Thanks to all who commented or sent messages about my recent article here at Between the Times. I don’t write on SBC issues as often as I should, but felt a need to respond to a few friends and the concerns they expressed.
I had a pretty simple point: Southern Baptists are primarily a traditional people. The vast majority of Southern Baptist institutions and entities are led by traditional Southern Baptists. The traditional SBC member and … [Read More]
Cooperating Together for the Cause of Christ
Engaging Exposition (13): Issues Concerning Context
The inspection stage of exegesis moves toward completion once we have identified the genre and developed a genre-specific outline. These two elements are required to properly examine the content of a text.
The next stage can be called the inquiry stage. “Inquire” means to ask a question. In this stage, our attention shifts from observing the content of a text to inquiring about its context. Understanding the author’s context is important for understanding his content. Consequently, … [Read More]
International Society of Christian Apologetics Comes to SEBTS April 29-30
Don’t say we didn’t invite you. The International Society of Christian Apologetics (ISCA) is holding its annual meeting on SEBTS’ campus April 29-30. The topic is “The Problem of Evil” and the featured speakers are Paul Copan (Professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University) and Bruce Little (Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Director of the Bush Center for Faith & Culture at SEBTS). In addition, the ISCA’s … [Read More]
Engaging Exposition (12): Analysis of Poetry
The development of a thematic outline will help you discover the author’s MIT when you encounter Poetry in the Scriptures. It is essential to consider rhyme and meter and the use of figurative language when interpreting Poetry.
Poetry Type and Pattern
There are a variety of poetic styles in the Scriptures. Determining the type and pattern of a poem is one of the most challenging aspects of studying poetry, especially for young interpreters. For instance, Psalm 4 … [Read More]
Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism
In October 2009, Union University hosted a conference titled Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism. The conference was held in conjunction with the four hundredth anniversary of the Baptists. It also revisited an oft-asked question: what is the relationship between Southern Baptists and American evangelicals? You can listen to the conference audio at Union’s website.
For those who are interested, the proceedings of that conference are also now in print. Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and … [Read More]
An Evening with Tim Keller
We at BtT would like to make you aware of An Evening with Tim Keller, an event being sponsored by DurhamCares and held on May 4th at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Keller will be speaking about the impact local churches can have on their cities for the Kingdom of God. In particular, he will be addressing questions such as: Is it important for the church to be involved in serving the community? If … [Read More]
Trevin Wax Interviews SEBTS Prof George Robinson on “Using Short Term Mission Trips Strategically”
Trevin Wax, over at Kingdom People, posts an interesting interview with our own George Robinson, assistant professor of missions and evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. George has extensive international missions experience and has written Striking the Match: How God is Using Ordinary People to Change the World through Short-Term Missions (e3 Resources, 2008). In the interview, Trevin and George talk about short-term mission teams and how they can be used effectively in … [Read More]
Engaging Exposition (11): Analysis of Epistles
The Epistle is the one of the predominant types of prose found in the New Testament. Epistolary literature is propositional in nature and requires a careful analysis of both its linguistic and literary contexts.
Interpreters must remember several things as they outline Epistles. First, the author’s MIT is not found in individual words or even sentences—it is found in studying the whole discourse as it relates to the parts (e.g. whole discourse, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, … [Read More]
The Conservative Resurgence a Generation Later: How Are We Doing?
Last night Michelle and I attended a banquet with our faculty, trustees, and board of visitors. The banquet focused on showing appreciation to the faculty at SEBTS. I sat and enjoyed the evening with such great gratitude.
I am finishing my 16th year at SEBTS, which makes me one of the most seasoned profs at the school. We have grown dramatically, from around 1000 students when I came to something like 2700-2800 now. Our faculty has … [Read More]
Engaging Exposition (10): The Importance of Structuring the Text
Once we have determined the genre of a biblical text, it is essential to analyze the structure of the text. The second step of the inspection process is the development of a teaching outline. Today, some pastor-teachers minimize or neglect this aspect of exegesis altogether. We remain convinced, however, that the practice of outlining remains one of the key components for discovering the author’s main idea of the text (MIT). Remember, the author wrote with … [Read More]
