Of the many reasons I love teaching at Southeastern (and hope to do so ad multos annos) is our President’s vision for the institution and for theological studies. He is determined to forge a path for our faculty and students whereby theology is riveted to the Christian Scriptures, but also to worship, obedience, and mission. In the first case, we must allow our theology to arise from God’s authoritative word, which testifies to his Son … [Read More]
Doing Theology as a Servant of Jesus (2): Theology Aims at the Head, the Heart, and the Hands
One of the benefits of marriage is that it brings a theologian down to earth. During the first years of my marriage to Lauren, my patient wife had to listen to hours of my theological bloviations, which I delivered with the oratorical verve of Will Ferrell and a great deal of unsuccessfully suppressed self-satisfaction. After I had finally given birth to the entirety of my “train of thought” (on creational ontology, revelational epistemology, or some … [Read More]
Doing Theology as a Servant of Jesus (1): The Most Exciting Endeavor of All
I will never forget my first day of Systematic Theology. (The year was 1996. Think Billy Ray Cyrus. America Online. Super Nintendo. Doc Martens. Et, as they say, cetera). I had decided to take Systematic during my first semester and the opening class period would be the first experience I would have in a seminary environment. I sat on a row with J. D. Greear, Keith Errickson, Micah Patisall, and Chris Thompson. As Dr. Patterson … [Read More]
Book Notice: “Venture All for God” by Phil A. Newton
SEBTS student Phil Newton is on a publishing binge, having recently published his third book in the past several years, a book on John Bunyan. Although Bunyan (1628–1688) is a very familiar name to many Christians for one classic work: The Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan’s other devotional and theological writings are often neglected. This lacunae in knowledge about Bunyan’s theology and spirituality is addressed in Venture All for God: Piety in the Writings of John Bunyan … [Read More]
Book Notice: “Invitation to Biblical Interpretation” by Andreas J. Köstenberger
Zut Alors. I will never catch up with Andreas Köstenberger. Every time I publish an article, he publishes four books. (In fact, one should never compare one’s CV with his, for fear that one will descend into a state of weltschmerz. Don’t say I never told you.) Speaking of which, Dr. Köstenberger recently published Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology (Kregel, 2011). This work promises to be a … [Read More]
J.D. Greear Offers a Gospel-Centered Warning to Young Zealous Theologians
I’m one of those young evangelicals who talks about the gospel all the time. Though the word gospel is a noun, I frequently use it as an adjective. I’d probably use the word as a verb if I could justify the move linguistically. I’m immensely thankful for the renewed emphasis so many Christians are placing on the centrality of the gospel, not only for our conversion, but for the totality of our Christian life. I think … [Read More]
Insider Movements and Theological Method
This past week, I posted a book notice about Doug Coleman’s fine new book, A Theological Analysis of the Insider’s Movement.[1] Because the book notice prompted some vigorous discussion, I thought it might be helpful to post an excerpt from an essay I am writing on theological method. In the essay, I try to show how significant one’s theological method is for ministry and mission in general. In the excerpted portion, below, I try to … [Read More]
Book Notice: “A Theological Analysis of the Insider Movement”
Doug Coleman, PhD in Applied Theology with Missions from SEBTS, has recently published his dissertation: A Theological Analysis of the Insider Movement Paradigm from Four Perspectives: Theology of Religions, Revelation, Soteriology and Ecclesiology in the EMS Dissertation Series (WICU Press, 2011). His work evaluates the Insider Movement paradigm (IMP)–a proposal that faith in Jesus does not require severing ties with one’s pre-faith religious community–from four perspectives: the theology of religions, the doctrine of revelation, soteriology, … [Read More]
Should All Women Submit to All Men?
Our friend Russ Moore has written a great article for RELEVANT Magazine titled “Women, Stop Submitting to Men.” Dr. Moore has a helpful take on a controversial issue among some complementarians. We commend his excellent article to you for your consideration.
Interview with Heath Thomas: “Great is Thy Faithfulness? Reading Lamentations as Sacred Scripture”
Here we go again. Southeastern prof Heath Thomas (Old Testament & Hebrew) has committed yet another act of Old Testament theology. This makes, umm, five publications in the past five weeks. Along with Robin Parry, Thomas is coeditor of Great is Thy Faithfulness? Reading Lamentations as Sacred Scripture (Pickwick). This work seeks an answer to the question: how is Lamentations Holy Scripture for the Church? In order to answer this question, I’ve provided a brief … [Read More]
