Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

D. A. Carson

Defiance: Illustrating Genesis 3

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D. A. Carson, The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story; Leader’s Guide  (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010), 33–34:

A young school teacher in Northern Ireland once told me how she taught the substance of these early chapters of Genesis. Fresh out of college, she found herself a job teaching “religious education” (still common in the United Kingdom) to young boys in a rather rough school. She was making no headway at all. She decided to try another approach. [Read more…] about Defiance: Illustrating Genesis 3

D. A. Carson on William Webb

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In January, Bob Yarbrough and Don Carson spoke at the EFCA’s theology conference: “Understanding the Complementarian Position: Considering Implications and Exploring Practices in the Home and the Local Church” (TGC report). The MP3s are well worth listening to.

In a Q&A someone asked Don Carson about William Webb’s redemptive-movement hermeneutic, and Carson replied that it is unconvincing. Carson followed up with an email (which the EFCA made available but that isn’t online now): “As for bibliography,” writes Carson, “the literature is pretty extensive, but the two most substantive review articles evaluating Webb’s book are” these: [Read more…] about D. A. Carson on William Webb

Thank God for Gifted Professors and Students

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There’s almost always at least one person who is more gifted than you are at something.

  • It may tempt you to be sinfully discontent with your gifts and jealous of others.
  • It may fuel godly ambition.
  • It may fuel humility and thankfulness.

Would you believe that this happens in seminary—where people are taking classes about the Bible and theology?

It does. [Read more…] about Thank God for Gifted Professors and Students

The Intolerance of Tolerance

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This book has been in the works for a long time, and it releases this month:

D. A. Carson. The Intolerance of Tolerance. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. 186 pp.

It’s outstanding. I read it several times last year and enjoyed preparing the indexes.

  • 30-page PDF. This includes the book’s front matter and first 25 pages.
  • MP3s: part 1 | part 2. Don Carson has spoken on the intolerance of tolerance many times, often while evangelizing at secular universities. These two MP3s are from March 2004.

Here’s the book’s broad outline:

Ch. 1. Introduction: The Changing Face of Tolerance [Read more…] about The Intolerance of Tolerance

Happy 65th Birthday to Don Carson!

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Don at my home during my first of four years at TEDS (2006–2010)

I thank God for this man.

As I say at the end of this essay,

I thank God for gracing me with gifts to the church like Carson. . . .

I am excited that Carson is only in his mid-sixties and that he is in good health. If Jesus does not return and Carson’s health continues, Carson will very likely equip the church with dozens of more books and articles. His magnum opus will be a two-volume ‘whole-Bible’ BT. He explained to me that he needs about twenty more years to do this well. He first desires to finish his commentaries on John’s letters, Galatians, Hebrews, Revelation, and Ezekiel. Carson is one of those exceptional figures who is equipped to contribute an outstanding integrative BT that would serve as a reliable foundation for ST that is more genre-sensitive and aware of the Bible’s storyline. (pp. 273–74)

I regularly pray that God would preserve his health and sustain and even increase his productivity.

Related:

  1. Don Carson’s Festschrift (at the occasion of his 65th birthday)
  2. D. A. Carson’s Theological Method
  3. D. A. Carson Publications
  4. D. A. Carson MP3s Now Hosted by TGC

D. A. Carson’s Theological Method

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Update in October 2023: I updated my essay for a new book of essays by D. A. Carson:

Andrew David Naselli. “D. A. Carson’s Theological Method.” Pages 11–50 in The Gospel and the Modern World: A Theological Vision for the Church. Edited by Brian J. Tabb. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023.

* * * * * * *

This essay appears in the latest issue of SBET:

Andrew David Naselli. “D. A. Carson’s Theological Method.” Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 29 (2011): 245–74.

It revises a paper I submitted to Kevin Vanhoozer at TEDS in December 2006 for his PhD seminar “Advanced Theological Prolegomena.” I told some friends in the class at the time that I’d like to publish my essay in about five years, which would give me more time to better understand Don Carson’s theological method.

Here’s the outline:

1. Carson’s Background: Some Factors That Influence His Theological Method

1.1. Carson’s Family
1.2. Carson’s Education
1.3. Carson’s Professional Experience
1.4. Some Other Background Factors

2. Carson’s Corrigible Presuppositions

2.1. Carson’s Metaphysics: God
2.2. Carson’s Epistemology: Chastened Foundationalism [Read more…] about D. A. Carson’s Theological Method

Thank God for Biblical Scholars Who Write for Lay People

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Ben Witherington III, Is There a Doctor in the House? An Insider’s Story and Advice on Becoming a Bible Scholar (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 83–84:

[excerpt from ch. 7: “The Write Stuff: The Ability to Research and Write”]

Unfortunately, we live in a culture of “experts” where expertise is revered; sadly, people’s egos get bound up in the desire to be a “world’s leading authority in X.” The expert too often feels it is enough to do pure research. He has no need to distill things for the masses; that’s beneath his dignity and pay scale. It is enough to live in one’s head and to talk only to other equally heady folk in the same field.

Whatever the merits of this approach to research in other fields, a Christian who is a Bible teacher or scholar should never take such an approach. Never! Research by a Christian is never done just for its own sake, or even just to advance knowledge in a given field. It is done in service to the Lord and to his church. I must confess I am sometimes baffled by some Christian NT scholars who are perfectly content to just talk to small circles of like-minded experts without any sense of responsibility to share their knowledge with a broader audience—indeed with the church.

Cf. this chapter:

D. A. Carson, “The Scholar as Pastor,” in The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry (ed. David Mathis and Owen Strachan; Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 71–106.

It’s based on this talk from this event: