Carl Trueman has an outstanding exhortation in the most recent issue of Themelios, and his remarks have a particular punch for academics: “The title ‘scholar’ is not one that you should ever apply to yourself, and its current profusion among the chatterati on the blogs is a sign of precisely the kind of arrogance and hubris against which we all need to guard ourselves. Call me old-fashioned, but to me the word ‘scholar’ has an honorific ring. It is something that others give to you when, and only when, you have made a consistent and outstanding contribution to a particular scholarly field (and, no, completion of a Ph.D. does not…
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Carl Trueman on “The Case for Gay Marriage”
Carl Trueman has responded briefly to last week’s Newsweek cover story by Lisa Miller, “The Case for Gay Marriage.” Trueman makes an excellent point about Miller’s article that is worth more than a moment’s reflection: “Behold the future. The piece is prophetic because, in a week where a high-ranking member of the NAE had to resign because he was `shifting’ on gay unions, at a time when the full weight of the opinion forming social media is behind the normalisation of homosexuality as acceptable, challenges such as this are clearly going to be coming thick and fast.
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Dan Wallace on the Reliability of the NT
I had the privilege of attending Dan Wallace’s riveting lecture at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in November. It was an outstanding presentation, and it is now accessible to a wider audience. Dr. Wallace’s ETS lecture and another one that he has delivered at apologetics conferences are now available for purchase at a very reasonable price. Here are the two lectures and information about how to obtain the DVD recordings of them:
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Mohler Discusses Gay ‘Marriage’ on NPR
Yesterday on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” Albert Mohler offered a counterpoint to Lisa Miller’s “Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” It was a fascinating conversation, and I thought Dr. Mohler made a compelling and winsome case. You can listen to the program at NPR’s website, or you can push the play button below. [audio:http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/5/98315676/npr_98315676.mp3] Lisa Miller’s argument falls apart when a caller confronts her about polygamy. The caller points out that it is totally inconsistent for Miller to support gay “marriage” while opposing polygamy. Lisa Miller’s appeal to women’s rights as a basis for excluding polygamy fell flat. Dr. Mohler agrees with the caller and argues that if marriage is…
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‘On Faith’ on Gay ‘Marriage’
The ‘On Faith’ blog (a joint venture of The Washington Post and Newsweek) is hosting a discussion about the religious case for gay “marriage.” The topic is inspired by last week’s Newsweek cover story by Lisa Miller (which I wrote about here). Panelists include those from the religious left and right. Albert Mohler, Leith Anderson, and Charles Colson are among those representing the biblical view. Colson has a good word about Miller’s call for ‘inclusiveness’: ‘Miller admits that the argument for a biblical support of gay marriage is usually not made from any particular passage but from, as scholar Walter Brueggemann puts it, “the general conviction that the Bible is…
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Newsweek Comes Out for Gay ‘Marriage’
I would be remiss not to comment on Lisa Miller’s cover story in this week’s Newsweek magazine, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” The title of the article says everything that you need to know about this piece. In essence, Miller argues that a right understanding of the Christian tradition would actually favor gay “marriage” rather than oppose it. She appeals to the Bible and to history to make her point. This piece is disappointing on a number of levels, and the subsequent critiques have been sharp and justified (e.g., Albert Mohler, Christianity Today, Mollie Hemingway). For the most thorough response, see Robert Gagnon’s 23-page essay (HT: Justin Taylor). I…
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How the BCS Should Shake-out
After the Sooners finish shellacking Mizzou tonight, I think it’s pretty clear which two teams should be appearing in the BCS championship game: Florida and Oklahoma. I hate it for Texas, but it is what it is. The BCS is already the biggest sham in sports. And if Florida and Oklahoma are not the final two in the BCS formula, then I think the BCS will not survive. How could it? On a related but unrelated note: During the SEC championship game, the camera showed Joey and Christy Allen cheering on the Gators. Christy is Tim Tebow’s sister, and she and Joey are now missionaries in an undisclosed overseas location.…
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D. A. Carson Conference on Gender
D. A. Carson will be speaking at a half-day conference on gender just before the Desiring God Pastor’s Conference this February. Here’s the announcement from CBMW: CBMW and the Fidelis Foundation are pleased to announce a half-day conference on gender with Dr. D.A. Carson. Different by Design 2009: A Crucial Call to Faithfulness on Gender Issues will be held at the Minneapolis Hilton in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 2nd, 2009, just prior to the start of the Desiring God Pastor’s Conference. The schedule will begin at 1:00pm and conclude by 4:30pm.
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Hebrews, Christ, and the Law
I just received yesterday my copy of Barry Joslin’s new book Hebrews, Christ, and the Law: The Theology of the Mosaic Law in Hebrews 7:1-10:18 (Paternoster, 2008). The book comes with high recommendations. Tom Schreiner writes: “Scholars in the last few years have focused on the Pauline view of the Law, but other parts of the New Testament have not received the same attention. . . Future studies of the Law in Hebrews will have to reckon with Joslin’s careful reading of the text.”
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LA Times on Women in Ministry
The editors of the The Los Angeles Times weighed in on the topic of women in ministry on Sunday (HT: Albert Mohler). The editorial talked mainly about the state of affairs in the Roman Catholic Church, but there was some commentary about Protestant churches as well. The editors conclude that continuing limitations on women are due to tradition in the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible in Protestant churches (texts like 1 Timothy 2:12). They write, “In either case, the arguments that keep women from full participation are attributed to a higher authority. So why do they sound so much like the complaints about assertive women that long have issued…