Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Tom Wells and Fred Zaspel on the Sabbath

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Here’s another recent book on the Sabbath:

Tom Wells. The Christian and the Sabbath. West Chester, OH: Tom Wells, 2010. 141 pp.

It lines up with Craig Blomberg’s view in Perspectives on the Sabbath: 4 Views and argues primarily against the Reformed view that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath.

Wells suggests that “this controversy has dogged Reformed churches” for two reasons (pp. 109–16):

  1. Leaning too heavily on creeds
  2. Undue influence of the OT

Compare chapters 13–14 in Tom Wells and Fred G. Zaspel, New Covenant Theology: Description, Definition, Defense (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2002).

  • Ch. 13: Fred Zaspel, “The Sabbath: A Test Case,” pp. 211–37.
  • Ch. 14: Tom Wells, “The Sabbath: Some Critical Texts in Paul,” pp. 239–57.

Doug Moo writes the book’s foreword, and D. A. Carson and Tom Nettles endorse it.

(Fred Zaspel authored the recent book on B. B. Warfield’s theology.)

 

Four Views on the Sabbath

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This book came out last month:

Christopher John Donato, ed. Perspectives on the Sabbath: 4 Views. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2011. 420 pp.

The book is superb. It’s an excellent example of how different views use different hermeneutical approaches and theological methods (i.e., the relationship between exegesis, biblical theology, historical theology, systematic theology, and practical theology).

And the debate format allows the authors to have the last word: an author writes an essay, the other three contributors respond, and then the author responds to those responses.

Here’s the table of contents:

Here’s a sampling: [Read more…] about Four Views on the Sabbath

Popular Evangelical Scholarship in the Public Square

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Craig L. Blomberg, “New Testament Studies in North America,” in Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century; Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson at the Occasion of His 65th Birthday (ed. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough; Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 281–82 (bullet points added):

Fortunately North American evangelical scholarship on all of these issues is likewise flourishing; if only it could become as well known in the public square as some of the more avant-garde work just noted!

  • Craig Evans , Darrell Bock, and Ben Witherington, in particular, have published widely and also sought out the necessary media attention to spread their views to those who don’t read (or at least who don’t read their works).
  • Bock’s debunking of the Da Vinci Code fiction about Christian origins has sold more than all of his other books put together .
  • Dan Wallace and several coauthors have repeatedly set Ehrman’s textual criticism and other claims in their proper, larger contexts,
  • while Paul Eddy and Greg Boyd, Rob Bowman and Ed Komoszewski , Wayne House, Mark Roberts , and the immensely successful popularizer Lee Strobel have all offered important, accessible rebuttals to the misinformation widely circulating on the formation of the canon, the reliability of the Gospels, and the nature of Jesus.
  • I have continued to pursue my interests in several of these areas as well .

Don Carson’s Festschrift

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Some of Don Carson‘s friends surprised him with a gift on April 12 at The Gospel Coalition’s conference:

Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough, eds. Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century; Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson at the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011. 400 pp.

“The editors and contributors to this volume join in expressing our profound gratitude to you, Don, for your tireless work in God’s kingdom and for your immeasurable impact on the church and on all of us” (p. 11).

Here’s the table of contents:

[Read more…] about Don Carson’s Festschrift

Waiting for Superman

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My wife and I recently watched the award-winning documentary Waiting for Superman, and we were stunned when it opened with this clip:

One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist. . . . Even in the depths of the ghetto, you just thought, “He’s coming! I just don’t know when because he always shows up, and he saves all the good people.” . . . [My mother] thought I was crying because it’s like Santa Claus is not real. I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.

That’s why this documentary about America’s broken public education system is entitled Waiting for Superman.

A documentary about broken humanity could be entitled the same thing—or maybe Waiting for a Deliverer or Waiting for a Savior.

Explaining the EFCA Doctrinal Statement

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This new book robustly explains the EFCA’s statement of faith:

Evangelical Convictions: A Theological Exposition of the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America. Minneapolis: Free Church, 2011. 276 pp.

Who wrote it? The foreword by the EFCA’s president thanks especially two people for “their tireless labor” (p. 17):

  • Greg Strand, EFCA’s Director of Biblical Theology and Credentialing
  • Bill Kynes

This book was drafted by members of the Spiritual Heritage Committee [i.e., Mike Andrus, Bill Jones, Bill Kynes, David V. Martin, Ruben Martinez, Greg Strand (Chair), and Greg Waybright], but its content was vetted by numerous EFCA pastors and others in various areas of EFCA leadership and ministry, including President William J. Hamel, members of the Board of Ministerial Standing (which includes District Superintendents and the Chair of the Ministerial Association), representatives of ReachGlobal and faculty from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. (p. 19n1)

I especially like how the book connects the gospel with each of the ten articles:

  1. God: God’s gospel originates in and expresses the wondrous perfections of the eternal, triune God.
  2. The Bible: God’s gospel is authoritatively revealed in the Scriptures.
  3. The Human Condition: God’s gospel alone addresses our deepest need.
  4. Jesus Christ: God’s gospel is made known supremely in the Person of Jesus Christ.
  5. The Work of Christ: God’s gospel is accomplished through the work of Christ.
  6. The Holy Spirit: God’s gospel is applied by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  7. The Church: God’s gospel is now embodied in the new community called the church
  8. Christian Living: God’s gospel compels us to Christ-like living and witness to the world.
  9. Christ’s Return: God’s gospel will be brought to fulfillment by the Lord Himself at the end of this age.
  10. Response and Eternal Destiny: God’s gospel requires a response that has eternal consequences.
Evangelical Convictions: A Theological Exposition of the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America