Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

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New Website for Christ the King Church in Stillwater

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Here is the new website for Christ the King Church in Stillwater: www.ChristTheKing.build.

About four months ago, I announced that my family is planning to plant Christ the King Church with some dear friends. If you have been praying for us, thank you. There has been so much to do (this is probably the most I have felt saturated with responsibilities), and God has been kind to us each step of the way. It has been a joy to work with the Dodds, Williams, and Colestock families to prepare to make disciples who glorify God in all of life for all of Stillwater.

We are planning to covenant together as a church on the first Sunday in January, and we plan to start out meeting on Sunday mornings at the beautiful Historic Courthouse in downtown Stillwater. Here’s some drone footage of that building and area from on overcast day in late October (thanks to my former student Kyle Grindberg):

We are asking God to empower us to be faithful and fruitful in this good work. Would you please pray for us? And would you consider partnering with us by investing in this good work?

For more info, see www.ChristTheKing.build.

Three Reflections on Being a Pastor and a Professor

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My school just published this short article:

Naselli, Andrew David. “Three Reflections on Being a Pastor and a Professor.” Bethlehem College and Seminary, 16 August 2024.

I expand on these three reflections:

  1. It is helpful to lay out a spectrum of six options for being a pastor or professor.
  2. It is good for seminary professors to be pastors as they train pastors.
  3. Pastor-professors labor to build up Christ’s church.

Related:

Announcing a New Church Plant

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Big news for the Naselli family: We’re planning to plant Christ the King Church with some dear friends.

More info at www.ChristTheKing.build.

(I plan to continue teaching full-time at Bethlehem College and Seminary. And our family hopes to move closer to the Stillwater area in due course.)

Would you please pray for us?

Update in mid-October 2024: Our family has moved to the Stillwater area. Please pray for us as we settle and labor. We plan to covenant together as a church on January 5, 2025.

Related:

  1. Three Reflections on Being a Pastor and a Professor
  2. Why and How Our Church Plans to Use the Treasury of Psalms and Hymns

We’re Moving to Minneapolis: 5 Reasons We’re Excited to Serve at Bethlehem College and Seminary

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bcsLogoColorBethlehem College & Seminary (BCS) just announced that I’ll be joining their faculty in August 2013 as Assistant Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology.

Jenni and I are grateful to God and excited to join the BCS family. We’re planning to move to Minneapolis this summer.

If you don’t know much about BCS, these links are a good place to start:

We’re excited to serve at BCS for at least five reasons:

1. Doctrine

The doctrine BCS affirms and celebrates is what we affirm and celebrate. [Read more…] about We’re Moving to Minneapolis: 5 Reasons We’re Excited to Serve at Bethlehem College and Seminary

Announcing Emma Elyse Naselli

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God has graciously given us our third daughter: Emma Elyse Naselli was born this morning!

(click image to enlarge)

About Her Name

Emma is from emunah (אֱמוּנָה), the Hebrew word for faithfulness.

Elyse is from eleos (ἔλεος), the Greek word for mercy. The Greek translation of the Old Testament typically uses this word (213 of 248 occurrences) to translate the Hebrew word chesed (חֶסֶד), which refers to loving loyalty or loyal love based on a committed relationship that results in kind deeds.

For the LORD is good and his love [KJV: “mercy”; Heb. chesed; Gk. eleos] endures forever;
his faithfulness [Heb. emunah] continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5)

The cadence of Emma Elyse fits with our other girls: a four-syllable name with the emphasis on one and four:

  1. Kara Marie
  2. Gloria Grace
  3. Emma Elyse

The Back-story

Emma Elyse’s name will constantly remind us of God’s mercy and faithfulness. Here’s part of the back-story, lightly edited from a blog post that Jenni wrote on February 1:

[Read more…] about Announcing Emma Elyse Naselli

Dissertation Abstract

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In my last post, “Dissertation Defended,” I wrote, “I’ll share the abstract in a forthcoming post.” Here it is:

Doctoral Student: Andrew David Naselli
Dissertation Mentor: D. A. Carson
Dissertation Title: Paul’s Use of Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:3a (Eng. 41:11a) in Romans 11:34–35

This dissertation examines the use of Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a (Eng. 41:11) in Rom 11:34–35. Its structure generally follows the six-step approach used in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (ed. G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007). It addresses

    1. the NT context of Rom 11:34–35 [ch. 2]
    2. the OT context of Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a [chs. 3–4]
    3. textual issues in Isa 40:13, Job 41:3a, and Rom 11:34–35 [ch. 5]
    4. relevant uses of Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a in Jewish literature [ch. 6]
    5. Paul’s hermeneutical warrant for using Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a in Rom 11:34–35 [ch. 7]
    6. Paul’s theological use of Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a in Rom 11:34–35 [ch. 8]

    It concludes that when Paul quotes Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a, he includes their larger OT contexts, which reveal a remarkable typological connection between the two OT passages and the end of Romans 11. The three rhetorical questions in Rom 11:34–35 communicate three of God’s characteristics that correspond to his ways in salvation history, and each carries simple and profound theological implications. By quoting Isa 40:13 and Job 41:3a in Rom 11:34–35, Paul typologically connects Isaiah 40 and Job 38:1–42:6 with Romans 9–11 in order to exalt God’s incomprehensibility, wisdom, mercy, grace, patience, independence, and sovereignty.

    Dissertation Defended

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    Two weeks ago I wrote that I “am scheduled to defend my dissertation on July 2, 2010 before D. A. Carson (my mentor), Bob Yarbrough (second reader), and Willem VanGemeren (program director).”

    After I submitted my dissertation draft to the Academic Doctoral Office last week about a month and a half early, Willem VanGemeren asked me if I’d like to defend it sooner, and my committee moved the date to May 13, 2010 (this morning).

    The committee’s verdict: clear pass.

    And I’m grateful to God!

    The dissertation’s title is “Paul’s Use of Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:3a (Eng. 41:11a) in Romans 11:34–35.” (I’ll share the abstract in a forthcoming post.)

    Here’s what I wrote in the “Acknowledgments”:

    This dissertation began as a paper prepared for D. A. Carson’s PhD seminar “The Old Testament in the New” in fall 2006. Carson required each student to write a paper on the use of the OT in a specific NT passage, and I chose Rom 11:34–35 primarily because it is attached to my favorite verse in the Bible: Rom 11:36. I slightly revised the paper and presented it at the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society on November 19, 2008. The study was so rewarding that I expanded it into this dissertation.

    [Read more…] about Dissertation Defended