Category Archives: Scripture

Martin Luther, Scripture

Mondays with Marty

Leave a comment
In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther illustrates the depth and simplicity of Scriptures:

5468. Gregory correctly said: “Holy Scripture is a river in which an elephant floats and a lamb wades.” Because the intellectuals and great scholars do not understand it, but simple and humble people understand it.  (p. 374).

 

DISCLAIMER: The views reflected in this quote do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this blog. This quote is shared in the interest of edification, education, and/or humor.
Martin Luther, Scripture

Mondays with Marty

Leave a comment
In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther explains what kind of reader Scripture requires:

5017. Holy Scripture demands a humble reader, who trembling shows reverence to God’s Word, who constantly pleads: “Teach me, teach me, teach me!” The arrogant oppose the spirit. And even though some may study diligently, and unerringly preach Christ for a time–as soon as they become proud, God closes the church to them. Wherefore every proud person becomes a heretic, if not actually, then for all practical purposes. It is difficult for a person who has excellent gifts not to become arrogant. Those upon whom God bestows great gifts, He plagues with great torments, to teach them that they are nothing. (p. 362).

DISCLAIMER: The views reflected in this quote do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this blog. This quote is shared in the interest of edification, education, and/or humor.
Biblical Theology, Death of Jesus, John Owen, Scripture, Writing Projects

Noteworthy Book – From Heaven He Came and Sought Her (eds. David Gibson & Jonathan Gibson)

Leave a comment

Of the so-called five points of Calvinism (often represented with the acronym TULIP), the most frequently rejected one is “limited atonement.” More accurately referred to as “definite atonement” or “particular redemption” the idea is that:

In the death of Jesus Christ, the triune God intended to achieve the redemption of every person given to the Son by the Father in eternity past, and to apply the accomplishment of his sacrifice to each of them by the Spirit. The death of Christ was intended to win the salvation of God’s people alone. (p. 33)

The classic defense and explanation of this doctrine is the tome by the great Puritan John Owen entitled The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, originally written in 1648. In a 1959 reprint of this classic, J.I. Packer wrote a lengthy introduction that came to be a classic in its own right.

Despite the value of these two pieces, a robust explanation and defense of definite atonement was still needed. That has now been remedied with the release of From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective. Edited by David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson, this book is now the go-to resource for definite atonement. Over 20 different scholars and pastors contributed to the volume, including Henri Blocher, Sinclair Ferguson, Alec Motyer, John Piper, Tom Schreiner, and Carl Trueman. They even let me contribute a chapter (“For the Glory of the Father and the Salvation of His People: Definite Atonement in the Synoptics and Johannine Literature”).

Crossway has built a nice website for the book here that includes a list of contributors, a brief summary of each chapter, and endorsements from folks such as Lig Duncan, Doug Wilson, D.A. Carson, Michael Horton, David Wells, and John Frame. There is even a Twitter feed (@defatonement) and Facebook page dedicated to the book.

To whet your appetite, here is an introductory video:

May God use this book to deepen people’s love for the one who loved them and gave his life for them (Gal 2:20)!

Scripture

Noteworthy Book: The Erosion of Inerrancy by G.K. Beale

Leave a comment

When it comes to the doctrine of Scripture, one of the aspects most consistently attacked is inerrancy. As helpfully summarized in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, it indicates that the Bible is “free from all falsehood or mistake and so safeguards the truth that Holy Scripture is entirely true and trustworthy in all its assertions.” While attacks on inerrancy have been common for quite some time, within the past 10-15 years some who identify themselves as evangelicals have joined the ranks of those questioning this important doctrine.

In an effort to defend the inerrancy of Scripture against some of these common attacks, G.K. Beale has written a helpful book entitled The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism: Responding to New Challenges to Biblical Authority. He singles out three common attacks: (1) recent developments in OT studies undermine inerrancy; (2) recent developments in the study of the OT in the NT undermine inerrancy; (3) modern scientific cosmology makes inerrancy untenable.

Each of these charges receives two chapters of treatment, which accounts for six of the seven chapters. An additional chapter addresses the issue of whether the NT claim that the prophet Isaiah wrote the whole book of Isaiah must be taken at face value. Three appendices are also included: (1) Postmodernity and its bearing on authorial intent, epistemology, and presuppositions in regards to study of the OT in the NT; (2) Text of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy; (3) Selected Quotations from Barth’s Church Dogmatics on the Fallibility of Scripture.

While perhaps less well-known than some of Beale’s other works, this is a valuable contribution to the doctrine of Scripture. Perhaps its most unique contribution is to deal with some of the more recent angles of attack against Scripture. Although this is not a full-scale defense of inerrancy, it is a very important contribution to the discussion and should not be overlooked.

Martin Luther, Scripture

Mondays with Marty

Leave a comment
In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther explains how we should approach Scripture:

5017. Holy Scripture demands a humble reader, who trembling show reverence to God’s Word, who constantly pleads, “Teach me, teach me!” The arrogant oppose the spirit. And even though some may study diligently, and unerringly preach Christ for a time–as soon as they become proud God closes the church to them.  Wherefore every proud person becomes a heretic, if not actually, then for all practical purposes. It is difficult for a person who has excellent gifts not to become arrogant. Those upon whom God bestows great gifts, He plagues with great torments, to teach them that they are nothing … Pride drove the angel [the devil] from heaven; that is why we need humility in the study of Holy Scripture (p. 362)

DISCLAIMER: The views reflected in this quote do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this blog. This quote is shared in the interest of edification, education, and/or humor.
Martin Luther, Preaching, Scripture

Mondays with Marty

Leave a comment
In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther extols the Word of God and describes the best way to preach it:
4812. The magnificence of the Word of God is never-ending and indescribable. We can never thank God enough for it. Human reason thinks thus: “Oh, I would walk to the end of the world if only I could hear the Lord our Creator here upon the earth!” Hear, dear brother, God the creator of heaven and earth does talk to you through His preachers. He baptizes, instructs and pronounces us free from sin through His Sacraments. And the Word of God is not to be compared to the words of Plato or Aristotle, but rather God Himself speaks. And the Word is best learned by the common people and youth when preached simply and plainly without the slightest obscurity or ambiguity, just as Christ taught through simple parables. And that is the best and most suitable manner for the congregation to hear the Word of God and never doubt the preacher. It is especially important when the people are not quite secure in their belief that the pastor speak simply, so he can help and guide them. For although God can certainly overcome opposition, he cannot tolerate confusion and contradiction. (p. 228).
DISCLAIMER: The views reflected in this quote do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this blog. This quote is shared in the interest of edification, education, and/or humor.
Martin Luther, Ministry, Scripture

Mondays with Marty

1 Comment

In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther describes what should be expected of a “doctor of Scripture”:

“46. A doctor of the Scriptures should have complete knowledge and mastery of them, how they are related to each other–the Prophets, for example. Not just a certain part, as one could know Isaiah, not just one portion of the Laws or the Gospel. But now doctors spring from the weeds who do not have a correct understanding of just one passage. Jurists can humble their students, when they boast about their competence. For they have moot court and are able to practice. We, however, because we have no opportunity for exercises, cannot properly hone our students. As a result, it is experience alone that develops the theologian.” (pp. 207-8)

DISCLAIMER: The views reflected in this quote do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this blog. This quote is shared in the interest of edification, education, and/or humor.

Martin Luther, Scripture

Mondays with Marty

Leave a comment

In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther paints a vivid picture of Scripture and the intensity with which we should study it::

“5355. Divine Scripture is a very fertile tree, and there is no branch which I have note shaken with my own hands, and knocked down a few apples.”

DISCLAIMER: The views reflected in this quote do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this blog. This quote is shared in the interest of edification, education, and/or humor.