Why Authentic Doctrines Aren't Freestanding
Doctrine needs to respond to a question that arises and demands an answer. If it’s a freestanding assertion, it loses connection with its life context.
Doctrine needs to respond to a question that arises and demands an answer. If it’s a freestanding assertion, it loses connection with its life context.
The beginning of the school year is one natural time to take stock of what lies ahead. Demands mount (or are about to). How can we stay afloat?
One of the new titles in the recent Baker catalog (due for release this month) is Matthew Bates’s Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King. According to Michael Bird’s blurb, Matthew Bates argues that faith or believing is not mere assent, not easy believism, but covenantal loyalty to the God who saves his people through the Lord Jesus Christ. Bates forces us to rethink the meaning of faith, the gospel, and works with a view to demonstrating their significance for true Christian discipleship. This will be a controversial book, but perhaps it is the controversy we need! ...
On the web: Tokens makes available the final part of their interview with Walter Brueggemann. Theological Studies has back issues from 5 years ago and beyond freely available online (HT: Charles Jones). Michael Halcomb reflects on some of Albert Schweitzer’s comments on Christian scholars. Tommy Keene highlights BibleArc. Archive.org has Gordon Fee’s PhD thesis available online (HT: Larry Hurtado). Bavarian authorities are commissioning annotated editions of Mein Kampf in hopes of further defusing the work’s value for extremists’ use as it comes into the public domain. Joel Willitts reflects on some of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s comments on “self forgiveness.”
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, ‘Anna Presenting Her Son Samuel to the Priest Eli’ In due order within The City of God’s longer discussion of Hannah’s prayer at Samuel’s dedication, 1 Augustine arrives at the clause, “[a]nd [he] shall exalt the horn of His Christ” ( 1 Sam 2:10). Here, Augustine ponders: ...
On the web: Randy Kennedy discusses how the current economic crisis in Greece is imperiling local antiquities. Matthew Kalman discusses documentary sensationalism and its impact on the status of biblical archaeology. Charles Jones highlights resources for Macedonian coinage, the Acta Sanctorum, Augustan Rome’s geography, and the Byzantine scholia on Homer’s Iliad. Jim Davila notes Google’s efforts to read unopenable Dead Sea Scrolls. Joel Willitts comments on selections from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. Robert Woods discusses wisdom from a Thomistic perspective. Tokens provides part 3 of a series of YouTube clips series from their October 24, 2011 interview with Walter Brueggemann. See here for parts 1 and 2.
Socrates in the City has made available Eric Metaxas’s April 9, 2010 lecture that digests his then newly released Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Thomas Nelson, 2010). After the introductory farce, the lecture proper commences at about 12:45. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/11208555 w=400&h=300] ...
[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“125” caption=“Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)”] [/caption] Fifteen print volumes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s works are now available as a single set via Logos Bible Software’s pre-publication program. According to the product page: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most influential Christian martyrs in history, bequeathed to humanity a legacy of theological creativity and spirituality that continues to inspire people from a variety of backgrounds. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (15 vols.) offers a fresh, critical translation of Bonhoeffer’s writings, with extensive introductions, annotations, and interpretation. ...