One Reason Tom Schreiner is My Favorite Professor @SBTS

Not only is Tom Schreiner a faithful pastor he is also one of the best scholars of our day. Yet, perhaps his best quality is that he models grace and humility in his teaching and preaching. I am happy to have Dr. Schreiner as one of my professors. But his preaching, teaching, and writing skills are no match for his awesome rapping skills.

(HT: Denny Burk)

Review of God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment by James M. Hamilton Jr.

Perhaps the fastest growing discipline in Christian study is that of biblical theology.  There are numerous books, series, magazines, etc. that are rightly coming to understand the Bible as not just a book of facts but as a story.  This is a welcome movement.  But one thing that is often lacking in biblical theology is the belief that the Bible has a center, one single meta-narrative.  Jim Hamilton hopes to change that.  In this book Hamilton goes through every book of Scripture to prove his thesis:  The center of the Bible is that God is glorified in Salvation through judgment.

Essentially what Hamilton is expressing is that the glory of God is the center of the biblical narrative.  Of course that may be a tad broad so Hamilton narrows that to the glory of God is most clearly seen in his providing salvation through judgment.

I am actually shocked that this is “new” to the field of biblical theology.  Maybe Hamilton just did such a good job proving his case.  Perhaps the glory of God has just been assumed by many other authors on biblical theology and they have taken up other topics.  But Hamilton’s work will be prove to be foundational in this field.

It also will serve as a helpful biblical introduction.  I love that the reader is given a strategy for reading this book.  Hamilton is correct, many “long books sit unread in sad neglect”.  Therefore, he suggests that many should simply browse through the book, get a feel for the overall tenor of the book and then dip into sections as you work through sections of Scripture.  It is extremely wise of Hamilton to set up this massive book in such a way that it is more of a resource than anything else.

I followed his advice.  I got a feel of the book and read a good portion of it.  But I also have decided to use it as a resource.  (I hope in the future—in fact it will probably required—to read carefully from cover to cover).  I am preaching through the Gospel of Mark.  Reading through those section really did help me get a better grasp on the overall story that Mark is telling.  I also find in the Mark section (as well as all the others) helpful charts.

This book is an extremely helpful resource.  It will be one that I frequently consult as I preach through books of the Bible.  Every pastor and serious student of Scripture should buy this book.  Even if at the end of the day you disagree with Hamilton on something, this is an important enough work that you will need to interact with him to prove your own points.

As a book to sit down and read cover to cover I would rate it a 4 star.  But as a book that is used as a resource (and I believe it is) I would rate this as a 5 star book.  The only thing that would make this more helpful would be to tag the analytical outline with some page numbers.  This is a great book and worthy of your purchase.  You can actually buy it for only 7.99 in electronic format or buy the hardcover (which I would recommend) for under 30 bucks.  I was fortunate enough to receive a free copy of this book from Crossway in exchange for a review.

Rating 5 out of 5 stars

Also check out this video:

James Hamilton - God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment from Crossway on Vimeo.

Review of Young, Restless, Reformed

Except for that time I went 3-5 with a couple RBI’s for my American Legion baseball team at a State championship game I have never read an article about me.  In 2008 Collin Hansen wrote a book about me:  Young, Restless, Reformed.  It’s a shame I did not pick it up until recently.   

Actually the book is not about me.  But it just as easily could have been.  I think that was one of Hansen’s hopes with this book.  There is a growing movement of “New Calvinists” and Hansen explores the in’s and out’s of the movement. 

Inside you will find interviews with “everyday folk” (broke seminary students like myself), as well as interviews with the “guys in lights” like Piper, Dever, Driscoll, Mahaney, Mohler, and Joshua Harris.  Hansen does not limit himself to only the T4G crowd, though.  He also goes to Yale and explores the Calvinism in that climate. 

It is an interesting journey; one that probably could have been a couple of years longer.  It would be interesting to see how Calvinism in England influences the Calvinism in the States.  There are neat anecdotal tales that really gets at the heart of this growing movement.  But there are also cautions for the newer Calvinists. 

As one within the movement I would be interested to read a review from someone that knows the “doctrines of grace” but disagrees with them.  It is obvious from reading where Hansen’s loyalties are.  He is part of the movement himself—I would almost like to see another similar book from an outsiders perspective.  At times I think Hansen may be overstate his case a little, or be a little harsh with the non-Reformed church culture, but overall it is straight-forward journalism.

Hansen does offer some occasional critique for those of us within the movement.  So, in that regard it is helpful to read it even if you are Young, Restless, and Reformed.  It will also be encouraging for many to know that they are not alone in their theological leanings. 

But this book may be most helpful for those outside the movement.  It may even be a good read for those that are critical of the Young, Restless, and Reformed crowd.  This book will certainly show a good part of what “we” believe and many of the reasons why. 

It’s an easy read and a relatively fun journey through the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement.  I would heartily suggest this book to anyone interested in the growing movement towards Reformed theology and Calvinism. 

Rating 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Buy It: 10.49 (hardcopy) 7.99 (e-book)

Seminary Wrongly Applied

There are a decent amount of articles popping up on dangers of seminary education.*  I want to offer something that I see as a student beginning my second year. 

A few things to get out of the way first.  First, I absolutely love Southern Seminary and the education I am receiving.  The professors that I have had so far are brilliant, humble, gospel-centered men.  Secondly, I attended a Christian college and received a degree in Christian Education and a minor in Youth Ministry.  Then I spent almost 6 years engaging in youth ministry in the local church while picking up theology in the trenches (though my “trenches” were nothing compared to what many brothers and sisters face).  I am also currently an associate pastor while attending seminary. 

Now that is out of the way, I will offer my suggestion of a danger to the seminary education.  Keep in mind this comes from a limited perspective that could be wrong.  Seminary students often get massacred in their first few churches because they are trained in mastering the Word but not in how to “pastor” in the midst of brokenness. 

I doubt I know the solution.  I think my school, SBTS, has seen this problem and they are doing many things to combat it.  There is much that is encouraging me that Southern will be used by God to assist churches in producing ministers that do not become a sad statistic.  But, my fear is that student naivety is winning the day and gems of pastoral wisdom that professors are passing along are lost in the midst of theological debates. 

We excel in fighting for truth but something is missing when it comes to fighting with truth.   In other words we are not excelling in applying the truth to broken souls.  We often fight the wrong battles. 

Most people in my congregation are trying to figure out the compatibility of a paltry paycheck with a rising mortgage payment.  Seldom do I hear them discussing the compatibility of divine sovereignty and human responsibility.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  I think such theological truths actually provide an anchor and solution to not bouncing checks.  But do we know how to make that connection? 

The professors and seminary leaders are doing everything they can to train us in ministering to brokenness.  They do this because many of them are pastors and they deal with broken people (like us students) all the time.  But I fear, from some of the questions I hear in class, that students are listening for how to win an argument with the Pretribulational 4 Point Calminian that lives next door and largely ignoring many pastoral helps. 

The assumption is that if we can just get our theology correct then everything will fall into place.  But there is a whole host of strongly orthodox believers whose shattered lives and families testify otherwise.  Not to mention the highly orthodox devil himself.  Right theology wrongly applied (or not applied at all) stinks. 

The other assumption is that if we can just figure out how to “do ministry” then everything will fall into place, our churches will thrive, and some day our picture will be on the latest edition of Christianity Today.  But mastering theological truths, and even the “how-to’s” of ministry will mean little if we refuse to apply the gospel to our own souls. 

If we are not deeply in tune with our need for grace and fighting for our own souls, we may still grace the cover of CT--but it will be as the latest in a string of moral failures that rocks Jesus’ precious church. 

I realize that many of the things that I have mentioned are really not supposed to be filled by the seminary but by the local church.  The seminary is to assist and partner with the local church.  And one way it can do that is by laboring to point out its radical inability to produce pastors by tests, papers, and reading books. 

-------------

*Rather than link to a ton of them, I’ll link to this one by Colin Hansen, encourage you to read the comments and follow some links there.  Also check out Between the Times, they have stuff pop up there a ton.

40 Questions on Biblical Interpretation

One of my favorite professors so far has been Dr. Robert Plummer.  Few people could make an 8:00 Greek class exciting.  Dr. Plummer is one of those few people.  He has a noticeable passion for Jesus and teaches in a humble and edifying way.  So even though I have yet to read this book I wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Plummer’s new book: 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible. 

Dr. Plummer was recently on Dr. Mohler’s radio show, it’s worth a listen. 

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 03/10-11

Trevin Wax discusses the influence of Calvinism at Southern Seminary (SBTS). I particularly like this paragraph: "Perhaps there are some who fit the category of “hyperactive” Calvinists - students who are still in the proverbial “cage-stage” of Calvinism and who are actively seeking to convert all other Christians to their doctrinal viewpoint. The problem with the hyperactive strain of Calvinism is not theology, but sin, particularly the sin of pride and arrogance. It is the same sin that lies at the root of Church Growth controversies, when a young pastor enthralled with Bill Hybels proceeds to divide a church by throwing out all hymns and organs. Immaturity and selfishness comes in all forms, not merely Calvinist."

As one that has unbelieving family members (most are "nominal" at best) this post by Chris Daukas is phenomenal: Jesus, Meet My Unbelieving Family Members

Marc Backes has an excellent point on leadership. He, like myself, spent years devouring books by leadership gurus. He has came to the same conclusion that I have: "Put the man made leadership laws down and get on your knees before Jesus and ask Him to break you and mold you. Man doesn't make a leader. Jesus breaks a leader."

I am so happy that Ligonier Ministries is now blogging. Check out their most recent interview with Sinclair Ferguson. (I really want to start reading Ferguson's stuff, any suggestions on where I should start?)

Can you really develop a sermon in 279 words? One pastor is going to apply the Gettysburg Principle. I actually think I am going to try this. If I can make a sermon this concise then I probably "get" the text. (HT: Abraham Piper)