Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

My Favorite Two Sentences in the Bible (Romans 11:36) on Canvas

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My favorite two sentences in the Bible are Romans 11:36:

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Here’s how I trace the argument in Romans 11:33–36:

(I wrote a PhD dissertation on that passage, focusing on the previous two sentences—published in 2012.)

I asked Joe Tyrpak, one of my accountability partners, if he would design Romans 11:36 for canvas so that I could display it over the fireplace in our home and over my desk in my school office. Most people think of Joe as a faithful pastor and gifted preacher (and he is), but he also has an undergraduate degree in graphic design. Here’s what he designed for me:

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Is Every Promise “Yes”? Jason DeRouchie on Old Testament Promises and the Christian

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Jason DeRouchie gave an outstanding lecture on February 23 to commemorate his promotion to Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology. (He is the first Bethlehem College & Seminary full professor whom our young school has promoted from within the faculty ranks.)

The title of his lecture was “Is Every Promise ‘Yes’? Old Testament Promises and the Christian.” I am not aware of anyone who has thought so carefully about how the people of God under the new covenant can claim promises God made to his people under the old covenant.

Here’s a video of the 80-minute lecture:

DeRouchie shares his outline and slides here.

We plan for the next issue of Themelios (~April 25) to include DeRouchie’s lecture as an article.

Update (4/25/2017): The latest issue of Themelios includes the updated version of DeRouchie’s lecture (web version | PDF).

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.

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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.