Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Robert Yarbrough

Sex Ethics in 1 Thess 4:3–8

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Bob Yarbrough has authored two articles on what 1 Thess 4:3–8 teaches about sex:

1. Robert W. Yarbrough, “Excellence in Christian Living: Sex Ethics à la First Thessalonians 4:3–8,” Reformation and Revival 5:4 (1996): 67–76.

Outline

  1. A Modern Ancient Problem
  2. Paul’s Commitment to True Excellence
  3. God’s Will: Sex Ethics at Center Stage
  4. The Gravity of Sexual Misconduct
  5. Paul’s (God’s) Call to Excellence Today [Read more…] about Sex Ethics in 1 Thess 4:3–8

Bob Yarbrough’s Evolving Faith and Crises of Faith

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Steve Hays and James Anderson, eds. Love the Lord with Heart and Mind. 2nd ed. n.p.: n.p., 2009.

Excerpt from the interview with Robert W. Yarbrough (pp. 140–41)

9. Looking back over your life as a Christian, how would you say that your faith has evolved over time? How, if at all, does your lived-in faith differ from when you were younger?

In general, the older I get the more gratifying it becomes to know God through faith in Christ, not least because this enriches immeasurably all other areas of my life. At the same time, the difficulties of loyal service to Christ, to the extent that I may ever approximate it, seem to grow thornier. Jeremiah said the human heart is deceitful and sick [Jer 17:9]. I’m afraid that I become personally ever more acutely conscious of this about myself as time goes by. . . .

11. Since you’ve been a Christian, have you undergone a crisis of faith? If so, how did you work through it? [Read more…] about Bob Yarbrough’s Evolving Faith and Crises of Faith

Romans: A Rubik’s Cube or Fire Alarm?

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“The message of Romans is not just apostolic instruction: it is prophetic outcry and warning. The problem is that it comes dressed in such symmetry, profundity, and intellectual elegance. It has become a Rubik’s Cube for erstwhile expositors instead of a fire alarm to rouse God’s people from their lethargy and shallowness.”

— Robert W. Yarbrough, “The Theology of Romans in Future Tense,” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 11:3 (2007): 57.

Bob Yarbrough on Computer Technology and Exegesis

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Robert W. Yarbrough insightfully answers this question posed by Collin Hansen in a CT interview published today:

How has computer technology contributed to our understanding of 1-3 John?

One can also do word analyses and various grammatical and syntactical searches of the New Testament or related writings with a speed, ease, and comprehensiveness previously undreamt of. Ease of access to reference works eliminates tedious book hunting and page turning. A downside is that every decade we move farther into computer technology, the greater the danger becomes that younger scholars will lack the hands-on intimacy with the text that pen and paper demanded, and the ingrained, deeply intuitive grasp of the text that a trained memory can arrive at. Voluminous information easily accessible can not only obscure but actually stunt creative and historically responsible scholarship.

Fall 2007 SBJT: Romans

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The fall 2007 Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (vol. 11, no. 3) is devoted to the epistle to the Romans. It includes eight articles, two of which are available as PDFs (linked below).

  1. Editorial: Stephen J. Wellum: “Learning from the Epistle to the Romans“
  2. John Polhill, “The Setting of Romans in the Ministry of Paul”
  3. Benjamin L. Merkle, “Is Romans Really the Greatest Letter Ever Written?“
  4. A. B. Caneday, “‘They Exchanged the Glory of God for the Likeness of an Image’: Idolatrous Adam and Israel as Representatives in Paul’s Letter to the Romans”
  5. Robert W. Yarbrough, “The Theology of Romans in Future Tense”
  6. Douglas Moo, “Paul’s Universalizing Hermeneutic in Romans”
  7. Mark A. Seifrid, “The Gospel as the Revelation of Mystery: The Witness of the Scriptures to Christ in Romans”
  8. Thomas R. Schreiner, “Sermon: Loving One Another Fulfills the Law: Romans 13:8-10″

Update: See “Fall SBJT studies significance of Paul’s epistle to the Romans,” published by Towers Online, SBTS’s news service.

Bob Yarbrough MP3s on “Adolf Schlatter and the Future of Christianity”

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Dr. Robert W. Yarbrough‘s 1995 Francis Schaeffer Lecture Series at Covenant Theological Seminary on “Adolf Schlatter and the Future of Christianity” is available for free as nine MP3s.

  1. Schlatter’s Life and Legacy
  2. Schlatter’s Life and Legacy – Q & A
  3. Schlatter’s Interpretation of Scripture
  4. Schlatter’s Interpretation of Scripture – Q & A
  5. Schlatter’s Methodological Genius
  6. Schlatter’s Methodological Genius – Q & A
  7. Schlatter and Prayer
  8. Schlatter’s Promise for the Church and Theology
  9. Schlatter’s Promise for the Church and Theology – Q & A

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Yarbrough is an expert on Adolf Schlatter. In fact, he has been in Korea this very week lecturing on Schlatter in various venues. Yarbrough asserts that Schlatter’s “impact on generations of German pastors and theologians was enormous, and Schlatter’s stock seems to be rising in contemporary discussions. . . . Once little known in the Anglo-Saxon world there is today fresh interest in his work, in part due to the excellent translations of his two-volume New Testament theology by Andreas Köstenberger” (Salvation Historical Fallacy? [listed below], p. 82).

Yarbrough’s Schlatter contributions include the following (listed in chronological order):

  1. “The heilsgeschichtliche Perspective in Modern New Testament Theology.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1985. [This is not solely devoted to Schlatter, but Schlatter is part of the discussion.]
  2. “Biblical Authority and the Ethics Gap: The Call to Faith in James and Schlatter.” Presbyterion 22:2 (1996): 67-75.
  3. Review of Stephen A. Dintamann, Creative Grace: Faith and History in the Theology of Adolf Schlatter. Evangelical Quarterly 68:3 (1996): 253–56.
  4. Translator of Neuer Werner, Adolf Schlatter: A Biography of Germany’s Premier Biblical Theologian. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.
  5. “Adolf Schlatter’s ‘The Significance of Method for Theological Work’: Translation and Commentary.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 1:2 (1997): 64-76.
  6. “Adolf Schlatter.” Pages 518–23 in Historical Handbook of Major Bible Interpreters. Edited by Donald McKim. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1998.
  7. Review of Werner Neuer, Adolf Schlatter: Ein Leben für Theologie und Kirche. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41 (1998): 139–41.
  8. “Adolf Schlatter.” Pages 59–72 in Biblical Interpreters of the Twentieth Century: A Selection of Evangelical Voices. Edited by Walter Elwell and J. D. Weaver. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.
  9. Review of Adolf Schlatter, Romans: The Righteousness of God, translated by Siegfried Schlatzmann. Themelios 24:2 (1999): 63–64.
  10. “Schlatter Reception Now: His New Testament Theology.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 3:1 (1999): 52–65.
  11. “Schlatter Reception Then and Now: His New Testament Theology.” Pages 417–31 in Adolf Schlatter, The Theology of the Apostles. Translated by Andreas J. Köstenberger. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.
  12. “Schlatter, Adolf (1852–1938).” Pages 505-7 in The Dictionary of Historical Theology. Edited by Trevor Hart. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.
  13. “Paul and Salvation History.” Pages 297–342 in The Paradoxes of Paul. Vol. 2 of Justification and Variegated Nomism. Edited by D. A. Carson, Peter T. O’Brien, and Mark A. Seifrid. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 181. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004. [This is not solely devoted to Schlatter, but Schlatter is part of the discussion. See pp. 298, 309, 313–17, 319–21.]
  14. The Salvation Historical Fallacy? Reassessing the History of New Testament Theology. Edited by Robert Morgan. History of Biblical Interpretation Series 2. Leiden: Deo, 2004. [This is not solely devoted to Schlatter, but Schlatter is part of the discussion. See pp. 3–5, 81–117, 135–36, 141, 150n194, 256, 267n33, 275n89, 280n123, 286n158, 301n230, 325–28, 342–43, 380–81.]
  15. Co-translator with Andreas J. Köstenberger of Adolf Schlatter, Do We Know Jesus? Grand Rapids: Kregel: 2005.
  16. “Witness to the Gospel in Academe: Adolf Schlatter as a Teacher of the Church.” Perichoresis 4:1 (2006): 1–17.
  17. Revision of “Adolf Schlatter (1852–1938).” In Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters. Edited by Donald McKim. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, forthcoming (November 2007). [This volume is a significant revision of McKim’s Historical Handbook of Major Bible Interpreters.]