Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ

by

This book just released:

conscience

Andrew David Naselli and J. D. Crowley. Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.

I am grateful to J. D. Crowley for coauthoring this book with me. His rich wisdom and life experience serves readers in a way that I can’t. He has spent most of his life in Asian cultures, and he is a veteran missionary. (The latest Dispatches from the Front film features J. D.’s work in Cambodia.)

  • Chapters 1–2 describe what conscience is.
  • Chapters 3–4 talk about how you should deal with your own conscience.
  • Chapters 5–6 explain how you should relate to other people when your consciences disagree.

toc

squareMore about the book:

  1. Endorsements by Randy Alcorn, Craig Blomberg, Gloria Furman, Jason Meyer, Tom Schreiner, Mike Bullmore, Bruce Ware, Tim Keesee, and Danny Brooks
  2. Crossway’s 33-page PDF sample includes the front matter (e.g., Don Carson’s foreword) and chapter 1.
  3. Kevin Boling interviews J. D. Crowley (4/19/2016).
  4. “Can You Vote for Donald Trump with a Clear Conscience?” I attempt to apply the topic of our book to an issue that religious, social conservatives may have to think about later this year.
  5. Sam Crabtree thoughtfully moderated Q&A about the book on April 17 when my church hosted a book launch:

I prepared a 5-minute video on the conscience in 1 Cor 8:10 for Rob Plummer’s Daily Dose of Greek:

And here are some images that Crossway’s team prepared:

pin1 pin2 pin3 quote3

quote1  quote7 quote6

quote4 quote5 quote2

Updates:

  1. Fred Zaspel interviews Crowley and Naselli (posted 4/26/2016)
  2. Tim Challies review (5/8/2016)
  3. Calvinist Batman interview (5/31/2016)
  4. Dave Jenkins interview (6/30/2016)
  5. Mitch Chase review for TGC (7/13/2017)
  6. Edited excerpt for 9Marks: “12 Principles on How to Disagree with Other Christians” (7/10/2017)
  7. Paul Alexander review for 9Marks (7/12/2017)
  8. Mark Ward interview for Faithlife’s Bible Study Magazine Podcast (recorded 5/15/2020)
  9. Abigail Dodds and Tilly Dillehay interview for Home Fires podcast (10/8/2020)
  10. Crossway interviews Crowley and Naselli (8/11/2021)

On March 4, 2022, I taught a two-hour seminar on the conscience for North Hills Church in Taylors, SC. I survey the book and take Q&A along the way:

Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies

by

WellumThis book just released:

Stephen J. Wellum and Brent E. Parker, eds. Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2016.

My endorsement:

These ten essays exegetically and theologically support the argument that Steve Wellum and Peter Gentry present in Kingdom through Covenant (2012). Unlike covenant theology, progressive covenantalism argues that the genealogical principle (a basis for infant baptism) significantly changes across redemptive history. Unlike dispensationalism, progressive covenantalism understands the land not ultimately as Canaan but as a type of the new creation. This book is now required reading for my biblical theology courses.

7-minute interview with Steve Wellum:

Related: Fred Zaspel interviews Steve Wellum about this book.

Every Tribe: Episode 9 (Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam) of Dispatches from the Front

by

The latest episode of the edifying and motivating Dispatches from the Front DVD Series just released: Every Tribe  .

dispatches9

The latest episode is set in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and it features my dear friends Tim Keesee and J. D. Crowley. (J. D. and I recently coauthored the book Conscience.)

TimJD [Read more…] about Every Tribe: Episode 9 (Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam) of Dispatches from the Front

Can You Vote for Donald Trump with a Clear Conscience?

by

trumpIf Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for President of the United States, can you vote for him with a clear conscience? This election cycle may force conservatives—especially religious, social conservatives—to answer that question.

Here’s how I am currently thinking through that question as an evangelical theology professor who just coauthored a book on the conscience and the Christian. To answer the question, you first need to consider three other questions. [Read more…] about Can You Vote for Donald Trump with a Clear Conscience?

The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis

by

3volsI recently finished reading about 3,200 letters that C. S. Lewis wrote:

C. S. Lewis. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis. Edited by Walter Hooper. 3 vols. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007. 4,064 pp.

Volume 1: Family Letters, 1905–1931 (1072 pp.)

vol1

Volume 2: Books, Broadcasts, and the War, 1931–1949 (1152 pp.)

vol2

Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950–1963 (1840 pp.)

vol3

Highly recommended. What a delightful, insightful man. [Read more…] about The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis

The Case for Congregationalism

by

LeemanThis is the most thoughtful and persuasive case for congregationalism that I know of:

Jonathan Leeman. Don’t Fire Your Church Members: The Case for Congregationalism. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2016.

What distinguishes different views on how to govern the church is who has final authority:

  1. the bishop (Episcopalian)
  2. the presbytery (Presbyterian)
  3. the elders (elder-rule)
  4. the congregation (congregational)

While godly, mature Christians disagree on which model is most biblical, I think the most biblical polity is elder-led and congregation-ruled. That model is very different from a modern democracy in which leaders represent the people and the people make demands on the leaders with the threat that they will vote them out of office; it is more like a combination of three models: [Read more…] about The Case for Congregationalism

Should Churches Display the American Flag in Their Sanctuaries?

by

I think Doug Wilson wins this three-way debate: “Should Churches Display the American Flag in Their Sanctuaries?” Christianity Today 56, no. 7 (2012): 82.

(Direct links to CT often don’t work unless you subscribe to CT. Try this.)

The last line of Doug Wilson’s little essay still makes me grin:

This is why, in my ideal scenario, the elders who vote in session to remove the American flag from the sanctuary should all have that same flag on their pickup trucks, right next to the gun rack.

 

Unnatural Birth and the Sovereignty of God

by

My wife, Jenni, has encountered well-meaning Christian women evangelizing for all-natural births in a way that can make other women feel inferior and less of a real woman if they have an un-natural birth (e.g., an epidural in a hospital or a C-section). She’s had to counsel some women who had C-sections and consequently felt depressed and dejected that they didn’t have natural births instead.

After seeing Jenni counsel ladies like that several times, I encouraged her to write a short article on the issue. DG just published her wise perspective: “Better Than a Birth Plan.”

Update on 3/10/2016: The feedback that Jenni has received on her article has been overwhelmingly positive, but I have seen a few negative comments that misunderstand Jenni’s intent. Her target audience is primarily two people:

  1. women who feel inferior because they did not have an all-natural birth
  2. women who (intentionally or unintentionally) make women feel inferior for not having (or planning to have) an all-natural birth

As she says in her article, Jenni is not against all-natural births. There is nothing inherently wrong with planning to have a natural birth. If that’s what you think is best in your situation, then go for it. Have an all-natural birth to the glory of God!