Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

One-Issue Organizations

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I still remember one of my theology professors taking our class to a room with a piano in it. He sat down at the piano and presented a “Middle C concert” to us. He just kept hitting Middle C over and over.

His point was that that’s a bad way to do theology because truth is truth proportionally.

And that’s a danger for one-issue organizations—whether they are advocating a particular view of worship, creation, gender roles, revival, or whatever—because they tend to overemphasize the importance of their one issue:

[I]t often seems to be the case that organizations with such narrow focus and which have been formed for the conscious purpose of advocating that position in opposition to a position viewed as biblically flawed . . . tend to over-speak their case.

—Rodney J. Decker, “The English Standard Version: A Review Article,” Journal of Ministry and Theology 8, no. 2 (2004): 11n17.

I’m not opposed to one-issue organizations in principle; I happily support some and thank God for them. I’m merely pointing out a common weakness.

Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Bible

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Wayne Grudem, “Foreword,” in Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical and Scientific Responses (ed. Norman C. Nevin; Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2011), 9–10:

This is a highly significant book because it persuasively argues that Christians cannot accept modern evolutionary theory without also compromising essential teachings of the Bible.

It may at first seem easy to say ‘God simply used evolution to bring about the results he desired’, as some are proposing today. That view is called ‘theistic evolution’. However, the contributors to this volume, both scientists and biblical scholars, show that adopting theistic evolution leads to many positions contrary to the teaching of the Bible, such as these: [Read more…] about Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Bible

Sympathetic Evangelicalism

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Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 15–19 (numbering added):

[Th]e most strategic decision we ever make is the decision of what to emphasize.

Evangelicalism has always been concerned to underline certain elements of the Christian message.

  1. We have a lot to say about God’s revelation, but we emphasize the business end of it, where God’s voice is heard normatively: the Bible.
  2. We know that everything Jesus did has power for salvation in it, but we emphasize the one event that is literally crucial: the cross.
  3. We know that God is at work on his people through the full journey of their lives, from the earliest glimmers of awareness to the ups and downs of the spiritual life, but we emphasize the hinge of all spiritual experience: conversion.
  4. We know there are countless benefits that flow from being joined to Christ, but we emphasize the big one: heaven.

Bible, cross, conversion, heaven. These are the right things to emphasize. But in order to emphasize anything, you must presuppose a larger body of truth to select from. . . . [Read more…] about Sympathetic Evangelicalism

Why Drawing Lines Is Utterly Crucial

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D. A. Carson, “On Drawing Lines, When Drawing Lines Is Rude,” ch. 8 in The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 347–67 (numbering added):

[The point of this chapter is] to ponder briefly some of the reasons why drawing lines is utterly crucial at the moment.

  1. Truth demands it.
  2. The distinction between orthodoxy and heresy models it.
  3. The plurality of errors calls for it.
  4. The entailments of the gospel confront our culture—and must be lived out.

The Problem of Religious Conservatism

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Dick France (b. 1938), who has served on the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) for two periods (1990–1995 and 1999–present), reflects on “some issues in Bible translations” at the end of this article:

“The Bible in English: An Overview.” Pages 177–97 in The Challenge of Bible Translation: Communicating God’s Word to the World; Understanding the Theory, History, and Practice: Essays in Honor of Ronald F. Youngblood. Edited by Glen G. Scorgie, Mark L. Strauss, and Steven M. Voth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

France briefly reflects on five issues:

  1. The Text to Be Translated
  2. Literal versus Dynamic Translation
  3. The Problem of Religious Conservatism
  4. Public and Private Reading
  5. Inclusive Language

What he says about the third issue applies to more than just Bible translation:

The Problem of Religious Conservatism

Conservatism—in the sense of resistance to change—seems to affect people in matters of religion more readily than in other areas. Thoroughly modern people with radical political views may nonetheless be staunch advocates of the KJV and the Book of Common Prayer. Saint Luke long ago summed up the typical reaction to change in matters of religion: “The old is good” (Luke 5:39 NRSV). This is a hurdle every Bible translator must face. [Read more…] about The Problem of Religious Conservatism

Wisdom Christology

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This book could be a template for a topical sermon series:

Daniel J. Ebert IV. Wisdom Christology: How Jesus Becomes God’s Wisdom for Us. Explorations in Biblical Theology. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2011.

About the Author

Dan Ebert served as a missionary in Asia from 1977 to 1999. Then he taught at Clearwater Christian College for nine years, and he now teaches at Cedarville University. He also does adjunct teaching at several schools, including Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Virginia Beach.

He wrote his dissertation under D. A. Carson: [Read more…] about Wisdom Christology

Formalist and Hypocrisy Taking a Shortcut

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Taken from John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come (edited by C. J. Lovik; illustrated by Mike Wimmer; Wheaton: Crossway, 2009), 60. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. [Cf. my review.]

Taken from John Bunyan, Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress (edited by Oliver Hunkin; illustrated by Alan Parry; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 42. [Cf. my review coauthored with my wife.]
[Read more…] about Formalist and Hypocrisy Taking a Shortcut

The Pilgrim’s Progress for Children (and Adults)

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My family loves John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Charles Spurgeon read this classic over one hundred times. It’s a pity that many Christians today have not read it even once. Here are some versions we enjoy:

1. Pictorial Pilgrim’s Progress, illustrated by Joanne Brubaker (Chicago: Moody, 1960).

  • It’s excellent for young children because there is a picture on every page, and the text is simple and straightforward.
  • The Kindle version includes all the illustrations.
  • The book is especially meaningful to me for reasons that are evident in the below correspondence I had with my former pastor, Mike Bullmore:

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[email from me to Mike Bullmore on 6/7/2010]

Dear Mike,

I’m in the process of cataloging my print and electronic library, and I just entered this book in my database:

Bunyan, John. Pictorial Pilgrim’s Progress. Chicago: Moody, 1960.

I opened it up and reread what I wrote on the inside cover:

I read this very book to Michael after he relapsed. He loved to look at the pictures as I read and explained Bunyan’s outstanding allegory. Now Michael is at the glorious end of his difficult journey, and I look forward to seeing him again in the celestial city!

Andy
4/25/2002

A little background:

I’m the second of seven children . . . . In December 1998 (during my freshman year of college), my family was shocked to learn that my youngest brother Michael, who was three years old at the time, had cancer—Stage IV Neuroblastoma. [Read more…] about The Pilgrim’s Progress for Children (and Adults)