Discuss Theology

I am amazed at the onslaught against the traditional understanding of justification being mounted by truly good but unorthodox and quite non-reformation oriented teachers. John Wesley, John Calvin and Martin Luther would weep at the state of our theological education.

“The Case for Early Marriage” in the August edition of Christianity Today is quite eye opening. Regnerus, A Ph. D., published a recent study with Oxford titled sex and the American teenager. In his article, he states that 90% of Americans have sex before marriage and that 80% of singles in our churches are having sex of some kind. That is the highest stat I have read anywhere.

From a recent Christianity Today poll online:

Christianity Today Poll
Do you financially support overseas missionaries?
Yes, several missionaries
66%
Yes, we give money to one we know.
16%
No, we are unable to because of the economy.
2%
No, (other)
16%

Total Votes: 383

Alistair McGrath still rules the field with his quote:
“If Wright is right then Luther was wrong.”

I was with Dr. Christy Wilson only 6 weeks before his death. We ate Korean food together in Colorado. He reminisced about my student days at Gordon-Conwell under his tutelage. What a legend and what a heritage he has left behind. I wonder how much of the history of Afghanistan is directly linked to his shaking the dust off of his feet as he stepped onto an airplane, leaving there [permanently] in the early 1970’s–shaking the dust off of his feet as a testimony against them. As well, I was in attendance with Dr. Ralph Winter at a conference in Wheaton, not long before his death, seated next to him listening to Steve Saint. Saint called for commitment all the way to death at the end of his brief discussion. Of course, Winter stood up. All heaven rejoices because both Winter and Wilson are with them up there right now among all of the other good and faithful servants who have gone before them. I am not sure we really understand who we lost when we lost those two.

That is how the ad in Christianity Today reads. I wonder how NT Wright would answer Martin Luther?

Yale’s President on European Universities
By Charles Halton on Sunday, 7 June 2009 at 9:15 pm
There will be more competition for American universities [coming from Asian schools]. Europe, I think, has fallen by the wayside.

Philip Jenkins at Penn State would certainly agree with that assessment, at least in theological education.

Music is a part of the kingdom of God. It makes sense that a young worship leader from Conway, Arkansas would win. Congratulations brother.

I heard Gordon-Conwell OT prof. in Europe last week. He soke about NT Wright’s new book on justification. Petter mentioned that the future of the Protestant church is at stake with Wright’s understanding of justification. He compared the contemporary circumstance to the night the Titanic hit the iceburg.

Here are Ten good books I have thought about or read in the last 2 months:

1.Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini
2.The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright by John Piper 3.Right With God: Justification in the Bible and the World (World Evangelical Fellowship Series) by D. A. Carson
4.By Faith Alone: Answering the Challenges to the Doctrine of Justification by Gary L. W. Johnson, Guy P. Waters, David F. Wells, and Cornelis P. Venema
5.The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South by Philip Jenkins
6.The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
7.Teach Your Child How to Think by Edward de Bono
8.Methodical Bible Study by Robert A. Traina
9.What Do I Do Now?: Dr Fosters 30 Laws Of Great Decision Making by Charles Foster
10.My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas