Themelios Journal

November 2009 Issue

Contents

Editorial by D.A. Carson

Minority Report: Lest We Forget by Carl Trueman

The Perspicuity of Scripture by Wayne Grudem

Christocentrism: An Asymmetrical Trinitarianism by Dane C. Ortlund

Bearing Sword in the State, Turning Cheek in the Church: A Reformed Two-Kingdoms Interpretation of Matthew 5:38–42 by David VanDrunen

“Deliver Us from the Evil One”: Martin Luther on Prayer by Mark Rogers

Pastoral Pensées Power in Preaching: Delight (2 Corinthians 12:1–10), Part 3 of 3 by Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

Christian Apologetics Past and Present

A Primary Source Reader by Edgar, William; Oliphint, K. Scott

Endorsements

“The texts here assembled are ‘classics’-not in the sense that they answer all legitimate questions about Christianity, but that, when they were written, they made their readers think hard about the faith, and that they continue to do so today. This is a most worthy collection.”

- Mark A. Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

“For years I have wanted a book of primary sources in apologetics to use in my classes. Now we have an excellent one in this volume. Editors Edgar and Oliphint have made good choices in the selections used. A number of them are fascinating pieces rarely considered today, but timely, such as Raymond Lull’s critique of Islam.”

- John Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

“In an age of historical amnesia such as ours is, nothing could be more helpful than to know how the church, in its long march through time, has addressed the opponents of Christian faith. This collection is superbly done and will bring much needed wisdom to our own times.”

- David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“Understanding apologetics as explicating, affirming, and vindicating Christianity in the face of uncertainty and skepticism, Edgar and Oliphint have skillfully selected the best pre-Reformation sources to introduce us to this ongoing task. Their volume, the first of two, fills a gap in scholarly resources and highlights the strength, wisdom, and solidity of defenders of the faith in earlier times.”

- J. I. Packer, Board of Governors Professor of Theology, Regent College

“This reader on the classical traditions of Christian apologetics is, to my knowledge, unmatched in basic compendia. It will equip and encourage thoughtful Christians to develop equally compelling defenses of the faith in our post-Enlightenment, post- Romantic, post-Postmodern era where global interdependencies plunge many into new varieties of suspicion, contempt, and hostility that demand reasonable and faith-filled encounter, dialogue, and debate.”

- Max L. Stackhouse, De Vries Professor of Theology and Public Life Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary

“Bill Edgar, one of evangelicalism’s most valued scholars and apologists, has given us in this work with Scott Oliphint a classic destined to be used for generations. I highly recommend it to all who are called to defend the faith.”

- Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship

Horton is Coming to Town

We look forward to Dr. Michael Horton’s visit to Manila for a theological conference in January next year. Details of the conference will be posted from time to time.

Romans

Romans (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) by Sproul, R.C.

Endorsements

“‘R. C. Sproul,’ someone said to me in the 1970s, ‘is the finest communicator in the Reformed world.’ Now, three decades later, his skills honed by long practice, his understanding deepened by years of prayer, meditation, and testing (as Martin Luther counseled), R. C. shares the fruit of what has become perhaps his greatest love: feeding and nourishing his own congregation at St. Andrew’s from the Word of God and building them up in faith and fellowship and in Christian living and serving. The St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary will be welcomed throughout the world. It promises to have all R. C.’s hallmarks: clarity and liveliness, humor and pathos, always expressed in application to the mind, will, and affections. R. C.’s ability to focus on the ‘the big picture,’ his genius of never saying too much, leaving his hearers satisfied yet wanting more, never making the Word dull, are all present in these expositions. They are his gift to the wider church. May they nourish God’s people well and serve as models of the kind of ministry for which we continue to hunger.”

- Sinclair B. Ferguson, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina

“R. C. Sproul, well-known as a master theologian and extraordinary communicator, now shows that he is a powerful, insightful, helpful expository preacher. This collection of sermons is of great value for churches and Christians everywhere.”

- W. Robert Godfrey, President, Westminster Seminary California

“I tell my students again and again, ‘You need to buy good commentaries and do so with some discernment.’Among these commentaries there must be preacher’s commentaries, for not all commentaries are the same. Some may tell you what the text means but provide little help in answering the question, ‘How do I preach this text?’ R. C. Sproul is a legend in our time. His preaching has held us in awe for half a century, and these pages represent the fruit of his latest exposition, coming as they do at the very peak of his abilities and insights. I am ecstatic at the prospect of reading the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary series. It represents Reformed theology on fire, delivered from a pastor’s heart in a vibrant congregation of our time. Essential reading.”

- Derek W. H. Thomas, John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Minister of Teaching, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi

“R. C. Sproul is the premier theologian of our day, an extraordinary instrument in the hand of the Lord. Possessed with penetrating insight into the text of Scripture, Dr. Sproul is a gifted expositor and world-class teacher, endowed with a strategic grasp and command of the inspired Word. Since stepping into the pulpit of St. Andrew’s and committing himself to the weekly discipline of biblical exposition, this noted preacher has demonstrated a rare ability to explicate and apply God’s Word. I wholeheartedly recommend the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary to all who long to know the truth better and experience it more deeply in a life-changing fashion. Here is an indispensable tool for digging deeper into God’s Word. This is a must-read for every Christian.”

- Steven J. Lawson, Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Mobile, Alabama

“How exciting! Thousands of us have long been indebted to R. C. Sproul the teacher, and now, through the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary, we are indebted to Sproul the preacher, whose sermons are thoroughly biblical, soundly doctrinal, warmly practical, and wonderfully readable. Sproul masterfully presents us with the ‘big picture’ of each pericope in a dignified yet conversational style that accentuates the glory of God and meets the real needs of sinful people like us. This series of volumes, a joint effort between two premier publishers, is an absolute must for every Reformed preacher and church member who yearns to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ Jesus. I predict that Sproul’s pulpit ministry in written form will do for Christians in the twenty-first century what Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s sermonic commentaries did for us last century. Tolle lege, and buy these volumes for your friends.”

- Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“John Wesley once said of a colleague that Scripture so thoroughly pulsed through his spiritual veins that he ‘bled Bibline.’ The same could be said without exaggeration of R. C. Sproul. More specifically, one could easily say that he ‘bleeds Pauline.’ The theology of the Apostle to the Gentiles courses through Dr. Sproul’s veins in all of his work. Therefore, it is a special privilege to be able to read his sermons on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Romans has turned the world upside down for two millennia. Not only did it lead to Augustine’s conversion; it was a primary source for his defense of the gospel against Pelagius. This epistle was the catalyst for the Reformation and shaped the minds and hearts of many leaders of the modern missionary movement. Romans continues its revolution to the present day and each of R. C. Sproul’s expositions reminds us why. Read this book and, by God’s grace, you’ll never be the same.”

- Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

A Reader’s Guide to Calvin’s Institutes

by Anthony Lane

Endorsements

“A concise yet meticulous guide to the Battles translation of the Institutes. Tony Lane admirably succeeds in identifying its structure and in highlighting its arguments. This guide will be an invaluable help to new readers of Calvin’s great work.”

- Paul Helm, teaching fellow, Regent College, Vancouver

“Tony Lane’s Reader’s Guide to Calvin’s Institutes is truth in advertising. Nothing truly worthwhile is really easy to master, and John Calvin is one of the best theologians ever produced by the Christian faith. In this study, the range and depth of Calvin’s reflections are soundly and helpfully surveyed.”

- Charles Partee, P. C. Rossin professor of church history, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

“A Reader’s Guide to Calvin’s Institutes makes a first-time read of John Calvin’s Reformation classic more efficient by highlighting its most important sections. Tony Lane provides sufficient summaries, teasers, directions, and assessments to make the study of Calvin’s magnum opus stimulating and enlightening. Though few will agree with all of Lane’s assessments of Calvin, even areas of disagreement can be used as a springboard for further research. I, for one, hope to keep this handy reference tool beside my McNeill-Battles edition of the Institutes.”

- Joel R. Beeke, president, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

“Reading over 1500 pages of Calvin’s Institutes is a daunting prospect for most people. In Professor Lane’s guide, they have an invaluable companion to help them on their way. The book enables readers to concentrate on the substance of the Institutes, but not in isolation from the whole, for it summarizes sections not proposed for study. Having Lane’s book with you as you read the Institutes is like having an enthusiastic teacher sitting alongside you, helping you with the background and context, pointing you to key ideas, and offering succinct summaries, sometimes challenging you to consider whether you agree with Calvin, but above all assisting you in understanding Calvin. I am glad to use this in my Calvin class and am happy to recommend its use to others.”

- W. P. Stephens, emeritus professor of church history, University of Aberdeen

“The best tourist’s guide is of limited use if it outweighs one’s suitcase. Tony Lane has captured Calvin’s own ideal for ‘lucid brevity’ by producing a guide that pares down the monumental Institutes to a manageable third of its original length, yet does so with little feeling of loss, because even the unassigned sections are given concise and trenchant summaries. For teachers, this reader’s guide will enable them to teach the whole Institutes without pushing students to exhaustion, or to study the Institutes alongside ample selections from Calvin’s other works. For students, Lane’s work will lead them through the Institutes strategically–allowing time for reading and reflection–with the sort of guidance that will invite them to return for deeper and broader exploration.”

- John L. Thompson, professor of historical theology and Gaylen and Susan Byker Professor of Reformed Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

Proclaiming a Cross-centered Theology

Together for the Gospel by Dever, Mark; Duncan, J. Ligon; Mohler, R. Albert; Mahaney, C.J.

Publisher’s Description:

Some of the leading voices in evangelical Christianity reaffirm the importance of preaching biblical theology for the health of our churches.

Loving, teaching, and rightly dividing the Word of God is every pastor’s privilege and responsibility. If a pastor understands what the Word says about God, man, and the curse, about Christ and his substitutionary atonement, and about the call to repentance and sacrifice, he will develop and preach a sound theology. And sound theology is, in the words of J. Ligon Duncan, essential to faithful pastoral ministry.

Proclaiming a theology that is centered on Christ’s atonement is especially critical, for by this atonement, Christians have been brought from death to life, and by it a church lives or dies. In this penetrating sequel to Preaching the Cross, John Piper, R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur, and Thabiti Anyabwile join authors Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C. J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler in exploring the church’s need for faithful proclamation and calling pastors and churches to cross-centered, scripturally saturated thinking.

Reformation Day 2009

Halloween parties, All Saints’ Day celebration or remembering the day when we have come to grasp the theology of justification by faith alone. Here at the seminary, Reformation Day will be like many of the years in the past–silent and uneventful.

The notion that God in Christ has justly declared a condemned sinner a righteous person is losing its appeal in a very quick manner. Very few churches teach sola fide anymore–much more understand its biblical meaning. Our many Christian brothers and sisters do not even care about it anymore. Dialogues with Roman Catholic theologians on justification have shown that the sola aspect has lost its hold on evangelical theology.

So where do we stand today? Can we echo Luther’s words again by saying, “Here I stand!” Or the follow the Allince of Confessing Evangelicals and declare, “Here We Stand!”

Happy Reformation Day!

Speaking the Truth in Love

The Theology of John M. Frame by John J. Hughes

Endorsements

“There are few, past or present whom I would place . . . ahead of Professor Frame . . . He has been privileged to make a strategic and potentially huge contribution to the future well-being . . . of the entire evangelical world.”

- J. I. Packer, Board of Governors, Professor of Theology, Regent College

“What is refreshing is his ability to model a firm stance on truth with a heartfelt affection for people. Razor-sharp reason is used to carve error away for truth, not skin off adversaries.”

John Piper, Pastor for preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church

“If Frame writes it, I read it, not because I always find myself in perfect agreement, but because he teaches me.”

- D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

“My entire Bible-centered approach to all I have written on theology and ethics . . . owes much to Frame’s example and the convictions he instilled in me in his classes.”

- Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Bible and Theology, Phoenix Seminary

“John Frame has served the church as a teacher par excellence. . . . He has distinguished himself in the fields of theology, apologetics, philosophy, and Christian ethics.”

- R. C. Sproul, Founder and Chairman, Ligonier Ministries

“It is hard to imagine an area of theological study that has not been impacted by John’s work in some way.”

- Bryan Chapell, Professor of Homiletics and President, Covenant Theological Seminary

“I confess a prejudice toward theologians who accord their opponents, even the vitriolic ones, respect and love. I have seen this over the years with John. And I have figured, with obstinate simplicity, that erudition must be accompanied by godliness to be genuine.”

- Andree Seu, Senior Writer, World Magazine

Some people age with such grace and wit that they are forever young. . . . John Frame is such a person . . .a progressive thinker, a man way ahead of his time.”

- Rod Mays, National Coordinator, Reformed University Ministries

PIllar NT Commentaries

The Acts of the Apostles by Peterson, David G.

Endorsements

“Here in one convenient volume is the basic introductory information and verse-by verse exegesis that New Testament students and preachers need in order to understand the second part of Luke’s account of Christian beginnings. This commentary is noteworthy for its incorporation of a full essay in the theology of Acts and its careful attention to theological issues in the course of the exposition; at the same time it does not neglect historical and literary matters. I warmly commend this useful tool for study.”

- I. Howard Marshall, University of Aberdeen

”David Peterson interacts with Acts scholarship fairly and in an up-to-date wat; his literary and historical conclusions are well informed and sound. His introduction airs issues thoroughly, yet the entire work is easy to follow. Peterson consistently engages the cohesive, larger picture and the theological message of the book.”

- Craig S. Keener Palmer Theological Seminary

”One of the most complex books in the Bible, the Acts of the Apostles presents readers with formidable historical, literary, and theological challenges. In recent decades scores of researchers have deepened our understanding of the book in each of these areas. David Peterson’s excellent exposition of Acts interacts insightfully with those studies and offers a lucid, compelling, and satisfying interpretation of the book. Like its subject, this commentary is informative, edifying, and challenging. Pastors and teachers will find it to be an invaluable guide to reading Acts with profit.”

- Brian S. Rosner, Moore Theological College and Macquarie University

The Letter to the Philippians by Walter, G. Hansen

“With themes and emotions so varied–thanksgiving, joy, rivalry, friendship, suffering, being with Christ, etc.–the letter to the Philippians needs a commentator with a sure grasp and a warm heart. . . . Hansen writes with admirable clarity and simplicity, even when he is unpacking notoriously complex matters. . . . This commentary is must reading for pastors, students, and scholars as they try to think Paul’s thoughts after him.”
- D. A. Carson

Crucial Questions Series

by R. C. Sproul