D. A. Carson reviews (February 16, 2008) Robert Bowman and J. Ed Komoszewski’s Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ in Review of Biblical Literature.
Accountability
By Philip R. Gons, Matthew C. Hoskinson, and Andrew David Naselli
(cross-posted at our respective blogs: Gons, Hoskinson, Naselli)
Christians will give an account to God for their lives, and wise Christians live in light of that sobering reality (Rom 14:12; 2 Cor 5:10). Consequently, we have covenanted to keep each other accountable in preparation for our future accounting. Since some of our friends have asked us about our method of accountability, we decided to co-author this article in order to glorify God by provoking other Christians to seek out a greater degree of accountability.
Beale and Carson’s Commentary on the NT’s Use of the OT
This uniquely useful volume was published in November 2007:
Beale, G. K. and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.
- Last year I spent two or three hundred hours proofing it, so I am fairly familiar with it. It is not always scintillating reading, but it is a thoughtful, first-class reference that I will continue to consult often (especially since I am planning to write my dissertation on the use of the OT in a NT passage). I anticipate that many theological journals will publish reviews of this book that will unanimously praise it as uniquely useful. Many reviews may point out minor areas of disagreement, but this is inevitable given the eclectic theological perspectives of the contributors. (E.g., I. Howard Marshall’s Arminian perspective comes through more than once in his comments on Acts.)
- The first paragraph of the preface explains some of this project’s background:
- “When the two editors of this volume began the project almost a decade ago, neither of us anticipated that it would take this long to bring it to completion. Unrealistic expectations, illness among the contributors and their families, and shifting and competing obligations all conspired to delay the project. We are profoundly grateful for the patience of the contributors who managed to submit their work in a timely manner, some of whom updated their work later, and of Baker Academic, whose editorial staff encouraged and even cajoled editors and contributors alike, but never nagged” (p. vii).
- The PDF excerpt here includes the table of contents and introduction.
- Craig Blomberg weighed in on a blog post that questioned the volume’s value.
- Today Collin Hansen’s bi-weekly “Theology in the News” column at Christianity Today is entitled “Two Testaments, One Story: Top evangelical scholars team up for landmark commentary on New Testament use of Old Testament.” Hansen interview interacts with both Greg Beale and Don Carson.
Carson on the Pastor as Father and Son
Last night, this morning, and this evening D. A. Carson delivered three addresses at the 2008 Desiring God Conference for Pastors:
- The Pastor as Son of the Heavenly Father (MP3 audio | MP4 video)
- The Pastor as Son of an Earthly Father (MP3 audio | MP4 video)
- The Pastor as Father to His Family and Flock (MP3 audio | MP4 video)
Related: Q & A with Piper, Carson, Loritts, and Livingstone (MP3 audio | MP4 video)
Mark Minnick MP3s
This week Mount Calvary Baptist Church (where Jenni and I were members prior to moving to Chicago) updated its website, and I correspondingly updated this entry on my “MP3s” resource page:
*Mark Minnick (bio): some of the finest expositional preaching I have ever heard. Dr. Minnick, my former pastor, had a formative influence on my theology and philosophy of ministry. (Most downloads are not free, but some are.)
Some of the sermons that are (temporarily) available for free downloads include the following series by Dr. Minnick:
- 1 Corinthians 13
- Galatians 1–2
- a Christian view of illness
- restoring scripturally defined modesty
- responding to trials
- the deity of Christ
- Mount Calvary’s philosophy of ministry
- assurance of salvation
HT: Daniel Threlfall
Jonathan T. Pennington MP3s on the Gospel of John
On January 14, 2008, Jonathan T. Pennington, assistant professor of New Testament interpretation at SBTS, presented a five-part series entitled “Feasting on the Christ of John’s Gospel.”
[Read more…] about Jonathan T. Pennington MP3s on the Gospel of John
Mark Dever at TEDS on January 30
Mark Dever is scheduled to speak twice on campus at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on Wednesday, January 30, 2008:
- 10:00–11:00 AM: Trinity College Chapel
- 3:00–4:30 PM: Scripture and Ministry Lecture sponsored by the Henry Center, which provides this description:
- “Re-ordering Friendship, Love, and Enmity: A Biblical Reflection on Church Membership.” Membership should reflect a living commitment to a local church in attendance, giving, prayer and service; otherwise it is meaningless, worthless, and even dangerous. What does the lack of church membership say to the rest of the world about the church? To be a member is knowingly to be traveling together as aliens and strangers in this world as we head to our heavenly home. Dr. Dever will explore church membership from a biblical and historical approach, touching on the most difficult issues, which keep many Americans from committing to church membership.
- Schedule | 2:45 PM – Refreshments | 3:00 PM – Lecture | 4:00 PM – Discussion
- Location | Hinkson Hall, Rodine Building, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Piper on “Planet Earth”
Last summer I published a blog post entitled “Planet Earth: A Theological Documentary.”
Yesterday morning during a painfully freezing (!) early morning run, I was listening to an MP3 from John Piper’s 2007 regional conference on “The Pleasures of God.” In part 2 (MP3 | video), Piper describes the pleasure of God in His creation, and he enthusiastically endorses the above “Planet Earth” DVDs.
In the MP3, start at 38:08 to get the context (“God loves the world that He made”) and listen until 42:43. Here are a few highlights:
- 39:30: “There are many aspects of nature that no human ever sees.” And then some BBC cameraman comes by and captures it!
- 40:54: This is where the “Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth” endorsement begins.
- “My wife and I and little girl have worshipped for eight hours watching these unbelievable works of God! There are all these pagans producing this worship DVD!”
- While they were watching the DVDs, Piper kept saying to his daughter, “That can’t be happening! That can’t be happening!”
- “I hate evolution. It is so worship destroying! I mean that. Secular, atheistic evolution is worship destroying.”
- “I get so much pleasure talking about what God has done in creation. It’s way better than talking about movies, but that’s another story.”