The Blog of Brian Collins
Common grace is a theological concept that has often been abused. Cornelius Van Til, who defended the concept against thinkers who wished to deny it entirely, warns against this abuse:
When men dream dreams of a paradise regained by means of common grace, they only manifest the ‘strong delusion’ that falls as punishment of God upon those that abuse his natural revelation.
Cornelius Van Til, “Nature and Scripture,” in The Infallible Word
Sinclair Ferguson provides a helpful summary of John Murray’s view of the functions of common grace. I’ve highlighted the various functions that he enumerates.
Common grace is marked by both negative and positive features. It restrains human depravity and its effects. . . . In common grace God also restrains his own wrath. His longsuffering (1 Pet 3:20) and forbearance (Acts 17:30) are expressions of this. Further, God restrains the influence of the evil that entered the world through sin. The disintegration of life is contained: crops grow even in the midst of the thorns and thistles of the divine curse (Gen 3:17). Nature may well be “red in tooth and claw,” but God has graciously placed the fear of man on the animal world to restrain its destructive tendency.
Positively, God has ordained good in the beauty and abundance of creation and among even unregenerate men. Admittedly the Lord blessed the Egyptians for Joseph’s sake (Gen 39:5); but he did bless them! He bestows good gifts on men (Matt 5:44–45). . . . Furthermore, through common grace “Good is attributed to unregenerate men” (ibid.). Admittedly there is paradox in such a statement, but Murray appeals to The Westminster Confession of Faith (16.7) for confirmation of his exposition. . . .
Again, civil government provides peace and order for men. Strife and unrest are inevitable in a sinful world. That there should be any peace is an evidence of common grace.
What, then, is the function of common grace? It is the precondition for special grace, and ultimately the context in which the salvation and glorification of the elect will take place. Common grace provides both the sphere and the materials in and on which special grace operates.
Sinclair Ferguson, “The Whole Counsel of God: Fifty Years of Theological Studies,” WTJ 50, no. 2 (Fall 1988): 271-72.
One of the intriguing functions, mentioned by Ferguson at the end of his quotation, is the service common grace provides as the precondition for special grace. Abraham Kuyper expands on this function:
Without common grace the elect would not have been born . . . . Had Adam and Eve died on the day they sinned, Seth would not have been born from them, nor Enoch from Seth, and no widely ramified race of peoples and nations would ever have originated on earth. On that basis alone all special grace assumes common grace. But there is more. Even if you assumed that their temporal death had been postponed so that the human race could have made a start, but that for the rest sin in all its horror had broken out unhindered, you would still be nowhere. For then life on earth would immediately have turned into a hell and under such hellish conditions the church of God would not have had a place to strike root anywhere. . . . From whatever angle we one looks at this issue, then special grace presupposes common grace. Without the latter the former cannot function.
Abraham Kuyper, “Common Grace,” in Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader, ed. James D. Bratt (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 169.
The concept of common grace can be inferred from a number of Scripture texts.
At the end of Genesis 3, God pronounces judgment on the serpent, Eve, and Adam for their sin. The judgment for Adam and Eve was a curse that affected the blessing of Genesis 1:26-28. Yet the curse did not remove the blessing entirely. A great deal of that blessing remains for all human, svaed or lost. In addition, the penalty of death was not enacted on the outer man immediately. Instead it was delayed by many years.
This same pattern is seen in the Noahic Covenant. Precisely because man is sinful from his infancy (Gen. 8:20), God institutes a covenant that binds him to not destroy earth with a Flood ever again and to preserve regular days and seasons until the end. Apart from the covenant, God would have been just to send one Flood after another upon sinful humanity. This the Noahic covenant is gracious. Since it is made with all of creation, it is also common.
God waited to bring the judgment of the Flood upon the earth to give sinners time to repent (1 Peter 3:20), and after the Flood God deferred judgment on sinners, also giving them a chance to repent (Acts 17:30).
Isaiah 28:23-29 teaches that by God’s common grace both the saved and lost can develop the intellectual and practical skills to succeed at their vocations. God enables people to understand the world as he created in it and to succeed in living in it.
Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:44-45 that the Father shows love toward his enemies (grace) by giving sunshine and rain to both the righteous and the unrighteous alike (common).
Paul also points to the rains and the provision of food as the goodness of God shown to pagan people (Acts 14:17). In addition Paul indicates that this goodness was a witness to God himself (suppressed according to Romans 1).
This manifestation of grace consisted in restraining, blocking, or redirecting the consequences that would otherwise have resulted from sin. It intercepts the natural outworking of the poison of sin and either diverts and alters it or opposes and destroys it. For that reason we must distinguish two dimensions in the manifestations of grace: 1. a saving grace, which in the end abolishes sin and completely undoes its consequences; and 2. a temporal restraining grace, which holds back and blocks the effect of sin. The former, that is saving grace, is in the nature of the case special and restricted to God’s elect. The second, common grace, is extended to the whole of our human life.
Abraham Kuyper, “Common Grace,” in Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader
Common grace is an operation of the Holy Spirit, based on the atonement of Christ and God’s merciful and benevolent attitude toward all, by which He immediately or through secondary causation restrains the effects of sin and enables the positive accomplishment and performance of civic righteousness and good among all people.
McCune, A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity
Grace is basically God’s condescending, unmerited favor. Common grace is favor shown to all men in common. God was under no constraint or compulsion of necessity to show this favor. He could justly have left the world to the full, unrestrained and unmitigated effects of sin. That God arrested the progress of these just desirets is all of grace.
McCune, A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity
Bock, Darrell and Mitch Glaser, eds. The People, the Land, and the Future of Israel: Israel and the Jewish People in the Plan of God
This book is a collection of conference papers. Many of the contributors are scholars, but the scholars are speaking to a broad audience. The book divides into four parts: The Hebrew Scriptures; New Testament; Hermeneutics, and Church History; Practical Theology. While some of the essays were disappointing in their coverage, I appreciated the basic surveys of biblical material provided by Merrill, Kaiser, Wilkins, Bock, and Vanlaningham. Michael Vlach provided a helpful précis of historical material covered at greater length in his book Has the Church Replaced Israel? John Feinberg and Mark Saucy also wrote outstanding essays on Israel and Israel in the Land being theological necessities. Saucy looks at the storyline of Scripture and notes the significance of Israel throughout the storyline, with special attention given to the New Covenant. One salient point that Saucy made was that changes in temple and cult were predicted by the prophets. The prophets do not prophesy the obsolescence of Israel or the land, however. Much to the contrary. Feinberg looks at Daniel 9:24-27; Zechariah 12; and Isaiah 19:16-25, demonstrating that Israel must be in the land for these prophecies to be fulfilled.
But the essay that is worth the price of the book is Craig Blaising’s essay on hermeneutics. He recognizes that the hermeneutical discussion has moved well beyond spiritualizing vs. literal interpretations. Those who do not see a future for national Israel typically appeal to genre considerations or typology, and they seek to operate within grammatical-historical hermeneutics. In Blaising’s words, these interpreters “do not claim to have read into the text meaning that is alien to it.” Instead, they claim to be “recognizing a typology embedded in the text” (156). Blaising argues that the supercessionist system needs to be evaluated by four criteria: are its interpretations “comprehensive,” “congruent” with the passages being considered, internally “consistent,” and “coherent” as a system. He goes on to demonstrate that supercessionists do not meet these criteria. His most telling point falls under the congruent heading. He notes that a promise differs from types “A promise entails an obligation. When somebody makes a promise, they’re not just stating something; they’re doing something. They are forming a relationship and creating an expectation that carries moral obligation” (160). The book of Hebrews recognizes many types in the Old Testament, but it says that two things are unchangeable: the promise and the oath (Heb. 6:18). The land promise would fall into the category of that which is unchangeable, since it is promised with an oath, rather than into the category of type.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam
This is a good overview of the state of scholarship on the crusades at present. Riley-Smith undercuts a number of popular misconceptions that crusades scholars have abandoned. For instance, he notes that Muslim resentment for the crusades is a rather recent phenomenon, dating back to the 19th century. Christian embarrassment at the crusades is also relatively recent. He demonstrates that support for the crusades were not marginal in Roman Catholic thought. (An aberration from Riley-Smith’s careful argumentation is his attempt to tie Protestants to the crusades. Luther’s argument that Christians may defend themselves against the Turks falls short of advocating crusade. Riley-Smith says there is a parallel between Luther and Catholic crusaders because both emphasize repentance and prayer. But surely repentance and prayer in war do not a crusade make. What is more, the Reformation was a protest against the penitential system that lay at the heart of the crusades.) Riley-Smith does a good job giving attention to the religious aspects of the crusades. While not defending the crusades, he does note that they were supposed to adhere to just war theory. This meant that they had to be reactive wars, wars taking back territory that had been lost. They could not be wars that led to forced conversions (though he notes crusades in the Baltic regions came close to violating these principles). He also describes the way that the crusades were tied to the Catholic penitential system. Contrary to the popular idea that crusaders were primarily motivated by financial gain, Riley-Smith notes that the crusades were dangerous endeavors that were more likely to cost a man everything, including his life, than to lead for wealth. Because of this, going on a crusade could be considered an act of penance that would lead to forgiveness of sins. Also interesting was Riley-Smith’s description of crusading sermons. He notes that one guide for crusading preachers instructed that “an invitatio should be accompanied by a hymn. . . . So as a preacher bellowed out his passionate appeal a choir would strike up and would presumably continue singing as men came forward to commit themselves publically” (38). The attention to these kinds of religious details make Riley-Smith’s book an excellent brief introduction to the crusades.
Stander, Hendrick F. and Johannes P. Louw, Baptism in the Early Church
In this book two South Africa paedobaptists survey the writings of the early church and conclude that credo baptism was the common practice of the early church until the fourth century. Though not as detailed as Everett Ferguson’s survey, Stander and Louw do give a good survey of the evidence. They also often provide lengthier quotations of the primary sources than Ferguson does.
Ferguson, Everett. Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries
This is a comprehensive survey of written and artifactual evidence concerning baptism. Ferguson reaches three primary conclusions. First, baptism was primarily done by immersion throughout this time period. Other modes were used only in emergency situations. Second, paedobaptism emerged slowly over time. Not until the fourth century did it become widely accepted. Third, baptism was considered to be the point of regeneration, reception of the Spirit, and the reception of other salvific blessings. Ferguson is a member of the Churches of Christ. The conclusions he reaches are consistent with Churches of Christ doctrine. In general, however, I thought that Ferguson was giving a fair presentation of the data. I remain unconvinced, however, of his claim to find baptismal regeneration in the New Testament texts (though I grant that it is clearly found in the church fathers). He also seemed averse to finding the doctrine of original sin in fathers prior to Augustine. These caveats aside, this is the resource that has collected all the data on baptism in the early church.
Abrams, Douglas Carl. Selling the Old-Time Religion: American Fundamentalists and Mass Culture, 1920-1940
Abrams discusses Fundamentalist’s relationship to both consumer culture and popular culture. He documents that fundamentalists both embraced and rejected aspects of both kinds of culture. Abrams also the reactions of Fundamentalism to culture. For instance, he critiques the general embrace of consumer culture by Fundamentalists. Overall, an excellent resource.
Hoffmeier, James K. Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition
Hoffmeier continues his case that indirect evidence lends credence to the Bible’s account of the Israel in Egypt and, in this book, in the Wilderness. For instance, in one chapter he looks at the names in the genealogies in Numbers and notes that a good number of them are of Egyptian derivation. This argues for the authenticity of the sojourn in Egypt. He also discusses issues such as the location of the Red Sea crossing and Mount Sinai, and the path taken in the Exodus. His point in these discussions is that the accounts in the Pentateuch are located in real places rather in than in a mystical realm in which such routes and locations cannot be evaluated. I think Hoffmeier’s point stands even if one wishes to argue for different locations. The very fact that he can make an argument for one location and that someone else can examine the evidence and make a case for another location proves Hoffmeier’s point that these accounts are of such a nature that such discussions are possible and profitable. This would not be the case with myth. Hoffmeier also takes on the inconsistency of critical approaches to Scripture. For instance, he notes that a historical treatise by a 3rd century BC historian that is preserved only in quotation in other sources (e.g., Josephus and Eusebius) is still used today as the basis for our sequencing of the early Egyptian dynasties. With the Bible we have a much better manuscript tradition that reaches back in time closer to the original documents and events. For instance, some of the Dead Sea Scrolls date back to the first and second centuries B.C. But the critics insist on dating the Pentateuch late and reject countervailing evidence. The Bible is rejected as a “historical partner.” Hoffmeier raises the question of why, despite claims that the Bible should be treated like any other book, it is treated like no other book. His supposition: “Either they want the material to be late so as to fit a particular theory or model they advocate, or they want sources to be late (operating under the assumption that later sources are poor sources) so as to discredit the historical reliability of the Bible. This in turn allows them to reconstruct the history, social framework, and moral or religious traditions in a manner that is more aligned with their own view of things” (18).
Caro, Robert. The Path to Power
This is part one of a five part biography of Lyndon Johnson. Though lengthy, Caro is an engaging writer. It is hard to put these biographies down. Some of the length is devoted to setting the background. For instance, the book begins with a fascinating history of the Texas Hill Country.
Caro does not pull his punches, but he’s not writing a hatchet job, either. HIs interest is in how power is gained and used. LBJ is his case study.
Austen, Jane. Persuasion.
Garretson, James M. A Scribe Well-Trained: Archibald Alexander and the Life of Piety
Like the other books in this series, A Scribe Well-Trained provides readers with a brief biography of its subject, bite-sized devotional readings by the subject, and a guide for additional reading. I find these books warm my heart toward God.
Block, Daniel I. For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship
This is, as the title indicates, a biblical theology of worship. Each chapter covers a topic, moving from the First Testament, as Block prefers to call it, through to the New Testament and on to present-day application. The topics covered range from worship in daily life and in the family to the elements of corporate worship such as ordinances, preaching, prayer, and music. Block mounts a defense of the relevance of the Old Testament in guiding present worship practices (while appropriately noting discontinuities). While differing with Block on a few points, overall I found his exegesis and applications sound. Highly recommended.
Guy, Laurie. “‘Naked’ Baptism in the Early Church: The Rhetoric and the Reality,” The Journal of Religious History 27, no. 2 (June 2003): 133-42.
In researching baptism in the early church, I noticed that numerous sources indicated that those baptized were naked. This obviously raises a moral question for the baptism of women, since the priests who baptized were men. Guy addresses this issue. He notes that “there are three commonly held conclusions, one of which would seem to be wrong: 1. Baptismal candidates were baptized naked 2. Baptism was administered by male clergy 3. Judeo-Christian sense of modesty would not allow a religious practice where female nakedness was exposed to male gaze.” Guy begins with the third conclusion and is able to affirm from contemporary sources, especially those dealing with the baths, that it is true. Likewise, the second conclusion is true. Several of the church fathers explicitly address the issue of women administering baptism, and they forbid it. Guy argues that it is the first conclusion which must be modified. He makes the case that naked in biblical Greek does not necessarily meaning entirely unclothed. For instance, Peter in John 21.7 could have been still clothed in a tunic or smock. He finds evidence in Chrysostom that baptismal candidates could be considered naked while still wearing a chiton, which would enable them to be modest. In other words they were not fully clothed by normal standards but still clothed. Guy argues that the rhetoric of nakedness, however, is used for the purpose of emphasizing the new birth.
Sanford, John C. and Robert Carter. “In Light of Genetics… Adam, Eve, and the Creation/Fall.” Christian Apologetics Journal (2014).
An article by two creationary scientists with expertise in genetics challenging recent claims that genetics disproves a historical Adam. The outline of their article is as follows:
1. Humans are fundamentally different from all other life forms in terms of functionality.
2. Humans are profoundly different from all other life forms in terms of our genome.
3. The direction of genetic change is down, not up. Humanity is devolving due to mutation.
4. The information that specifies ‘man’ cannot arise via random mutations and natural selection.
5. The “junk DNA” paradigm has collapsed and is no longer a valid rescue mechanism for Darwinism.
6. All human beings are amazingly similar genetically—pointing toward a recent Adam and Eve.
7. The limited amount of diversity within the human genome is best explained in terms of:
8. The number of “linkage blocks” and the limited degree of recombination seen within human chromosomes appears to be consistent with an original population of two individuals that gave rise to all humanity in the last 10,000 years.
9. The origin of people groups is best understood in the context of Adam/Flood/Babel, only requiring population fragmentation, rapid dispersal, founder effects, assortative mating, and limited selection.
10. There is clearly a singular female ancestor of all humans (“Mitochondrial Eve”), her basic DNA sequence is easily discernable in humans alive today, and it is not more similar to chimpanzee.
11. There is clearly a singular male ancestor of all humans (“Y Chromosome Adam”), his DNA sequence is largely known, and it is not at all similar to that of chimpanzee.
12. Molecular clocks and other dating methods most consistently point to a young genome.
Baker, Hunter. Political Thought: A Students Guide. Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition. Edited by David Dockery. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012.
Hunter Baker does a good job in a brief space of describing different approaches to government, key themes such as order, freedom, justice, and the Christian’s role in the political process. This is a good introduction to political thought from a Christian perspective.
Ware, Bruce A. The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013.
Bruce Ware’s writing is characterized by a determination to be rigorously biblical, to dig in deep to what the Scripture says on a matter, and to communicate this rich, biblical theology in a clear, devotional manner. These are all characteristics of The Man Christ Jesus. The burden of this book is to cause Christians to glorify God for the incarnation. The Son taking flesh is part of God’s wise plan, and Ware probes what this means and why this is so. He invites his readers to consider that Jesus lived his life as a man empowered by the Spirit. This should encourage us in striving to live righteous lives. He discusses Jesus’s growth in wisdom, what this implies about his attitude toward Scripture, and how this should shape our attitude. He reminds us that Jesus didn’t obey God automatically. He strived for obedience through suffering as our pattern. Ware also has an insightful treatment of Jesus and temptation. Truly, as God Jesus could not sin. But Ware points out that this doesn’t mean that Jesus triumphed over temptation as God any more than someone who swam the English channel with a boat following behind achieved his goal because of the boat. Jesus could not sin as God, but he met temptation as a man. Ware of course discusses the need for Christ to be a man in order for him to be the substitutionary sacrifice in our place. Ware also picks up on some topics that are often neglected in discussions of Jesus’s humanity. Ware argues that Jesus not only needed to come as a human but that he also had to come as a male human. This was fitting because he is the eternal Son. But it was also necessary for Jesus to be the second Adam, to fulfill the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, to be a prophet like Moses, to be our High Priest, and to be the bridegroom of the church. Finally, Ware argues that Jesus had to be a man to fulfill his kingly reign. Of course Jesus is God and sovereign over all. But a number of texts speak of the Father giving Jesus authority to reign (Ps. 2:5-9; Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-23; Phil 2:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:27-28; Ps. 110:1-4; Dan 7:13-14; Heb. 1:1-3; 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:22). Tied into this are the bodily resurrection and the bodily return of Christ.
Dallinore, Arnold A. George Whitfield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century. Crossway, 1990.
Dallimore writes devotional, but not uncritical, biographies of evangelical leaders. This brief biography is a condensation of his massive two-volume work on George Whitfield. It is warmly written. Dallimore conveys Whitefield’s zeal for the gospel. He also highlights Whitfield as a model for how to handle controversy by showing his grace and refusal to allow the Wesley’s attacks on Calvinism to cause a permanent breach that harmed their evangelistic work. His forbearance seems to have resulted in a reconciliation with the Wesley’s by the end of his life. Whitfield was not without flaws. Dallimore discusses his use of slave labor at his Gerogia orphanage. Whitfield also failed to support the Erskine’s in their separation from a corrupt church. But despite these flaws he was God’s faithful servant in spreading the Gospel in the British Isles and American colonies.
Speare, Elizabeth George. Sign of the Beaver. Houghton Mifflin, 1983.
Marsden, George. The Twilight of the American Enlightenment: The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief. New York: Basic Books, 2014.
This brief book of 200 pages looks back to the 1950s and the changes that emerged from that decade in order to better understand our present situation, particularly as it relates to religion and public life.
In his first two chapters Marsden looks at the concerns that intellectuals of the 1950s had about American culture. One of the chief concerns was that mediums such as TV were not meditating high culture to a broader audience. Instead a new mass culture was created that was culturally degrading. Serious thought was needed in the modern world but was lacking in popular magazines and television shows. Another major concern was the preservation and expansion of freedom. This theme was, of course, developed against the backdrop of the totalitarianism that arose prior to World War II and continued as a threat in the Cold War. The danger to freedom that the public intellectuals focused on, however, was the danger posed by conformity to business procedure, suburban housing, and even child-raising methods. The themes of freedom and nonconformity were stated in moderate, academic tones in the 1950s but lived out by the counter-culture of the 1960s.
In chapter three Marsden focuses on the great public intellectual of the time, Walter Lippmann. Marsden notes that the intellectuals of the 1950s could champion freedom because they had a shared consensus about the common goods that freedom should be oriented towards. Lippmann pointed out that these intellectuals valued the consensus but “had dynamited the foundations on which those principles had been first established.” Lippmann proposed that natural law be the needed foundation for the common good. His proposal was roundly rejected. Most intellectuals saw no need for these foundations; they saw natural law as a threat to human autonomy. Lippmann’s proposal was roundly rejected. Ironically, Marsden notes, out was the Christian-based rhetoric of Martin Luther King, Jr. that best exemplified the consensus ideals of the 1950s liberals: liberty, justice, equality.
In chapter four Marsden argues that the two actual authorities in American life were the individual (existentialism) and science. These two came together in psychology. Marsden traces the debates between Skinner and Rogers as well as the influence of Dr. Spock. The result of this unstable dual authority was the 1960s.
In chapter five Marsden looks at the the influence of Henry Luce and Reinhold Niebuhr as exemplifying the surface religiosity of the 1950s. Luce promoted a civil religion. Niebuhr gave profound evaluations of the American situation but lacked in providing a way forward, in part because there was no shared authority.
In chapter six Marsden looks at how the consensus of the 1950s collapsed in the 1960s, and eventually gave rise to the Evangelical Right/Moral Majority of the 1980s. Marsden holds that the Christian right wanted the 1950s back with its embrace of a Christian civil religion. His major critique is that they set up a binary opposition between themselves and “secular humanism.” Secularists likewise claimed to be the heirs of the 1950s consensus with its emphasis on personal freedom and science. Thus the culture wars.
In his conclusion Marsden looks to Abraham Kuyper as pointing the way forward. He notes that Kuyper rightly recognized that there is ultimately no neutral, objective ground. Thus attempts since the 1960s to move religion to a purely private sphere will fail. Nor is it possible to make a religiously plural nation Christian. What is needed, Marsden argues, is a principled pluralism that gives all religious views a voice.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. New York: HarperCollins, 1983.
Lewis, C. S. The Horse and His Boy.
Kidner, Derek. The Message of Jeremiah: Against Wind and Tide. The Bible Speaks Today, ed. J. A. Motyer. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1987.
Derek Kinder has the rare talent of packing a great deal of pertinent observation into a small space. This commentary on Jeremiah succinctly captures the message of the book in a running exposition that is meant to be read through from cover to cover. Throughout Kidner makes brief but pointed applications to the present. In this way the book lives up to both its title—it gives us the message of Jeremiah—and its series title—it speaks that message to us today.
McKay, David. “From Popery to Principle: Covenanters and the Kingship of Christ.” In The Faith Once Delivered: Essays in Honor of Dr. Wayne R. Spear. Edited by Anthony T. Selvaggio. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2007.
McKay traces a shift in the view of Christ’s relationship as king over the nations in Scottish Presbyterianism. He notes that George Gillespie and Samuel Rutherford distinguished between Christ’s mediatorial reign over the Church and his reign as God over the nations. Erastians argued that since magistrates were under the mediatorial reign of Christ, magistrates may also rule over the church. Gillespie and Rutherford insist on the twofold kingdom otherwise, contrary to Scripture, infidels could not be legitimate rulers and magistrates would wrongly intrude on the church. They also wanted to keep the mediatorial offices of Christ unified. Christ was only mediatorial king over those who by faith had him as their mediatorial prophet and priest. Rutherford argued that it was popery to teach that Christ rules as mediator over the nations.
Positions began to shift in the eighteenth century. In 1733 the Erskine’s led a group to secede from the Church of Scotland. But the Seceders did not join with the Covenanters, who were already outside the church of Scotland because of differences over government. The Seceders taught that governments are raised up providentially by God and must be obeyed according to Romans 13:1-7. A good and moral ruler is good for the nation but morality on the part of the ruler is not necessary to legitimate his rule. The Covenanters said that the legitimacy of government rested on its conformity to the rules for government laid down in Scripture. The Seceders argued that this was pushing the Covenanters toward the position of Christ being mediatorial king over all nations. Though they denied this, by the early nineteenth century, that shift had indeed happened.
In 1803 Alexander McLeod, an American Presbyterian in a Covenanter denomination, wrote Messiah, Governor of the Nations of the Earth. In Scotland William Symington’s Messiah the Prince (1839) argues similarly. These authors point out that Christ’s authority over the nations is given to him by the Father and is not held eternally by virtue of his divine nature (Matt. 11:27; 28:18; Acts 10:26; etc.). Further this rule includes rule over the nations. (Ps. 2:10-12; Dan. 7:13-14; etc.).
By the twentieth century these sentiments make it into the official documents of churches that stand in the Covenanter tradition. Thus a view once denounced by Rutherford as popery has made it into the confessional statements of the churches of his heirs.
One of the difficulties in working through these issues is that there are exegetical, theological, and practical considerations all coming into play. Practical concerns sometimes shape the exegesis and theology and sometimes similar exegetical and theological positions are held with different practical conclusions drawn.
Warfield, B. B. “The Divine Messiah in the Old Testament.” Works. 3:3-39.
Warfield argues, primarily from Ps 45:6; Isa. 9:6; Dan. 7:13, that the Old Testament presents the Messiah as divine. He also argues on the basis that the OT speaks of Yahweh coming and the Messiah coming in the same terms.
Warfield, B. B. “Christless Christianity.” Works. 3:313-67.
Warfield recounts the persistence of Lessing’s idea that true religion is a matter of the “eternal truths of reason” rather than the “accidental truths of history.” Though only a few deny the historicity of Jesus altogether, many affirm that though they think the historical Jesus existed, his non-existence would make no difference to their religion. Warfield draws an analogy to Platonists and Plato. If Plato never existed that would make little difference to the Platonist as long as the ideas were valid.
Warfield holds that Christianity is different from Platonism. True Christianity must reckon with the problem of sin. Forgiveness of sin demands expiation, “and expiation, in its very nature, is not a principle but a fact, an event which takes place, if at all, in the conditions of time and space” (340). Christ does not merely point the way to salvation (making him dispensable); Christ is the Way.
In addition, Warfield finds Lessing’s confidence in science and doubt in history to be self-contradictory since the conclusions of science are based on observations that are historical once they have taken place.
Warfield also argues that we can be more confident of the great gospel events than we can be of some events of the present or of recent history. There is much we do not know of the present, but there is a great deal of evidence for the events of the Gospels.
Finally, Warfield anticipates Machen’s argument by insisting that Christianity is a redemptive religion. A Christless Christianity is therefore not Christianity.
Warfield, B. B. “The ‘ Two Natures’ and Recent Christological Speculation.” Works, 3:259-310.
Warfield argues in the first half of this article that all the NT writings teach and presuppose the doctrine of the two natures of Christ. He makes the case that neither Paul nor the Synoptics have a Christology any less high than John’s. He notes that even some of the critics concede this. But, the critics maintain, there is evidence that a more primitive view than the two natures doctrine can be detected at points in the NT writings. In the second part of the article Warfield demonstrates that the critics are simply reading their own preconceptions of what t this primitive doctrine must be into the texts. Thus affirmations that Jesus is human are taken as indications of an earlier view that Jesus was only human. But, Warfield points out, affirmations that a Jesus is human is a necessary part of the two natures doctrine and are not indications of anything else. Warfield demonstrates powerfully in this article that the critics, more than the orthodox have a dogma that they read into the Scripture.
Scott, R. B. Y. “Wisdom in Creation: The ’Āmôn of Proverbs VIII 30.” Vetus Testamentum 10, no. 2 (April 1, 1960): 213-223.
Scott surveys five possible meanings of אמון in Proverbs 8:30: skilled craftsman, child, guardian, binding, faithful. He opts for “binding” as the sense that can explain the rise of the other senses. The meaning is that “Wisdom was a link or bond between the Creator and his creation.”
Gundry, Robert H. Jesus the Word According to John the Sectarian: A Paleofundamentalist Manifesto for Contemporary Evangelicalism, especially Its Elites, in North America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
I found the exposition of Jesus the Word largely convincing. If at times Gundry may have stretched to show how the Logos theme runs throughout the book, the number of actual connections is substantial enough for his thesis to stand. Furthermore, I’m in agreement that Word refers to the revelatory aspect of Jesus’s ministry.
The exposition of John as sectarian I found less convincing. He pits the theology of John against the synoptics, and tries to mount an argument that John does not intend for Christians to love the world in any sense, John 3:16 notwithstanding. I have a hard time seeing fundamentalists, paleo or otherwise affirming an approach that sees diverse theologies among the Gospel writers.
I was of a mixed mind of his paelofundamentalist manifesto. As a fundamentalist, I found aspects of the critique, especially those aspects about theological assimilation and worldly living, pertinent. I resist the idea, however, that fundamentalism should is only about churchly and heavenly life and not about earthly life. Not least because at those points Gundry is setting different parts of Scripture against each other.
Witherington III, Ben. A Week in the Life of Corinth. Downers Grove, InterVarsity, 2012.
This book provides an entertaining way of picking up background knowledge about the world of the New Testament. The plot and characterization may be a bit thin at points, but that’s not the point of this book. The point is to learn about the world of the New Testament in an entertaining way. At that, this books succeeds.
Campbell, Iain D. and William M. Schweitzer, Engaging with Keller: Thinking Through the Theology of an Influential Evangelical. Grand Rapids: Evangelical Press, 2013.
This book is a model of critical engagement with a brother in Christ. Almost all of the authors are respectful and appreciative of Keller’s ministry. Most are not reticent to praise Keller even as they critique significant aspects of his ministry. The manuscript was also submitted to Keller for feedback.
I disagreed most with the chapter by Hart. This, no doubt, is because he was arguing for a Presbyterian ecclesiology while I am a Baptist. However, the other essays I found to be careful treatments of Keller’s teaching about sin, hell, perichoresis, the church’s mission, and evolution. Another chapter examines Keller’s hermeneutical methodology. One of the central concerns raised repeatedly is that Keller’s efforts to make biblical doctrine plausible in a today’s world sometimes subtly distorts the doctrines themselves. The authors are not opposed to finding new ways of talking about old truths, but they note that when this is attempted the church does need to be careful to ensure that the new ways of speaking are as faithful as the old ways.
Given the overall excellence in content and spirit of this book, I was disappointed to see a defensive review in Themelios. For instance, Kevin Bidwell has a perceptive critique of the use of the divine dance metaphor. The reviewer criticizes Bidwell for not treating Keller’s Trinitarian views more fully. But this is unfair. Bidwell notes at the beginning of his essay: “This is not a critique of everything that Keller ever said about the Trinity, but only his use of a particular imagery of questionable validity and having problematic implications.” Surely a friendly critic should be allowed to note that Keller is orthodox in his Trinitarian teaching but that a particular metaphor that he often uses is problematic. In addition the Themelios reviewer accused the authors of at times misrepresenting Keller, but I wonder if the reviewer misread the critiques, which were often not that Keller denied certain teachings but that they were minimized to the point that certain distortions arose. The response to that kind of critique cannot be, “but Keller teaches such and such here.” I would have been much more encouraged if the reviewer mixed his defense of Keller with acknowledgement of areas in which the authors had pointed up some real problems. The authors of Engaging with Keller clearly appreciate his work, and wrote their book to strengthen Keller’s ministry and the churches influenced by it. But that goal won’t be achieved if the readers are defensive.
Tolkein, J.R.R. Bilbo’s Last Song.
Vos, Geerhardus. “The Range of the Logos Title in the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel.” In Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos. Edited by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1980.
Vos argues that the title Logos applies to the pre-incarnate as well as incarnate Christ, that Logos carries the meaning of Creator as well as Revealer, and that many of the statements about light in connection with life are references to general revelation.
Arnold, Matthew. “Thyrsis”
Snoeberger, Mark. “Weakness Or Wisdom? Fundamentalists And Romans 14.1– 15.13.” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 29-48.
In this article Mark Snoeberger responds to the assertion that those with standards that are stricter than explicit biblical statements are by biblical definition weak. Snoeberger notes that such a position “implied that the most restrained and self-denying of believers are in fact the very weakest, and, contrarily, that the most libertine and self-indulgent of believers are actually the very strongest” (29). While Snoeberger is ready to grant that some Fundamentalists have wrongly developed strictures beyond those with biblical warrant. But he also notes Romans 14-15 is not about adiaphora or things about which the Scripture is silent. It has to do with Jewish believers who continued to think they had to obey the dietary laws and observe sacred days as a matter of sanctification (not justification). These people are wrong. They are weak in faith. As a result, Paul counsels the strong to restrict their liberty so that they do not destroy the weak. Snoeberger argues that Fundamentalists have often done well in the matter of restricting their liberty for the benefit of others.
Bonar, Horatius. The Everlasting Righteousness.
Bonar presents the reader with solid meat regarding the Bible’s teaching about righteousness in Christ. The book focuses on the justification side of things, but sanctification is not neglected. But this book is no mere treatise. It is full of pastoral exhortation as well.
O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Laurel Leaf, 1960.
O’Dell. Scott. Sing Down the Moon.
Challies, Tim and R. W. Glenn. Modest: Men and Women Clothed in the Gospel. Cruciform Press, 2012.
This book suffers from false dichotomies. The authors wrongly conflate concrete applications of Scripture with Paul’s warning in Colossians to beware of “self-made religion and asceticism.” Thus if a father tells his children, “‘only this low,’ ‘at least this long,’ ‘never in this combination,’ and ‘never so tight that ______ shows.'” he is not necessarily replacing “the gospel . . . with regulations.” He may simply be helping his son or daughter apply the Scripture to their lives in a concrete way. The same can be true of a local church or a Christian school. Such families, churches, and schools may be legalistic. They may think they’re earning God’s favor by adhering to their rules. They may look down on others who draw their guidelines differently. Or they may be a group of believers who really want to please God in all that they do—not to earn his favor but because they love their Savior and his church.
Jaeggli, Randy. Christians and Alcohol: A Scriptural Case for Abstinence. BJU Press, 2014.
I have long personally held an abstinence position with regard to beverage alcohol for the following reasons: (1) The Bible counsels strict moderation with regard to alcohol. (2) The alcohol content of alcoholic beverages today is so much higher than in biblical times that drinking them undiluted would seem to violate biblical teaching. (3) Given this, biblical comments about delighting in wine are not about experience the effects of the alcohol. This is confirmed because these passages also refer to rejoicing in bread and oil. Thus I can obey exhortations to rejoice in bread and wine by rejoicing in all manner of good food. (4) Paul warns Christians not to be brought under the power of anything. I do not trust myself to drink alcoholic beverages without being brought under their power. Putting one’s self to the test seems to me a position of Christian immaturity. (5) Even if drinking alcoholic beverages were my liberty (of which I am not convinced, given points 1 and 2), I willing restrict my liberty lest I be a stumbling block to my brothers and sisters in Christ who are tempted to drunkenness. (6) Any medicinal benefit that can be gained from drinking wine can be gained with less risk in other ways. For this reason articles that I read about these benefits always close by counseling people not to begin drinking if they don’t already do so.
I am therefore pleased to see Jaeggli develop his arguments along these lines and to provide cogent exegetical and theological reasons for holding them.
Horton, Ronald. Family: The Making and Remaking of a Christian Home. BJU Press, 2014.
This is a book of wise counsel from an older Christian who thinks carefully about the Christian life.
Bangs, Carl. Arminus: A Study in the Dutch Reformation. 1985; reprinted by Wipf & Stock, 1998.
Bangs’s biography has long been the standard biography of Arminius. He provides abundant historical background. He writes sympathetically. He should be read alongside more recent works such as those by Muller, McCall, and Stanglin.
Muller, Richard A. “Arminius and the Reformed Tradition,” Westminster Theological Journal 70 (2008):
Bangs has argued that the Dutch Reformed Church was a much broader church up to the time of Arminius, that Arminius was just as similar (and different) from Calvin as the Reformed disagreeing with him, and that therefore Arminius has just as much right to be identified as Reformed as his opponents.
Muller grants the second point. There are indeed many commonalities between Arminius’s overall theological positions and those of Calvin. Indeed, there are many similarities between he and his opponents. But, Muller notes, Arminius’s differences placed him outside the confessional boundaries. His opponents’ differences with Calvin do not. Muller does not grant the first point. He notes that Bangs is only able to find a broader Reformed church by excluding certain national synods on the grounds that they were held outside the country. But Muller notes that the fact that a national synod is held outside the country due to war does not invalidate the national character of the synod. Furthermore, through Arminius tried to insist that he remained within the confessions, his interpretations of the confessions on disputed points were contrary to the early commentaries on the confessions, one written by the confession’s author. Muller concludes that while Arminius could be called Reformed by virtue of the fact that he served as a Dutch Reformed pastor, his theology fell outside the already agreed upon confessional standards of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Stallard, Mike. “The Post-Trib and Amillennial Use Of 2 Thessalonians 1,” JMAT 6:2 (Fall 02): 59-80.
Post-tribulationists and Amillennialists typically argue that 2 Thessalonians 1 is incompatible with pre-tribulationalism because the promised relief to the Thessalonians was located, not at a pre-tribulational rapture but at the visible return of Christ. Stallard argues that the rest promised is not merely freedom from persecution. It is a fuller eschatological promise. Thus it is no problem for the Thessalonians to die or for some Christians to be ruptured prior the Second Coming and the rest that comes with it. Stellar not only demonstrates that this is a possible reading, but he shows, based on the structure of the text, that it is the most likely reading.
Henry, Carl F. H. God, Revelation, and Authority, III:248.303.
Bartholomew, Craig and Michael Goheen. The Drama of Scripture: Finding our Place in the Biblical Story. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.
The Bible is not just a collection of spiritual sayings from which Christians gather guidance for life. Any individual verse or passage must be understood within the context of the book in which it is written. But it is also important to see that the books themselves fit into an overall storyline as well. Explaining this storyline is the purpose of this book. It does this job well with three weaknesses. First, it excludes coverage of OT poetry. This is understandable in a book that covers the storyline of Scripture. But the authors did cover the NT epistles. Furthermore, Bartholomew is an expert on OT poetry and has elsewhere written about how it connects to the narrative portions of Scripture. Including some of that material in this book would have made it stronger. Second, the book fudged when it came to the evolution issue. But the fundamental goodness of Creation is essential to these authors’ (and the Bible’s) worldview, making this a significant weakness. Third, the authors quote from left-wing evangelicals enough that I would not want to use the book for an undergraduate class, which is the author’s target audience.
Barrett, Matthew and Ardel Caneday, eds. Four Views on the Historical Adam. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
The advantage of multiple views books is the quick survey they provide of controversial issues from multiple points of view. But these books have a danger as well. The best argued position is not necessarily the best position. I believe that is the case with this book.
The book begins with an introduction written by the editors. This is followed by the four views: Denis Lamoureux argues that there was no historical Adam. The other three contributors argue for a historical Adam but from three different perspectives. John Walton writes from his unique comparative studies approach. C. John Collins writes from an old earth perspective. William Barrick writes from a young earth perspective. The book closes with two essays about the implications of a historical Adam. Gregory Boyd argues that for some a historical Adam is an obstacle to faith whereas nothing is lost by denying a historical Adam. Philip Ryken, on the other hand, argues that core elements of Christian theology and worldview depend on a historical Adam.
I think that Barrick and Ryken hold the correct positions, but Walton and Ryken argued for their positions the best. Unfortunately, Barrick’s chapter was largely taken up with an exposition of Genesis 1-4. This mean that he spent a good deal of space on matters that were not directly under debate. I think his argument would have been better if it proceeded under two lines of argument: First, he could have argued that a historical Adam in a world without death or sin is theologically necessary. Some of the points that Ryken raised in favor of a historical Adam Barrick should have raised in support of his position. Second, he should have demonstrated at key points that a young-earth reading of the text is superior to the alternatives offered by the other authors. For instance,
Rosner, Brian S. Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God. New Studies in Biblical Theology, ed. D. A. Carson. Downers Grove, InterVarsity, 2013.
The issue of the Christian’s relation to the law of God is one of the most complicated issues in theology. Some New Testament passages seem to teach that the Christian is not under the law while others seem to demand obedience to the law. Rosner addresses this seeming contradiction by noting four ways in which the Christian relates to the law. First, the Christian is not under the Mosaic Law as his covenant. Second, the Christian is under the Law of Christ (or the law of faith or the law of the Spirit of life) instead of the Law of Moses. The Christian does not walk according to the law; he walks in the Spirit. Third, the Law is prophetic and the Christian uses the law as such. Fourth, the Christian should use the law as wisdom. Even the commands that are not repeated in the New Testament have a bearing for how the Christian lives his life.
Rosner’s approach accounts for the New Testament’s negative and positive statements about the law in a coherent manner. Other scholars, such as Frank Theilman, Douglas Moo, and Thomas Schreiner have written with similar perspectives. But Rosner’s book is longer than Moo’s brief article in the Four Views book on the law. It is less comprehensive than Theilman or Schreiner’s books. Rosner’s selectivity leads to clarity. This may now be the best book for the interested layperson on the topic of the Christian and the Law.
Naselli, Andrew David. “Three Reflections on Evangelical Academic Publishing,” Themelios (November 2014).
Andy uses two recent books, John D’Elia’s A Place at the Table and Stanley Porter’s Inking the Deal, as grist for reflections of academic publishing. The article is both written humbly and, in my estimation, wise in its assessments.
Waltke, Bruce K. “Psalm 110: An Exegetical and Canonical Approach” in Resurrection and Eschatology: Theology in Service of the Church: Essays in Honor of Richard B. Gaffin Jr. Edited by Lane G. Tipton and Jeffrey C. Waddington. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008.
Waltke exegetes Ps. 110. He also argues that the Psalm was written by David as a prophecy of the Messiah.
Munday, John C. “Creature Mortality: From Creation or the Fall?” JETS 35, no. 1 (March 1992): 51-68.
Munday’s position is that death has always been part of God’s creation rather than a result of the Fall. The article is weakly written. Many of the positions are asserted rather than argued. Oftentimes alternative explanations are not considered.
Psalm 110:2: “The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies” (ESV).
How do you harmonize the statement that this King is to sit at the right hand of God and is to be almighty God and Lord with the fact that He is always to have many enemies and to meet with resistance of various sorts? Indeed, He is to be surrounded by enemies, as David also says later on: “Rule in the midst of Thy enemies.” How is it possible to say this of such a powerful King and the Lord of all creation? Why should He endure those who thirst to fight Him and who show themselves as enemies?
Luther, Works, 13:246.
But Christians have no armor and weapons. They must become the victims of their enemies and allow themselves to be plagued and tortured, killed and massacred. The whole issue presents itself to our senses in such a way as though this Christ were able to do nothing at all against these enemies, but had to succumb and go to pieces, together with His flock and kingdom.
This exactly is the great offense. Here is where human reason and all the wisdom of the world are offended; for “if this Christ actually were the kind of king who sits at the right hand of God, He would not rule in such a fashion.” … Well, why does God act this way? Those smart alecks and critics of God and His Word and work will neither know nor understand this but become fools with their intelligence and wisdom (Rom. 1:22), deceiving themselves. But it is disclosed to Christians that they may learn the true, divine wisdom through which He wants to be recognized. The reason is that this kingdom is to be a kingdom of faith, in which God rules in a manner strange and different from what men are able to understand or conceive. Therefore His wisdom, authority, and power are hidden to all reason. In fact, He will demonstrate them precisely by the opposite, which is called foolishness, frailty, and nothing everywhere and by all men. Thus it may be known, as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 1:25), that what appears to be foolishness in His Word and work is wiser than all the wisdom and intelligence of men, and that what appears to be weakness in Him is stronger than all the strength and power of men. Therefore in this kingdom He does not want to be a God and Savior of the strong, mighty, wise, and holy—as human reason would like to see Him, and as it also pictures Him—who do not need such a God. He wants to be a God and Savior of the weak, the unwise, the insignificant, the miserable and afflicted poor sinners who certainly need such a God and Savior. This He does in order to make them strong while they are weak, righteous and joyful while they are convinced and frightened by sin, alive and blessed while they suffer and die; as He says (2 Cor. 12:9): “My power is made perfect in weakness.” He does this, and must do it, especially to thwart and vex both His enemies, the devil and the world, that they may experience in the end what His wisdom, authority, and power—which they judge to be impotent and V 13, p 254 nothing—really are and can do.
Luther, Works, 13:252-54.
To put it succinctly, the enemies are defeated and subdued by the divine power and miracle alone, without the resistance of the Christians or any physical power at all. “For I will do it Myself,” He means to say here, “and in such a way that Christians will need neither armor nor sword nor weapons. Let them remain quiet and do nothing but attend to their duty of preaching about this Lord and His kingdom, and tell how God has ordained Him King at the right hand of God and Lord of all creation. Let Me handle those who despise and reject this or oppose themselves to it and persecute the Christians for it. I will take care of revenge. I will put a damper on their power and might and will overthrow them. I have more than enough power and might to lift them out of their thrones and cast them under the feet of this Christ. Sufficient for Christians—and let this be their comfort—is My promise that their enemies shall not accomplish their designs; for I have ordained it and spoken the judgment that they shall and must become the footstool of this Christ, whether they like it or not.”
Luther, Works, 13:255-56.
The belief that homosexual acts are immoral is not the same kind of claim as the belief that black people are inferior because they are black. When we deem homosexual acts immoral, we are not stigmatizing a class of persons; we’re exercising our moral reason about the rightness and wrongness of actions. Unlike racism, principled opposition to homosexual rights has a firm basis. It’s normal to judge behavior, including (and perhaps especially) sexual behavior. That’s why describing homosexual acts as immoral is not at all like calling black men and women inferior. To merge sexual liberation into the civil-rights movement dramatically raised the stakes in public debate. The Selma analogy makes traditional views of sexual morality as noxious as racism, and in so doing encourages progressives to adopt something like a total-war doctrine. The implications is that people who hold such views should have no voice in American society and that homosexuality should be aggressively affirmed in our public and private institutions, while dissent is punished.
R. R. Reno, "The Selma Analogy," First Things (May 2012): 4-5.
In our defense of Christianity, as in the entirety of our Christian lives, we are to be a holy people. . . . It seems to me anecdotally, that this may be one of the most neglected aspects of Christian living currently. Someone whose ministry is focused exclusively on college-aged people recently said to me that the burning need among that age group of Christians is holiness. It may just be that the cultural pressures are winning a subtle victory in this regard. If that is true, then it is serious indeed. Scripture is clear that without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). In wanting to be ‘relevant’ to those who are not in Christ, we may be displaying more of a life ‘in Adam’ than we might think. This bodes ill for the art of persuasion in covenantal apologetics. If Christianity makes little difference in the way we walk and talk on a day-to-day basis, we should not think that there will be any obvious reason or others to want to consider a life in Christ.”
K. Scott Oliphint, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith