Baptist21 Panel at Union University

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Tonight Baptist21 will host a panel discussion at Union University at 8pm in Bowld 247.

Here is the information from the Baptist 21 site:

Panelists include Greg Thornbury, Ray Van Neste, Taylor Worley, and Nathan Akin.

In effort to best serve Union students and promote Gospel-centered conversation among Southern Baptists, the questions will focus on the following;

1. Ask the professor anything,

2. Church Planting/Revitalization

3. The role of Theological Education in Ministry.

Questions may be submitted in the fields below, or asked at the event.

Baptist21 is grateful for Union allowing us to host this event on their campus, and invite all Union students, staff, faculty, alumni, and local pastors and church members to join us on Oct 12 at 8pm.

There is no registration for this event.  All are invited. Coffee will be available

Ambrose as Pastor

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In Augustine’s Confessions his description of Ambrose as a pastor is instructive.  He mentions how Ambrose is taken up with ministering to the needs of his people (“to whose infirmities he devoted himself”) and then stealing time for study (Book 6.3).  His first mention of Ambrose’s labors provides a model portrait for pastors:

And to Milan I came, to Ambrose the bishop, … thy devoted servant. His eloquent discourse in those times abundantly provided thy people with the flour of thy wheat, the gladness of thy oil, and the sober intoxication of thy wine.  To him I was led by thee without my knowledge, that by him I might be led to thee in full knowledge. That man of God received me as a father would, and welcomed my coming as a good bishop should. And I began to love him, of course, not at the first as a teacher of the truth, for I had entirely despaired of finding that in thy Church–but as a friendly man. And I studiously listened to him–though not with the right motive–as he preached to the people. (5.13, Outler’s trans.)

May we, like Ambrose of old, receive people as a “father” and a “friendly man”, thus winning a hearing for the truth we teach as we abundantly provide God’s people with the nourishment of His word.

Leland Ryken’s Forthcoming Book on the KJV

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I have had the privilege of reading a pre-publication copy of Leland Ryken’s forthcoming book, The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation, which is due out from Crossway in January.

Too many people my age and younger will simply yawn at the 400th anniversary of the KJV next year.  This is both sad and bad.  Negative reactions often arise due to interactions with those who argue that the KJV is the only proper English translation.  This is unfortunate.  In spite of the misuse of the KJV by some, this translation has had an amazingly wide and deep impact for good on the world. The KJV is a good example of an instance where the church led the culture rather than chasing it.  We do well to consider and appreciate what God has done and Ryken’s book will help you to do just that.

Dr. Ryken’s book is divided into four parts:

The King James Bible in Its Own Day

The King James Bible in History

The King James Bible as a Literary Masterpiece

The Literary Influence of the King James Bible

In these sections Ryken presents the setting in which the KJV was produced, traces its impact in history, language, culture and religion, and discusses its literary merits.  Even though I talk about some of these things in my classes I was amazed to learn so much more about the impact of the KJV.  In addition Ryken’s forthright style made it an enjoyable read.

Dr. Ryken will be presenting some of the information in this book when he participates in our upcoming conference “KJV400: Legacy & Impact”, September 15-17, 2011 here at Union University.

So I encourage you to get the book and consider attending this conference.

Ryan Center Conferences in 2011

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I am pleased to be busily working on two conferences through the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies for 2011.  I believe both will be helpful for pastors and laypeople.

This Spring we will host our regular bi-annual Bible study conference.  This time our theme will be “Read the Bible for Life” and our plenary speaker will be David Platt.  The conference theme is taken from the book and initiative written by George Guthrie and focuses on the desperate need of raising the level of biblical literacy within the church (introductory video).  Platt will address the theme and there will be training sessions for churches and groups wanting to use the “Read the Bible for Life” material.  Michael Card will also be joining us to teach and sing.

The conference will run from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon, April 15-16, 2011.  The cost for the full conference will be $50 with registration opening later in the fall.

Then, in the Fall, September 15-17, 2011, we will host “KJV400: Legacy & Impact” with plenary speakers Leland Ryken, Timothy George, and John Woodbridge.  2011 will mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the KJV, which many have hailed as the most significant literary work ever produced in English.  We will consider and celebrate the impact of this translation in various realms of life recognizing this instance where the church shaped the culture of its day rather than simply following it.  Union faculty members will present papers examining the impact of the KJV on their various disciplines including literature, history, theology, music, business, political science, and science. Cost and registration information will be made available closer to the time.

Currid on Habakkuk

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John D.  Currid, in his recent commentary, The Expectant Prophet: Habakkuk Simply Explained, sets the stage of this minor prophet with these words:

“At the very heart and core of the Scriptures is the doctrine of the sovereignty of God.  What this means is that God is the Creator of the universe, Lord and Master of heaven above and the earth beneath, and his will is the cause of all things.  He is simply sitting on the throne of the universe.  He maintains creation, directs it and works all things according to his own will and purpose.  Everything that happens in heaven or on earth occurs because of God’s decree, will and purpose.  This is the Bible’s teaching, and we reject it at great peril.  The centrality of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God is much needed in the church today.  The zeitgeist of the day is man’s self-centeredness – that is, that the entire world revolves around humanity.  The self-absorbed ‘me-ism’ of the day in the West is almost overwhelming.  We need a radical change in thinking that acknowledges that God is the centre of reality, and not we ourselves.  It should be theism over ‘me-ism’.” (9)

This is a good commentary!

Augustine the Preacher

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In the recent translation of Augustine’s Homilies on the First Letter of John, Boniface Ramsey in his introduction describes Augustine’s sermons in this way:

“…they are marvelous examples of the easy interaction that Augustine enjoyed with his congregation; they demonstrate his ability to adapt to the moment, to show how scripture spoke to contemporary issues, to present often-difficult material that he had mastered to his listeners in a way that they could understand, and to temper the exegetical with the spiritual.” (15-16)

This is a good model for preaching. May we imitate it.

Eusebius, How God Used Men to Uphold His Church

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In our opening session of our men’s class at church Wednesday night we started with this video from Darrin Patrick which many of you have no doubt seen.

Patrick is introducing a book on church planting, but his point in this video is the importance of men in the life of the church.  We took this as the starting point of our class- God sustains his church often through godly men.

Then, that same evening I read to my boys from Eusebius’ Church History, Book 5, Section 1, on the persecution in Lyons.  This section jumped out to me as affirming the same point as Patrick’s video and our class discussion:

“The intensity of the pressure here, the awful rage of the heathen against the saints, and the sufferings of the blessed martyrs are beyond description or writing.  For the Adversary, in a foretaste of his own imminent advent, attacked us with all his might.  He used every means to train his followers against the servants of God, so that we were not only excluded from homes, baths, and marketplaces, but were even forbidden to appear anywhere.  But the grace of God rescued the weak by deploying the strong, pillars of men who drew on themselves the full attack of the Enemy and endured every punishment as their hurried to Christ, proving that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.” 171

The grace of God – sustained by deploying the strong, pillars of men.  May we be about developing such pillars today- not rooted in bravado, but in confidence in the grace of God which empowers the fallen and frail.

Robert Jenson’s new Ezekiel Commentary

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I have been perusing Robert Jenson’s new Ezekiel commentary in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series and have found much to like.  Jenson does not hedge his bets but rights in a straightforward, winsome manner affirming confidence in the text and its theological meaning.  For example in reference to the date of Ezekiel, he affirms the date given in Ezekiel 1:2 writing:

“…there seems to be no good reason to doubt this dating . . . though of course some scholars have managed it.” (20)

I particularly appreciate his description of his approach and aim as seen in these two excerpts. The second one is particularly good.

“I am committed to premodern Christian exegetes’ aim, to read the Bible as a single dramatically coherent narrative of the coming of Christ and his kingdom.” 23

How the academic community came to be committed to an antidoctrinal, and thus in this case ironically ahistorical mode of exegesis, is an often told tale that need not be repeated here.

The present commentary, like the others in the series, thus offers alternatives to the modern academy’s prejudices.  I will not often argue theoretically the legitimacy of Christological or Trinitarian or ecclesiological readings I present, but will mostly allow them to convince readers by their own sense and appropriateness to the text at hand – or not.  I do ask for suspension of a priori incredulity – who knows, the church might be right about how to read her own scripture.” 25-26

Lastly, He expects readers to encounter God in the text and provides this winsome warning at the close of his introduction:

“The purpose of a commentary is to assist readers’ involvement with the text.  Perhaps readers should therefore take warning before going further.  Attention to a text can turn into experience of its matter, and the judgments and promises of God as given through Ezekiel are so extreme that they can easily undo ordinary religiosity – to say nothing of the disastrous spiritual adventures that might be ignited by his visions.” 30

Longman, Exodus and Adam

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Recently Tremper Longman created quite a stir when he argued, in the video below, that it was unnecessary to hold to a literal Adam in the Genesis account.

I am among those who found this very disturbing given the place of Adam in Paul’s thinking (esp. Romans 5).

I was intrigued then to see what Longman wrote in his fairly recent book, How to Read Exodus (IVP, 2009).  He mentions this concern:

“Recently, I’ve noticed a trend that concerns me: fellow evangelical scholars who have questioned or doubted the historical truth of the exodus event.  Granted, few have put their thoughts in print and most of my knowledge comes from personal communication and discussion, but the trend to discount the history of the exodus is present in the mind of more than a handful of such scholars.  I imagine too that thoughtful seminarians, college students and pastors have wondered about the significance of the historicity of the exodus.” (84)

He goes on to argue for the importance of holding to the historicity of the exodus event based on its later use in the Scripture and its importance in the story line of the Bible.  I applaud his argument concerning the exodus.  I am, though, confused as to why he argues this way for the exodus but does not accept arguments along the exact same line for the historicity of Adam.  If anything, the historicity of Adam is more crucial than the historicity of Exodus.

Interesting days in the world of evangelical Old Testament scholarship.

Duguid on Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

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Duguid’s recent commentary on these three oft neglected prophets is a great resource for preaching and teaching particularly due to his “Application” sections where he demonstrates how to properly apply these books in a New Covenant setting.  The whole task of applying Old Testament books to our New Covenant setting is so often misunderstood and poorly done.  Too easily a sermon from these books becomes a self-help message, a building fund drive (“rebuild the Temple!”), legalism or even prosperity gospel.  Some texts will easily fit these erroneous ends unless you understand how the whole Bible fits together, and Duguid gives great guidance in understanding these books in their canonical setting.

For example, on Haggai 1 Duguid writes: “It is not hard to preach a guilt inducing sermon from Haggai 1″ (34).  He then lists several common wrong ways of using this text.  Then he writes:

Instead, as Duguid shows the point of this text is the work of building the body of Christ, His church, which is a task beyond us, requiring the atoning work of Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

This is a very useful commentary.