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 Titus Found
South African Pastor David DeBruyn draws a comparison between what Titus found in the holy place and what lies behind forms, customs, and manners. He even includes an extended quotation from Weaver. Here’s DeBruyn:
What the sincerity-junkie cannot see is that there are reasons for formality other than posturing, hypocrisy or evasion. A suit and tie at a funeral, a wedding-dress and vows at a wedding, opening a door for a lady, using titles for people in authority, table manners, an eloquent love-letter, or a poem are not exercises in deception. They are the ways we “dress-up” physical reality to signify greater realities. A form may not be hiding reality, it may in fact be clothing it with beauty and significance. That is, formality is often a way of improving something ordinary, adorning it with beauty, so that we now see something more than just the physical thing. We see what it represents, what it envisions. We see man made in God’s image, not merely physical man of the dust.
Richard Phillips on the Slippery Slope into Religious Liberalism
He’s not a fundamentalist. But He almost sounds like one.
What is the slippery slope? It is the unstoppable descent into liberalism and unbelief that begins when the authority of Scripture is compromised out of cultural accommodation. The slope is slippery because without the friction of an inerrant, divinely authoritative Bible, faithfully interpreted, there is nothing left to restrain the downward gravitational pull of the world’s demands.
Levels of Doctrine
All Bible doctrines are equally authoritative because they are equally inspired (2 Tim. 3:16), but the Bible indicates that they are not all equal in terms of appropriate emphasis. The Bible emphasizes some doctrines more than others, and this emphasis is positively correlated with both the doctrine’s perspicuity and its consequence. This greater emphasis, perspicuity and consequence characterize a category of doctrines that the Lord Jesus called, “the weightier matters of the Law,” doctrines like judgment, mercy, and faith (Matt. 23:23). Doctrines like these are the great theological themes of Scripture, and the size difference of the frequency, clarity, and consequence they possess in the written revelation when compared to doctrines of lesser weight parallels the size difference between a camel and a gnat (v. 24).
The Doctrine of Separation: A Whitepaper of the American Council of Christian Churches (Orwell, OH: ACCC, 2014), 4.
Central Seminary’s Fall Conference
As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, we do well to reflect on its causes, context, and consequences. Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and for God’s glory alone are rallying cries which Central Baptist Theological Seminary has proudly heralded. The Reformation led to many positive doctrinal and social changes in the Western world. Indeed, the light of the Reformation still shines brightly today. But what about the darkness? Were there any negative consequences of the Reformation? Join us as Dr. Larry Pettegrew carefully critiques history’s greatest protest.
Dr. Pettegrew completed his M.R.E., M.Div., and Th.M. at Central Baptist Theological Seminary and his Th.D. at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dr. Pettegrew taught at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College for over 10 years, serving also as chairman of both the Christian Education and Bible departments. Following his time at Pillsbury, he served as dean of students and taught at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Pettegrew joined Central Baptist Theological Seminary where he taught for 14 years and held the position of registrar and academic dean at different times. He later served The Master’s Seminary as professor of theology for 12 years before accepting the executive vice presidency of Shepherds Theological Seminary which he presently holds in addition to his role as academic dean.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
8:00am –8:30am Registration
8:30am–9:30am Session I
9:30am–9:50am Break
9:50am–10:50am Session II (Ladies’ Session – Heritage Room)
10:50am–11:00am Break
11:00am–12:00pm Session III
12:00pm–1:15pm Lunch (Alumni Association Meeting)
1:15pm–2:30pm Session IV (Q & A Panel)
CHEA Advises USDE
Under Executive Order 13781, President Trump has initiated a reorganization of the Executive Branch. Part of that reorganization involves soliciting suggestions for “in the organization and functioning of the executive branch.”
Seeking to implement the executive order, the United States Department of Education specifically asked for advice from the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). CHEA is the organization that accredits the accreditors, and it functions as a buffer between the individual accrediting agencies and the USDE.
Here is CHEA’s response. CHEA recommends removing the federal definition of a credit hour and dispensing with the state authorization rules. It also suggests several other changes, including streamlining the process for what are called “substantive changes.” These recommendations reflect the position of CHEA as set forth in a position paper on regulatory relief, issued in April of 2017.
Effectively, CHEA is working to prevent or at least mitigate direct, federal oversight over higher education. Some lawmakers have been pressing for greater federal involvement in higher ed, especially given the federal dollars that go into education.
Backgrounds and Beliefs of College Freshmen
All in an interactive graphic from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
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.
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