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.Wilson on The Benedict Option
I have yet to read Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option. It’s on my list. It’s on my Kindle. But I have other things to do first.
Doug Wilson has read The Benedict Option. And he has opined about it. As usual, his opinion is worth reading. And startling.
And as though he meant to illustrate this melancholy fact, Dreher concludes by telling the story of how his friend Andrew Sullivan achieved serenity. “My friend Andrew Sullivan was one of the most prolific and influential bloggers on the Internet” (Loc. 3430), and one day just quit. In Sullivan’s words, “And so I decided, after 15 years, to live in reality” (Loc. 3438). Dreher met up with him a few months later, and found him “fit and glowing.”
Now what the heck? When it comes to the plague of same sex mirage, Andrew Sullivan is our very own Typhoid Mary. Stop for a minute. Let me change metaphors. This is like the Captain Dreher of the Titanic sending out an earnest set of distress signals, but wrapping up his Benedict SOSing with the observation that the iceberg appeared to be “fit and glowing.” I dare say. The iceberg was fine.
A Different Point of View
Spencer Grady-Pawl, writing for the American Humanist Association, offers a secularist perspective on the recent Southern Baptist Convention.
Incidentally, “Secular Humanism” is an oxymoron. “Christian Humanist,” however, is not.
Observations on Practical and Speculative Theology
Joel Zartman is an alumnus of Central Seminary. His ministry experience includes pastoring a church in Colombia. He is presently a doctoral student in theology at Westminster Seminary. Here Joel begins with an observation of Thomas à Kempis as a preface to a reflection on what theology is for. Here is his conclusion.
What I am sure of is this: you cannot drive a wedge between speculative and practical theology. They must be related. They have to be coordinated. The complex relationship should be clear to us, explicit. And we should beware of those who do not value both.
Leithart on the “Comic Trinity”
When Peter Leithart is good, he’s very good.
Christianity is comic because it is Trinitarian. Not only is history a comedy of death and resurrection, but this history reflects the eternal and basic comedy of the Father and Son in the Spirit, the eternal dynamic of mutual glorification within the Triune life.
Read more at the Theopolis Institute.
A Muslim on True Pluralism Versus Mere Relativism
Writing for the Witherspoon Institute, Ismail Royer responds to Bernie Sanders’s attempt to impose a religious test for public office: such people “are not protecting religious pluralism but are rather demanding that all public servants be relativists.”
Exactly.
Hear David Martyn Lloyd-Jones Preach
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s sermons are archived by the MLJ Trust. The archive includes recordings.
New Republic Picks Up Donn Ketcham Story
Kathryn Joyce has written a long form report on the Donn Ketcham scandal for the New Republic. Her report includes details that were absent from the PII report, released about a year ago. Astonishingly, Wendell Kempton’s name is only mentioned once in the story. Kempton was president of ABWE at the time Ketcham left the mission.
The New Republic is a journal of opinion on the social and political Left. Those on the Right, however, are also noticing. Conservative evangelical blogger Tim Challies linked to the New Republic piece, calling it a “devastating article about abuse within ABWE.” Those who had hoped that the scandal would die down after the release of the PII report must be pretty disappointed.
I was present at the GARBC annual meeting when the National Representative announced that a beloved missionary leader had fallen and was stepping out of ministry. As I recall, the National Representative at that time served on the board of ABWE. He said nothing at all about Ketcham’s preying on children. To this day we don’t know how many Bangladeshi children Ketcham may have assaulted.
The scandal isn’t dying. It’s getting bigger.
Learn Hebrew for Free
Dr. William Barrick of Masters Seminary offers two semesters of Hebrew grammar and two semesters of Hebrew syntax online for free. Not everybody learns well this way, but some do. If you can master the courses well enough to pass the entrance exam, you won’t need to take them at Central Seminary.
“Who Made You the Authority?”
Central Seminary alumnus David DeBruyn notes, “The Internet has not only granted full democracy to all ideas, it has tended to flatten out all judgement, and scrap a sense of hierarchy of trustworthiness.” He adds, “The democracy of ideas is simultaneously the pooling of ignorance.”
These words sound like an attack on the Internet, but it turns out that they introduce a serious question: If we need authorities to know what is true, but we need to know what is true to decide who our authorities should be, then what is the solution?
Read the answer at Churches Without Chests.
Sorry, wrong number?
A Zimbabwean pastor claims to speak to God on the telephone! Pentecostalism in Africa is growing and becoming more extreme all the time.
Another Baptist school to surrender?
Alabama Baptist Convention affiliated Samford University is set to recognize a gay-straight student alliance Samford Together at the recommendation of students and faculty. While not full advocacy of the gay agenda, such an action certainly mutes voices of opposition to the gay lifestyle. Read about the impending vote here. Sanford is home to Beeson Divinity School and is the alma mater of Southern’s R. Albert Mohler. Hopefully Alabama Baptists will act decisively and sever its ties if the school sanctions this alliance.
Just a few rocks, please!
My friend Andrew Snelling, an Aussie geologist and Bible-believing Christian, has been denied a permit to study and collect geological samples from the Grand Canyon, despite the fact that he has received such permission many times in the past. I was a part of a study trip through the Canyon a few years back with him. It was a stunning journey through the handiwork of God. So much for the spirit of free inquiry.
Idea for a Dissertation
“Tabula Rosa: The Use of Terra Cotta for a Cuneiform Edition of Locke.”
Memorial Gifts
Gifts have been given in memory of the following individuals.
WCTS Memorials
In Memory of Loren Lundahl
By Ms. Barbara Russell
By Ms. Helen Jansma
In Memory of Linne Peleski
By Mr. and Mrs. David Sedgeman
CBTS Memorials
In Memory of Maxine Harmon
By Mr. & Mrs. James Anderson (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Ms. Virginia Dewey (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Mr. & Mrs. Le Roy Gilbert (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Mr. & Mrs. Dapo Lawoyin (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Ms. Linda Russell (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Ms. Adella Snell (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Mr. & Mrs. Gordon Lindsey (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Mr. & Mrs. Dewey Russell (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Ms. Betty Hess (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Dr. Jim Conrod (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
By Mr. & Mrs. Rocky Ranch (Harmon Scholarship Fund)
Evangelical Textual Criticism
For those interested in higher biblical criticism, check out this blog.
In a sense this question is no different from what philosophers have been discussing since the days of Plato. Intuitively, or naively, most people who think for a moment about the text and the various forms in which it appears, solve the question the same way as Plato did. Different manuscripts with their slightly different wording, and even different translations of the text in a wild variety of languages, all constitute different instances of the same text, a perfect idea reflected in the wordings of the various manuscripts.
Central Student Appointed Dean of Maranatha Seminary
Maranatha Baptist Seminary has announced the appointment of Mark Herbster as dean. A graduate of Bob Jones University and Heart of America Seminary, Mark is working toward his DMin at Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis. He has been best known for his effective evangelistic ministry. Our congratulations both to Mr. Herbster and to our sister institution, Maranatha Baptist Seminary.
Memorial Gifts
Gifts have been given in memory of the following individuals.
WCTS Memorials
In Memory of Loren Lundahl
By Ms. Barbara Russell
By Ms. Helen Jansma
In Memory of Linne Peleski
By Mr. and Mrs. David Sedgeman
Article–Substantive–kai–Substantive
For all of you TSKS fans, take a look at Sharpe’s original book.
Get It for Cheap!
The Kindle version of Holsteen and Svigel’s Exploring Christian Theology is on sale for $1.99.
Jack and John vs. Walt on Fantasy
Apparently, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien weren’t too keen on Disney’s understanding and portrayal of fantasy.
Dwarfs ought to be ugly of course, but not in that way. And the dwarfs’ jazz party was pretty bad. I suppose it never occurred to the poor boob that you could give them any other kind of music. But all the terrifying bits were good, and the animals really most moving: and the use of shadows (of dwarfs and vultures) was real genius. What might not have come of it if this man had been educated–or even brought up in a decent society?
APPLICATION & AID