Summer reading Christian books

I was glad to see the new book Engaging with Keller a book of essays by mainly British based Presbyterians giving a critique of the popular preacher. I was glad to see it as I have read and heard Keller with profit but am still a little nervous about him. This book which is irenic throughout gives chapter and verse on a number of issues - ie Keller's views on sin (I D Campbell) hell (Bill Schweitzer) the Trinity (Kevin Bidwell) the church's mission (Peter Naylor) hermeneutics (Richard Holst) evolution (Schweitzer again) the church ( D G Hart). The authors have done us all a favour by setting out exactly where they think Keller might be wrong. The book is also useful for all pastors as however orthodox we may endeavour to be, it is very easy to fall into an error of one sort or another and here is a gentle warning and, if necessary, a corrective. Well done EP for publishing it and to all the contributors for putting in the work necessary.

I also read Packer's latest Weakness is the Way which is written out of long experience, well informed theological thought and with thorough and careful exegesis (of 2 Corinthians) but in a gentle and well written style. I fell in love with the book from the start, had a brief struggle when we got onto the subject of money, which didn't make me feel quite so warm inside and then was just moved with thankfulness for the book as a whole which is such a good one. (My one slight criticism, observation really, would be that it is a very short book, the texts expounded also being reproduced in its pages). May be this video will whet your appetite.

Aber Conference 2013 Evening Meetings

The five evening meetings at Aber were arranged this year as a sort of Celtic sandwich. At the centre was Vaughan Roberts, technically a Welshman but a quintessentially Anglican evangelical. He spoke well on Habakkuk 3. No evangelistic content but heart warming for those who heard. At the top and bottom of the sandwich were two Welshmen ministering in Wales. Pembrokeshire born Bernard Lewis now in Newport via London and Papua New Guinea preached manfully, asking the question whether we love Jesus. Cardiff born Ian Parry of the Bay Church did better in some ways on John 20:21. I suppose we must have Welshmen preach but it is not easy to be yanked out of your church of 80 or a hundred and face a thousand and more.

The speaker on Tuesday and Thursday was Highlander Iain D Campbell who gave us theological preaching of the highest calibre. Taking the phrases But I and But Christ he basically summarised Romans and then Galatians before launching into rich expositions of Romans 7:14 and Galatians 2:20. Not everyone is used to this sort of preaching and it was good to have the morning messages alongside these but such God exalting preaching was a joy to experience.

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Iain Campbell's second address was inevitably perhaps a less satisfying one. He chose to focus on the reference to the Lord's Day in Revelation 1. Focusing on the Apostle John he spoke of the change he witnessed, the practice he adopted, the blessing he enjoyed especially on that particular Lord's Day (with the first resurrection Sabbath it must have been a stand out one for John) and the message John received. I would doubt that such an address would convince the unconvinced but it was good to hear the importance of the law, including that of the Sabbath, reaffirmed and it certainly made me want to keep the Sabbath more enthusiastically and carefully. I appreciated this quotation from Calvin, who is generally thought to be against the Westminster understanding.

The quotation is found in Fairbairn's work on typology and is from an obscure work – Calvin's Discourse to the people of Geneva on the Ten Commandments (the fifth and sixth deal with the fourth command).
In the fifth, after having stated his views regarding the Sabbath as a typical mystery, in which respect he conceived it to be abolished, he comes to show how far it was still binding, and declares, that as an ordinance of government for the worship and service of God, it pertains to us, as well as to the Jews. "The Sabbath, then," he says "should be to us as a tower whereon we should mount aloft, to contemplate afar the works of God, when we are not occupied nor hindered by anything besides, from stretching forth all our faculties in considering the gifts and graces which He has bestowed on us. And if we properly apply ourselves to do this on the Sabbath, it is certain that we shall be no strangers to it during the rest of our time, and that this meditation shall have so formed our minds, that on Monday, and the other days of the week, we shall abide in the grateful remembrance of our God, etc ... It is for us to dedicate ourselves wholly to God, renouncing ourselves, our feelings, and all our affections; and then, since we have this external ordinance, to act as becomes us, that is, to lay aside our earthly affairs and occupations, so that we may be entirely free (vaquions du tout) to meditate the works of God, may exercise ourselves in considering the gifts which He has afforded us, and, above all, may apply ourselves to apprehend the grace which He daily offers us in His Gospel, and may be more and more conformed to it. And when we shall have employed the Sabbath in praising and magnifying the name of God, and meditating His works, we must, through the rest of the week, show how we have profited thereby."

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Iain D Campbell spoke at the second morning session. I had been thinking yesterday that may be we were not going to get vintage stuff at this conference but this powerful message on the Sabbath was quite something. We began with Genesis 2 Exodus 20 and the Shorter Catechism. Dr Campbell declared that there is a positive perpetual moral commandment binding on all men in Scripture regarding the Sabbath. He noted the huge change in the acceptance of this truth, however, in the last few years. He gave the example of the ESV Study Bible comment on Romans 14:5 saying that the Sabbath command was no longer binding for Paul as it was a ceremonial law - so not perpetual and not moral. Dr Campbell scathingly noted that the author of the note will allow us time to rest and worship however! Such an attitude in fact emasculates, enervates, enfeebles and devitalises not just the fourth command but all the commands. It denies the need to gather for the exposition of this and the other nine.
There is discontinuity, laws that are abolished, etc but not the moral principles that are to characterise the covenant people of God. It is there for the believer (Vos) “in every age of its pilgrimage”. He quoted Erskine
When by the law to grace I’m schooled;
Grace by the law will have me ruled;
Hence, if I don’t the law obey,
I cannot keep the gospel way.
The law and the gospel do sweetly comply
Having nailed his colours to the mast Dr Campbell announced his intention to use broader brush strokes in this first paper. He suggested that the Sabbath is a principle theme of biblical theology. The eschatology is in the protology. What is there at the beginning finds its flowering in the eternal sabbath. He then gave us a definition of opera - an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score, etc.
He then spoke of “Sabbath the opera” an opera in seven acts. The whole story unfolds like an opera. He called on us to follow the text, hear the music, etc.
1. Before the beginning – The sabbath rest of the Trinity. It is into this glory that God proposes to call men. Sabbath before the sabbath. The rest that belongs to God before it comes to man. Everything is driven by this.
2. This God now builds the opera house in which his great acts will be performed. It is a place in which he is worshipped and that replicates to some extent the heavens. He creates a world to his own glory that will be a place for mission. Man is made in his own image. He works then rests on the seventh day. The last day of creation is the first day of man. The first sunrise was a sabbath one. God' s Day. Man is not simply married and given work but is given a holy day – it is given to man. Adam knew it. A Nigel Lee passage was quoted describing the scene. God sets the boundaries at seven days. So sadly, though, the Sabbath is lost with Paradise itself. The planet itself is cursed.
3. But God has made certain promises about the earth until the new world comes. He is upholding and preserving the opera house. God begins to call a people to himself. He gives them the book of the covenant. Having redeemed them he then gives them the law (note the order) including the provision of rest even in this world of toil. There is a day at the end of the week so they can look forward to rest.
4. This great drama continues with the bringing of this people into the Promised Land where they find rest. Exodus 30 (cf Ezekiel 20) speaks of God sanctifying them by the Sabbath. Some say bu that is Israel. It all is. It is all for our benefit. You keep the day different and I will set you apart. Christ died to set people apart to God. The multiplication of sabbaths in Israel was all about this sanctifying work of setting apart. The jubilee is the height of this. The rest is promised to the redeemed people of God. So much is it part of the biblical drama of redemption that when exile is determined it is in order to give the land its neglected sabbaths. What is the answer to man's failure?
5. The most magnificent movement in the whole opera is when the Lord himself appears on the stage. The Word made flesh dwells among us. Cf Ruth “he will not rest until he secures rest”. The restless saviour. The Lord himself comes into his own opera house. He is the Lord – and specifically the Lord of the Sabbath. If you confess him as Lord you must confess him as Lord of the Sabbath. Jeremiah asks when the sword will rest – only when Christ comes. The whole of his life is a commentary on the sabbath. He kept the Sabbath. Are we going to say not every day was holy? No, every law finds its fulfilment in him. The God of Sinai is seen in the person of Adam. Forsakenness not in the absence of God but his presence.
6. Even in death he is Lord of the Sabbath – he rests in the grave as his followers observe the Sabbath themselves. But he is going to bring a greater sabbath with him from the grave.
Attempts to distinguish Sabbath and Lord's Day make no sense. It is the first day of the new creation. Again God has said Let there be light and it has shone from the tomb. The pattern of the first day of the week is set from the beginning. Here are God's people now not looking forward to the rest at the end of the week but living their lives in the light of the rest that began it. Then came the pouring out of the Spirit. Now to the end of the world it is our privilege and our delight to lay aside our work and worship the risen Lord on the first day of the week. The songs of Zion come into their own with the rising of Christ. The law is our delight. There is a contradiction in the life of the believer though – the law of sin in us. Christ alone can deliver us to freedom. It is not just legalism,. There is a big difference between legalism and law keeping. We are saved from sin which is to be saved from law breaking. We are saved from sin to follow Christ. There are difficulties. Certainly some sabbaths have been abolished but taking the clear passages to interpret the difficult we see the Sabbath goes on.
7. The curtain is not yet fallen. We await the last part of the performance when the Lord of the Sabbath will return to bring his people into the great sabbath rest. Then we will be perfectly holy and there will be no sunrise and sunset, Christ himself will be its light. We will be forever with the Lord. Let's labour then to enter into his rest. Let's keep the Sabbath. What do we gain by not seeking to keep it? So little. The Bride misses out if she doesn't spend special time with the Bridegroom. They are altogether. On the Sabbath we say let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, etc.
Great stuff!

JOC Lectures on Scripture 4

Apologies for the delay in writing up the final morning of studies. We continued to look at Andy McGowan's problematic book. We discussed his idea of relocating our doctrine of Scripture in systematic theology, which seems a rather minor point in many ways. The changes of vocabulary he suggests could create as many problems as they may solve. His idea that Warfield's faulty (to McGowan) statement of the doctrine arose because of the heat of battle would not be one shared by Warfield himself. McGowan says there is no reference to Scripture in the early creeds (p 25) but Warfield says the opposite (p 106 of his book on Bible Inspiration). Inerrancy may not be a biblical doctrine but it is one that is discernible by implication. Although he complains of this McGowan himself does the same thing with his doctrine. Further, it is more than an implication - see Psalm 12:6, Jeremiah 42:5, 6, John 17:17. McGowan's suggestion that Bavinck is different to Warfield and superior to him is an overstatement.

We finished off with a discussion of the round table discussion article found in the current edition of Modern Reformation here (for subscribers).

A great week then. It was a privilege to be with Dr Campbell and with old friends Lewis, Wim (both doing the course), Ian (a graduate like myself) and Rich.

JOC Lectures on Scripture 2/3

Another stimulating two days have passed with Iain D Campbell and the other four doing the week's course at JOC.

On Day 2 we looked at Calvin - first the Institutes Book 1 and then, more interestingly, various places in the commentaries – the authorship of 2 Peter, early remarks in the Psalms, comments on Genesis 1 and 3, Matthew 2:6, 27:9 and 1 Peter 1:12. There is an essay on Calvin and inerrancy by Jim Packer in Volume 4 of his Shorter Writings. (See here too).
Then we came on to Karl Barth. I am not familiar with Barth but given that Greg Beale has accused Peter Enns of Barthianism and the fact Andy McGowan seems much under the spell of the Barthian Torrances his current influence cannot be denied. (Apparently Kevin VanHoozer has traced the recent history of this in Karl Barth And Evangelical Theology edited by Sung Wook Chung).

Barth's view, it appears, is rather elusive, but he distinguishes the Bible and revelation, speaks of recollection and anticipation, preparation and accomplishment and warns against absolutising a word that is always human. He calls the Bible the Word of God but what he means by that is not what we may mean. Bruce McCormack has labelled his view "Dynamic infallibilism". Barth spoke of the Word of God as the Word of GOD – God not being the object; the Work of God – an event not a storehouse of facts and the Miracle of God. He also warned against trying to shield ourselves from its offensiveness. He does not see the presence of God inhering directly in the book as such and says that we cannot decide just when the Bible is the Word of God. God, he says, is not ashamed of the fallibility of the word nor should we be. Mark Thompson has identified certain motifs in Barth - God's Lordship – he can't be mastered by a text; the centrality of Christ and the fact that God reveals himself dynamically so that things can change (see Gibson and Strange's Engaging with Barth).
We finished off the day with a summary of Peter Enns' very controversial Inspiration and incarnation. We mentioned the book in a previous blog here. Since then Enns has ceased to be a professor at Westminster. He has a blog here. This blog is not recommended by any means.

On Wednesday we carried on with Enns this time in more critical fashion, considering some of the so called problem texts that he mentions in Proverbs, Acts, etc.

We then went on to the answer to Enns produced by Greg Beale The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism
We took up Beale's criticisms of the way Enns uses the incarnational analogy and Dr Campbell traced the more recent history of the subject. Gaussen (Theopneustia) and Shedd (in his Dogmatics) are in favour of it and Kuyper and Bavinck (as Gaffin reveals in his God's Word in Servant Form: Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck on the Doctrine of Scripture see sample here) go into overdrive with it. Barth is fairly happy with the idea but sees overlappings and contradictions. Tom Torrance is similar.
It is Warfield who cautions against misusing of the analogy. Christ is a divine human person, Scripture is a divine human work. The analogy is therefore remote. Andy McGowan is not happy either (pp 119, 121). James Scott writing on Enns (WTJ Spring 2009) says it is a mistake to see Christ trapped in his culture. He concludes that Enns is saying something huge in his book when he writes as he does as the idea that the incarnate Christ misunderstood things is a major error.
We were also referred to John Goldingay's book on Model for interpretation of Scripture (pp 248-251 and a Lane Tipton article here. He points out that if the hypostatic union is unique, it cannot be an analogy. The only way forward is to focus on then on pneumatology. He also draws attention to the resurrection and ascension and how Scripture brings about regeneration, sanctification, etc.

We ended the day with summarising Andy McGowan's The Divine Spiration of Scripture. More tomorrow, God willing.

JOC Lectures on Scripture 1

It was my privilege once again today to be among the privileged few at the John Owen Centre in nearby Finchley for lectures this time from fellow blogger Iain D Campbell on the doctrine of Scripture. We began with brief biblical introduction (taking in Psalm 19, John 10:35, 2 Timothy 3:16, etc). We then went on to look at Westminster Theological Seminary and Scripture. We began with Machen (see this Daryl Hart essay via here) moved on to Murray (in the Infallible Word symposium, outline here) and E J Young (Thy Word is Truth). We also looked at Sinclair Ferguson in Harvie Conn's symposium (outline here).

We then turned to Old Princeton beginning with Turretin (whose tome Hodge would have used), passing over Hodge himself and focusing on Warfield, especially his inaugural address at Western in 1881 and his essay with A A Hodge on Inspiration (see here). I notice that several Warfield articles are here. In the afternoon we looked at the opening chapter of the Westminster Confession which, though familiar, was worth going through together its finely balanced statements.

Iain Campbell move

Interesting news here from Iain Campbell who is downsizing congregations.

Book Buys February

Book buying in February included five freebies thanks to The Times who were giving away 10 Penguin paperbacks free. I didn't get the all but did get A Clockwork Orange, The Day of the Triffids, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Great Gatsby and Nineteen Eighty-Four. I was sorry to miss Out of Africa, Mrs Dalloway and Animal Farm.

I also made an impulse buy rushing through Tesco's one day and spotting Hugo Hamilton's The Sailor in the Wardrobe for just £3. I really enjoyed his The Speckled people.

I also bought 10 copies of Richard Gibson's collection of Jewish testimonies The unusual suspects to sell in church.

At the Affinity Conference I bought the first volume of Douglas Kelly's Systematic Theology, a book of essays on Worldliness edited by C J Mahaney, which I have almost finished, addresses from a previous conference The Forgotten Christ and Iain D Campbell's little book The seven wonders of the world.

Affinity 02

Our second session was on the threefold division of the Mosaic Law, a view often under attack today. The paper was prepared by Iain D Campbell (Back Free Church). Mostyn Roberts (Welwyn) chaired.

Brief outline of the paper

1. Threefold division articulated

2. Historical considerations

Patristic thought; Aquinas; Calvin

3. Alternative considerations

4. Exegetical considerations

Manner of the giving of the Ten Commandments; Subsequent OT reflection on the law of God; Use of the concept of the law in the Gospels and Paul

5. Theological considerations

Adam prototype of Israel and Christ; Christ incarnation and embodiment of the law; Sin as violation of the moral precept; Atonement and its consequences as the vindication of the law's righteousness

6. Conclusion

Extras
We were also told that a PhD on the subject by Philip Ross has been completed plus various points such as the point that a covenant only formalises an existing relationship. The law should be seen as a generic development of the Abrahamic covenant. The importance of the preface to the commandments was stressed. It was denied that Sinai saw a republication of the covenant of works. The gospel is God's determination to save sinners.

Questions for clarification
It was questioned whether the statement that for Calvin the moral law, the 10 commandments were absolute and perpetual was correct. The difference between a relationship and a covenant was pursued. The remark that though the gospel gives us wings it is the law that gives us direction was queried. Etc.

Small groups
Here we looked at questions raised by the paper such as whether Adam broke all 1o commandments in one go (as Thomas Boston asserts) and made a little more progress.

Plenary Questions
This was when Doug Moo and the new covenant men came out fighting. They are clearly very unhappy with the threefold division but did not seem to me to make a valid case against it. 1 Corinthians 9 was mentioned and the oxen ploughing yet that does seem to be an example of drawing out the general equity of a civil law.

Affinity Conference

The book of papers for the Affinity Conference early in February on the end of the law has arrived. It currently lacks Paper 4: The use of the Mosaic Law in the New Testament church by Chris Bennett Wilton Community Church, Muswell Hill. The other papers

Paper 1: The concept of Covenant in the history of theology

Bob Letham Wales Evangelical School of Theology (WEST), Bridgend
Paper 2: The validity of the three-fold division of the Mosaic Law in Scripture

Iain D Campbell Back Free Church, Isle of Lewis
Paper 3: One Covenant or two – the relationship between the Old and the New

Douglas Moo Wheaton College, Illinois
Paper 5: The use of the Mosaic Law in society today

Paul Helm Regent College, Vancouver and London University
Paper 6: Where do we go from here?

Michael Horton Westminster Seminary, California

I've only just started on the papers so I can't comment yet but I am looking forward to reading them and the discussion at the conference. Douglas Moo and Michael Horton are names I know well but have rarely had opportunity to hear. The Affinity website is here.