Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

“Explosion of Biblical Knowledge”

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This is both exciting and daunting:

“We are part of the greatest explosion of biblical knowledge in history. Never before has so much been discovered and published in the same generation. For virtually every book of the Bible major projects are coming to light, and commentaries benefiting from them are being written.”

– Grant R. Osborne, “Recent Trends in the Study of the Apocalypse,” in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research (ed. Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), p. 473.

This is exciting because there are so many fresh advances in biblical studies, yet this is daunting because it seems impossible to master all aspects of biblical studies, let alone one of them! Biblical scholars and scholars-in-training, however, need not get discouraged. Their responsibility is to be faithful stewards of God’s manifold grace in order to glorify Him. Cf. 1 Peter 4:10–11 (NET):

“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”

CBMW Site Updated

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I just updated the entries for the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in my recommended resources.

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1. “MP3s” page:

2. “Theological writings” page:

3. I added their “Gender Blog” to my blogroll.

HT: Justin Taylor

Related: “Carolyn Mahaney on Biblical Womanhood (by Jenni Naselli)“

Rod Decker Reviews Con Campbell’s Book on Verbal Aspect

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Rodney Decker informally reviews the latest volume in D. A. Carson’s SBG series: Constantine R. Campbell, Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative: Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament [paperback forthcoming] (ed. D. A. Carson; Studies in Biblical Greek 13; New York: Lang, 2007), xxi + 285 pp.

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Cf. my earlier post on Campbell’s book.

Related: Andrew David Naselli, “A Brief Introduction to Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 17–28.

Mid-America Conference on Preaching: Oct. 18-19, 2007

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The annual Mid-America Conference on Preaching, hosted by Inter-City Baptist Church and Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, October 18–19, 2007. Dr. Claude Wiggins just emailed this (pasted below with his permission; hyperlinks added):

“We would love to have you join us for the 2007 Mid-America Conference on Preaching. Our theme for this year, ‘Learning from the Past, Pressing toward the Future,’ is a reminder that we are runners in a relay race that began with the Apostles and will continue until our Lord returns. We can’t live looking backward, but if we don’t understand what has happened before us, we’re surely headed for trouble.

“This year’s speakers include Doug McLachlan, Mark Minnick, Sam Horn, David Saxon, David Doran, and the faculty of DBTS. The schedule includes eight general sessions and opportunity to choose from two dozen workshops. Complete conference information, including workshop list, schedule and registration form, is available at http://www.dbts.edu/1-4/1-41.asp. For additional information please email macp@dbts.edu or call (313) 381-0111.”

Workshops include the following:

  • Essential Qualities of God-Honoring Worship Songs
  • A Model for Developing A God-Centered Ministry
  • Shades of Evangelicals: Recognizing the Differences
  • Conservative Evangelicals and Fundamentalists: Recognizing the Differences
  • Are We Worried about Holiness or How We Look?
  • Expositional Preaching from the Parables
  • Designing Sermons for Effective Communication
  • Weakness or Wisdom? Fundamentalism and Romans 14:1–15:13
  • Are Baptists Protestants?
  • In Defense of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement
  • Evangelistic Calvinists Past and Present: Being What We Were Chosen to Become
  • Is There a Present Form of The Kingdom of God/Heaven: A Case Study in Hermeneutics and Theology
  • Meaning of Fellowship in 1 John
  • An Overview of Ecclesiastes
  • Local Church Membership and the Practice of the Ordinances

“Losing Faith”: B. Erhman, J. F. Strange, L. H. Schiffman, and W. G. Dever

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Larry Rogier (pastor of Grace Baptist Church; M.Div. and Th.M. from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary) thoughtfully reflects on “Losing Faith: How Scholarship Affects Scholars” (Biblical Archeology Review [March/April 2007]: 50–57). The BAR article interacts with Bart Erhman, James F. Strange, Lawrence H. Schiffman, and William G. Dever. Larry Rogier concludes with four thoughts:

  1. “All these men allowed their experience to dictate their approach to God.”
  2. “These men believe that true scholarship lead them away from the God who is the fountain of knowledge.”
  3. “These men, perhaps because of their rejection of inerrancy, fail to recognize” that the reason for suffering and evil is the sinfulness of humanity.
  4. “The hope of these men, as with all men—whether the most educated and studied or the least educated and knowledgeable—is that the hope of life lies with God alone. One reason I am a Calvinist in my soteriology is because of situations like this.”

Read the whole article.

Bob Yarbrough MP3s on “Adolf Schlatter and the Future of Christianity”

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Dr. Robert W. Yarbrough‘s 1995 Francis Schaeffer Lecture Series at Covenant Theological Seminary on “Adolf Schlatter and the Future of Christianity” is available for free as nine MP3s.

  1. Schlatter’s Life and Legacy
  2. Schlatter’s Life and Legacy – Q & A
  3. Schlatter’s Interpretation of Scripture
  4. Schlatter’s Interpretation of Scripture – Q & A
  5. Schlatter’s Methodological Genius
  6. Schlatter’s Methodological Genius – Q & A
  7. Schlatter and Prayer
  8. Schlatter’s Promise for the Church and Theology
  9. Schlatter’s Promise for the Church and Theology – Q & A

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Yarbrough is an expert on Adolf Schlatter. In fact, he has been in Korea this very week lecturing on Schlatter in various venues. Yarbrough asserts that Schlatter’s “impact on generations of German pastors and theologians was enormous, and Schlatter’s stock seems to be rising in contemporary discussions. . . . Once little known in the Anglo-Saxon world there is today fresh interest in his work, in part due to the excellent translations of his two-volume New Testament theology by Andreas Köstenberger” (Salvation Historical Fallacy? [listed below], p. 82).

Yarbrough’s Schlatter contributions include the following (listed in chronological order):

  1. “The heilsgeschichtliche Perspective in Modern New Testament Theology.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1985. [This is not solely devoted to Schlatter, but Schlatter is part of the discussion.]
  2. “Biblical Authority and the Ethics Gap: The Call to Faith in James and Schlatter.” Presbyterion 22:2 (1996): 67-75.
  3. Review of Stephen A. Dintamann, Creative Grace: Faith and History in the Theology of Adolf Schlatter. Evangelical Quarterly 68:3 (1996): 253–56.
  4. Translator of Neuer Werner, Adolf Schlatter: A Biography of Germany’s Premier Biblical Theologian. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.
  5. “Adolf Schlatter’s ‘The Significance of Method for Theological Work’: Translation and Commentary.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 1:2 (1997): 64-76.
  6. “Adolf Schlatter.” Pages 518–23 in Historical Handbook of Major Bible Interpreters. Edited by Donald McKim. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1998.
  7. Review of Werner Neuer, Adolf Schlatter: Ein Leben für Theologie und Kirche. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41 (1998): 139–41.
  8. “Adolf Schlatter.” Pages 59–72 in Biblical Interpreters of the Twentieth Century: A Selection of Evangelical Voices. Edited by Walter Elwell and J. D. Weaver. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.
  9. Review of Adolf Schlatter, Romans: The Righteousness of God, translated by Siegfried Schlatzmann. Themelios 24:2 (1999): 63–64.
  10. “Schlatter Reception Now: His New Testament Theology.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 3:1 (1999): 52–65.
  11. “Schlatter Reception Then and Now: His New Testament Theology.” Pages 417–31 in Adolf Schlatter, The Theology of the Apostles. Translated by Andreas J. Köstenberger. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.
  12. “Schlatter, Adolf (1852–1938).” Pages 505-7 in The Dictionary of Historical Theology. Edited by Trevor Hart. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.
  13. “Paul and Salvation History.” Pages 297–342 in The Paradoxes of Paul. Vol. 2 of Justification and Variegated Nomism. Edited by D. A. Carson, Peter T. O’Brien, and Mark A. Seifrid. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 181. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004. [This is not solely devoted to Schlatter, but Schlatter is part of the discussion. See pp. 298, 309, 313–17, 319–21.]
  14. The Salvation Historical Fallacy? Reassessing the History of New Testament Theology. Edited by Robert Morgan. History of Biblical Interpretation Series 2. Leiden: Deo, 2004. [This is not solely devoted to Schlatter, but Schlatter is part of the discussion. See pp. 3–5, 81–117, 135–36, 141, 150n194, 256, 267n33, 275n89, 280n123, 286n158, 301n230, 325–28, 342–43, 380–81.]
  15. Co-translator with Andreas J. Köstenberger of Adolf Schlatter, Do We Know Jesus? Grand Rapids: Kregel: 2005.
  16. “Witness to the Gospel in Academe: Adolf Schlatter as a Teacher of the Church.” Perichoresis 4:1 (2006): 1–17.
  17. Revision of “Adolf Schlatter (1852–1938).” In Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters. Edited by Donald McKim. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, forthcoming (November 2007). [This volume is a significant revision of McKim’s Historical Handbook of Major Bible Interpreters.]

Review of Iain Murray’s “Evangelicalism Divided”

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Iain H. Murray. Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000. Carlisle, Penn.: Banner of Truth, 2000. x + 342 pp.

Iain Hamish Murray (b. 1931) has authored over two dozen books on historical theology from a Reformed perspective. His mentor was David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, whom Murray assisted at Westminster Chapel from 1956 to 1959 and about whom Murray wrote a stirring two-volume biography (vol. 1, vol. 2). In 1957, Murray co-founded the Banner of Truth Trust, which has published his many writings and for which he serves as Editorial Director.

Murray’s Evangelicalism Divided traces the new strategy by prominent American and British evangelicals such as Harold Ockenga, Edward Carnell, Billy Graham, John Stott, and J. I. Packer from about 1950 to 2000. He concludes that their strategy failed to fulfill what it promised but instead compromised the gospel itself. What follows summarizes the eleven chapters: [Read more…] about Review of Iain Murray’s “Evangelicalism Divided”