20
Jan
2020
Roger Scruton (1944–2020)
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One of the most important philosophers of our day died last weekend, and almost no one noticed. Best known as a proponent of political conservatism (or Toryism in the British circles in which he lived much of his life), Sir Roger Scruton was also a champion of conservatism generally. His 50+ books touched a range of... Read More
13
Jan
2020
New Atheism, Social Justice, and Apologetics in the New Decade
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As we embark on a new decade, it can be helpful to consider what has occurred over the previous decade(s) to consider what we might expect in the coming one. I recently read a thought-provoking argument that may have some insight into apologetics efforts in the coming years. The article (NOTE: contains mild language) is... Read More
6
Jan
2020
Not Ashamed?
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Christian media outlets have a lot to say these days about the idea of shame, mostly trying to convince us that shame is bad. And in many circumstances, they are right. For instance, (1) we need not be ashamed before God for sins committed in our pre-conversion past: Christ’s work on the cross not only cancels... Read More
2
Jan
2020
Philosophy for Theologians: A Seminar at DBTS
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Some of my favorite classes at DBTS are the seminars. They tend to be explorative, going deeper into a topic than any normal class would go. For instance, a few semesters ago we had a seminar on Advanced Greek. On one of the weeks we were able to seriously consider the concept of deponency (an... Read More
26
Dec
2019
Mission in the Old Testament: God’s Concern for the Nations (Part 3)
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In my first post, I began to explore the notion of a “missionary mandate” for Israel in the Old Testament. Last time, I considered the background for this idea, namely, the theme of God’s concern for the nations in the Pentateuch. In this post, I survey the perspective of the Psalter and the prophet Isaiah.... Read More
16
Dec
2019
How to Give the Good News this Christmas: Talk of God’s Faithfulness to His Promises
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In thinking about the gospel, one of the truths that is often forgotten is that Jesus, as the Messiah/Christ, came to fulfill God’s promises of salvation. The early disciples focused much of their evangelistic witness on identifying Jesus as the Christ. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made... Read More
9
Dec
2019
Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney
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Coming in at exactly 100 small pages, Donald Whitney’s book is deceptive. Under such a small frame hides a powerful message and one that I have been able to see fruitfully applied in different contexts over the last few years. Around two years ago I was introduced to this book through David Doran Jr. I... Read More
2
Dec
2019
Mission in the Old Testament: God’s Concern for the Nations (Part 2)
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In an earlier post I began to explore the notion of a “missionary mandate” for Israel in the Old Testament. In this and the next post I look at the background for this idea, namely, God’s concern for the nations in the OT. This post reflects the perspective of the Pentateuch, and in the next... Read More
18
Nov
2019
3 Lessons from Paul’s Approach to Bad Christian Teachers
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Christians in America have an increasing exposure to and awareness of a variety of believers who claim to be teachers and preachers of God’s Word. But this increased exposure has not always led to more skillful discernment and interaction with these teachers (as an example, consider the recent kerfuffle surrounding John MacArthur and Beth Moore).... Read More
11
Nov
2019
Giving Thanks
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When one thinks of the more egregious sins in our world today, we tend to think of sins like murder, assault, sexual sins, idolatry, and the like. Very few, I think, would place the sin of ingratitude high on this list. The Apostle Paul, however, does not share our tendency to regard thanklessness as only... Read More