Four Reasons to Read Rebekah Merkle’s “Eve in Exile”

January 30, 2020 by Andy Naselli

9Marks just published my review of Rebekah Merkle’s Eve in Exile: And the Restoration of Femininity (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2016).

It’s not so much a critical review as it is a case for Christians to read it. I suggest four reasons:

Her book is timely.
Her book is wise.
Her book is witty.
Her book is motivating.

When my eleven-year-old daughter, Kara, was reading the book, I asked her what she thought of the author. [Read more…] about Four Reasons to Read Rebekah Merkle’s “Eve in Exile”

What the New Testament Teaches about Divorce and Remarriage

June 24, 2019 by Andy Naselli

I contributed an article on divorce and remarriage to the latest issue of the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal:

Andrew David Naselli. “What the New Testament Teaches about Divorce and Remarriage.” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 24 (2019): 3–44.

Evangelicals hold three main views on divorce and remarriage:

I argue for view 3b.

Here’s the outline: [Read more…] about What the New Testament Teaches about Divorce and Remarriage

Is Every Sin Outside the Body except Immoral Sex? Weighing Whether 1 Corinthians 6:18b Is Paul’s Statement or a Corinthian Slogan

June 3, 2019 by Andy Naselli

I may now share a PDF of this article that released eighteen months ago in the Journal of Biblical Literature:

Andrew David Naselli. “Is Every Sin Outside the Body except Immoral Sex? Weighing Whether 1 Corinthians 6:18b Is Paul’s Statement or a Corinthian Slogan.” JBL 136 (2017): 969–87.

Here’s the abstract:

In 1 Cor 6:18b–c, Paul writes, “Every sin, whatever a person commits, is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” This essay weighs whether 1 Cor 6:18b is Paul’s statement or whether Paul is quoting a Corinthian slogan, and it concludes that the second view is more plausible.

Update:

My Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians (August 28, 2020)
Tracing the Argument of 1 Corinthians: A Phrase Diagram (April 28, 2023)

Evaluating Theological Interpretation of Scripture: An Interview with Brian Collins

April 30, 2019 by Andy Naselli

I recently micro-read this revised PhD dissertation:

Brian C. Collins. Scripture, Hermeneutics, and Theology: Evaluating Theological Interpretation of Scripture. Greenville, SC: Exegesis & Theology, 2012.

It’s outstanding. You can download a free PDF of the book here.

Brian Collins and I were PhD students together and were members of the same church. We used to spend the first half of each Saturday morning doing our Hebrew exegesis homework together for the upcoming week. Of all the students I took courses with, Brian is probably the most well-read.

Brian kindly agreed to answer some questions about his PhD dissertation. [Read more…] about Evaluating Theological Interpretation of Scripture: An Interview with Brian Collins

The Doctrine by Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective

March 12, 2019 by Andy Naselli

This book releases this month:

Barrett, Matthew, ed. The Doctrine by Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019.

I contributed the essay on Romans.

Here are the contents:

Foreword (D. A. Carson)

Introduction: The Foolishness of Justification (Matthew Barrett)

Part One: Justification in Biblical Perspective

1. “He Believed the Lord”: The Pedigree of Justification in the Pentateuch (Stephen Dempster)

2. Singing and Living Justification by Faith Alone: The Psalms and the Wisdom Literature (Allan Harman)

3. Salvation Is the Lord’s: Prophetic Perspectives (Willem VanGemeren)

4. Setting the Record Straight: Second Temple Judaism and Works Righteousness (Robert J. Cara)

5. What Does Justification Have to Do with the Gospels? (Brian Vickers)

6. The Righteous God Righteously Righteouses the Unrighteous: Justification according to Romans (Andrew David Naselli)

7. By Grace You Have Been Saved through Faith: Justification in the Pauline Epistles (Brandon Crowe)

8. An Epistle of Straw? Reconciling James and Paul (Dan McCartney)

9. The New Quest for Paul: A Critique of the New Perspective on Paul (Timo Laato)

10. What’s Next? Justification after the New Perspective (David A. Shaw)

Part Two: Justification in Theological Perspective

11. “Behold, the Lamb of God”: Theology Proper and the Inseparability of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement from Forensic Justification and Imputation (Stephen J. Wellum)

12. Raised for Our Justification: The Christological, Covenantal, Forensic, and Eschatological Contours of an Ambiguous Relationship (Matthew Barrett)

13. The Theology of Justification by Faith: The Theological Case for Sola Fide (Mark Thompson)

14. The Passive and Active Obedience of Christ: Retrieving a Biblical Distinction (Brandon Crowe)

15. A Contested Union: Union with Christ and the Justification Debate (David VanDrunen)

16. Faith Works: Properly Understanding the Relationship between Justification and Sanctification (R. Lucas Stamps)

17. Justification, the Law, and the New Covenant (Jason Meyer)

Part Three: Justification in Church History

18. Reformation Invention or Historic Orthodoxy? Justification in the Fathers (Gerald Bray)

19. The Evolution of Justification: Justification in the Medieval Traditions (Nick Needham)

20. Can This Bird Fly? The Reformation as Reaction to the Via Moderna’s Covenantal, Voluntarist Justification Theology (Matthew Barrett)

21. The First and Chief Article: Luther’s Discovery of Sola Fide and Its Controversial Reception in Lutheranism (Korey Maas)

22. The Ground of Religion: Justification according to the Reformed Tradition (J. V. Fesko)

23. Not by Faith Alone? An Analysis of the Roman Catholic Doctrine of Justification from Trent to the Joint Declaration (Leonardo De Chirico)

24. The Eclipse of Justification: Justification during the Enlightenment and Post-Enlightenment Eras (Bruce P. Baugus)

Part Four: Justification in Pastoral Practice

25. Justification and Conversion: Attractions and Repulsions to Rome (Chris Castaldo)

26. The Ground on Which We Stand: The Necessity of Justification for Pastoral Ministry (Sam Storms)

Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11

January 22, 2019 by Andy Naselli

This debate-book releases this week:

Jared M. Compton and Andrew David Naselli, eds. Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11. Viewpoints. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2019.

You can preview the book with Amazon’s “Look inside” feature. [Read more…] about Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11

3 Reasons Christians Don’t Consistently Memorize the Bible

January 2, 2019 by Andy Naselli

I just wrote an article for Desiring God: “You Can Memorize Scripture This Year.”

My objective: Encourage you that you can consistently memorize the Bible.

My strategy: Respond to three of the main reasons Christians don’t consistently memorize the Bible.

I don’t have time to memorize the Bible.
I don’t feel like memorizing the Bible.
It’s hard for me to memorize the Bible.

How I Listen to Online Videos of Interviews, Lectures, and Sermons as Podcasts

October 22, 2018 by Andy Naselli

Problem: I don’t have time to watch a lot of online videos of interviews, lectures, and sermons. I would happily listen to the audio from certain videos on my iPhone if there was an efficient way to do that.

Solution: There is finally an efficient way to do that (at least with a MacBook and iPhone—I’m not sure about other devices). I love this podcast system.

How to Set Up the Podcast System

1. Subscribe to the Castro podcast app on your iPhone ($8.99 per year).

You can use the Castro app as your only podcast app, but I prefer the Overcast app for podcasts I subscribe to. I use the Castro app solely for listening to online media I’ve downloaded as MP3s.