Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

A New Documentary on Martin Luther

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Last night my wife and I watched a screener of the new 90-minute documentary Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer.

It’s excellent:

  • It interviews reliable guides throughout the film, especially Carl Trueman, Steve Nichols, R. C. Sproul, and Bob Kolb.
  • It’s both sympathetic and critical. It responsibly surveys the life and times of Luther. Some of Luther’s writings make us cheer. Others make us wince. The film helpfully explains why.

Here are two previews:

3 Helpful Books on Productivity: Essentialism, Deep Work, and Reset

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I recently read three helpful books on productivity. I still think the best overall book on productivity is Tim Challies’s Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity. But these three books served me by reinforcing and supplementing Do More Better.

The first two are secular (with lots of common grace). The third is evangelical.

1. Greg McKeown. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. New York: Crown Business, 2014.

  • Figure out what your core responsibilities and most important goals are.
  • Block out time for that.
  • Say No to other things—even good things—that you don’t have bandwidth for.
  • Don’t feel guilty about saying No.
  • Don’t overcommit. Setting strategic boundaries frees you to do what is most important. Less is more.

[Read more…] about 3 Helpful Books on Productivity: Essentialism, Deep Work, and Reset

Carson: 10 Subtle Ways to Abandon the Authority of Scripture in Our Lives

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The next issue of Themelios doesn’t release for a few months, but we are releasing the lead article in that issue early because it is so timely:

Carson, D. A. “Subtle Ways to Abandon the Authority of Scripture in Our Lives.” Themelios 42 (2017): 1–12. [web version | PDF]

Carson addresses a number of controversial issues, including what Jen and Brandon Hatmaker have recently argued to support monogamous same-sex marriage.

John MacArthur’s 1,000-Page Systematic Theology

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This book officially releases on January 31:

John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, eds. Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.

My endorsement:

In addition to presenting orthodox theology common to historic Protestants, MacArthur and Mayhue defend an unusual combination of views that evangelicals debate, such as young-earth creationism, Calvinist soteriology, credobaptism, elder-rule polity, complementarianism, cessationism, and traditional dispensationalism (or what they call futuristic premillennialism). They argue in a clear and orderly way that is worth engaging even if you disagree.

God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ

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wellum“If you only have time for one Christology,” says Jonathan Leeman, “start here. I commend it without reservation.”

Stephen J. Wellum. God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ. Foundations of Evangelical Theology. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.

Here’s what Don Carson says about it: [Read more…] about God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ

Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical

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makingsenseI benefitted from carefully reading this book:

Timothy Keller. Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical. New York: Viking, 2016.

It’s a prequel to Keller’s The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, a New York Times best seller and the modern version of C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.

To learn why Keller wrote this prequel, read Matt Smethurst’s interview with Keller.

Then read Andrew Wilson’s review.

Then watch the talk Keller gave to employees of Google: [Read more…] about Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical