Between Two Worlds

"White Center" (pictured left), a painting by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, recently sold for nearly $73 million.

Anyone out there care to explain what's so special about this?

I'm sure those into abstract art will be mortified to hear me say this, but doesn't it look like something you could put together in PhotoShop in about 5 minutes?

Update: Wow--I didn't realize this would spark so much discussion. Thanks to those of you who have weighed in.

A commenter linked to Makoto Fujimura's article, Abstraction and the Christian Faith, and I think it's worth reading. Here's an excerpt:

When I transferred my allegiance from Art to Christ in 1987, causing my Art to be art, a shift occurred in my vision. Whereas before, I had an intellectual doubt of seeing reality as is, let alone depicting it, now my new found faith gave me the foundation to see reality and trust it. Colors and forms I saw were indeed what others could see, and the objective world did connect to the subjective. . . I now had a new conviction, to know for certain that certainty existed, that the "substance of things hoped for" is not a shadow of existence, but THE greater reality, more real and weighty than our own. I saw trees, rivers and sky differently. This shift became my new theme, and my series of over a hundred paintings, called Twin Rivers of Tamagawa, explores this.

. . . As I live and breathe the culture of New York, as I am called to live to "seek the shalom and prosperity of the city," I must work incarnationally, and get my hands dirty. I want my hands and intuitions to seek the shalom of the splintered and degraded aesthetic language of the day, to play a role, hopefully, to redeem the language of art, so that we can all, Christians and non-Christians alike, use the language to communicate. We need to; the greatest celebration and cosmic wedding awaits us. And this reality will transcend our finite definition of abstraction--it will truly become the abstract noun definition of epitome. We need to be ready, and invite others to join us, to rejoice, dance, sing... and paint.

Online.

David Howard pens an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal on Frank Beckwith's return to Rome and resignation from ETS and its presidency.

Tim Challies recently completed "a series dealing with blogging and the wider societal trends that have contributed to the rise of blogs." Here are the entries:

• My Story
• History and Societal Trends
• State of the Blogosphere
• Wrapping It Up

Steve McCoy:

Theology Unplugged (TUP) is a podcast by some Dallas Seminary profs. They say, "The uniqueness of TUP is that we speak on theological issues of the day with clarity, honesty, and openness. TUP allows the listener to make informed judgments on the most important theological issues today." Their seven part series on the emerging church is a great example of that. I'm through the first three episodes and I'm pretty shocked at how well they do in trying to understand the emerging church. Well worth hearing. (HT: Internet Monk Radio)

Lance Lewis and Eric Redmond have each posted provocative/thoughtful entries on Jerry Falwell's early racism and racial-separatist views.

Covenant Life Church has produced a very helpful paper on the subject of online dating.

On July 1, 2006, James Emery White, succeeded Walter Kaiser to become the fourth president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Today, less than one year later, Gordon-Conwell issues the official announcement that Dr. White has resigned.

Effective June 30, 2007, Dr. White will resign "due to family considerations which resulted in his unanticipated inability to relocate as planned from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Dr. White will continue to teach as Professor of Theology and Culture at the Charlotte Campus."

In his place "The Board of Trustees of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has appointed Dr. Haddon W. Robinson as Interim President, effective July 1, 2007."

The press release says, "The Board of Trustees also announced that they have formed a Presidential Search Committee to seek a permanent president."

I would encourage you to go back and read John Piper's article, Pray for the Seminaries. Oh, what God might be pleased to do in response to a campaign of consistent, hope-filled prayer by ordinary folks like us. I encourage you to considering praying for the seminaries, especially for presidential vacancies. There are few posts more strategic and influential.

In related news, at the end of March Trinity International University/Trinity Evangelical Divinity School made the following announcement:

On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, Trinity President Dr. Greg Waybright accepted the call to serve as senior pastor of Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, California. He will conclude his time at Trinity and begin his new role at Lake Avenue later this summer. . . .

We will continue to keep you informed throughout this process. We will create a presidential search committee, which may include representation from the Board of Regents, the EFCA Board, faculty, alumni, and others. Please be in prayer for this committee as it assembles and begins to work through the complex process of finding our new president. Visit this page for current updates: www.tiu.edu/president.

. . . Please join me in prayer, for wisdom and discernment in our decision-making and planning and particularly that God would prepare Trinity's next president for this next season.

Note also this press release:

Bethel University President George Brushaber, M.Div., Ph.D., today [May 4, 2007] announced that he will conclude his presidency when his current term expires in June 2008. . . . After Brushaber’s announcement today, the Bethel University Board of Trustees announced the formation of a Presidential Search Committee to lead the process of selecting Bethel’s fifth president. The committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, and subsequent to their endorsement, the candidate will be presented to the delegates to the biennial meeting of the Bethel Corporation in June 2008 for election.

Gordon-Conwell. Trinity. Bethel. Three of the major seminaries in the US, each of them currently searching for a new president. May God raise up the right men.

Ben Cole provides a helpful, balanced reflection on Jerry Falwell and his legacy.

(HT: Sam Storms)

John Piper has written a new article on Christ's obedience and our justification.

Joe Thorn offers some counsel on using discernment and wisdom in watching movies.

From the audio of a talk by John Piper to college students on mistakes to avoid:

Mistake #1: Big is better than small.

Mistake #2: New is better than old.

Mistake #3: Having is better than being.

Mistake #4: Visible is better than invisible.

The Associated Press reports: "The Rev. Jerry Falwell has died, a Liberty University executive said Tuesday. He was 73."

Update: Al Mohler on Jerry Falwell's legacy.

Now up.

By the way, for those who want more on Wilson's approach, check out his helpful little dialogical book on apologetics: Persuasions: A Dream of Reason Meeting Unbelief.

Andreas Kostenberger writes:

Subsequent to Dr. Francis Beckwith’s recent "conversion" to Roman Catholicism and his resignation from the ETS presidency and as an ETS member there has been a good amount of discussion as to whether or not Roman Catholics can sign the ETS doctrinal statement while remaining true to the Roman Catholic doctrine of Scripture and divine revelation. To shed light on this matter I decided to get some insight from Dr. Gregg Allison, a former missionary to Italy, professor of Systematic Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and an expert in Roman Catholic theology. Below is my query and Gregg’s response.

Here is their exchange.

Guy Waters has been appointed as an NT professor at RTS-Jackson.

Michael Haykin has been appointed as professor of biblical spirituality and church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

Marvin Olasky and Christopher Hitchens will debate religion and politics at the LBJ Library.

Al Mohler will be on CNN's "Larry King Live" program tonight (9:00 EDT)--joining guests David Gergen, David Kuo, and Jim Wallis--on the topic of Christianity and the 2008 presidential race. Update: Transcript here.

CT Movies:

Blogger, script consultant, and now, Hollywood screenwriter. That's the latest addition to the resume of Barbara Nicolosi, formerly the head of Christian screenwriting workshop Act One, whose latest task is to adapt A Severe Mercy to the big screen.

The book, written by Sheldon Vanauken, chronicles the journey through faith and marriage that he undertook with his wife—and with a little help from one C. S. Lewis. Indeed, Nicolosi promises a "cameo appearance" by Lewis, who also appears in the book in the form of several letters.

Nicolosi's Church of the Masses blog includes a plea for prayer. "Please keep this project in your prayers. I am rarely excited about anything, but I admit to anticipating this project with wonder (and fear and trembling)."

The rights to the novel were recently sold by Harper Collins to Origin Entertainment, who commissioned Nicolosi to pen the script.

Here is C. S. Lewis's answer to the question of why we enjoy reading:

The nearest I have yet got to answer is that we seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves. Each of us by nature sees the whole world from one point of view with a perspective and a selectiveness peculiar to himself. And even when we build disinterested fantasies, they are saturated with, and limited by, our own psychology. To acquiesce in this particularity on the sensuous level—in other words, not to discount perspective—would be lunacy. We should then believe that the railway line really grew narrower as it receded into the distance. But we want to escape the illusions of perspective on higher levels too. We want to see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as with our own. We are not content to be Leibnitzian monads. We demand windows. Literature as Logos is a series of windows, even of doors. One of the things we feel after reading a great work is “I have got out.” Or from another point of view, “I have got in”; pierced the shell of some other monad and discovered what it is like inside.

More:

Literature enlarges our being by admitting us to experiences not our own. They may be beautiful, terrible, awe-inspiring, exhilarating, pathetic, comic, or merely piquant. Literature gives the entree to them all. Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom realize the enormous extension of our being that we owe to authors. We realize it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense, but he inhabits a tiny word. In it, we should be suffocated. My own eyes are not enough for me. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or bee.

In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in a Greek poem, I see with a thousand eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.

[HT: Chris Brauns]

C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), 137–141. Cited in Jerram Barrs's essay, Christianity and the Arts.

The Washington Post covers the Beckwith story.

HT: James Grant--who adds some thoughts regarding Beckwith on justification.

Jay Sklar is associate professor of OT at Covenant Seminary. A revision of his doctoral work on Leviticus was published a couple of years ago as Sin, Impurity, Sacrifice, Atonement: The Priestly Conceptions (Hebrew Bible Monographs). Here are some talks by Dr. Sklar on how the book of Leviticus relates to Christians today:

Leviticus and the Christian--Part 1
Leviticus and the Christian--Part 2
Leviticus and the Christian--Part 3
Leviticus and the Christian--Part 4
Leviticus and the Christian--Part 5
Leviticus and the Christian--Part 6
Leviticus and the Christian--Part 7

Don't do this in Wisconsin.

(HT: Jeff Brewer)

All of the audio sessions from the recent "Basics Conference" at Parkside Church are now available online for free.

The main sessions are also available in video.

Speakers included Alistair Begg, Derek Thomas, Edward Lobb, Voddie T. Baucham, Jr., Keith Getty, and Tim Challies.

No word yet on whether or not Tim live-blogged his own breakout session.

Fortunately, Russell Smith (HT: Adrian) took some notes. Tim talked about five things the blogosphere is doing well:

1. Community – the blogosphere has fueled the resurgence of reformed movement.
2. Sanctification – Tim approaches journaling as a spiritual discipline – now blogging is a part of his ongoing discipline. It is more public and less personal, but it has great impact.
3. Teaching -- blogging gives teh chance to teac h good doctrine, but it is limited. Most blog readers only hang in there for 1000 words or so
4. Information – blogging is useful for disseminating information about the reformed movement – conferences all over the country are seeing much higher attendance this year – blogging is a part of it.
5. Unity – blogging is a great platform for bringing together different groups – groups that had been divided by mutual suspicion before.

Then Tim presented 5 things that he felt we could be doing better:

1. Evangelism -- people gravitate to like interests – pagans will stay away from “Christian” sites” – our challenge will be to move out into other spheres – write about things that interest us, while still maintaining our identity.
2. Filtering – we suffer from information overload – we have to ask what is worth reading. Don’t lose balance with reading, family, etc.
3. Control -- just because you can say it doesn’t mean that you should
4. Replacement – don’t make your most important relationships on the web – don’t neglect the church and family for
5. Controversy – controversey may generates traffic but it isn’t helpful. Avoid dwelling in discouragement and gossip.

I'm posting this article with the permission of John Piper. What would be the effect on the church if a number of us made a commitment to make prayer for the seminaries a regular part of our requests to God? I hope you'll consider taking these words to heart, as strategic appointments are on the horizon.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of our seminaries in shaping the theology and spirit of the churches and denominations and missionary enterprise. The tone of the classrooms and teachers exerts profound effect on the tone of our pulpits. What the teachers are passionate about will by and large be the passions of our younger pastors. What they neglect will likely be neglected in the pulpits.

When I was choosing a seminary, someone gave me good advice. “A seminary is one thing,” he told me. “Faculty. Do not choose a denomination or a library or a location. Choose a great faculty. Everything else is incidental.” By “great faculty” he, of course, did not mean mere charismatic personalities. He meant that wonderful combination of passion for God, for truth, for the church, and for the perishing, along with a deep understanding of God and his Word, a high esteem for doctrinal truth, and careful interpretation and exposition of the infallible Bible.

I believe his advice was right: choose a seminary for its teachers. Which means that when we pray for our seminaries, we pray especially for the minds and hearts of faculty and those who assess and hire them.

When we stop to think for a while about what to pray, we start to clarify our own concept of ministry. We can’t pray without a goal. And we can’t have a goal for a seminary faculty unless we have a vision for what kind of pastors we want to see graduate. So the more we try to pray, the more we are forced to define what we value in the pastoral office. And once we clarify this, we begin to ponder what sort of person and pedagogy cultivates these values.

So the will to pray for the seminary presses us on to develop at least a rudimentary pastoral theology and philosophy of theological education. What follows is a baby step in this direction – a rough sketch of what I think we need from our seminaries. My petitions cluster in three groups. Each group echoes a biblical value at which I think we should aim, and toward which we should pray, in pastoral education.

Under the all-embracing goal of God’s glory (first petition), petitions 2-7 echo my goal that we cultivate a contrite and humble sense of human insufficiency. “I am the vine, you are the branches . . . apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor. 4:7). “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16).

Petitions 8-11 echo my goal that we cultivate a great passion for Christ’s all-sufficiency; and that, for all our enthusiasm over contemporary trends in ministry, the overwhelming zeal of a pastor’s heart be for the changeless fundamentals of the faith. “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7).

Petitions 12-21 echo my goal that we cultivate strong allegiance to all of Scripture, and that what the apostles and prophets preached and taught in Scripture will be esteemed worthy of our careful and faithful exposition to God’s people. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

You will want to supplement these prayers with the burdens of your own heart for the seminaries you care about most deeply. But these are essential, I think, to breed power and purity in our churches.

I pray:

1. That the supreme, heartfelt and explicit goal of every faculty member might be to teach and live in such a way that his students come to admire the glory of God with white-hot intensity (1 Corinthians 10:31; Matthew 5:16).
2. That, among the many ways this goal can be sought, the whole faculty will seek it by the means suggested in 1 Peter 4:11: Serve “in the strength which God supplies: in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”
3. That the challenge of the ministry might be presented in such a way that the question rises authentically in students’ hearts: “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16).
4. That in every course the indispensable and precious enabling of the Holy Spirit will receive significant emphasis in comparison to other means of ministerial success (Galatians 3:5).
5. That teachers will cultivate the pastoral attitude expressed in 1 Corinthians 15:10 and Romans 15:18: “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. . . . I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles.”
6. That the poverty of spirit commended in Matthew 5:3 and the lowliness and meekness commended in Colossians 3:12 and Ephesians 4:2 and 1 Peter 5:5-6 will be manifested through the administration, faculty, and student body.
7. That the faculty might impress upon students by precept and example the immense pastoral need to pray without ceasing and to despair of all success without persevering prayer in reliance on God’s free mercy (Matthew 7:7-11; Ephesians 6:18).
8. That the faculty will help the students feel what an unutterably precious thing it is to be treated mercifully by the holy God, even though we deserve to be punished in hell forever (Matthew 25:46; 18:23-35; Luke 7:42, 47).
9. That, because of our seminary faculties, hundreds of pastors, 50 years from now, will repeat the words of John Newton on their death beds: “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Jesus is a great Savior.”
10. That the faculty will inspire students to unqualified and exultant joy in the venerable verities of Scripture. “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8
11. That every teacher will develop a pedagogical style based on James Denney’s maxim: “No man can give the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to save.”
12. That in the treatment of Scripture there will be no truncated estimation of what is valuable for preaching and for life.
13. That students will develop a respect for and use of the awful warnings of Scripture as well as its precious promises; and that the command to “pursue holiness” (Hebrews 12:14) will not be blunted, but empowered, by the assurance of divine enablement. “Now the God of peace . . . equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20).
14. That there might be a strong and evident conviction that the deep and constant study of Scripture is the best way to become wise in dealing with people’s problems. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
15. That the faculty may not represent the contemporary mood in critical studies which sees “minimal unity, wide-ranging diversity” in the Bible; but that they will pursue the unified “whole counsel of God” and help students see the way it all fits together. “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27).
16. That explicit biblical insights will permeate all class sessions, even when issues are treated with language and paradigms borrowed from contemporary sciences.
17. That God and his Word will not be taken for granted as the tacit “foundation” that doesn’t get talked about or admired.
18. That the faculty will mingle the “severe discipline” of textual analysis with an intense reverence for the truth and beauty of God’s Word.
19. That fresh discoveries will be made in the study of Scripture and shared with the church through articles and books.
20. That faculty, deans, and presidents will have wisdom and courage from God to make appointments which promote the fulfillment of these petitions.
21. And that boards and all those charged with leadership will be vigilant over the moral and doctrinal faithfulness of the faculty and exercise whatever discipline is necessary to preserve the biblical faithfulness of all that is taught and done.

Brothers, let us not merely criticize or commend the seminaries. God loves his church and his truth. He ordains to do his work through the intercession of his people. Generations of faithfulness are at stake. Therefore, brothers, let us pray for the seminaries.

John Piper, "Brothers, Pray for the Seminaries," in Brothers, We Are Not Professionals (B&H).

Biola University announces:

The Biola University Board of Trustees announced on Friday the appointment of its eighth president, Dr. Barry H. Corey, effective July 1, 2007. His tenure will officially launch the celebration of Biola’s centennial year.

"We are thrilled that Dr. Barry Corey has been affirmed by the Board of Trustees as Biola's eighth president,” said John Siefker, Chair of Biola’s Board of Trustees. “His academic and fund raising experience, collaborative leadership style and deep love for the Bible is just what Biola needs at this time in our history."

Dr. Corey, 45, will succeed Dr. Clyde Cook, who is one of the longest-standing college presidents in the nation, serving as Biola’s president since 1982.

Dr. Corey is a native of Massachusetts and currently serves as Vice President/Chief Academic Officer and Academic Dean of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts. He has held this position since 2002, overseeing academic operations including faculty relations, curriculum development and degree/non-degree programs. Before that, he served as Vice President for Development at Gordon-Conwell since 1992, leading all fundraising and external relations programs. During this time, he led and completed a $54 million capital campaign.

Dr. Corey received his B.A. in English and Biblical Studies from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri in 1984. In 1988, he received his M.A. in American Studies with a concentration in literature and religious history from Boston College’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from Boston College in Curriculum, Instruction and Administration in 1992.

You can read the full press release here. (HT: Timbo)

Frank Beckwith posted last week on Dr. Corey's candidacy.

Chad Vegas has also been looking into it--expressing both some concerns and also encouragements.

Matt Anderson has some encouraging reflections.