Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

One God in Three Persons: Unity of Essence, Distinction of Persons, Implications for Life

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In 2008 I live-blogged a debate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School between (a) Bruce Ware and Wayne Grudem and (b) Tom McCall and Keith Yandell. They debated this question: “Do relations of authority and submission exist eternally among the Persons of the Godhead?”

TrinityThis week Crossway is releasing a book on that issue:

Bruce A. Ware and John Starke, eds. One God in Three Persons: Unity of Essence, Distinction of Persons, Implications for Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015.

This 49-page sample PDF includes the front matter and Wayne Grudem’s opening chapter.

Phil Gons and I coauthored chapter 9: “An Examination of Three Recent Philosophical Arguments against Hierarchy in the Immanent Trinity” (pp. 197–215).

Update on 5/22/2015: Crossway gave me permission to share a PDF of the Gons-Naselli chapter.

Update on 2/6/2019: In this panel on the Triune God, I state that I do not hold to EFS (but neither do I think it is heresy).

The SBL Handbook of Style: 2nd Edition

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sblhsThe SBL Handbook of Style has become the standard guide for biblical studies. It first released in 1999, and the second edition released in November 2014:

The SBL Handbook of Style: For Biblical Studies and Related Disciplines. 2nd ed. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2014.

More info here.

I reviewed it for the most recent issue of Themelios (which released yesterday). My conclusion: [Read more…] about The SBL Handbook of Style: 2nd Edition

No Regrets, No Retreat: Episode 8 (China) of Dispatches from the Front DVD Series

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The latest episode of the edifying and motivating Dispatches from the Front DVD Series released last Friday: No Regrets, No Retreat   . It is set in China.

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100-second trailer:

My wife and three daughters enjoyed watching this episode together on Easter a few weeks ago.

Episodes1-8m

By the way, Tim Keesee just launched his own website, which includes a blog. He tells the backstory about this episode on China in his post “Beginning with Impossible.”

Related: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World’s Difficult Places

What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?

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DeYoungThis book releases this month:

Kevin DeYoung. What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015. 158 pp.  

Check out this 36-page PDF sample. (And here’s a free corresponding 36-page study guide.)

I read a draft of this book last December, [Read more…] about What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?

Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook

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deckerAt the end of last year the TGC staff cited “best books from 2014.”

This is one of the two books I selected:

Rodney J. Decker. Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.

My dear friend Rod Decker went to be with the Lord in May 2014 at age 61, but in spite of his terminal cancer God enabled him to complete two major projects that publishers released in November 2014: [Read more…] about Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook

5 Free Classes on Ethics

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This semester is my first time teaching a course on Biblical Ethics. It’s been a steep learning curve for me, so I’ve been preparing by reading more than I normally do for a class.

Over Christmas break I also listened to five free thought-provoking courses:

justice1. Michael J. Sandel’s course “Justice” at Harvard University. Sandel has taught political philosophy at Harvard since 1980, and over 15,000 students have taken his course. WGBH and Harvard University coproduced the course as a TV series in 2005, which is what you can watch free online or via iTunes. (The 24 lectures are also available on YouTube.) I watched the course and then read Sandel’s corresponding book that released in 2009: Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Sandel is thoughtful, respectful, and provocative. I disagree with his liberal political bent and the ultimate grounds for his ethical views, but I love how he engagingly teaches with the Socratic method. [Read more…] about 5 Free Classes on Ethics

Prooftexting the Personality of the Holy Spirit

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Sometimes well-intentioned people argue for the right thing the wrong way. Their position may be right even though at least one of their arguments is not. This seems to be the case with a popular exegetical and theological argument for the personality of the Holy Spirit. The right position is that the Holy Spirit is a person, and the fallacious argument is that the masculine demonstrative pronoun ἐκεῖνος [ekeinos] in John 14:26, 15:26, and 16:13–14 proves it. Trinitarian theologians through church history have rightly defended the personality of the Spirit, and an astonishing number of defenders appeal to this argument for support.

proofThat’s how Phil Gons and I begin the following article (now available free online as a PDF):

“Prooftexting the Personality of the Holy Spirit: An Analysis of the Masculine Demonstrative Pronouns in John 14:26, 15:26, and 16:13–14.” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 16 (2011): 65–89. [Read more…] about Prooftexting the Personality of the Holy Spirit

Sam Storms’s Tough Topics 2: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions

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stormsSam Storms has a sequel to his first Tough Topics book:

Sam Storms. Tough Topics 2: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions. Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2015.

My endorsement:

Each controversial question Sam Storms poses could be the subject of an entire book, but he manages to give thoughtful brief answers that aren’t superficial. As a model pastor-theologian, he answers with clarity, wisdom, and grace.

These are the 25 questions: [Read more…] about Sam Storms’s Tough Topics 2: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions