Reading for October 2006

Google released an updated version of their Blogging platform, so in updating, I changed the template. I hope it is a positive change; at the very least it is something different. On to the books.

• The Art of Biblical Narrative- Robert Alter: 1981

Focusing on the techniques used to compose the Hebrew narrative of the Old Testament, the author examines the deliberate literary artistry in the text. Alter encourages reader to approach Scripture as literature and note similarities with fiction writing in the presentation of characters and events. Techniques considered include the prominence of dialogue, stereotypical narratives, artful repetition, and the weaving together various sources into a unified narrative. Alter shows that a careful, knowledgeable reading of the text will show the skill of the ancient authors. Of note was his discussion of the prominence and the use of dialogue in telling a story and focusing the reader’s attention on the central concern. Also useful was his discussion of repetition, demonstrating it as a deliberate phenomenon and not necessarily signs of a different sources unskillfully combined. A major emphasis was the need to notice differences in repeated material or deviations from standard paradigms to discern significance in the narrative.

• “Reformation Then and Now”- New Horizons (October 2006)

The feature article discussed five areas of continued need for reformation based in Calvin’s writings concerning the Reformation in his day. The five areas of concern Scripture, worship, justification, the sacraments and the church. The article took note of current streams in the wider evangelical church, and made hints at concerns within Reformed circles, in particular the Federal Vision and New Perspective and Dr. Enn’s book. The other two principle articles concerned the Catholic church and their theology in light of the Second Vatican Council and Catholicism and liberty. An article of interest also concerned the needs and place of young adults in the church and efforts made by various churches to minister to them. The book Translating Truth: The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translation a series of articles by Grudem, Leland Rylem. Collins, Poythress and Winters received a glowing evaluation.

• “What is Public Worship? Is God Looking for You?”- Evangelium (Volume 4: Issue 4; October 2006)

The articles were included in a publication from Westminster Seminary California. The lead article concerned worship with an emphasis on the regulative principle. The second article examined women’s place in ministry, where it was briefly argued that a woman can be involved in any ministry a non-ordained man is. This was an interesting article, but needed more extensive and sound argumentation. The final major article dealt with Christ in the historical books, where a forced redemptive-historical reading was applied to two historical occurrences- the apostasy of Jeroboam and Ezra’s reading of the law.

• Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative- Adele Berlin: 1983

A short book exploring some narrative technique in the Old Testament. Characterization and point of view are the two primary concepts examined by the author. The latter section is particularly helpful in examining how a narrative presents a particular point of view, and may transition between several different perspectives in a narrative. The author used the book of Ruth as an illustration of the principles she outlined. The book concludes with an examination of the literary qualities of the narrative and their impact on source and form criticism.

• “Young, Restless, Reformed” Christianity Today- Collin Hansen: (Volume 50: Number 9, September 2006)

A short article outlining the resurgence of Calvinism among the younger generations, particularly through Jonathan Edwards; the article highlights John Piper, Josh Harris, Al Mohler and Mark Dever. The discussion focuses on Calvinism in Baptist circles, with little discussion of those who are within Reformed churches, with the exception of a mention of R. C. Sproul.

• Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why- Bart D. Ehrman: 2005

An introductory book to textual criticism written at a popular level. After the author gives an overview of his personal history in Biblical studies, he examines the writing and copying practices during the period of the early church. Ehrman also offers an overview of the history of the Greek text and textual criticism. The strength of the book lies in the analysis of textual variants and the reflection of the theological and social discussions of the early church, demonstrating that intentional changes must be considered along with human error in determining the best reading.

• Desecration- Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Book 9): 2001

The major events in the book centered on Caparthia’s desecration of the Temple and the protection of the Jewish Christians at Petra. David Hassid, computer expert died at Petra, while another pilot connected with the Tribulation force was killed. Chaim took on the persona of “Micah” and served as a second Moses. The actions of Caparthia are evil to the point of being comical, and the authors dispensational belief in the unique status of Jewish believers is even more pronounced in this volume.

• “God-Inspired Scripture” - Benjamin B. Warfield. The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield

(Volume I- Revelation and Inspiration- pgs. 229-280)

The article examines in some depth the meaning of θεοπνευστος as used in II Timothy 3:16. Taking his starting point from a lexical entry by Dr. Hermann Cremer, Warfield examines the other occurrences of the word, especially in non-Christian usage, and its active or passive sense. Taking into account some of the text critical issues surrounding the term, Warfield argues that the term is not distinctly Christian, but was used by other authors than Paul. Warfield argues that the term also has an passive sense, expressing production from God, and not active sense, inspiring in relation to God.

• “Preaching Christ from all the Scriptures” - Edmund P. Clowney. The Preacher and Preaching edited by Samuel T. Logan Jr. (163-191): 1986

An article exploring the centrality of Christ in both the Old and New Testament. The author contends that God intentionally structured events in the Old Testament to point towards and find their fulfillment in the person and work of Christ. A major concern of the essay is to encourage pastors to greater engagement with the Old Testament in preaching in a Christian manner. In expressing his redemptive-historical method, he outlines his famous rectangle. The examples Clowney chooses tend to more easily lend themselves to a redemptive historical reading; while the principles he espouses are more general and difficult to apply to many Old Testament texts.

Reformation Denied in Rochester

On the evening of Sunday October 28th, four Rochester area churches joined for worship on the occasion of the 489th anniversary of the Reformation. That morning, another local Rochester church turned its back on everything the Reformers stood for.

During the morning worship service, North Baptist Church invited an artist to create a chalk drawing and a sculpture of Jesus during the sermon. Below is Senior Pastor David Whiting’s explanation for this action:

It is great to have Richard here who through some visual art- it is an act of worship to him and an aid to our worship as we focus on the greatness and the glory of God and the greatness and glory of Christ…I think because of some abuses in church history art has been relegated to the back of the church; and that’s too bad, because art is a great aid to our focus and to our worship. We don’t worship art, certainly that’s not what we do. But art is a great mind-focusing, God-glorifying, physically-enhancing blessing to our worship; so thank you Richard for helping us and sharing your gifts with us. (Sermon audio for "The Centrality of the Cross and the Glory of Christ" is available at North Baptist's Website under recent messages, from which this quote was taken.)

Compared to other stunts pulled in other Evangelical churches, this is relatively minor; but the decline from a church who once placed primary emphasis on the pure preaching of the Word of God to this action is striking. Two considerations suggest themselves in response to this action.

First, this action is a blatant denial of the foundation principle of the Reformation, sola Scriptura. Scripture, and Scripture alone is the only authority to guide the church in matters of faith and practice. The application of this principle to worship is known as the regulative principle- the Bible alone determines what is acceptable in worship to God. Debate rages concerning the scope and the application of the regulative principle, but those who are committed to Biblical worship do not debate the illegitimacy of images in worship, especially of Christ. The first commandment forbids worship of any other than God, the second forbids worship in any matter and by any means not prescribed by God- forming the Scriptural basis for the regulative principle. Obedience to these commandments is the hallmark of worship passed down from the Protestant Reformation. Disobedience or disregard to these commandments lead not towards the purity envisioned and restored by the Reformation, but to the abuses of Rome.

In light of this disregard of the foundational principle of the Reformation, it is not surprising that Pastor Whiting demonstrates a parallel to the doctrine of Rome. The pathetic knowledge which most current pastors and church leaders have not only of the Bible and sound doctrine, but also of church history is a sure explanation of the repetition of the mistakes of the past. The Second Council of Nicea concerned itself with the issue of idolatry and images in church, and reached the wrong conclusion. The decision of this council formed the basis of the abuses in worship the Reformers objected to, and the doctrine of the current Catholic Church. Consider the following two quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1162 “The beauty of the images moves me to contemplation, as a meadow delights the eyes and subtly infuses the soul with the glory of God." Similarly, the contemplation of sacred icons, united with meditation on the Word of God and the singing of liturgical hymns, enters into the harmony of the signs of celebration so that the mystery celebrated is imprinted in the heart's memory and is then expressed in the new life of the faithful.

2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone: Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

Pastor Whiting said the work of the artist served as a act of the artist’s worship, and an aid to the congregation’s worship. Consider the similarity of this with the first (1162) statement from the Catholic Catechism. Images of Christ serve as a means towards worship in conjunction with those means which find approval in Scripture. No serious, doctrinally informed Catholic would affirm that worship is offered to images, but only “respectful adoration.” The use of art according to official Catholic teaching is to aid in focusing the mind on the true object(s) of worship. Isn’t this exactly how Pastor Whiting defended this action, denying that worship was offered to art, but that is served as a “great mind-focusing, God-glorifying, physically-enhancing blessing to our worship?” What is most disturbing is his calling the traditional Protestant and Biblical positions on visual art in worship as an “abuse of history.” The Second Council of Nicea mandated that every church contain images of Christ and of the saints, and aside from images of the saints, and the movement to counteract this error constitutes an abuse. In so doing, it turns its back on the Reformation, and sets its trajectory straight for Rome, away from Wittenburg or Geneva. May God have mercy and return this church to faithfulness and continued reform.

Why Reformed Theology Must Adapt or Become Irrelevant

A recent article in Christianity Today “Young, Restless, Reformed” noted the resurgence of Calvinism among the younger generation of Christians. Significant figures who were mentioned included Piper, Mohler, and Harris. What I found interesting in reading the article was, aside from a brief reference to Sproul and Packer, those within traditional, Reformed circles were not mentioned as playing a part in this movement. In considering why this may be, I fixed upon several areas where Reformed theology has fallen short, or is in need of refinement, which contribute to this lack of influence. In order to keep this from becoming one very long post, I will break it up into several sections.

First, Reformed theology must reexamine their identity as confessional churches. Reformed theology is traditionally classified by acceptance of the traditional Reformed confessions, from the Westminster Standards to the Three Forms of Unity. I consider the practice and the desire to be truly confessional one of the strengths of Reformed theology. Confessionalism is a means of unity among a wide range of congregations with each other and with a vibrant stream within church history. It grants clarity and honesty to a church’s actual doctrinal stance with a concise, well-articulated statement of the full system of a church’s doctrine, and not a simple statement briefly covering selected doctrinal positions. A confession also serves as a witness to other churches to their lack of clarity and faithfulness in matters of theology. Yet, these benefits of confessionalism are very commonly outweighed by a variety of abuses.

Most commonly, a confession is given improper authority, even unconfessional authority. All too often initial appeal is made to the confession, and not to the Scripture. What is worse, it is common for a confessional statement to be offered as the final word on a topic, rather than “the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined…can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture” (WCF I:10). To cite a single practical example, what constitutes a proper observance of the Lord’s Day is a perennial discussion in Reformed circles. For many, and enshrined into the rules of a particular OPC-sponsored camp, activities such as football, canoeing, or simply throwing a Frisbee are forbidden. The rationale for this rule is a statement in the Westminster Confession, “this Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men…observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations.” A biblical basis can be found for abstaining from work (which all the proof-texts speak of), but where is the Biblical rational for abstinence from “worldly entertainments?” It is much more serious when this tendency is followed in matter of doctrine. Once again, citing only one example, the Westminster Confession makes mention of the eternal generation of the Son, “the Son is eternally begotten of the Father” (II:3). On a certain reformed discussion list, this doctrine was vigorously upheld on the basis of the confession alone, despite a lack of solid exegetical support, and denial by many in the Reformed tradition from John Calvin to Robert Reymond in more recent days.

Confessional churches are also hesitant to modify their confessional documents. Such an attitude would be acceptable if the confession were simply a historical artifact; but for confessional churches, the confession serves not only as a landmark, but also as a current statement of their positions. However, for Presbyterians, doctrinal development did not cease in 1648. Need for renewed reflection and declaration on contemporary issues remains today. In many areas, aspects of a confession are downplayed, ignored or modified by the confessing churches. Thus, many in PCA circles take exception to the Westminster Confession’s stance on the Sabbath; or in the OPC liberty is (hypothetically) granted to those who hold a position other than the ordinary day view of creation days; or both the PCA and OPC make allowance for historic premillennialism, even though it is technically not allowed by the Westminster Standards (c.f. WLC 88). In order to avoid modifying the confession, concepts such as animus imponentis, or study committee reports to clarify the Confession, or address issues not directly considered in the Confession are introduced as another level of official statement. It would be simpler to update or modify the Confession to bring it into accord with the actual position of the church. This practice is not without historical precedent. In the Adopting Act of 1789, American Presbyterians modified the Westminster Standards to better suit their situation in America- how much more should we revise the Confession to suit out situation today?

The article clearly cites the desire not only for serious doctrine, but for Biblical doctrine. True confessionalism offers both. A confession represents a church’s serious and sustained reflection on Scripture and its teaching, and a careful, honest statement of that effort. A confessionalism open to growth and development ensures that such a statement is open to and consistent with the Bible.

Updates to Links

Just a short note to highlight some additions to the links section.

I added a link for "The Brick Testament" which was pointed out by Justin. This is one of the funniest sites I have seen concerning Biblical Studies. It is definitely worth checking out.
Also finally added a link to Christian Classic Ethereal Library run by Calvin. This site is a virtual treasure trove of writings from throughout the history of the church. Of special note are the downloads for the Early Church Fathers, Calvin's Commentaries, and the writings of church historian Philip Schaff.

Added two new blog links which I read and think are of note, Sacred Journey and Whilin' Away the Hours. I am always looking for good blogs to read, so please send along any recommendations, along with any other interesting sites.

Enjoy!

Reading for September 2006

I have started keeping a list of the books or articles I read, and writing a short summary and response. I think I will regularly post them to give those interested an idea of what I am reading (plus it is once easy post a month).

• The Art of Biblical History- V. Philips Long, Volume 4 in Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation: 1994

A concise, conservative introduction to some critical historical issues regarding the Bible and historical study. The authors focus tends towards the Old Testament, particularly the books of Samuel and Kings. The major theme is that the literary artistry must be recognized in historical narrative in order to properly understand their historical import. The goal of the text, particularly at the larger level must determine the historical import of the passages subordinate to it, keeping in mind the genre considerations of the particular subtexts. Further, the interpreter must be cognizant of his own cultural presuppositions as well as those of the text.

• "Deuteronomistic History"- Al Groves

A short article outlining the history of the concept of Deuteronomistic history from its conception by Martin Noth to current discussion. Aside from Noth, other major scholars who were considered were Frank Moore Cross and Rudolf Smend. The article outlined the major characteristics of the Deuteronomistic literature and theology, and the major distinctions of the scholars considered.

• "The Themes of the Book of Kings and the Structure of the Deuteronomistic History"- Frank Moore Cross, Chapter 10 (274-289) in Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: 1973

After a brief survey of discussion on Deuteronomistic literature to date, the author explores his two proposed redactions. The first occurred during the reign of Josiah, and was essentially optimistic. Jeroboam served as the paradigmatic king for the Northern Kingdoms as an apostate and leading to idolatry; while David served as the paradigm for Judah and reached its fulfillment in the reforming Josiah. The two paradigms serve as messages of threat and promise. The second hand is exilic, seeing the irrevocable fall occurring in Manasseh’s idolatry essentially overriding and silencing the hope found in the first redaction.

• "The Deuteronomistic Theology of History in I and II Kings"- Gerhard von Rad, Chapter 9 (205-221) in The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays: 1947

Von Rad explores the place of the prophetic word in Kings and shows the prominent place to the prophetic word and its fulfillment. Particularly prominent are the prophetic condemnations of idolatry, but also the prophetic promise made to David of his perpetual dynasty. The sure fulfillment of the latter judgment serves as a source of hope in the prophetic word spoken to David, signaled in the elevation of Jehoiachin from the Babylonian prison.

• The New Testament and the People of God- N. T. Wright, Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 1: 1992

The book serves as the introductory volume to a series exploring early Christianity, with special focus on Jesus and Paul. Wright begins with a discussion of history, and outlines his historical method of critical-realism as a antidote to both empiricism and positivism. Using the critical-realistic method, Wright outlines the major contours of the diverse Judaism from the exile until the Bar-Kochba revolt. Wright concludes with an introduction to early Christianity until the early second century. Of significance is the discussion of the New Testament literature in light of the genres and worldviews current among Judaism and the larger Greco-Roman world. Of note also is Wright’s discussion of form and source criticism and the gospels.

• "The Seventy-Third General Assembly"- New Horizons (August/September 2006)

The issue gave a brief report from the OPC’s General Assembly. Also included was an article outlining the author’s view of the necessity of a Christian education. Bavnick’s Reformed Dogmatics Volume 3 was reviewed along with D. A. Carson’s book on the Emerging Church Movement Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church.

• He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament Narrative- Richard L. Pratt, Jr.: 1990

A conservative, Reformed introduction to the interpretation of Old Testament narrative. The book is divided into three sections, the preparation, investigation and application of the text. The preparation covers the place and spiritual condition of the interpreter, and basic issues of bibliology relevant to interpretation. The second section covers basic hermeneutical issues and methods. Most of the discussion of this section is towards basic issues common in all literature, the sections concerning the structure of large narrative sections is helpful in determining the arrangement of various accounts in a larger unit. The final section concerns application, stressing the need for an application recognizing the authority of the text, and the distance from the original audience. The author’s section concerning how the Old Testament narrative anticipates Christ at times seems to border on allegory, and at times the relevance drawn to modern readers is facile.

• The Mark- Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Book 8): 2000

After Caparthia’s resurrection, he institutes the mandatory necessary mark of the beast. Anyone who does not receive the mark is martyred by a guillotine. Hattie Durham finally becomes a tribulation saint, and the members of the tribulation force in Babylon have to flee by faking their death in a plane crash. However, one believer was left in Babylon after being forced to receive the mark. The book’s plot and characters were as dull as the other volumes, along with the theologizing of Ben-Judah. The authors’ obsession with the Jews was apparent, and a third category of Messianic Jews made an appearance along with the orthodox Jews and the Judahites.