The Christian and Technology by Fesko

There are a few of these about. This one is a hundred pages long and considers screens, social media, cars, books, V R and the evil and unpleasant side of the Net. His stance helps - neither pro not anti. He also avoids quirkiness and coming up with rules and has the right balance of information and comment. It probably helps that these chapters were originally prepared as devotionals for chapel in a theological seminary. Good for passing on to younger people but suitable for all. An EP title, it is the fifth or sixth Fesko title I've reviewed on this blog. He is quite prolific.

Day Off Week 41 2020

I did the jeans and T-shirt trick again and made a good start to the day. I didn't bother with a to do list as I was clear in my mind that I wanted to get some reading done. One of many character flaws is that I prefer short books and so I read Mostyn Roberts' little book on Coping with criticism in the ministry and John Fesko's The Christian and Technology which I will endeavour to review at some point. I also read a chunk of Hedden Evil by Eryl Davies, a much bigger book (though not very big) which I started last week. I also watched a bit more Scandinavian Tv from Channel 4 and went out for a coffee. I also got one or two other things done.

Last Things First

Back up to the Pastors' Academy today for the latest meeting of the reading group. The book was J V Fesko's Last things first. The book basically says let's forget the arguments over creation (paradovically doing more to inflame them rather than dampen them down) and let's see what we can learn about exchatology and the sweep of Scripture. He looks at Man in the Image of God, the Garden-Temple of Eden (ala Greg Beale), the Covenant of Works (Which is how he understandds Adam in the Garden), shadows & types of the Second Adam, the Work of the Second Adam and the Sabbath. Seven of us were present including a lady from East London there for the first time. We weregerally happy with Fesko without accepting every jot and tittle. Keith Holmes led us. Next time we will go for Craig Carter's Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis.

Day off week 42 2019

As the above picture reveals I got over to Keats House again and this time I got to see round the place - for the first time in ages. I like Keats but have never got round to the longer poems. Much of the rest of the day was taken up with editing two chapters of a new edition of a book about music (sounding a bit cryptic there but I don't want to give too much away). I am also working on a the history of our local church and that is almost done. There was time too to read the latest Private Eye, a little bit of the book for Monday (F V Fesko First things last) and some TV with Eleri.

Fesko on Psalms 1-8

Having read one or two of Fesko's books recently I thought I'd try his 2014 Songs of a suffering king which looks at Psalms 1-8. Fesko's concern is to see how the eight psalms relate to each other and especially how they speak of Christ. At the end of each chapter he suggests a way of singing the psalm (which I did and enjoyed doing I confess) and gives a series of questions, which I spent less time on. Fesko seeks to be vigorous in his scholarship but at the same time practical which he more or less manages, though he can sound ponderous at times. This is certainly not Dale Ralph Davis. His chapter headings are as follows - Song of the Righteous Man, Song of the Lord's Messiah, Song of Deliverance, Song of Hope, Song of Protection, Song of Forgiveness, Song of Vindication and Song of Majesty.

Fesko on the fruit of the Spirit

Having read John Fesko's book on the tabernacle recently I dug out my unread copy of his The fruit of the Spirit is .... It is a tiny book that just goes through the passage in Galatians 5, its distinctive being the way it draws on the Old Testament material that Paul must have in mind when he writes. It is worth checking out.

Fesko on the Tabernacle

While I was at the Affinity conference in February where J V Fesko was a speaker I picked up his Christ and the Desert Tabernacle which I have now read. It is an excellent little resource that looks at the closing chapters of Exodus and over the course of 13 chapters gives some excellent messages drawn from the various pieces of furniture in the tabernacle and associated matters. He talks about baptism, communion, prayer, keeping the Lord's Day and various other matters in a way that is clear, uncluttered and theologically literate. As Philip Eveson notes there are no fanciful interpretations but rather a consistent biblically based exposition drawing on Genesis, Revelation, Hebrews and other relevant places with consummate skill. Loved it.

Affinity Study Conference 2

Our next two sessions looked at union with Christ historically. Bob Letham of WEST presented a paper on Calvin and John Fesko of Westminster Theological Seminary in California on the communion controversy, where one William Sherlock replied to Owen on communion with God. The chairmen were Kevin Bidwell and Mike Plant. We had a good discussion session touching on our understanding of the Lord's Supper, the Song of Solomon and various other matters. We appear to be agreed on things in general but the opportunity to sharpen up our understandings is proving useful. Sorry not to give more background but each paper is long and fairly detailed. The papers will be published in due time I understand.