Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem’s Introduction to Christian Ethics

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This book is now available:

Wayne Grudem. Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018.

[Update in 2024. It’s now available as a second edition: Wayne Grudem. Christian Ethics: Living a Life That Is Pleasing to God. 2nd ed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024.]

My endorsement:

This is the best all-around book on Christian ethics I’m aware of, and I plan to require it as the primary textbook for my course on biblical ethics. Grudem writes in his characteristic style: clear, logical, accessible, and (usually!) persuasive. [Read more…] about Wayne Grudem’s Introduction to Christian Ethics

Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique

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This 1007–page book releases this month:

J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Christopher Shaw, Ann K. Gauger, and Wayne Grudem, eds. Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.

Check out this 79-page PDF excerpt. It includes …

  • the endorsements
  • the Table of Contents
  • Stephen Meyer’s scientific and philosophical introduction
  • Wayne Grudem’s biblical and theological introduction

I recently spent about twenty hours surveying the book. I micro-read the introduction, macro-read or surveyed the sections on science and philosophy (each article has a helpful short summary at the beginning), and more carefully read the section on theology.

My take: The book is impressive, comprehensive, and compelling. [Read more…] about Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique

“Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel

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freeThis book recently released:

Wayne Grudem. “Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016. 159 pp.

This 42-page PDF excerpt includes the endorsements (by Darrell Bock, Ligon Duncan, Kent Hughes, John MacArthur, J. I. Packer, Tom Schreiner, Sam Storms, Dan Wallace, and Bruce Ware), a detailed outline of the book, the introduction, and chapter 1.

When I was in college, the church and school I was a part of embraced both Keswick theology and aspects of “free grace” theology. It led me to write a dissertation-turned-book on Keswick theology, which touches on the so-called “Lordship salvation” debate and its ramifications for false assurance. So I read Grudem’s latest book with great interest. His theology is sound, and his tone is just right.

Update on 8/23/2017: My latest book attempts to survey and analyze “let go and let God” theology:

No Quick Fix

Grudem: 5 Wrong Questions to Ask When Drawing Doctrinal Boundaries

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boundsWayne Grudem, “Why, When, and for What Should We Draw New Boundaries?” in Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity [free PDF] (ed. John Piper, Justin Taylor, and Paul Kjoss Helseth; Wheaton: Crossway, 2003), 369 (numbering added):

Some wrong questions to ask

It is important to add that there are some questions that should not be part of our consideration in deciding which doctrinal matters to exclude with new boundaries. These are questions such as the following:

    1. Are the advocates my friends?
    2. Are they nice people?
    3. Will we lose money or members if we exclude them?
    4. Will the academic community criticize us as being too narrow-minded?
    5. Will someone take us to court over this?

Such questions are all grounded in a wrongful fear of man, not in a fear of God and trust in God.

Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films

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Bourne_0Wayne Grudem evaluates the Jason Bourne films (his critique applies to The Bourne Legacy as well) when he discusses the CIA in Politics—According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 424–25:

THE CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the primary organization that gathers and analyzes information about other countries, especially about potential enemies of the United States. In other words, the CIA coordinates America’s spy network abroad. [Read more…] about Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films

Which Bible Translation Should I Use? A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions: ESV, NIV, HCSB, NLT

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coverI’ve been looking forward to this book for a few years:

Andreas J. Köstenberger and David A. Croteau, eds. Which Bible Translation Should I Use? A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2012.

Here’s the lineup: [Read more…] about Which Bible Translation Should I Use? A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions: ESV, NIV, HCSB, NLT

Voting as a Christian

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These two books are shortened versions of Wayne Grudem’s larger book Politics :

Cf. my coauthored review of Grudem’s book Politics.

Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Bible

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Wayne Grudem, “Foreword,” in Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical and Scientific Responses (ed. Norman C. Nevin; Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2011), 9–10:

This is a highly significant book because it persuasively argues that Christians cannot accept modern evolutionary theory without also compromising essential teachings of the Bible.

It may at first seem easy to say ‘God simply used evolution to bring about the results he desired’, as some are proposing today. That view is called ‘theistic evolution’. However, the contributors to this volume, both scientists and biblical scholars, show that adopting theistic evolution leads to many positions contrary to the teaching of the Bible, such as these: [Read more…] about Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Bible