There are a lot of things that Doug Wilson and I don’t agree on (not the least of which is our interpretation of the Apostle Paul’s letters). But I have to say that he is one the most effective rhetoricians that I have ever read. His loquacious pyrotechnics rank right up there with the rhetorical hand-grenades that Martin Luther used to hurl at his opponents with great effect. Doug Wilson pulls no punches in his recent critique of Pastor Brian McLaren’s inability to define homosexuality as sin (click here to see McLaren’s article). In a few short paragraphs, Wilson mounts a withering assault on McLaren’s tortured argument and then finishes…
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Review of “Where Is Boasting?”
Simon J. Gathercole. Where Is Boasting: Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul’s Response in Romans 1-5. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. 311pp. $32.00. Simon J. Gathercole fires a salvo into the ongoing battle over Paul’s doctrine of Justification and the new perspective on Paul. In Where Is Boasting: Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul’s Response in Romans 1-5, Gathercole contends with the growing consensus among Pauline scholars that the Judaism of Paul’s day was not a legalistic religion of merit, but a gracious dispensation of covenantal election. This work represents Gathercole’s Ph.D. dissertation which he wrote under the supervision of James D. G. Dunn, with whom Gathercole is in decided disagreement. Gathercole argues…
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Review of “Blue Like Jazz”
Shane Walker at 9Marks ministries has reviewed Donald Miller’s popular book Blue Like Jazz. What can I say? The review is devastating and gets at the heart of all that’s wrong with the postmodern ethos in certain sectors of the Emergent church movement. Here’s a teaser from the review: Don wants to invite the reader to authentic Christian spirituality, but he’s not really sure what it looks like. He can only report back what he’s experienced—and it’s been a confusing trip. This means that some of his readers will walk away even more confused, but more resolved to get another tattoo, another piercing, grow those dreads, attend another anarchist protest,…
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Review of “The Face of New Testament Studies”
Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne, eds. The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004. 544pp. $34.99. Eminent New Testament scholars Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne have edited an important volume that introduces the various sub-disciplines of New Testament studies. In The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research, various luminaries of the scholarly guild have contributed essays that give an overview of their respective disciplines and that introduce some of the important voices in those disciplines. There are a total of twenty-two essays, and they are divided into four parts: (1) Context of the New Testament, (2)…
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Review of “Choosing a Bible” by Leland Ryken
Leland Ryken, Choosing a Bible: Understanding Bible Translation Differences (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005). 32pp. $3.99. This little 32-page booklet is in many ways an extension and abstract of Leland Ryken’s earlier and more comprehensive work, The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation (Crossway, 2002). The booklet consists of three chapters and an appendix. Chapter one asks and answers the question, “How Do Bible Translations Differ from Each Other?†Here Ryken introduces the distinction between dynamic equivalent and formal equivalent approaches to translation. Chapter two sets forth five negative effects of the dynamic equivalent approach. Chapter Three discusses ten reasons why “essentially literal†translations are trustworthy.…
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Has the Iraq War Compromised Evangelical Witness?
Charles Marsh argues that Evangelicals in the United States have undermined the credibility of their moral and evangelistic witness in the world by supporting the war in Iraq. The essay is titled “Wayward Christian Soldiers.†Marsh recently read sermons delivered in 2002-2003 by prominent evangelicals who supported the President’s decision to go to war. What surprised me, looking at these sermons nearly three years later, was how little attention they paid to actual Christian moral doctrine . . . As a result, many ministers dismissed [just war] theory as no longer relevant . . . The single common theme among the war sermons appeared to be this: our president is…
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The Essence of Idolatry: Worshipping the God of My Understanding
Larry King conducted a panel discussion on Tuesday that used the widely-acclaimed movie “Brokeback Mountain†as a catalyst for discussing the issue of the wider culture’s debate over the morality of homosexuality (transcript). The discussion focused on the question of homosexual rights and, in particular, the question of homosexual “marriage.â€
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David Howard on the Story behind “End of the Spearâ€
David Howard of Bethel University has penned and excellent opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal titled “Triumph From Tragedy: Five missionaries’ murders were not the end of the story.†It’s the kind of essay that will pique interest in the faith that led these five men to die martyr’s deaths. Go read it. Tell others.
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Fighting the Good Fight against Abortion
Dr. William Cutrer is the medical director of a crisis pregnancy center that is featured in today’s New York Times. The article is titled “Some Abortion Foes Forgo Politics for Quiet Talk.†Dr. Cutrer is an OB-GYN who also serves as a Professor of Christian Ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a special friend who ministered to my wife and me while we were living in Louisville, KY. This article puts to the lie the notion that pro-life people do not care about women. A Woman’s Choice Resource Center where Dr. Cutrer works not only counsels women against abortion, but also provides material and financial resources…
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Review of Bart Ehrman’s ‘Misquoting Jesus’
Bart D. Ehrman. Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. 242pp. $24.95. UPDATE! (January 15, 2007) Touchstone magazine recently published my review, and it is now available in their December 2006 issue. They also have made available an online version which can be accessed here.