One of the works I had to read this week for my Reformation Reading Ph. D. Seminar was Zwingli’s An Exposition of the Faith. In it, he briefly sets forth the main tenets of his Reformed theology for the king in order to assure him of Zwingli’s and his stately companions’ orthodoxy and loyalty to a system of theology that would not create rebellion against the government.

At the beginning, he begins with God as Creator and shows how this truth, namely, that all created things find their meaning in the one uncreated being, is the foundation for all Christian theology. As he is closing out this section before he moves on to discuss Christology, he gives a powerfully eloquent summary of the gospel where he names God as Supreme Goodness who in turn gave the supreme gift. That supreme gift, however, is identified as “the most costly of all its treasures, namely itself, . . .” In other words, God as ultimate goodness could not give anything other than the absolute best; therefore, since he is the highest of all treasures, he gave himself, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ the incarnate Son of God to be a sacrifice for sins on the cross.

This passage really ministered to me. I hope you are blessed by it and that you read it within the framework of the fact that above all else, the Reformers were about contending for the integrity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These men were truly captured by grace. That’s why I love reading them so much. Everything is so gospel-saturated to the core. Here’s the passage in full:

Therefore when supreme Goodness willed to give the supreme gift, it gave the most costly of all its treasures, namely itself, so that the soul of man which is always seeking that which is greater should not be able to wonder how it is that the sacrifice of angel or man can have sufficient value to avail for all, or how it is possible to put undisputed trust in any creature. Thus the Son of God is given to us as a confirmation of mercy, a pledge of grace, a requital of justice and an example of life, to assure us of the grace of God and to give us the law of true conduct. Who can sufficiently estimate the magnanimity of the divine goodness and mercy? We had merited rejection, and he adopts us as heirs. We had destroyed the way of life, and he has restored it. The divine goodness has so redeemed and restored us that we are full of thanks for his mercy and just and blameless by reason of his atoning sacrifice.

~ taken from The Library of Christian Classics, Zwingli and Bullinger, 250-51.

Last year I was able to promote Andrew Peterson’s first novel, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Trying at best to overlook my bias for Peterson, I was well-pleased with his story-telling ability outside the context of a song. Likewise, I was supposed to read and review the second installment in his “The WingFeather Saga,” but alas, when I first signed up to be a part of the blog tour, I had not anticipated how busy I would become in the near future. At this point, I haven’t even cracked it open. In all likelihood, I won’t even get a chance to read it until Christmas break. Nevertheless, I can still give it a plug in hopes that you will not wait on me to take part in another great fantasy trilogy with the nice incentive that it is written by a Christian who is grounded in solid orthodoxy and who obviously loves Christ. Here is a brief summary and author bio. At the bottom are links to various sites related to Peterson and the book. Let me know what you think.

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

Their escape brings readers to the very brink of Fingap Falls, over the Stony Mountains, and across the Ice Prairies, while villains galore try to stop the Igibys permanently. Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.

Andrew Peterson’s lovable characters create what FantasyBookCritic.com says made Book One “one of the best fantasy novels in a very long time,” and Book Two contains even more thrills, exploring “themes universal in nature, ranging from the classic good versus evil, to the importance of family, and burdens of responsibility.”

Author bio.:

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Book One in the Wingfeather Saga, and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats. He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in a little house they call The Warren near Nashville , Tennessee .

• Visit the official website for The Wingfeather Saga. This a pretty elaborate site for a book.
• Purchase the book at The Rabbit Room.
• Check out Andrew’s official website.

It was satisfying to see The Lord of the Rings make its way into the Hebrew language. For some reason, it just feels right. These covers are pretty awesome too (HT: Tolkien Society).

For so long now there has been a divide between the Christian academy and the Church. Rather than co-laborers, they have at times worked together more so as co-belligerents. Post-Reformation, theology increasingly became a specialized enterprise resulting in it turning into a compartmentalized discipline rather than retaining its place as the “Queen of the Sciences”. I don’t believe that this was ever the explicit intention of the scholarly community. Like most historical phenomenons, the cause cannot be reduced to a single factor. As I noted in a previous post, the common man is just as much to blame insofar as he has sustained an indifferent attitude towards serious theological engagement in general. Current theological movements (e.g. theological interpretation, biblical theology, and canonical approach) within academia are steadily trying to resolve this rift though their efforts are so new that their fruit has yet to be seen in the every day local church.

When I began reading the “Introduction” to Gerald Bray’s textbook on the history of biblical interpretation, I was moved by his concern over this same matter, and that out of his conviction, he produced this work. In just a few paragraphs, Bray bestows an abundance of wisdom related to the problem of the over-specialization of theology and the distance it creates between the academy and the church. However, it is the prerogative of the church itself to be interested in matters of faith, the Bible, and theology; therefore, the church remains supremely responsible for investigating and contending for its own faith.

Bray opens his Biblical Interpretation: Past & Present centered on this discussion, but narrows it to the topic of hermeneutics and the popularity of its study in the 20th century and on into the 21st century. The problem with its growth both in the academy and in the publishers’ market, however, is that “much of it is inaccessible to non-specialists and confusing to students (7).” In other words, just because more people are interested in studying the Bible doesn’t mean that the church at large is maturing in its knowledge of how to approach Scripture. Based upon Bray’s critique, it seems that what has happened in some circles is that scholars began writing books for one another rather than for the benefit of the practice of God’s people.  Bray continues, “A high percentage of the academic work currently being produced has little bearing on the life of the church, and is remote from the concerns of the average Christian.”

Once again, professional theologians should not be stuck solely with the blame, yet the truth stands that much of their writing, especially in contemporary biblical interpretation, cannot be penetrated apart from acquiring some level of expertise in the matter. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the chasm between the scholarly community and the common church congregation continues to widen as the disciplines grow in sophistication, thereby shutting down the attempts of the 40+ hour-a-week laymen at partaking in these discussions, thus fostering and adding to the already present mood of anti-intellectualism in the body of Christ. Bray recognizes this trend and comments:

At a time when churchgoers want to hear a clear word from God, scholars appear to be confusing issues and muddying the waters of biblical study to the point where even professional theologians find it difficult to follow what they are saying.

When the church is deprived from access to quality higher-Christian education, the result is that pastors and leaders are left to their own, and remain stymied in their own theological world despite their varied levels of effectiveness in the local church. A pastor who is the primary shepherd for a flock of let’s say 200 people doesn’t have the free time to pioneer the usefulness of speech-act theory or the validity of the multi-faceted nature of meaning in Scripture, and therefore, remains dependent upon someone in the academic community to provide him with an accessible aid or textbook on the matter so that he can bring a fuller and more mature hermeneutic to the table that does better justice to the nature of the Bible itself. However, if all the resources that speak on these very pertinent and beneficial issues continue to consist of a vocabulary that requires a specialized dictionary and careful decoding, along with the necessary time to read its total 400 pages, then the pastor will forever pass it and the valuable theology it offers by.

Again Bray sees this as a reality in the relationship between the academy and the church when he writes:

New methods of reading the text are constantly being explored, but with little interest being shown in their long-term viability as principles to guide interpretation. Meanwhile, the preaching and teaching work of the church goes on with less and less input from the world of biblical scholarship. Too often the result is a weak, emotionally based Christianity which has little intellectual content and no staying power.

Bray’s evaluation should not go unheeded by either side. Having held a place inside Christian education for close to a decade, I am more than aware that a large portion of textbooks devoted to a proper reading of Scripture and healthy methods of doing theology are some of the most difficult works I’ve ever had to read. And this comes from someone who is constantly reading in those fields. On the other hand, having grown up in the type of church culture that I did, I believe with all my heart that church leaders in every respect need to wake up to a broader and unavoidable theological world, and begin to take the initiative in seeking out higher Christian education, whether it be in a seminary classroom or in one’s own spare time in his armchair.

Both sides need to come to at least two basic conclusions. First, notwithstanding the place of the local church, the universal body of Christ encompasses all confessing true believers in Christ. As Paul affirms, there is one body, one faith, one Spirit, and one God and Father of all (Eph 4:3-6). When Christian scholarship and the life of the church fail to go hand in hand, then we have compartmentalized the faith to our own detriment. The church will suffer. The Bible is the Church’s book; thus, when it serves primarily as an object of study and exudes obscurity instead of serving as the means to knowing and loving God, its purpose has been betrayed and the body of Christ is cut off from its clear and life-giving light. Second, the everyday churchman must not delude himself into thinking that pure theology is always the simplest formula. Likewise, the professional theologian must not always equate quality scholarship with impenetrable sophistication. In his message to the 2009 Gospel Coalition, D. A. Carson exhorted future scholars to remember “that there are people out there.” In view of God’s infinite nature, surely we shouldn’t expect that what we know of him could be explained, exhausted, and resolved with only a good ol’ boy simplicity. On the other side, in the wisdom and love of God, we shouldn’t believe that in order to do justice to his revealed Word and to  acquire an in depth comprehension of theology, a person is required to read 4 books a week, take 12 years of specialized Christian academic training, and to have written a dissertation that no one can read nor wants to read, except other nerds (I include myself here) within your own discipline who are functioning at that level.

I appreciated Bray’s comments and that he opened his book on the history of biblical interpretation this way. It encourages me all the more to want to take up the torch within my place in Christian history in making sense of Scripture for the sake of the bride of Christ, for the hope of the lost, and for the glory of God. What are your thoughts on this issue?

On July 31, 2009, Dr. Russell Moore interviewed singer/songwriter/author Andrew Peterson on The Albert Mohler Radio Program/Podcast (HT: Bret Rogers). The topic of their discussion was “Storytelling and a Child’s Imagination“. For those of you who have any interest in either Peterson, stories, family devotions, or theology, then this show is for you.  Part of the purpose of this interview is also to promote the upcoming publication of Peterson’s second installment to his “The Wingfeather Saga” called North! Or Be Eaten. Having read the first book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Peterson is succeeding at “subcreating” a secondary world for both children and adults full of all of the adventurous elements that makes a good story good, notwithstanding the significant Christian worldview in which it is being formed. I am thankful for his commitment to carry on the legacy of the Inklings, particularly that of Lewis and Tolkien.

I won’t give a full commentary on all that the discussion between Moore and Peterson is about because it is fairly brief. However, the topic itself is one that pertains to all people, not simply children. What is the role of story in a Christian’s life, and does it have to be distinctively and explicitly Christian for it to be of value to a believer? Or, can your spiritual condition be impacted for the good by a story, let’s say for instance The Lord of the Rings, that does not pertain directly to the gospel? These are some of the questions that Peterson’s interview touches upon, but one of the most beneficial parts of the interview for me was hearing both Moore and Peterson talk about how they incorporate stories into their family devotion times. They gave me some great ideas as I seek to figure out what a Marsh family devotional time will look like when Wyatt gets older and we have more children. I greatly appreciate Moore’s openness to storytelling and how it can play a significant role in a Christian’s spirituality, especially since he’s one of the leading Southern Baptist theologians, serving as the Dean of the School of Theology at SBTS. Honestly, you’d expect someone in his position to be more reserved on this topic since conservative Southern Baptists are known for upholding a particular way of being “counter-cultural”. I’m encouraged to see that a top-notch theologian is able to see the worth in good music like Peterson’s and the enjoyment of good literature instead of remaining tucked away in his own theological arena.

Check out the interview, and I hope that you glean much from it.

In collaboration with Dr. David Bertch, we have chosen some very exciting works by Francis Schaeffer to read and to discuss for the 2009-2010 school year. The Francis Schaeffer Book Club is going into its fifth year of existence at SWBTS. I am honored to have been a part of it now for all but the first year.

I cannot even begin to tell of how influential reading Schaeffer has been both in the development of my theology and in the practice of my spirituality. It is no wonder he is viewed across the board as a unique and prophetic man of God. And though his audience was primarily the 20th century, his ministry will endure much longer. His relevance continues to be more relevant each and every day in the 21st century as the church and the world head down many of the paths that he foresaw.

We will be meeting in room 114 in the Naylor Student Center at 12noon every Tuesday. Dr. Bertch normally leads the group, but as always, he is unpredictable. He is very quick to pass the torch to one of the other members which creates a setting where varying aspects of Schaeffer and his teachings can be highlighted that would otherwise lie unnoticed.

I’m posting this a little bit late this semester, so unless you were present with us today (Aug. 25), then you will miss out on our first reading which was from Schaeffer’s article “Two Contents, Two Realities” located in the book 25 Basic Bible Studies. We will be finishing our discussion on this work next week.

For the remainder of the semester, we will be reading Genesis in Space and Time. This book will demonstrate how Schaeffer reads Scripture and how he sees its relationship to history, reality, and the nature of man. Schaeffer saw the first book of the Bible as the key to answering modern man’s question about himself and the universe (nothwithstanding their theological context within the canon). What you may not know is that there is actually a second part to Schaeffer’s Genesis which is the book Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History. This work will be our focus for the Spring semester. It continues to unfold Schaeffer’s theology of history and how the biblical book of Joshua is a timeless example of how God loves his people and functions within a covenant relationship with them.

I’m anticipating great things from pouring over these two works for two main reasons. First, we are going to see Schaeffer interact in somewhat of a new light, meaning, directly with the biblical text. Thus we will see his theological method come to light which is something I’m interested in as a Ph. D. student. Also, I’m anxious to see whether or not Schaeffer’s work on Genesis and Joshua could be considered a form of theological interpretation. Second, I’m curious to see how Schaeffer construes a theology of history by means of fleshing out a theology of biblical history. I’ve written on this subject before regarding some things that Schaeffer has said elsewhere, but I’m sure that in these two texts his approach will come out more explicitly and substantially.

Whether or not you are a SWBTS student or not, as long as you can be there in person, you are invited to come and to be a part of the group. If you have any questions about attending, please let me know. I hope most of all that you will give Schaeffer a try even if you are not going to be able to come to our meetings. It is always wise to surround yourself with great men of God, and this would without a doubt include Schaeffer.

As Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

As I read through Martin Luther’s Table Talk, I’m constantly strolling across one gem after another. From his wit to his wisdom, Luther is just as much a mentor as he is the entertainment. I found the section titled, “Of Preachers and Preaching,” chocked full of relevance for the modern day pastor in training or the one who is already at work. I thought that I’d sample some of my favorite portions for you. Hopefully through them, Luther will be a voice of truth for anyone who desires to shepherd a flock or preach the Word of God. Many of his comments find immediate relevance for today’s preachers. Though you don’t have to agree with everything Luther posits, it is still in your best interest to hear him out, for as Philip Melancthon and Justus Jonas testified, “Luther is old enough, and knows how and what to preach (282, #426).”

“I would not have preachers torment their hearers, and detain them with long and tedious preaching, for the delight of hearing vanishes therewith, and the preachers hurt themselves.” ~ pg. 272, #396.

“A preacher ought to remain by the text, and deliver that which he has before him, to the end people may well understand it.” ~ pg. 274, #402

“A preacher must be both soldier and shepherd. He must nourish, defend, and teach; he must have teeth in his mouth, and be able to bite and to fight.” ~ pg. 274, #403

“A preacher should needs know how to make a right difference between sinner, between the impenitent and confident, and the sorrowful and penitent; otherwise the whole Scripture is locked up.” pg. 275, #406

“To speak deliberately and slowly best becomes a preacher; for thereby he may the more effectually and impressively deliver his sermon.” ~ pg. 276, #408

“I would not have preachers in their sermons use Hebrew, Greek, or foreign languages, for in the church we ought to speak as we used to do at home, the plain mother tongue, which every one is acquainted with.” ~ pg. 276, #412

“If I should write of the heavy burden of a godly preacher, which he must carry and endure, as I know by mine own experience, I should scare every man from the office of preaching.” ~ pg. 277, #413

“Preachers must be endued with a great spirit, to serve people in body and soul, in wealth and honour, and yet, nevertheless, suffer and endure the greatest danger and unthankfulness.” ~ pg. 277, #414

“I learn by preaching to know what the world, the flesh, the malice and wickedness of the devil is, all which could not be known before the gospel was revealed and preached.” ~ pg. 281, #425

“Cursed are all preachers that in the church aim at high and hard things, and, neglecting the saving health of the poor unlearned people, seek their own honour and praise, and therewith to please one or two ambitious persons. When I preach, I sink myself deep down. I regard neither Doctors nor Magistrates, of whom are here in this church above forty; but I have an eye to the multitude of young people, children, and servants, of whom are more than two thousand. I preach to those, directing myself to them that have need thereof. Will not the rest hear me?“

“An upright, godly, and true preacher should direct his preaching to the poor, simple sort of people.” ~ pg. 282, #427

“Young divines ought to study Hebrew, to the end they may be able to compare Greek and Hebrew words together, and discern their properties, natures, and strength.” ~ pg. 283, #428

Not the book, but rather the real deal.

As I read one of the persecuted church testimonies in my latest edition of the Voice of the Martyrs magazine, one quote really caught my attention. The story was about three women who were imprisoned for allowing Muslim children to attend their Christian Sunday School program. They served 2 years of a 3 year sentence, and when released, they continued their ministry by constructing a bunker 10 feet underground where they could host their SS in concealment. The VOM articles says, “Children who attend the class wear T-shirts that say, ‘Ready or Not, Jesus will come. I am ready. What about you?‘” Lukas, the husband of one of the women, declared, “In Indonesia Christians have to be extreme or we will turn into ice cream.” What a great word picture and stinging indictment! I’m sure that in comparison to believers such as these, even in my extremest moments, I am closer to ice cream than I am anything else.

Justin Taylor over at his blog, Between Two Worlds, posted a great resource for those of us who love C. S. Lewis. He has linked to a page on the BBC’s website where you can download and listen to portions of Lewis’ radio broadcasts. The first of the radio talks titled ” Beyond Personality: The New Men” served as part of the transcript material for what made up his classic work Mere Christianity. The second download is Lewis introducing his book The Great Divorce.

In addition, Taylor links to several other websites where you can purchase other recordings of Lewis such as his talks on The Four Loves, which I have been able to listen to parts of elsewhere. In addition, he gives a list (with links) to various audiobooks for the individual volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia. Some of the names such as Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, X-Men) reveal that the readings of his works have been given a sophisticated treatment.

• Click here to visit the BBC website where the first two recordings are found.

Both for the purpose of my research and out of personal interest, I try to take note of the places in my readings that speak towards the relationship of Christology to hermeneutics. The path I’m headed on for my dissertation topic is in the direction of the role of Christ in theological method and interpretation. This is the fourth post in this series (you can search for the others in my sidebar by the same title), and the quotes come from a rich source, namely, J. C. Ryle’s classic work, Holiness.

Towards the end of his book, he includes a chapter called “Christ is All.” He takes this phrase from Colossians 3:11. From thereon, he uses it as a framework for viewing the Bible’s message as a whole as well as what should be the center of the Christian life. He posits, “These three words are the essence and substance of Christianity (301).” He ends his book on holiness for this very reason. If you get Christ wrong, you get everything wrong. He says that “Christ is the mainspring both of doctrinal and practical Christianity (301).” “He that follows after holiness,” Ryle claims, “will make no progress unless he gives Christ His rightful place (301).”  So as you can see, Ryle sees Christ as the pivotal point of all Christian faith and practice. But what you soon find out from reading further on in this chapter is that he comes to this conclusion because of his Christ-centered hermeneutic. There is much more to this chapter than what I’m sampling, but his words on Christ and the Bible are just as devotional as they are scholarly. Though this isn’t an academic book per se, I believe that it would be hard to say it any better than he does.

“In every part of both Testaments Christ is to be found–dimly and indistinctly at the beginning, more clearly and plainly in the middle, fully and completely at the end–but really and substantially everywhere (303).”

“Christ’s sacrifice and death for sinners, and Christ’s kingdom and future glory, are the light we must bring to bear on any book of Scripture we read. Christ’s cross and Christ’s crown are the clue we must hold fast, if we would find our way through Scripture difficulties. Christ is the only key that will unlock many of the dark places of the Word (303).”

“It is Christ, I need hardly say, of whom the whole New Testament is full. The Gospels are Christ living, speaking and moving among men. The Acts are Christ preached, published and proclaimed. The Epistles are Christ written of, explained and exalted. But all through, from first to last, there is one name above every other, and that is the name of Christ (305).”

Upon challenging the reader to ask himself “what the Bible is to him,” Ryle charges:

Is it a Bible in which Christ is all? If not, I tell you plainly, you have hitherto used your Bible to very little purpose. You are like a man who studies the solar system, and leaves out in his studies the sun, which is the centre of all. It is no wonder if you find your Bible a dull book (305)!

• Check out Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J. C. Ryle by J. I. Packer. This is a nice hardcover edition that is two volumes in one. The first part consists of Packer’s reflections on Ryle’s life and faith as well as Ryle’s influence on his own life. The second part contains the complete work of Ryle’s Holiness. That’s a good buy.