witness of the Scriptures to Christ in Romans”
  8. Thomas R. Schreiner, “Sermon: Loving One Another Fulfills the Law: Romans 13:8-10″

Update: See “Fall SBJT studies significance of Paul’s epistle to the Romans,” published by Towers Online, SBTS’s news service.

John Piper: “Praise God for Fundamentalists”

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John Piper just posted an article on his blog entitled “Praise God for Fundamentalists.” He responds to the 2005 FBF resolution “On the Ministry of John Piper.” He concludes,

“What I want to say about Fundamentalism is that its great gift to the church is precisely the backbone to resist compromise and to make standing for truth and principle a means of love rather than an alternative to it. I am helped by the call for biblical separation, because almost no evangelicals even think about the doctrine.

“So I thank God for fundamentalism, and I think that some of the whining about its ill effects would have to also be directed against the black-and-white bluntness of Jesus.”

Update:

  1. Mike Riley, “On the Ministry of John Piper” (published on the FBF site). Riley wrote this for the FBF.
  2. Mike Riley, “Piper and the FBF Resolution” (published on Riley’s blog). Riley wrote this today in response to Piper’s blog post referenced above.
  3. Michael Bird, “Praise God for Fundamentalists?” Bird lists six reasons that he “cannot praise God for them.”
  4. Will Pareja, “John Piper on Fundamentalism.” Pareja begins, “Dr. Piper: You have no idea how far words like these go, my brother.”

Collin Hansen in CT: “The Crisis of Modern Fundamentalism”

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Collin Hansen writes a bi-weekly “theology in the news” column for Christianity Today, and his article published today highlights fundamentalism: “The Crisis of Modern Fundamentalism: Defections threaten a proud movement.” Hansen concludes:

“The difference between evangelicals and fundamentalists hasn’t been theology, though some fundamentalists would refuse to compromise on dispensationalism, for example. Fundamentalists have a strategy problem: Do they clamp down on these youngsters, risking a deeper generation gap? Or do they reconsider strict separation and cultural isolation? By choosing the latter, they may save their youth and lose their cause.”

Update: Cf. Michael Bird’s reaction to Hansen’s article, which begins, “All I can say is that if you think that John Piper is a dubious or dangerous character then your theology is about as messed up as can be imagined.”

Related:

  1. Review of McCune’s Promise Unfulfilled with a Response from McCune
  2. Review of Iain Murray’s Evangelicalism Divided