Between Two Worlds

From Don Whitney:

Ten Questions to Ask at a Christmas Gathering - .doc .pdf A4

Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or On Your Birthday - .doc .pdf A4

The trailer to the Amazing Grace movie is now online (lower-lefthand corner). It's small and choppy, though (at least with my connection). Let me know if someone spots it on YouTube or at the Apple.com trailer site.

Ron Gleason--who has read Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics over 10 times in the original Dutch and who is currently writing a biography on Bavinck--has posted a biographical overview of his life (part 1 | part 2).

Dr. Gleason also recently reviewed the English translation for the first three volumes of Reformed Dogmatics.

These volumes have been anticipated by the theological world for a long time and now that they are available, it would behoove every professor, theological student, Elder, and serious Christian to purchase them. . . . It would not be saying too much to state that reading any chapter in the RD will have the effect of thoroughly grounding the Christian in the most important aspects of the subject under discussion.

Paul Helm now has a blog (Helm's Deep: Philosophical Theology), upon which he has been posting a number of his recent papers. He has posted Warfield on Divine Passion and Anthropomorphism Protestant Style.

Forthcoming are "The Calvinist Concept of God," "Three Replies: to Roger Olson, John Sanders and Bruce Ware," "Karl Barth and the Visibility of God," and "'No Easy Task': John R Franke and the Character of Theology."

From an interview with Sylvester Stalone:

"Rocky, for example, is very Christian-like in all his ideals, and the way he turns the other cheek all the time. "

If he always turned the other cheek, how did he win all those fights?

Book Description
This reader, compiled by renowned Solzhenitsyn scholars Edward E. Ericson, Jr., and Daniel J. Mahoney in collaboration with the Solzhenitsyn family, provides in one volume a rich and representative selection of Solzhenitsyn's voluminous works. Reproduced in their entirety are early poems, early and late short stories, early and late "miniatures" (or prose poems), and many of Solzhenitsyn’s famous—and not-so-famous—essays and speeches. The volume also includes excerpts from Solzhenitsyn's great novels, memoirs, books of political analysis and historical scholarship, and the literary and historical masterpieces The Gulag Archipelago and The Red Wheel. More than one-quarter of the material has never before appeared in English (the author’s sons prepared many of the new translations themselves). The Solzhenitsyn Reader reveals a writer of genius, an intransigent opponent of ideological tyranny and moral relativism, and a thinker and moral witness who is acutely sensitive to the great drama of good and evil that takes place within every human soul. It will be for many years the definitive Solzhenitsyn collection.

National Review's Rich Lowry: "Conservatives need to realize that something is not dubious just because it’s reported by the New York Times, and that the media ultimately will be wrong about Iraq only if — fully acknowledging how bad it is there — the Bush administration takes bold steps to reverse the tide."

Adrian Warnock posts some highlights and reflections regarding his interview with Wayne Grudem.

Bob Kauflin provides some good questions to ask.

Fox News: "A body found in a snow cave on Oregon's Mount Hood has been identified as that of climber Kelly James, a person close to the family said Monday."

Kelly James is the brother of Frank James III, president and professor of church history and of historical and systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando.

Our prayers are with the James family as they grieve the terrible loss during this Christmas season, trusting in their God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

National Review interviews Elizabeth Kantor, the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature.

Wayne Grudem on baptism and secondary doctrines:

The baptism issue is a little different. It’s very hard to have it both ways because when an infant is born in a church, you either baptize the infant, or you don’t. So it’s much more difficult to say, “Let’s just all get along on this.” Well, fine, we all get along. But do we baptize this new baby or not? A church can’t have it both ways. When I wrote my book, Systematic Theology, I was more hopeful that a compromise might be possible in which churches would allow individual pastors and individual families to make this decision for themselves. That is what the Evangelical Free Church of America has done, and it is a strong, healthy denomination in the United States that holds fully to the inerrancy of Scripture. But after many decades, no other denomination, to my knowledge, seems willing to follow them in this position.

The problem is what such a “compromise” implies about the views of baptism of the people who adopt it. For people who hold to infant baptism, they have to be able to say that it’s OK for believing parents not to baptize their infant children, which seems to them to be disobeying a command of Scripture as they understand it. How can they really say this?

On the other side, those who hold to believer’s baptism (as I do) have to be willing to admit into church membership people who have been baptized as infants, and who did not, of course, make any profession of faith at the time they were baptized. But these people (such as myself) who think that genuine baptism has to follow a personal profession of faith are then put in position of saying that infant baptism is also a valid form of baptism. And that contradicts what they believe about the essential nature of baptism – that it is an outward sign of an inward spiritual change, so that the apostle Paul could say, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

I don’t think I realized this difficulty when I wrote my Systematic Theology. I had been in an Evangelical Free Church for about four years and it seemed to me to work well enough. But now I’m beginning to realize that admitting to church membership someone who has not been baptized upon profession of faith, and telling the person that he or she never has to be baptized as a believer, is really giving up one’s view on the proper nature of baptism, what it really is. It is saying that infant baptism really is valid baptism! If we didn’t think it was valid baptism, we should be telling people who were baptized as infants that their “baptism” was not valid baptism and they should be baptized now, after their personal profession of faith. They would need to do this in obedience to Christ’s command.

So I have been re-thinking my position on this issue, and I have been considering sending a change to the publishers of my Systematic Theology book, at least explaining that there are more difficulties to my “compromise” view than I had initially realized.

In short, I don’t think the baptism issue is going to go away any time soon.

Finally, I’m thankful that believers who differ on the issue of baptism can still have wonderful fellowship with one another across denominational lines, and can have respect for each other’s sincerely held views. . . .

Tim Keller:

We never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced.” The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s of Christianity, but it is the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.

We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal. 3:1-3) and are renewed (Col 1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom 1:16-17).

It is very common in the church to think as follows: “The gospel is for non-Christians. One needs it to be saved. But once saved, you grow through hard work and obedience.” But Colossians 1:6 shows that this is a mistake. Both confession and “hard work” that is not arising from and “in line” with the gospel will not sanctify you—it will strangle you. All our problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. Thus when Paul left the Ephesians he committed them “to the word of his grace, which can build you up” (Acts 20:32).

The main problem, then, in the Christian life I that we have not thought out the deep implication of the gospel, we have not “used” the gospel in and on all parts of our life. Richard Lovelace says that most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel—a failure to grasp and believe it through and through. Luther says (on Gal. 2:14), “The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine… Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” The gospel is not easily comprehended. Paul says that the gospel only does its renewing work in us as we understand it in all its truth. All of us, to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not “get” it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel—seeing more of its truth. This is true for either an individual or a church.

I'm honored to have been named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.

Peggy Noonan publishes an insightful article about Barack Obama.

He is uncompromised by a past, it is true. He is also unburdened by a record, unworn by achievement, unwearied by long labors.

What does he believe? What does he stand for? This is, after all, the central question. When it is pointed out that he has had almost--almost--two years in the U.S. Senate, and before that was an obscure state legislator in Illinois, his supporters compare him to Lincoln. But Lincoln had become a national voice on the great issue of the day, slavery. He rose with a reason. Sen. Obama's rise is not about a stand or an issue or a question; it is about Sen. Obama. People project their hopes on him, he says.

He's exactly right. Just so we all know it's projection.

It's worth reading the whole thing.

(HT: Denny Burk)

Tim Challies posts about some forthcoming books on William Wilberforce, as well as linking to the Amazing Grace movie website. If you look in the lower-right hand corner you can click on "movie clips." (A trailer is not yet available.) It's due out on February 23, 2007 in the U.S.

Charles Krauthammer: "Syria should stop infiltration, declares the [Iraq Study Group] report. And Iran 'should stem the flow of equipment, technology, and training to any group resorting to violence in Iraq.' Yes, and obesity should be eradicated, bird flu cured, and traffic fatalities, particularly the multi-car variety, abolished."

Good news out of the UK: P. J. Williams, currently Senior Lecturer in New Testament at Aberdeen, has been confirmed as the new Director/Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, succeeding Bruce Winter.

For those who may not know,

Tyndale House has an internationally recognised reputation as a leading library and residential centre for biblical research. It was founded in 1944 in a spirit of loyalty to the historic Christian faith and is the research division of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship. It has close links with the University of Cambridge, including a formal association with St Edmund’s College and a collaborative relationship with the Faculties of Divinity and Oriental Studies and the University Library.

The job description called for:

• an internationally distinguished and active research profile in any field of biblical studies;
• the ability to assume a role of academic leadership in relation to the mentoring of postgraduate students and research fellows;
• the strategic skills to direct research and publication projects;
• abilities in the management of a committed team of research and administrative staff;
• the capacity to exercise spiritual and pastoral oversight of the members;
• the capacity to attract development funding.

I trust that the Lord will use this appointment to advance the kingdom and to continue the work of evangelical scholarship through Tyndale House.

For those interested in textual criticism, Williams is also one of the contributors to the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog.

Matt Dirks offers some wise counsel on what Christians can be doing about the terrible situation in Darfur.

There will be a half-day pre-conference before this year's Desiring God Pastors' Conference. Al Mohler and Ligon Duncan will be the speakers. Here is some information on it:

Location: Minneapolis Convention Center, Room 200
Time: 7:30 am - 8:15 am [Continental breakfast] / 8:15 am - 12:00 pm [conference]
Deadline for registering: January 15, 2007

You can register online here.

Here a couple of new John Piper resources being published by Crossway:

When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God--and Joy

This is an 80-page book adapted from When I Don't Desire God; Piper gives wise, biblical counsel on fighting for joy during seasons of depression and spiritual darkness.

“It is utterly crucial that in our darkness we affirm the wise, strong hand of God to hold us, even when we have no strength to hold him.”
John Piper

Even the most faithful, focused Christians can encounter periods of depression and spiritual darkness when joy seems to stay just out of reach. It can happen because of sin, satanic assault, distressing circumstances, or hereditary and other physical causes. In When the Darkness Will Not Lift, John Piper aims to give some comfort and guidance to those experiencing spiritual darkness.

Readers will gain insight into the physical side of depression and spiritual darkness, what it means to wait on the Lord in a time of darkness, how unconfessed sin can clog our joy, and how to minister to others who are living without light. Piper uses real-life examples and sensitive narrative to show readers abundant reason to hope that God will pull them out of the pit of despair and into the light once again.

• Contents
• Excerpt: Introduction - 132K PDF

Coming in January, Crossway will publish the Don't Waste Your Life Group Study Kit. It includes a special edition copy of the best-selling book, a study guide, and a teaching DVD featuring ten sessions with John Piper.

Al Mohler responds here to the latest question in the Newsweek/Washington Post online forum, On Faith.

Very well said:

America is not Christian by constitutional provision or creedal affirmation -- but its people are overwhelmingly Christian by self-affirmation. Thoughtful evangelicals will not overestimate the convictional character of this self-identification. Secularists ought not to overestimate its superficiality.

'Tis the season for new commitments of discipline.

One of the best investments you can make is D.A. Carson's two-volume work, For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God's Word. Each day he wisely and deftly guides readers through a section of the M'Cheyne Reading Plan, highlighting the "big picture," biblical-theological themes.

Here is an excerpt from the preface:

The challenge has become increasingly severe in recent years, owing to several factors. All of us must confront the regular sins of laziness or lack of discipline, sins of the flesh, and of the pride of life. But there are additional pressures. The sheer pace of life affords us many excuses for sacrificing the important on the altar of the urgent. The constant sensory input from all sides is gently addictive— we become used to being entertained and diverted, and it is difficult to carve out the space and silence necessary for serious and thoughtful reading of Scripture. More seriously yet, the rising biblical illiteracy in Western culture means that the Bible is increasingly a closed book, even to many Christians. As the culture drifts away from its former rootedness in a Judeo-Christian understanding of God, history, truth, right and wrong, purpose, judgment, forgiveness, and community, so the Bible seems stranger and stranger. For precisely the same reason, it becomes all the more urgent to read it and reread it, so that at least confessing Christians preserve the heritage and outlook of a mind shaped and informed by holy Scripture.

This is a book to encourage that end. Devotional guides tend to offer short, personal readings from the Bible, sometimes only a verse or two, followed by several paragraphs of edifying exposition. Doubtless they provide personal help for believers with private needs, fears, and hopes. But they do not provide the framework of what the Bible says—the “plotline” or “story line”—the big picture that makes sense of all the little bits of the Bible. Wrongly used, such devotional guides may ultimately engender the profoundly wrong-headed view that God exists to sort out my problems; they may foster profoundly mistaken interpretations of some Scriptures, simply because the handful of passages they treat are no longer placed within the framework of the big picture, which is gradually fading from view. Only systematic and repeated reading of the whole Bible can meet these challenges.

That is what this book encourages. Here you will find a plan that will help you read through the New Testament and the Psalms twice, and the rest of the Bible once, in the course of a year—or, on a modification of the plan, in the course of two years. Comment is offered for each day, but this book fails utterly in its goal if you read the comment and not the assigned biblical passages.

Vol 1: Preface, Introduction, and M'Cheyne Chart of Daily Bible Readings (237K PDF)
Vol 2: Preface, Introduction, and M'Cheyne Chart of Daily Bible Readings (298K PDF)

If you'd like to receive the daily commentary by email, I think you can do so by sending a blank note here: christwaymedia-join@associate.com.

A good post here from Read-Owen-Out-Loud evangelist Paul Martin.

And the New Attitude blog has posted an interview with yours truly about Owen (part one | part two).

Adrian Warnock interviews Wayne Grudem

• Part One
• Part Two - Systematic Theology and Controversy
• Part Three - Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism
• Part Four - Ethical Trajectories, Feminism, and Homosexuality
• Part Five - Must a Woman Always Remain Silent in Church?
• Part Six - Did Steve Chalke Blaspheme About the Atonement?

Note that in the first interview Grudem reveals that he is serving as the general editor of the forthcoming ESV Study Bible.

The interview isn't quite done, so head to Adrian's blog for the final installments.