Theology Central
Theology Central exists as a place of conversation and information for faculty and friends of Central Baptist Theological Seminary. Posts include seminary news, information, and opinion pieces about ministry, theology, and scholarship.What Is Theology?
What is theology? Is it wisdom? Science? Something else? Joel Zartman wrestles with this question and outlines the progression of historic answers at Unknowing.
Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church
For most American fundamentalists, the Greek Orthodox Church is utterly strange and foreign. Few fundamentalists read Orthodox material and even fewer understand it. For a good introduction into the East, read Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church, by Demetrios J. Constantelos, currently in its fourth edition.
The two channels by which truth is conveyed represent the two aspects of God’s involvement in history, the visible and the invisible, the physical and the metaphysical. God as Spirit, Power, and Essence is invisible but God as creative energy active in creation is visible and physical. God as the ultimate cause of laws, decrees, principles of morality, the urge of the human person to seek communion with the divine, the desire of the human being to rise about nature, is revealed in the world through various ways and diverse manners. Because of the commonality between divinity and humanity, man reachers out for God and when the reach becomes unattainable, God reaches out for man. This is the background of the Greek Orthodox belief that there is a natural and supernatural revelation of truth.
In case you are wondering when to retire . . . Don Carson has some sage advice
In the new issue of Themelios, Don Carson offers some of the best counsel on ministerial retirement I have read. I think all ministry types ought to read this and keep it for a later date when we actually begin to ask this question. Now that I have reached my 6th decade, it comes up in conversation with increasing regularity.
The Academy of Inventive Literature
A new community of literati who prefer goodness to darkness? Let’s see what they can do. You’ll find an introduction here.
We know you could be watching television or movies, or reading best-selling novels – or highly acclaimed literary works – instead. But maybe you, like us, are tired of the “dark, edgy, ambiguous and disturbing” criteria through which most stories and poems, high and low, seem now to be filtered. Maybe you, like us, have heard the call of the ancient commandment, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Perhaps you, like us, are moved and interested by goodness, rather than bored by it.
Catechisms or Scripture?
John Piper responds.
When I pose myself the question, “Catechism versus Bible memory?” I say there’s plenty of time here. We can do this. We could do both of these. This is not an either-or. My encouragement to all families is that they definitely read the Bible together every day — real Scripture, real reading, real discussion, real prayer from the heart. Connect it with real life every day. Yes, Bible has priority.
Matthew Barrett on God’s Deeds and Words
God does not leave it up to mankind to figure out what his mighty acts mean, but God follows up on his mighty acts with words that tell mankind what his acts mean and how we are to live in light of them.
Barrett, Matthew. God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught…and Why It Still Matters (The Five Solas Series) (p. 161). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
What Santa Claus Looked Like
He wasn’t a fat man in a red suit, but Saint Nicholas of Myra was a real, historical figure (and probably a genuine saint). He is buried in Bari, Italy. Forensic scientists have recently been working on a reconstruction of his face. You can see their work at the St. Nicholas Center.
Only In Minnesota . . .
. . . The headwaters of the Mississippi.
Listen To This!
I know that plenty of fundamentalists don’t like Mark Dever (though many do). And I know that plenty of fundamentalists don’t like Keith Getty (though many do). But one of the elementary rules in the life of the mind is that you don’t have to agree with someone at every point to benefit from their insights.
At IX Marks, Dever interviews Getty. And it’s way better than I thought it would be. Even though I disagree with at least one important point, this is on balance a very interesting conversation. Every pastor should listen attentively.
An Introduction to Eric Liddell
Albert Mohler writes about the Christian commitment and ministry heart of an Olympic champion.
Second Amendment?
David French writes an essay about the second amendment, but it’s really not about gun control. It’s about the right of police to invade your home and perhaps even kill you, all without a warrant, but with impunity.
What does this mean, in practice? First, extraordinarily dangerous and kinetic no-knock raids should be used only in the most extreme circumstances. Writers such as Radley Balko have written extensively about the prevalence of the practice (even in routine drug busts), the dangers inherent in dynamic entry, and the sad and terrible circumstances where the police find themselves in a gunfight with terrified homeowners.
In the Nick of Time
The first installment of a series responding to Roger Olson on fundamentalism.
Roger Scruton on Conservatism
Roger Scruton is one of the most widely recognized thinkers of our day. His works on esthetics and on the history of philosophy have set something of a standard. He is one of those authors who deserves his own shelf in your library.
Here Scruton explains for the New Criterion how he was influenced toward conservatism.
CBMW Appoints New Executive Director.
He is Colin Smothers. Read the news here.
Terry L. Johnson on Biblical Worship
Dr. Terry Johnson begins a series on “The Quest for Biblical Worship.”
The basic question is this: Are we truly committed to worshipping “according to Scripture?” Will Scripture both determine the elements and shape the forms of worship? Will Scripture determine not merely that we pray, preach, read, and sing, but what and how? Will we allow Scripture to shape our understanding of reverence, our concern for catholicity of form, and our commitment to the communion of all the saints, not merely to the preferences of our chosen demographic? If so, greater liturgical sameness will result and liturgical strangeness will be less common.
Whoa!
Put it on full screen. Turn on the speakers. Watch this.
[Link repaired–sorry about that!]
What Is an Evangelist?
Pastor David Huffstutler provides a shapshot answer at Religious Affections Ministries.
From this terribly brief survey, we could at least say that an evangelist is someone who takes the gospel to those who have not heard it before, whether it be to one person at a time, or large crowds within a given city. It is someone who does not stay long in one place, likely leaving behind planted churches so that he can take the gospel to new places that have never heard it before. And yet, he is also someone who ministers to the saints by equipping them for the work of the ministry, likely teaching them to do what he himself is specially gifted to do, namely, persuasively giving the good news of the gospel to unbelievers.
Does Darwin Love Me?
A reflection by Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative, including a critique of the “Coexist” philosophy.
A few days ago, as I drove our family to church, I was again affronted by the “coexist” bumper sticker and felt myself muttering the word “hypocrite” under my breath. Many people who brandish this sticker do not believe in genuine coexistence but only in the need for tolerance of particular lifestyles. They are all too happy to use coercion on those who disagree with them. I think of the militant pro-abortionists who endeavoured to prevent this year’s March for Life in Washington D.C. by physically blocking the route, or the homosexual militants who rioted at a university in Canada in an effort to prevent the late Charles Rice from speaking.
Oooh! This Is Going To Be Good!
In his discussion of “Ten Mangled Words,” David DeBruyn opens an examination of “Authenticity.”
Only a narcissistic generation would imagine that it had stumbled upon the meaning of authenticity, and that those that went before them were hopelessly mired in inauthentic, fake, insincere ways of life. But Xers, Yers and Millennials can barely contain their glee at how real they’re keepin’ it.
We buy Fair-Trade coffee, eat organic, listen to indie music, practice yoga, post online testimonials, blog about ourselves and our ‘struggles’, take natural medicines, wear mass-produced jeans distressed to appear “vintage,”, seek out pristine vacation spots, and one of the highest compliments we can pay someone is to say “he seems really sincere”.
Which Televangelist Has the Best Ferrari?
Not often do we find ourselves nodding in agreement with The Humanist. But orthodox believers ought to be just as scandalized by the Prosperity Gospel as any unbeliever. Anyway, it’s interesting to know . . . “Which Televangelist Has the Best Ferrari?” (NOTE: author Spencer Grady-Pawl cheated by including one person who does not qualify as a televangelist.)
APPLICATION & AID