Picked up two new books in the last 2 days.
Reformed Expository Commentary: Hebrews . Phillips, Richard D. P&R: 2006.
Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism. Grudem, Wayne. Multnomah: 2006.
Fresh off the press for both of them. The Hebrews commentary is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone studying Hebrews. Especially preachers. A quick excerpt from his commentary on chapter 2:1-4 of Hebrews,
"We should fear to be separated from the anchor of God's Word, or to have any other hand on the wheel of our lives than the Captain of our salvation, who speaks in the Bible. To drift away is ultimately to invite the judgment God will inflict on those who neglect His saving message in Jesus Christ."
Grudem's book is equally as good. I haven't read any of it (I bought it 10 minutes ago) but this is what some of the men that blurbed it said,
"After the Bible, I cannot imagine a more useful book for finding reliable help in understanding God's will for manhood and womanhood in the church and the home" -John Piper
"This book belongs in the hands of every pastor, seminary student, and thinking layperson" -R. Albert Mohler Jr.
I have come to realize that generalizing when it comes to writing is a pretty solid way to buy books. If Rob Bell or Don Miller blurb a book, I either don't bother or know whats coming. Likewise when John Piper and Al Mohler both blurb on a book, it might be worth picking up. I don't have a very vast knowledge of who is who in this world but I know and trust both of them so it is well worth the money. I'll review both of those as I go along.
For Our Majestic God,
Ryan Thompson
09 November 2006
07 November 2006
ELF Meeting Recap and Thoughts
Last evening I attended a meeting of the ELF which is a Tri-States group that meets and listens to fairly famed teachers, authors, and pastors. ELF I found out stands for Evangelical Leadreship Fraternal. It was extremely enjoyable to meet and fellowship with local men. A group from Galena headed by Gary Kirst puts this meeting together and there has been some power packed guys there, among them,
- D.A. Carson (last time)
- Steve Wellum (last night)
- Leland Ryken (next time)
The food was excellent, I sat next to Ken Fleming and we talked for a while. More than the food and more than the fellowship was the glorious message of the gospel relayed to us by Dr. Steve Wellum speaking on the topic "Substitutionary Atonment: A Biblical Teaching Under Fire". Mark Stevenson invited me to come after he saw my response - to what I feel is one of the biggest ordeals in Evangelicalism right now - on this blog.
In short Dr. Wellum produced a well thought summary of the problem and the deeper problems within the problem. First : The Problem,
People are ditching Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA from here forward) all over the place for a variety of reasons. The most prominenet of which are a) A compromise with society, we are a society of "Whatever is good for you is good for you" otherwise known as pluralism. b) Theological Illiteracy, we do what feels good and doctrine just gets lost. Doctrine is not just a "bag of marbles" which is how many people view it today. The church and many people are tending to "tinker with God" and change some things around very cleverly in the doctrines of wrath and sin. Ultimately however the cross is a "test case" for our theology.
Dr. Wellum went on to explain the many problems people have with PSA among them being: a) it makes God an unrighteous violent judge which He expressly says we must not be, b) it is just a "western" theory of things (which is exactly what I was responding to on my blog), c) it makes our salvation a mechanical transaction, d) it makes God unethical. These views are held either in part or in whole depending on who you read and talk to. Men like Joel Greene and Steve Chalke say that a bloody atonement theory is just "cosmic child abuse" and God is just a wrathful devil if we follow this view. Dr. Wellum made an excellent comment when he said, "penal substitution is not just a theory of the atonement...it is that which makes sense of scripture...nothing in the Bible makes sense without it."
From here I had a hard time keeping up in the note taking fashion as I was exhausted and my hand hurt so I only took down quotes and brief ideas but oh they are glorious quotes and ideas. I will be getting the message in full shortly on audia and I will either try to make it available or will directly transpose it for your intellectual delight.
The most important and fresh ways of saying the real problems with having problems with God being wrathful that he said was the idea that God is a judge. Its there in scripture (Duet 32:4, Gen 18:24) and we must not forget it. But God is not like a judge in a way. Or at least like an earthly judge. Because an earthly judge judges based on a law far separated from himself. But when judges based on a law, He is the law. God is His law and when He comes down off of that seat to take the penalty for what the law requires, HE makes the law, HE is the law, and only HE can satisfy the law. And this He does when He kills His only Son and essentially kills Himself for our sakes. This IS the gospel! Ok there will be more later.
For Our Bloodied Savior's Glory
Ryan
- D.A. Carson (last time)
- Steve Wellum (last night)
- Leland Ryken (next time)
The food was excellent, I sat next to Ken Fleming and we talked for a while. More than the food and more than the fellowship was the glorious message of the gospel relayed to us by Dr. Steve Wellum speaking on the topic "Substitutionary Atonment: A Biblical Teaching Under Fire". Mark Stevenson invited me to come after he saw my response - to what I feel is one of the biggest ordeals in Evangelicalism right now - on this blog.
In short Dr. Wellum produced a well thought summary of the problem and the deeper problems within the problem. First : The Problem,
People are ditching Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA from here forward) all over the place for a variety of reasons. The most prominenet of which are a) A compromise with society, we are a society of "Whatever is good for you is good for you" otherwise known as pluralism. b) Theological Illiteracy, we do what feels good and doctrine just gets lost. Doctrine is not just a "bag of marbles" which is how many people view it today. The church and many people are tending to "tinker with God" and change some things around very cleverly in the doctrines of wrath and sin. Ultimately however the cross is a "test case" for our theology.
Dr. Wellum went on to explain the many problems people have with PSA among them being: a) it makes God an unrighteous violent judge which He expressly says we must not be, b) it is just a "western" theory of things (which is exactly what I was responding to on my blog), c) it makes our salvation a mechanical transaction, d) it makes God unethical. These views are held either in part or in whole depending on who you read and talk to. Men like Joel Greene and Steve Chalke say that a bloody atonement theory is just "cosmic child abuse" and God is just a wrathful devil if we follow this view. Dr. Wellum made an excellent comment when he said, "penal substitution is not just a theory of the atonement...it is that which makes sense of scripture...nothing in the Bible makes sense without it."
From here I had a hard time keeping up in the note taking fashion as I was exhausted and my hand hurt so I only took down quotes and brief ideas but oh they are glorious quotes and ideas. I will be getting the message in full shortly on audia and I will either try to make it available or will directly transpose it for your intellectual delight.
The most important and fresh ways of saying the real problems with having problems with God being wrathful that he said was the idea that God is a judge. Its there in scripture (Duet 32:4, Gen 18:24) and we must not forget it. But God is not like a judge in a way. Or at least like an earthly judge. Because an earthly judge judges based on a law far separated from himself. But when judges based on a law, He is the law. God is His law and when He comes down off of that seat to take the penalty for what the law requires, HE makes the law, HE is the law, and only HE can satisfy the law. And this He does when He kills His only Son and essentially kills Himself for our sakes. This IS the gospel! Ok there will be more later.
For Our Bloodied Savior's Glory
Ryan
06 November 2006
New Books and A New Blog Soon
I bought a few new books yesterday. They are:
A Jonathan Edwards Reader
Becoming Conversant With The Emergent Church - Don Carson
Hymns of Truth and Praise (Also known as "The Black Book")
Evangelical Feminism - Wayne Grudem
Plain ESV Cross Reference Black Letter Bible - God
It was fun to buy books again. The Grudem book is making a stir so I figured I ought to get it and review it. As I read books, probably more during the summer, I will review them on here for your delight and for my memory. The more I read it seems the more I forget so I really need to keep a place for all of this stuff. I hope they are useful for you also.
I will have a new blog after today I am sure becuase I meet with Dave Glock to discuss the book we are reading Four Views on the Atonement ed. Eddy Beilby. Right now we are on the Christus Victor (Christ Our Victor) or Ransom view contributed by Greg Boyd. Its ok I guess, there are definitely some ransom verses in the Bible though I would be inclined to say that we are certainly not captive to Satan as God more or less has a leash on Satan when you read Job. It is good to note that it IS Greg Boyd our friendly neighborhood Open Theist that is writing this one so he levels down in my mind. It would be one thing if he were say, an Arminian and went with this one, I would at least feel like we are at least talking about something similar when I talk to Arminians.
Secondly I will be attending the local ELF (Evangelical L? Foundation) here in Dubuque and there is a speaker coming from Southern Seminary to talk about Substitution. I am sure this will evoke thought and a further blog. If you bother with this blog come back wednesday or thursday and I should have fresh thinking on here.
Sozetha!
A Jonathan Edwards Reader
Becoming Conversant With The Emergent Church - Don Carson
Hymns of Truth and Praise (Also known as "The Black Book")
Evangelical Feminism - Wayne Grudem
Plain ESV Cross Reference Black Letter Bible - God
It was fun to buy books again. The Grudem book is making a stir so I figured I ought to get it and review it. As I read books, probably more during the summer, I will review them on here for your delight and for my memory. The more I read it seems the more I forget so I really need to keep a place for all of this stuff. I hope they are useful for you also.
I will have a new blog after today I am sure becuase I meet with Dave Glock to discuss the book we are reading Four Views on the Atonement ed. Eddy Beilby. Right now we are on the Christus Victor (Christ Our Victor) or Ransom view contributed by Greg Boyd. Its ok I guess, there are definitely some ransom verses in the Bible though I would be inclined to say that we are certainly not captive to Satan as God more or less has a leash on Satan when you read Job. It is good to note that it IS Greg Boyd our friendly neighborhood Open Theist that is writing this one so he levels down in my mind. It would be one thing if he were say, an Arminian and went with this one, I would at least feel like we are at least talking about something similar when I talk to Arminians.
Secondly I will be attending the local ELF (Evangelical L? Foundation) here in Dubuque and there is a speaker coming from Southern Seminary to talk about Substitution. I am sure this will evoke thought and a further blog. If you bother with this blog come back wednesday or thursday and I should have fresh thinking on here.
Sozetha!
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