Doing Scholarship Like the Church Matters

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“Both of us are deeply troubled by the way in which modern scholarship continues to produce studies of the text that do not (and often cannot) connect with Scripture’s target audience, the people of God who gather each week by the power of the Spirit to be sanctified as disciples of Jesus. We refuse to believe that the church is not hungry for a deeper, more intelligent, and even more demanding encounter with the biblical text” (David Nienhuis & Robert Wall, Reading the Epistles of James, Peter, John & Jude as Scripture, xv-xvi).

YES!

That Might Explain a Few Things

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Over the holidays I tried to listen to the audio of The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World, by Edward Dolnick. I appreciate the general topic, but after a few chapters I stopped. The condescending caricature of Christianity presented in the book was too much. To tell well the story of a group of people, one must at least appreciate at some level where they are coming from and why. Dolnick simply sneers at the backwardness of people who were so silly as to think that God controlled the world, that hell exists, that sin is serious, etc.

His contrast between the 17th century and today is telling, though. For example he writes:

“Today damn and hell are the mildest oaths, suitable responses to a stubbed toe or a spilled drink. For our forebears, the prospect of being damned to hell was vivid and horrifying.”

Dolnick seems to think this change of perspective is progress. The modern man Dolnick happily describes sounds rather like the wicked described in Psalm 36:1: “there is no fear of God before his eyes.”  The fact that fear of facing God’s judgment is rare in our society, that words like damn and hell mean so little, explains a lot about behavior and belief today.

Best Reads of 2013

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Several years ago I began keeping an annotated list of every book I read each year. It has been a very useful discipline and resource for later. As part of my own review of this past year I will post here what have been the best books I have read this past year. Included in this list are only books I read all the way through. I am not addressing here commentaries or other reference books which might be consulted (my thoughts on the best new Bible reference works published in the last year can be found here).

Here are my top 10 for the year (in no specific order):

The Story of John G. Paton Told for Young folks, or Thirty Years among the South Sea Cannibals, ed. James Paton- Though the list is not in a particular order, this is probably the stand out book for me this year. I began reading this with my kids, but ended up reading it for myself. It is a true spiritual classic and was deeply moving and formative for me. The portrait of a loving, godly father and his impact on his son challenged me greatly (as well as moving me to tears). Then, the beautiful portraits of faith, devotion to Christ, perseverance, etc. in the life of John Paton powerfully impacted me. I was challenged in faith, rebuked of shallowness, enticed by the beauty of godliness, and encouraged to persevere.

Recovering Classic Evangelicalism: Applying the Wisdom and Vision of Carl F. H. Henry, Gregory Thornbury- I wanted to write a post on this book earlier but never got to it. This is a valuable and needed book for our times, particularly as it wholeheartedly affirms biblical inerrancy and calls for us to hold to the faith. I found myself shouting in affirmation at times while reading.

A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism: From Benedict Spinoza to Brevard Childs, Mark Gignilliat- This is a very helpful overview of how the Old Testament has been approached from the 17th century to today. Some will expect such a book to be dull, but Gignilliat writes well and, by focusing on seven key scholars, makes this a compelling read. I think I may have more qualms about Childs than Gignilliat does, but, I found this very helpful in understanding the currents you encounter in biblical interpretation today.

Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry- Having read several other of Berry’s Port William novels, I finally read this one, which I typically hear referred to as his best. I thought the book started out quite slow, and I was unsure it would live up to its reputation. However, in the end, I loved it. It contains the powerful, moving portraits of family, place, rootedness which I have so appreciated from Berry. This book also includes a very insightful portrait of the church.

Beast of Burden, Kirby Atkins- This story has been in the mind and heart of my friend, Kirby Atkins, for a long time. So, when he asked if I would be interested in reading a pre-publication copy of it, I jumped at the chance. It is a wonderful, beautifully written story which in its own way addresses the pain of life in a fallen world, the hope of redemption and the struggle to believe. It is one of the best original stories I have read in a long time. I wanted to comment on the book earlier this year, but could not due to all the processes with publishers, etc. I am delighted that I received permission to list the book and title here and just heard that the trailer for the movie will be out in February. This is one to watch for.

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe- I finally got around to reading this one as it was part of our school work with my older boys. I was surprised by how deeply Christian the book is. I had been told it was and was aware of Defoe’s background, but still the depth of Christian conviction surprised me. This book contains profound theological & ethical deliberations, along with the adventure.

John Adams, David McCullough- This is another one I finally got to because it was part of our schooling. McCullough writes well and I’ve enjoyed several other of his books. John Adams  is full of comments and events which are fruitful for contemplation.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain- I came back to this one because it was a school assignment for my boys as well. I listened to the Audible edition with Elijah Woods reading. Woods was excellent! He brought dialect to life and captured the personalities very well. This is a very funny story and gave us many opportunities for significant reflection on race, humanity, truthfulness, adventure, humor.

What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster, Jonathan V. Last- This is a timely book for our culture. With careful analysis of the data, Last details the economic and culture problems which are coming with the decline of birthrates around the world. He probes various reasons why people have become less interested in having children, reasons ranging from economic to cultural to personal. Jonathan Last has written a book full of data and statistics but still made it a “page turner”- quite an accomplishment!

Ethics and Moral Reasoning: A Student’s Guide, Ben Mitchell- This is a very helpful, brief introduction to the world of ethics and moral reasoning. Written in a very pastoral and accessible style, it is deeply rooted in the biblical text while conversant with the wide range of ethical theory and discussion today.

 

Honorable Mention:

The Lost World, Conan Doyle – This is a great story! I have read all the Sherlock Holmes stories as well as some other of Doyle’s writings so I was delighted to read this with my boys. As it deals with “missing link” discussions, it was a great venue for considering creation. It is a fun story with much to see in terms of character and worldview (here is a previous post on reading this book with my boys). [None of the movie adaptations, including the Jurassic Park ones, live up to this original story]

Wordsmithy: Hot Tips on the Writing Life, Douglas Wilson- Doug Wilson is one of the best writers of our day, so I was quite interested to read his thoughts on writing. It is vintage Wilson, entertaining and informative- a good book on writing, containing good writing.

Back on Murder (A Roland March Mystery Book #1), J. Mark Bertrand- This was a good, engaging story. I was hooked after a couple of pages and finished the book within 24 hours. Roland March is a homicide detective down on his luck who tackles a new case and encounters people of faith.

Goliath Catfish, Scott Gill- This is a nice story well told, in the tradition of Mark Twain. Set in Memphis in the 1940’s, this is a tale of adventure, courage, friendship, and perseverance as a poor white boy and a poor black boy become friends in pursuit of a great treasure. I liked how Elijah, though he couldn’t go to school, longed to do so and how his retelling of classic tales encouraged & strengthened Albert. On the downside, the use of profanity made it less suitable for kids.

Si-cology 101: Tales & Wisdom from Duck Dynasty’s Favorite Uncle, Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach- I asked for this book for Christmas, opened it on Christmas Day and finished it that day. It was hilarious, entertaining, encouraging, and inspiring. I also enjoyed Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and legacy as the Duck Commander, by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach though the writing was not as good as in Si’s book. In both cases the stories of redemption and family and the portrait of fathers and sons were meaningful to me.

Johnny Cash & the Psalms

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Mike Garrett alerted me to a recent interview of Rosanne Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter, at Garden & Gun. Towards the end of the interview she is asked about her favorite memories of her dad, and I was taken with the place of the Psalms. Here is that part of the interview:

Your dad has been gone ten years now. What’s one of your favorite memories?

When his eyesight was about gone, I would read the Bible to him, mostly the Psalms and the Book of Job. He loved it because he was such a great reader his whole life, and he couldn’t read anymore. His books were all around him in his study, and I remember he said, “This is a room full of regrets now.” It just broke my heart. So I would go down to Nashville and read to him, and then I would read to him on the phone when I was back in New York. One time, we had arranged a phone time to read the Psalms, and I was up at my country house in upstate New York. I looked all around, and I had no Bible. I went, “Oh, my God, he’s going to be so disappointed.” And he called, and I said, “Dad, I don’t have a Bible. I only have Shakespeare.” He went, “Hmmm, Shakespeare, huh? Let’s just let it go until you get back to the city.” [Laughter.]

Edged Out of the Canon

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Last week I posted at PastoralEpistles.com on the marginalization of the Pastoral Epistles, drawing from the book, 1 Timothy Reconsidered (edited by K. P. Donfried; Peeters, 2008). The essays by Luke Timothy Johnson and Karl Donfried were my particular focus. Johnson noted that the Pastorals have been “increasingly moved to the edge or even out of the canon of Scripture” (p. 22). Noting how modern interpreters of Paul commonly give no attention to the Pastorals although they do interact with Gnostic writings and apocryphal writings, Johnson quips, “Out of Paul means out of canon, and even out of mind!”(p. 22, n. 11). Donfried largely agrees with Johnson and provides a challenging assessment of the isolated way too much New Testament scholarship is pursued.

You can read the full post here.

How Hard is Pastoral Ministry

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Carl Trueman has helpfully challenged the common discussion of how hard pastoral ministry is. I encourage you to read his post. Is pastoral ministry difficult? Of course. Life is difficult as a sinner in a fallen world. But the problem comes when anyone begins to talk about their life, their setting, their calling as the most difficult.

Here’s my take. When you are talking to young men who want to be pastors, tell them that hardship awaits them. Make sure that reality doesn’t blindside them (though even here some overdo it, such that I have heard young men come out of sessions asking, “Is there any joy in such ministry?” or “Why then does he continue in such a wretched life?”). Be upfront about challenges, but never tell your people or the world in general that pastors have the toughest job. This sounds like “humble brag’ or even an invitation to a pity party. It suggests our eyes are too much on ourselves and not enough on the challenges of those we serve.

Furthermore, saying that any of us have the toughest jobs distracts us from real suffering of fellow believers in other parts of the world- like what is shown in this video below. This gives some perspective.

Let us be real about the challenges we face and the challenges other brothers and sisters face. And, then, let us be even more real about the hope of the gospel which sustains us all.

History of Redemption in Romans

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workbook on romansKenneth Berding’s new book, Workbook in Romans: Arranged According to the History of Redemption, has just been released. It is the inaugural volume in a new series, Workbooks in the History of Redemption, and is published by Weaver Book Company

I had the privilege of seeing the book before publication and wrote the following commendation for it:

“This is a very fine Bible study resource as it helps readers grasp the details of the biblical text and how those details tie into the overall storyline of the Scriptures. A significant problem in the church is that people have diverse pieces of biblical information but are not able to see how all these pieces fit together. Berding’s workbook is a wonderful way to solve this problem. It will help open the fullness of the biblical message to readers in a fresh way. I heartily commend it.”

The book is spiral bound and arranged in workbook format to guide someone through a study of the letter. If you are looking for a way to study Romans while catching the big picture of the story of Redemption this is a great way to do it.