A New Massive Book on the Bible’s Authority

February 29, 2016 by Andy Naselli

This book officially releases today:

D. A. Carson, ed. The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.

Google Books preview
Ivan Mesa interviews Don Carson about the book: “Inerrancy Is a Place to Live: Don Carson Talks About the New Book The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures”
Contents and authors
Fred Zaspel interviews Don Carson
Summary of Carson’s FAQs for each chapter in the book

It’s massive. And it was an honor to contribute 44 of its 1240 pages. (More on that below.)

Here is a nearly 18-minute interview with Carson about the book:

Carson explains in the preface (p. xvi), [Read more…] about A New Massive Book on the Bible’s Authority

What about Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty

February 23, 2016 by Andy Naselli

This book releases next week:

Scott Christensen. What about Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2016.

My endorsement:

Many think that free will is the silver-bullet answer to some of theology’s most difficult questions. But do we have a free will?

Short answer: It depends on what you mean by free.

Long answer: Read this book. [Read more…] about What about Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty

An Interpretive Lexicon That Analyzes Greek Connective Words

February 16, 2016 by Andy Naselli

This book categorizes the connective words that indicate logical relationships between clauses:

G. K. Beale, Daniel J. Brendsel, and William A. Ross. An Interpretive Lexicon of New Testament Greek: Analysis of Prepositions, Adverbs, Particles, Relative Pronouns, and Conjunctions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

It mostly collates information from BDAG, Dan Wallace’s intermediate grammar, and Murray Harris’s book on prepositions. It’s small and short (96 pp.).

Endorsements: [Read more…] about An Interpretive Lexicon That Analyzes Greek Connective Words

David Dorsey on the Mosaic Law and the Christian

February 9, 2016 by Andy Naselli

David Dorsey wrote a thoughtful JETS article on the Mosaic law and the Christian in 1991:

Dorsey, David A. “The Law of Moses and the Christian: A Compromise.” JETS 34 (1991): 321–34.

Justin Taylor summarizes that essay in Q&A format here.

In 1999 Dorsey wrote another journal article on the Mosaic law and the Christian. This essay is not as well-known, and it was challenging to track down. I’m uploading an unmarked PDF of the essay here with the publisher’s permission:

Dorsey, David A. “The Use of the OT Law in the Christian Life: A Theocentric Approach.” Evangelical Journal 17, no. 1 (1999): 1–18. [Read more…] about David Dorsey on the Mosaic Law and the Christian

John Frame’s Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief

February 2, 2016 by Andy Naselli

The second edition of my favorite book on apologetics released last year:

John M. Frame. Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief. Edited by Joseph E. Torres. 2nd ed. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2015.

Check out these two interviews:

Justin Taylor interviews John Frame
Fred Zaspel interviews John Frame

And here are John Frame’s top five books on apologetics (HT: Ivan Mesa’s TGC interview):

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Cornelius Van Til, Christian Apologetics
Tim Keller, The Reason for God
Vern Poythress, Redeeming Science
William Edgar and Scott Oliphint, eds., Apologetics Past and Present (vol. 1 | vol. 2)

Tying the Knot: A Premarital Guide to a Strong and Lasting Marriage

January 26, 2016 by Andy Naselli

This book releases on February 1:

Rob Green. Tying the Knot: A Premarital Guide to a Strong and Lasting Marriage. Greensboro, NC: New Growth, 2016.

My endorsement:

I would have loved to read this book with my wife while we were engaged. So practical, so wise. Engaged couples, listen carefully to Rob Green.

Is “Slave” a Good English Translation?

January 5, 2016 by Andy Naselli

I regularly play this 4-minute video in classes I teach because because it illustrates so well how complex it is to translate the Bible into English:

This illustrates how difficult it is to explain the concept of slavery in the OT and NT to people in America today. It also illustrates good translation sense. The committee members are asking exactly the right questions (especially Wayne Grudem here).

The BBC filmed this video when the ESV Translation Oversight Committee met in summer 2010. The committee debated how best to translate the Hebrew word עֶבֶד (‘ebed) and the Greek word δοῦλος (doulos). This video condenses hours of discussion. Members of the committee who speak in this video include Jack Collins, Peter Williams, Gordon Wenham, Paul House, Wayne Grudem, and Lane Dennis.