Already/Not Yet

Peace on Earth

2011-12-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

The angelic choir sang the first song of Christmas: "Glory to God / in the highest / and on earth peace /among those of [God's] favor" (2:14).

Its theme was peace. But what made this heralded peace different than the Roman peace (Pax Romana) that already filled the world at Jesus’ birth? Or as John Dominic Crossan asks, “If the Roman Augustus had already established peace on earth, what was left for the Jewish Jesus to accomplish?” He goes on to say, “The difference was not in the that of peace but in its how, not in the purpose and intention of peace but in the mode and method of its accomplishment . . . . For Rome the mode and method was: religion, war, victory, peace . . . . But the messianic vision of the Jewish Jesus proclaimed a different program: religion, non-violence, justice, peace. Its mantra was peace through justice.”

He adds, “Victory's violence establishes not peace but lull -- until the next and always more violent round of war. The Christian challenge of Christmas is this: justice is what happens when all receive a fair share of God's world and only such distributive justice can establish peace on earth.”

While Crossan is correct in his analysis, he erroneously believes justice can be achieved here and now when governments distribute wealth equally to all. In reality, it will be achieved only when God establishes his kingdom on earth under the rule of Messiah. Until then, the church in submission to Christ is called to practice egalitarian justice, and thus demonstrate in part what the future kingdom will be like. In doing so, the church serves as an attractive alternative to the kingdoms of this world.

Supernatural Conception

2011-12-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

Matthew 1:16 declares, "Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus Christ." From this verse we see two things: 1) Joseph did not begat Jesus, 2) yet, Jesus was born of Mary. How did this event occur? What transpired? Rudolf Schnackenburg says the explanation is found in Matthew 1:18-25, which serves an extended footnote to verse 16. Verse 18 opens with these words: "Now the birth of Jesus was as follows." The remainder of the section fills in the details, telling how at first Joseph suspects Mary of adultery, only to change his mind after having a God-inspired dream in which an angel reveals that the pregnancy is of supernatural origin. One interesting tidbit in the account is that the angel says that Mary will have "a son." Here is a case where the gender of an unborn child is revealed two millennia before the invention of the sonogram!

Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization

2011-12-09T07:11:00.000-08:00

Got home to find discover the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization (Wiley Blackwell, Oxford, UK) had finally arrived. What a surprise! This is a monumental work, taking several years to publish. I contributed ten articles to the 4 volume set, including entries on Peter Marshall, Charles E. Fuller, Aimee Semple McPherson, among others.

The Davidic Focus of Jesus' Genealogy

2011-12-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

The genealogy of Jesus begins with King David, not Abraham, which seems unusual since Abraham preceded David by 800 years (v 1). Why the reversal? Most likely because David is the pivotal figure in the genealogy, which is divided into three sections. Section I covers the time from Abraham to David’s ascent to the throne (vv 2-6). Section 2 covers the time between David’s rule to the exile in Babylon (vv 7-11). Section 3 cover the years between the return from exile to the restoration of David’s dynasty through the Messiah Jesus (vv 8-16).

Matthew says each section consists of 14 generations (v 17). Yet, only sections 1 and 2 have 14 generations; section 3 has 13 generations. Why the discrepancy? Can’t Matthew add? Matthew must have something else in mind. Especially since section 1 covers 800 years, while sections 2 and 3 cover 400 and 575 years, respectively. Based on the time difference alone, the number of generations cannot be the same for each section. So what is Matthew’s point?

Most likely, Matthew is using a code system known as gematria (which assigns value to Hebrew letters) to say that each section is about David. Since the Hebrew alphabet is devoid of vowels, David’s name is D-V-D. Its value is D = 4, V = 6, D = 4, for a total of 14. Therefore, Matthew likely means each section is equivalent to 14 or is about D-V-D.

While the genealogy focuses on David, it ends with Jesus. It is his lineage (vv 1, 17). He is the Royal Messiah who ushers in the Kingdom of God. All the promises and hopes of Israel find their fulfillment in Jesus.

God's Gals

2011-12-05T15:07:00.000-08:00

Jesus' genealogy includes several women, a rarity among Jewish genealogies. These women are Gentiles--Tamar and Rahab (both Canaanites), Ruth (Moabite), and Bathsheba (Hittite)-- all of whom had had illicit or questionable sexual relationships with Jewish men, which resulted in the birth of children. Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and seduced Judah, her father-in-law, producing twins. Rahab, a prostitute who plied her trade on the wall at Jericho, had a child (Boaz) with Salmon, whether through marriage or not we don't know. Ruth, a widower, crawled under the covers of Boaz, and Obed was born. These women are king David's ancestors.

Then David had an affair with Bathsheba, a married woman, and sent her husband Uriah to the frontlines of battle to be killed. David and Bathsheba wed and had Solomon who became Israel's new king.

Why does Matthew lists these women in Jesus' genealogy? First, to show that despite mistakes and moral indiscretions, God works providentially to bring about his will. Second, to show that God loves, forgives, and uses people on the margins to fulfill his plans. Third, to show his plan of redemption includes Gentiles. Fourth, to ease the scandal surrounding Mary's pregnancy, who stands in the line of these women.

From a human perspective Mary was a tainted woman because she became pregnant prior to marriage. Joseph, to whom she was espoused, knew Jesus was not his child. Although he learned through a vision the truth about Mary, her neighbors did not. They all looked on her as an immoral woman and Jesus as her illegitimate child (John 8:41).

Finally, for Matthew's audience living decades after Jesus, this genealogy offers them hope and encouragement because they, too, have been marginalized. Rejected by non-messianic Jewish family members and friends for following Jesus and rubbing shoulders with Gentile Christ followers, they have been kicked out of synagogues and declared dead. But God accepts them and will use them to do great things just as he used the women in Jesus' genealogy, despite public opposition.

Jesus is the savior of those on the margins. They may be rejected by man, but they are accepted by God!

Christmas: God with Us

2011-11-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Warren Carter says the Gospel of Matthew was written to people on the margins. These were Jewish and Gentiles believers who were members of house churches in Antioch, Syria around 80/90 AD. After the destruction of the Temple and burning of Jerusalem, these believers faced estrangement and even persecution. Matthew's Gospel is a pastoral letter intended to encourage them in the faith. It opens with Jesus being called Immanuel, i.e. "God is with us." It closes with Jesus saying, "I am with you always." What comfort to know that when forsaken by friends and family, Jesus is with us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T15:33:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is a holiday that predates the founding of the United States. The Pilgrims gave thanks to God for surviving their first year in the new world. Thereafter, the settlers gave thanks yearly for a good harvest. It became more politicized in 1863, when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in an effort to promote unity between the northern and southern states. It became a federal holiday in 1941 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. People celebrate Thanksgiving today for various reasons. More often than not, it is viewed as a day to eat heartily, watch the Macy’s Day parade and/or innumerable football games, recognize the start of Christmas shopping season, and thank God for our nation. So, its meaning has changed over the years.

During New Testament times thanksgiving (small “s”) was an anti-imperial practice that recognized God, not Rome, as the source of supply. In a very real sense, prayer is a subversive action and a threat to every totalitarian government that seeks to control the lives of their citizens.

Christians worldwide should adopt Jesus’ prayer as our model: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread . . . .”

When Nations go to War

2011-11-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

The church of Jesus Christ is larger than any one nation. It's members live in every country of the world and are called upon to represent the kingdom of God to those nations. Like an embassy that supports only the agenda of its homeland, so the church supports God's agenda alone and not a nationalistic agenda of the country where it is located.

When nations wreck havoc and engage in mass destruction, such actions serve the purposes of Satan, the god of this world.

Therefore, when one nation declares war against another nation, the church cannot support that action. Nor should it encourage its members to fight in the war, since that would involve Christians from one nation killing Christians from the opposing nation. The church must not place loyalty to a nation above loyalty to the kingdom of God.

What should the church do? First, call upon its governmental leaders to seek non-violent solutions. Second, if war is declared, it must state publicly and unequivocally that it opposes the war. Third, it should weep for the victims of war and minister to them and their families. Fourth, it should preach the gospel of the kingdom and call the nation to repent and submit to Jesus as Lord.

The church must demonstrate what it is like to live under the reign of God. In presenting an alternative path to peace, the church reflects in part what the rule of God will look like when the kingdom arrives in it's fulness.

When the church embraces the ethics of a nation, it loses it's prophetic voice and it's identity as an embassy of the kingdom within that nation. It becomes just another organization that supports nationalistic causes, rather than a vehicle that calls people to align with the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom has Arrived!

2011-09-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Some biblical scholars hold that the kingdom of God is a future reality only and does not have a present manifestation. Yet Jesus, like John the Baptist before him, called upon his hearers to repent and announced that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Was he mistaken? Was it at hand as he claimed or was it to arrive in the distant future?

A clue may be found in the wording of the Lord’s Prayer. When his disciples ask for instructions on how to pray, Jesus answers, “When you pray, say: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come’” (Luke 11:1-2). Were they to pray expecting God to answer speedily? This seems to be the case. After all, the remainder of the instructions deals with immediate expectations: “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation” (vv 3-4).

It seems they were expecting the prayer to be answered without delay. Hence they were expecting the kingdom of God to arrive likewise.

Only 10 verses later, Luke tells how one of Jesus’ opponents accuses him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, which he denies (Luke 11-14-19). Then he answers, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (v 20).

The context of these two events in the same chapter should settle the issue once for all. Jesus tells the disciples to pray “Your kingdom come” (v 2) and then says a few verses later, “The kingdom has come” (v 20).

The evidence that the kingdom has arrived is found in Jesus’ victory over demons which he accomplishes by God’s power.

The Kingdom of God and the Church

2011-09-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

John the Baptist, Jesus, the Twelve, the Seventy, Peter, Stephen, Philip and Paul preached the Gospel of the kingdom.

The Gospel of the kingdom declares that in the person of Christ, the kingdom of God arrived, accompanied by signs and wonders. By virtue of Christ's obedience in death, God raised him from the dead and placed him on the throne of David to rule over God's creation. Christ is now enthroned as Lord of the universe. While he reigns over earth, he reigns in the church. While others may not recognize his rule, the church does. It is charged with declaring the reign of God in Christ and inviting all men and women to come under his reign. This is our mission.

New book contract

2011-05-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

I just got word that Harvest House will publish my book on the kingdom of God. A contract is in the mail. Looks like I will be very busy this summer.

Baptism and the Eternal Covenant

2011-01-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

When Jesus was baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan, what was actually transpiring? According to Barth, Christ through his baptism publicly acknowledged and committed himself to carrying out his unique role as Messiah and Savior. As such he took up the task of living wholly for God and wholly for man. This was the first step in fulfilling “the covenant which God resolved upon from all eternity, which He set up with Israel (yet already with a view to all mankind) and which, in virtue of His great love, in spite of man’s unfaithfulness, He willed to bring to its goal in Him, the Son of God as true Son of Man. God for man and man for God is the fulfilled covenant, the accomplished reconciliation, the ministry of Jesus Christ.”

In baptism, Christ stood in “solidarity with men” and placed himself “unconditionally at God’s disposal.” Thus, baptism became the initial public act whereby Jesus accepted his role as mediator between humankind and God. It was an eschatological event that led to the cross, and would culminate in the kingdom of God on earth.

A New Strategy for Missions is Needed

2010-12-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who is concerned with the way the American church does missions? In my denomination, a missionary must have a M. Div. to be appointed as a full-fledged missionary on a foreign field. Next comes missionary training, which includes more education and learning another language. Once the missionary reaches his/her destination, they often realize how different they are from the natives. Skin color, customs, culture—even the concept of time—become barriers to effective communication. Trust is another factor that stands in the way of establishing healthy relationships, along with American feelings of superiority.

After spending thousands of dollars to train, travel, and set up residency, the hands-on ministry haltingly commences. Discouragement soon sets in, especially during the holidays, and the missionary often yearns for hearth and home.

Just how effective is much our mission strategy?

The same can be asked about short-term missions. I was discussing this question with a good friend who told of a recent medical mission trip to a poor Asian nation. Approximately 30 individuals made the trek to set up make-shift clinics, examine patients, and treat them with prescription drugs. By necessity, they worked through interpreters. The three-week venture cost each participant approximately $3,000. That was $90,000 for the trip. Since the annual project has been ongoing for a decade, nearly $1,000,000 has been expended to date!

What is wrong with this picture? One million dollars could have funded several clinics, staffed with native doctors, nurses, and aides on a full-time basis for the past ten years. Instead of 30 weeks of medical care, the villagers would have received 520 weeks of care.

How did the early church do missions? Is it possible they developed strategies that are still applicable for twenty-first century missions? Hopefully, in the weeks ahead we can provide answers to some of these questions. Your comments are welcomed.

Spirit Baptism and Water Baptism

2010-12-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

How are baptism with the Holy Spirit and baptism in water related? Are they separate and distinct acts? Does one sequentially or logically follow the other? In some church traditions, the answers are precise and dogmatic.

Roman Catholics, for instance, equate water baptism with Spirit baptism. To be baptized in water is to be born again. The churches of Christ call upon those who hear the gospel to repent and be baptized as a precondition for receiving the Holy Spirit. Other traditions treat water baptism as an initial act of confession that follows conversion or the baptism with the Holy Spirit. All cannot be right. Either: a) one is correct and the others are wrong; b) they are all wrong; or c) each/some may possess partial truth.

While opinions vary, all Christian traditions require members to be baptized with both the Spirit and water.

Karl Barth spent many years of his life trying to sort out this doctrinal dilemma and finally concluded that they were two sides of the same coin or two aspects of one solitary baptism. As Paul taught, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:6-8). Just as there can be no more than one God, one Lord, or one body, so there is only one baptism.

As such, he held that Spirit baptism is the divine side and water baptism is the human side. One is God’s doing and thus is objective in nature; the other is man’s doing and is subjective in character. He believed that Spirit Baptism is what God does in and to Christ for humankind. Through Christ’s life, death and resurrection, which Barth identified as the initial act of Spirit baptism, God begins to create a new human race of which all may be a part. When the good news is preached and finds root in the individual, man’s will is freed to respond to the gospel in repentance. The proper response is a request to be baptized in water and to identify with the Christian community.

Barth believed that God gives the Holy Spirit to every repentant believer, before, after or at the point of water baptism. This bestowal by God applies the Baptism of the Spirit found in Christ to the individual, when the two become one and the believer actually becomes part of the new creation.

In future entries we will examine Barth’s views of baptism, using his last volume of Church Dogmatics as our guide, and comparing them to the Scriptures. Since Barth waited to the end of his life to speak a final word on baptism, one might conclude he had more time to ponder this subject than all others and that he wanted to get it right.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH AND ISAIAH 7:14

2010-12-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

The church traditionally has accepted the reality of the virgin birth. The Apostles Creed proclaims, “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary . . . .”

The Gospel writer Matthew concludes that Christ’s miraculous birth was the fulfillment of a prophecy recorded in Isa 7:14, “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name Immanuel” (NASV). When one examines the passage in its historical context, however, it looks like the prophecy is addressed to King Ahaz for his day and age, and not one pointing to the birth of the Messiah. How did Matthew come to his conclusion?

The Gospel writers deemed the OT a divine book, making it different from all other kinds of literature. Therefore, they held that it had a divine as well a human meaning. What the original author intended for his audience (authorial intent) was not the only or final meaning of a passage. The divine author (God) infused the text with another meaning for an entirely different audience, which would be revealed in time. According to Raymond Brown, Scripture should be given a first and second reading; one to discover the human meaning and the other to find the sensus plenior or fuller meaning.

The Gospel writers adopted methods of interpretation that were common to the Second Temple period. Unlike modern-day evangelical exegetes, they did not limit themselves to the grammatical-historical school. They concerned themselves not only with the OT text’s meaning for the original audience, but its divine intent for their contemporary audience. Two of the more popular interpretive methods were:

1. The Pesher method that sought to uncover the eschatological or messianic meaning of the text, which was not necessarily the meaning that the original author intended. This method was prevalent among the scribes of Qumran. Texts such as Ps 118:22–23=Luke 20:17–18; Isa 61:1–2=Luke 4:16–20; Isa 7:14=Matt 1:22–23 can be interpreted this way.

2. The Midrash method that sought to find a deeper than surface meaning to a text through careful observation and prolonged reflection. Deut 25:4=1 Cor 9:8–9 is an example of this method.

Being inspired, the NT writers were given unique abilities to discover the “correct” eschatological or deeper meaning of the text. They understood the OT contained more than mere facts about Israel, but was a record of salvation history up until that point, but which was moving forward. It had an eschatological dimension. The OT then was part of a much larger story, which had not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, from a divine standpoint, each OT story had future implications, often unbeknown to the original author.

Obviously OT writers did not know about Jesus, but their NT counterparts did; thus, when the latter read the Hebrew Scriptures they interpreted them from a Christological perspective (e.g. Isa 7:14; 53:3). To interpret the OT according to the original author’s intent only (the grammatical-historical method) was to miss Jesus. Likewise, when we refuse to go beyond the historical context of a passage; we too miss Jesus in the OT. We end up with Judaism, not Christianity!

The testimony of Jesus himself is that the Hebrew Scriptures point to him (Luke 24:27, 44). Therefore, we must look at these ancient texts from both eschatological and Christological points of view. This is exactly what Matthew does. He reads Isa 7:14 and seeks to discover the divine author’s intent.

Remembering Karl Barth

2010-12-10T11:38:00.001-08:00

Karl Barth died on December 10, 1968. He is arguably the 20th century's greatest theologian. His commentary on Romans called upon Continental scholars to take seriously the doctrine of justification and to embrace a more Word-centered theology.

Barth's 14 volume Church Dogmatics remains the gold standard for all other theological works (And evangelical's marvel over the size of Wayne Grudem's one volume Systematic Theology!).

Barth was booked two years in advance to come and give the annual lecture at Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC) in 1969. He did not live to see the day. Along with the other MDiv students at Wesley, I was disappointed to hear that Markus Barth, a scholar in his own right, would substitute for his father. He stood at the podium and read his lecture, stopping to pencil-in occasional corrections along the way. At the time I was not impressed.

Since then, however, I have benefited greatly from Markus Barth's writings, particularly his books on the Lord's Supper and baptism. It was in terms of this last issue that the son influenced the father. Before his death Karl Barth testified that he changed his view of baptism. He explained: "In the face of the exegetical conclusions of my son's book [Die Taufe ein Sakrament?], I had to abandon the 'sacramental' understanding of baptism . . ." (Church Dogmatics, IV.4). In its place he embraced believer's baptism, but knew it would be costly to do so. Contemporaries such as Cullmann and Jeremias held staunchly to infant baptism. He stated that this shift "will leave me in the theological and ecclesiastical isolation." Knowing CD, IV.4 would likely be his last major publication before his death, he mused, "I am just about to make a poor exit with it. So be it!" He died one year later.

Karl Barth was a rare breed of scholar whose thirst for knowledge would not allow him to settle doctrinal issues in youth and never think about them again. He remained theologically curious his entire life. We could all learn from his example.

Revelation from a Historical Critical Approach

2010-11-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I began a series on the book of Revelation. Abandoning the typical approaches, I have opted to teach the Apocalypse using an historical critical method. This means I will attempt to interpret it in its socio-political context and explain what it meant to the original readers. This, of course, is a departure from the spiritual, preterist, and futurist schools of hermeneutics. You can access the lessons via video streaming at: presidentsclass.org

Successful Defense of Dissertation

2010-11-29T15:36:00.001-08:00

I am happy to report that I successfully defended my PhD dissertation (University of Wales, UK)last week. It was a rigorous and grueling oral, lasting 2 hours, 45 minutes. The chair of the exam committee held a PhD from Oxford, as did my external examiner. My internal examiner held a PhD from Cambridge. My thesis was "The Lord's Supper in the context of first-century Roman domination was an anti-imperial praxis." While neither of my examiners necessarily viewed the supper in similar fashion, opting for a more traditional view, both believed that I presented a strong argument.

CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW TACKLES "INTERRACIALMARRIAGE"

2009-03-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

With the inauguration of President Barack Obama, a new era of race relations has begun in America. This child of a racially mixed marriage has captured the highest office of the land and the imaginations of people around the world. One cannot help but notice the complexion of America is changing. The face of our nation is transitioning from a predominately white one to various shades of tan.

The church, however, still struggles with interracial relationships, if not in theory, at least in practice. While Jesus loves the little children without distinction—red and yellow, black and white—his church, for the most part, reflects an equal but separate model of worship. Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week; but, things are slowly beginning to change.

As the racial identity of the nation becomes more blurred, so will the racial make-up of the church. Therefore, it is incumbent on seminary professors to equip future pastors to become effective leaders of a hybrid church. Additionally, those currently in ministry will soon find themselves dealing with matters for which they were not trained. Issues such as racially-diverse worship styles, multiracial leadership, interracial dating and mixed marriage are but a few of the challenges ahead.

The Spring 2009 edition of Criswell Theological Review focuses on the issue of interracial marriage. We have invited a group of experienced scholars to address the topic, including Craig Keener, Danny Hays, and Edwin Yamauchi, among others; plus, we feature an exclusive interview with Rodney Woo, pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, TX, who tells of the joys and difficulties of taking a declining white congregation and transforming it into a thriving multiracial church.

You can order the issue at" Criswelljournal.com

John Updike on the Resurrection

2009-01-28T07:34:00.000-08:00

Most Christians have heard of John Updike, the famed Pulitzer Prize author of poems and short stories, but few have ever read him. Fewer still know of the profound influence that Karl Barth had on his understanding of God and his perception of reality. Updike died yesterday in hospice after a bout with cancer. He was 76. Here is a poem he wrote nearly five decades on the resurrection.

SEVEN STANZAS OF EASTER

By John Updike

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

From Updike, John. "Telephone Poles and Other Poems" (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,1961).

NEW CTR COMES OFF PRESS

2008-04-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

The Spring 2008 Criswell Theological Review (CTR), of which I am editor, is now being mailed to subscribers. This edition of CTR deals exclusively with the explosive issue of "The Christian and Alcohol." Recently, the Southern Baptist Convention has had to address this matter at its annual meeting because so many of its pastors view social drinking as an acceptable practice among their parishioners. What do you think about the issue? How does the Scriptures handle the issue? CTR presents all sides of the controversy from a theological, historical, social and biblical perspective.

To get a glimpse of the Spring 08 CTR, go to: www.criswelljournal.com

Watch Video Streaming on Exegesis of Luke

2008-03-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

My Sunday morning exegetical messages on the Gospel of Luke can be viewed on the web at www.presidentsclass.org

These verse-by-verse teachings, which examine the text from an historical-critical perspective, show how Jesus' proclaiming and demonstrating the kingdom of God was central to his eschatological mission.

The website features about eight messages. Each Monday afternoon we place a new video online, and the oldest one is removed.

We offer these for your education and edification. Please tell other pastors and theological students about the website. We hope the messages will stimulate your thinking and motivate you to do further research on each passage.

After listening to the messages, please give me some feedback.

UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

2008-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

March

2, 9, 16, 23, 30 -- Teaching the Presidents Class, First Baptist Church (Dallas), 9:30 a.m. each Sunday

25 -- Criswell College chapel service, 10:00 a.m.

April

6, 13, 20, 27 -- Presidents Class FBC (Dallas), 9:30 a.m.

6 -- First Baptist Church (Dallas) evening service (6:00 p.m.).

Annexation, A Kingdom Perspective

2008-01-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

Last night the City Council of Rockwall, Texas, held public meetings to discuss annexation of 234 acres of land. Since my acre is included, I attended the hearing.

After many property owners voiced emotional pleas, asking the Council to exempt their property from annexation, I rose to speak. In a moment of clarity, I saw that the real issue was a clash between two kingdoms. The city had the legal right to annex our land and boost their tax base, and by golly they were going to do it whether we wanted them to or not. Forced annexation is a manifestation of governmental power and differs very little from the Roman system of domination. Therefore, I decided to approach the issue from a kingdom perspective.

Here are my comments:
____

Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. I can’t add much more to what has already been said; so, I wish to address the basic issue of justice and fairness. Sometimes what is legal is not fair or just.

When our forefathers declared their independence from Great Britain, they stated, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

By adding the adjective “just” to “power” they were making a moral argument, not a legal one. There is a different between “raw power” and “just power.” The latter is derived only from the consent of the governed.

When my wife and I moved to Rockwall County 15 years ago, we chose to live outside the city limits. Now our rights and desires are in jeopardy by this council who wants to annex us into the city without our consent.

Our precious next door neighbors were retired and on a fix income when we moved into our home 15 years ago. They no longer drive at night and are not here. Annexation will place an undo burden on these good people. With the current drop in property values and the anticipated recession will this couple, who still lives on the same fixed income as before, be able to pay the extra taxes and $10,000 sewer hookup required by annexation?

The city of Rockwall may exercise its legal power, but one must question whether it is “just,” since it is being done without the consent of the people? The issue is a moral one.

When the Republic of Texas was annexed (1845) into the United States of America it was done only with the consent of the citizens of Texas.

Consent is the founding principle upon which our nation was established and upon which “just power” is derived.

I appeal to your sense of fairness and justice. Annexation without consent is un-American and it is certainly not the Texan thing to do.

Speaking Schedule For Dec, Jan, Feb

2007-12-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER

Sunday Morning (9:30) Dec 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Presidents Class, FBC (Dallas, TX)

JANUARY

Sunday Morning (9:30) Jan 6, 13, 20, 27 Presidents Class, FBC (Dallas, TX)
Sunday Evening (5:45) Jan 13, Baptism, FBC (Dallas, TX)
Wednesday Evening (6:15) Jan 9, 16, 23, 30 Midweek Bible Study, FBC (Dallas, TX)

FEBRUARY

Sunday Morning (9:30) Feb 3, 10, 17, 24 Presidents Class, FBC (Dallas, TX)
Monday Evening (7:00) Feb 25 Annual Expository Preaching Conference (Plenary Speaker), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX)

Kingdom of God

2007-07-10T07:59:00.001-07:00

"I know a place
where sinners all are saints
Virgins once were whores
Where all the freaks and the geeks
And everything in between
Walk through the doors
To the Kingdom of the poor."
- Andrew Phillip Ehrenzeller

CONVERSIONS AND CONTROVERSY AT THE SBC ANNUAL MEETING

2007-06-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the annual Southern Baptist convention, which was held in San Antonio. Each year I take several students from Criswell College to the convention site to do evangelism. This year was no exception. Our team shared the gospel at a block party, in the park, door-to-door, on the streets, in front of the Alamo and at the Henry C. Gonzalez Convention Center. We handed out hundreds of tracts and spoke to scores of people about eternal matters. In all 18 people made professions of faith. One was an 82 year old Hispanic lady who came to Christ in her living room. When we did a follow-up visit we told her how happy we were for her, and she replied, "But not as happy as I am." A 50 year old man brought his son to the Saturday block party. Both came to Christ. Afterward, the father told us that he was an alcoholic, but had been dry for two months. Then he added, "I was contemplating going on a binge tonight. Now I have been delivered!" On our last day of witnessing one of our students led a 67 year old tourist to Christ in front of the Alamo. We shared the gospel with street people, security guards, concession and maintenance workers at the Convention Center, a few were up-and-outers, an atheist and several cops. Our students did a great job!

Back at the convention two opposing factions presented their understanding of the relationship between the various SBC agencies and the "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" (BF&M), the official doctrinal statement of the Southern Baptist Convention. The main question was, "How should one view the BF&M -- as a minimalist or maximalist statement? The former means that the BF&M is the "least" one must believe to be a Southern Baptist; the latter means it is the "most" one must believe. . The minimalist position allows for SBC agencies to add requirements, to which their employees must adhere, like abstaining from alcohol or abstaining from the practice of speaking in tongues. The maximalist position declares that the BF&M is all one must believe to be hired by an SBC agency. The latter position won the day in a motion presented by Missouri pastor Rick Garner. It received a 57% favorable vote from the floor. This surprise outcome will lead to heated debate in the months ahead. Stay tuned.

Wedding Over and Moving Full Steam Ahead

2007-05-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

This past week has brought another school year to a dramatic close. I was installed at graduation as the W. A. Criswell Professor of Expository Preaching, delivered the commencement address, traveled to Glen Rose, Texas to attend and help officiate at my son Daniel's wedding, watched the Jerry Falwell funeral, entertained out of town guests, and preached. This summer is going to be very busy. Besides preaching each week, taking a group of students on a mission trip, and teaching international students at the Global Proclamation Academy (held on the campus of DTS) for Ramesh Richard, I will also attempt to complete writing my dissertation on "The Kingdom-driven Church: Evangelism and Ecclesiology in Eschatological Perspective."

Research for the dissertation has become a joyous, although strenuous adventure. I completed my first Ph.D. in 1982; so, this has been a lot of work for an old man! In the course of the past three years I have read nearly 400 books on the subject and untold journal articles and commentaries. I believe I have a real grasp of the kingdom and hope I will be able to make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge now available. My main objective is to relate kingdom theology to the local church.

The kingdom of God is now my passion. The Lord willing, I wish to devote the remainder of my academic life to kingdom studies. If the kingdom was the focus of Jesus' ministry, it should be ours as well.

The Apologetics Study Bible

2007-05-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

Word arrived today from Broadman and Holman that The Apologetics Study Bible is in the final edit and will be released on October 1, 2007. I was responsible for writing "The Twisted Scriptures" commentaries section. These are comments on verses the cults misinterpret to promote their false doctrines. Each note will be offset in a display box near the text in question.

This volume will be a valuable resource for pastors, Sunday School teachers, student leaders, and lay people who want to defend the faith against cults and heresies.

You will be able to order your copy of The Apologetics Study Bible from Amazon or CBD at a discount.

Jerry Falwell is Dead? Don't Believe it!

2007-05-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Dwight L. Moody said, "One day you will hear reports that D. L. Moody is dead. Don't believe it. I will be more alive then than ever before!"

Likewise, Dr. Jerry Falwell is more alive now than ever!

According the Associated Press reports, Dr. Falwell collapsed in his office this morning at 10:45, was rushed to the hospital, and never regained consciousness.

I have met Dr. Falwell on several occasions. Last fall he and I were the plenary speakers at the West Virginia Baptist Evangelism Conference. We sat together, laughed, and then we preached.

Dr. Falwell was an extraordinary man. He rose to fame, but never forgot his common roots. He always had time to speak to the "least of these my brethren." His humble heart and servant spirit is what endeared him to so many. He shared the gospel at every opportunity, especially when being interviewed on national TV.

Dr. Falwell, you will be missed. But we are right behind. See you soon!

Commencement Address

2007-05-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I delivered the 2007 commencement address to the graduating class at Criswell College, Dallas, Texas. I spoke on Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus invites 1) the toilsome and burdened to come to him for rest (the rest of salvation)and 2) to take his yoke and learn of him and thus find rest (the rest of service). I challenged the graduates to go forth with more than their B.A., the first two letters of the alphabet, but to be equipped with them all A-Z, which is found in Jesus alone, the Alpha and Omega.

Earlier in the ceremony, I was officially installed as The W. A. Criswell Chair of Expository Preaching, a position named in honor of the college's founder. Criswell College is known for training students to exegete a text, prepare and deliver an effective expository message. Dr. Criswell was one of the best expositors among twentieth century Southern Baptists. I feel a great responsibility to our students and the Board of Trustees at the college to carry on his legacy.

TEN REASONS FRANK BECKWITH BECAME A ROMAN CATHOLIC

2007-05-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

As you have heard by now, Frank Beckwith, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University and unto recently, President of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), has been officially accepted back into membership of the Roman Catholic Church. News of his conversion to Rome shocked evangelicals throughout North America and caused them to ask, “Why would Beckwith switch from Baptist to Catholic?” The opinions have varied among internet bloggers. Finally, Beckwith came out with the “official” story. But is that the true story?

In the spirit of David Letterman, we offer ten alternative reasons for his return to Rome. We start with the least plausible (Reason #10) and move to the most convincing (Reason #1). If you have other explanations, please feel free to respond.

Ten Reasons why Frank Beckwith Became a Catholic:

Reason #10 – Old habits never die: Frank couldn’t find a Baptist church where he could play Bingo.

Reason #9 – Health reasons: Frank found all the genuflection in the liturgy quite reinvigorating. He plans to drop 10 pounds easy in his first year of Masses.

Reason #8 – Economics: Since the Catholic Church does not require a tithe; Frank will boost his annual income by 7% .

Reason #7 – To ease his conscience: As a Catholic he can now drink “fermented” communion wine without scrutiny.

Reason #6 – His love for seafood: Frank missed the Friday fish dinners at the local Catholic Church.

Reason #5 – To mastermind a coup: Frank hopes his move to Rome, while maintaining his membership in ETS, will inspire Roman Catholics to join and take over ETS.

Reason # 4 – His emotional stability: The trauma of putting together the 2006 national ETS led to a complete mental breakdown and this irrational behavior.

Reason # 3 – Altruism: In the spirit of brotherly love, Frank wanted to provide Norm Geisler with a subject for a new book project.

Reason #2 – A Damascus Road experience: While listening to last year’s Presidential speech by Ed Yamauchi, Frank fell into a trance and had a vision of the Pope calling him back home to Rome.

Reason #1 – Conspiracy: Frank never really left the Catholic Church, but was actually a Jesuit priest spying on evangelicals for Rome. The forthcoming Chick tract will tell the whole story.

CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW HOT OFF THE PRESS

2007-04-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

The Spring 2007 issue of Criswell Theological Review(CTR)is hot off the press! The theme is "War and Peace." Few topics produce as much passionate discussion among Christians. The prolonged conflict in Iraq has fueled the fires of debate even more. To address this controversial and complex topic CTR invited several experts to write pro and con on just war theory and pacifism. To preview this issue go to www.criswelljournal.com.

In the lead article J. Daryl Charles, Associate Professor of Religion at Union University (Jackson, TN), presents a strong case for just war theory by appealing to the Scriptures and the Church fathers for support, while arguing that Pacifists misinterpret both sources in an attempt to defend their view. Charles then makes a distinction between force and violence, and contends the use of the first is justified to bring about peace or free oppressed people, while the latter is not.

Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (Nashville, TN), applies seven standards of just war theory to three real-life scenarios. After examining and analyzing the human rights abuses in Korea, Rwanda, and Darfur, he asks if the international community had a moral obligation to step in and take forceful action to rescue the millions who suffered under those totalitarian regimes. His conclusions may surprise you.

With disenchantment growing over the war efforts, many Christians are beginning to take a fresh look at pacifism. Tim Erdel, Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Bethel College (Mishawaka, IN), asserts that the term “just war” is an oxymoron and then presents a list of fourteen considerations, which he says will lead open-minded Christians to embrace pacifism. Erdel presents one of the strongest arguments for pacifism you will ever read.

Stanley Hauerwas, the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School (Durham, NC), named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time Magazine, is one of the most provocative writers of our day. In his article, “Sacrificing the Sacrifices of War,” Hauerwas takes a look at the effects killing has upon those soldiers who actually do the killing. He argues that in Christ God has created a new community which expects the resurrection and therefore has no need (or right) to kill and wage war for its survival, but instead seeks to reconcile enemies, even at the cost of death. In doing so, this community follows the example of its Lord and witnesses to the new reality of God’s kingdom.

Our final article, “War and Peace in Christian Hymnody,” is a real delight. David W. Music, Professor of Church Music, Baylor University (Waco, TX) does an excellent job culling the hymns for military imagery. He then establishes the scriptural basis for military language in hymns and shows how the writers use such language to portray Christianity as a life and death commitment. Music balances his study with an examination of many hymns which deal with peace.

Subscription to CTR is $25 per year.

2007-03-23T05:56:00.001-07:00

Recently Dr. Jerry Johnson asked if I would consider serving a new position at the college. Here is a news release, which tells the story:

Streett Named to Endowed Chair of Expository Preaching

President Jerry Johnson and the Board of Trustees of Criswell College (Dallas, Texas) are pleased to announce the election of R. Alan Streett as Professor of the W. A. Criswell Chair of Expository Preaching. This endowed position is named in memory of the late W. A. Criswell, who served as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas (1944 to 2002) and devoted his life to the mastery and promotion of verse-by-verse expository preaching.

Streett, the author of The Effective Invitation (Kregel), a text dealing with persuasive preaching, has served fifteen years as Professor of Evangelism and Pastoral Ministry and will assume the position immediately. An official installation service will be held on May 12, 2007, during the Criswell College graduation ceremony, where he will deliver the commencement address.

Recently Streett revealed plans to launch in 2009 the annual "W. A.
Criswell School of the Prophets" in celebration of the centennial year of Dr. Criswell's birth. This national conference will include plenary sessions featuring America's best known preachers and seminars designed to help pastors prepare and deliver expository sermons.

Criswell College is a regionally accredited school offering degrees at both the bachelor and master levels. It is also the custodian of the W.
A. Criswell legacy project, an internet depository of more than 2.500 of Dr. Criswell's sermons, which can be accessed at www.wacriswell.com .

For more information about Criswell College or the W. A. Criswell Endowed Chair of Expository Preaching, please contact Criswell College, 4010 Gaston Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75246.

NEW CTR READY FOR PRESS

2007-03-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

A new issue of Criswell Theological Review (Spring 07, 4.2), dealing with "War and Peace," is edited and ready for printer. It features articles by Daryl Charles and Richard Land, Stanley Hauerwas, and others who tackle various aspects of just war theory and pacifism. You can order a copy online at criswelljournal.com via Paypal.

I have included a review on Cecil Wayne Cone's book The Identity Crisis in Black Theology. Here is a preview:

The Identity Crisis in Black Theology. By Cecil Wayne Cone. Nashville: AMEC, 2003, 140 pp., $20.00, hardcover.

This is a revised and expanded edition of Cecil Wayne Cone’s 1975 book of the same title, originally written as a response to the burgeoning Black Theology movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which was founded ironically by his famous brother, James H. Cone, the Griggs Professor of Theology at Union Theological Seminary (NY). Cecil Cone constructively critiques the ideas of his brother and those of other key spokespersons for the movement.

According to the author, all attempts to develop Black Theology apart from understanding or considering the “black religious experience” produce little more than fanciful and at times, radical social and political theories. Cone describes the essence of the black religious experience as “an encounter with an Almighty Sovereign God” that results in conversion (p. 75).

In chapter 1 Cone briefly traces contemporary black theology back to the late 1960s and introduces us to three key thinkers—his brother James Cone, Joseph Washington, and J. Deotis Roberts, whose writings he will critically examine in later chapters.

In chapter 2, entitled “Black Religion: The Foundation of Black Theology,” Cone demonstrates that Black Theology begins and ends with God. Even in Africa, blacks had an awareness of a creator god. After being enslaved and brought to America, they were introduced to Christianity. White slaveholders initially wanted to evangelize their slaves, possibly thinking this would turn the “heathen” into more docile subjects. Instead, biblical teaching introduced the slaves to the Israelites who, like themselves, had been oppressed by tyrannical masters. Through the preaching of the gospel, masses were converted and experienced an inward freedom from the bonds of sin. Though still slaves in the flesh, they were a new creation and no longer defined by the slave system but by their relationship to God. They viewed Jesus as their Deliverer and King who would one day also set them free from physical oppression. While waiting for this promise to be realized, they sang praises to God for present salvation, addressed their questions and complaints to Him, and when faced with untold hardship and even death, they followed Christ’s example, knowing that resurrection lay ahead.

There were exceptions. In 1831, Nat Turner, a recent convert and zealot, believed God had called him to lead an uprising against the whites in Virginia, which resulted in fifty-one people being killed. Turner was tried, convicted and hanged. As a result, many slaveholders kept their slaves from attending church or reading the Bible, fearing such practices would motivate others to rebel (p. 56).

Chapters 3 through 5 examine the ideas of three leading black theologians. In chapter 3, Cone interacts with James Washington, the author of several Black Theology books, and challenges him on three points. First, his premise that black religious organizations are mere imitations of white religion (p. 70); second, his attempt to reduce black religious experience to a quest for social, economic and political freedom, along with his failure to grasp its supernatural and conversional aspects (p. 74); third, his call to develop a theology of Black Power (pp. 78–79).

Cone delays his sharpest criticisms until chapter 4, where he takes on his brother James Cone. He admits that “the sound and tone” of his brother’s early writings are “that of an angry black militant,” who equates blackness with Christ and whiteness with antichrist (p. 81), and calls upon blacks to embrace “Black Power,” a term first coined by Adam Clayton Powell in 1965 and popularized a year later by Stokely Carmichael (p. 83), which eventually came to mean blacks separating from whites. “The overriding motif of Cone’s work is that of liberation.” (p. 81) Cone’s “Black Power,” which he equates with Black Theology, is zealotry at its worst, and calls for armed violence and revolution. Black Theology, he asserts, “came into being when black churchmen realized that killing slavemasters was doing the work of God.” (p. 88) It is exactly here that Cone deviates from the Scriptures. He would prefer Moses kill the Egyptian soldier than depend on Yahweh for deliverance.

The difference between authentic Christianity and Black Power can be seen in the way Jesus faces the cross. Rather than raising a sword of self-deliverance, He trusts God, knowing His Father may choose to send a myriad of angels to deliver Him from crucifixion or may choose to raise Him from the dead.

This does not mean that James Cone gets everything wrong. He recognizes that Western, post-Constantinian Christianity has veered far from its origins and has distorted the gospel. Unfortunately, he has little to replace it with except revolution. Cecil Cone closes the chapter on his brother with the hope that he will rediscover the black religious experience of his youth, one which is infused with the supernatural and leads to conversion (pp. 98–99).

While this reviewer found little upon which to disagree with J. Deotis Roberts, Cone finds two points of contention. First, he calls Roberts to task because he calls upon blacks to view Jesus as the universal messiah, not merely as a “black Jesus.” Second, he believes Roberts’s view that reconciliation and intercommunication between blacks and whites constitute “the primary task of Black Theology” again missing the essence of the black religious experience.

When Cone and other black theologians speak of a “black Jesus” they do not mean that the historical Jesus was a black man, but that he stood with the blacks, not the white oppressors. This implies that salvation for whites must also come through the “black” Jesus, not through a Jesus of their own making, who has little semblance to the Jesus of the Bible. The “black” Jesus offers hope of liberation to the oppressed of the ages, which is accomplished through supernatural intervention and not through political struggle or man-made schemes.

Though not mentioned, a question that begs to be answered is, “When slavery ruled in the South, where were God’s prophets? Why were there so few dissenting voices in the church?”

This book is essential reading for those not familiar with Black Theology and for those who wish to understand it from a scriptural and historical perspective

CULLMANN MAKES A COMEBACK!

2007-01-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

Kudos to Wipf and Stock publishers who plans to reprint nearly all of Oscar Cullmann's books, beginning with his classic CHRIST AND TIME. Cullmann, a premiere NT scholar in the mid-20th century, emphasized the concepts of "salvation history" and "Already/Not Yet" eschatology. Born in Germany in 1902, he lived until 1999. He taught at Basel and the Sorbonne. This reprint project will introduce Cullmann to an entire generation of scholars "who knew not Cullmann." Among Cullmann's more memorable works are:

Baptism in the New Testament
Christ and Time
The Christology of the New Testament
Early Christian Worship
Salvation in History
The Immortality of the Soul or the Resurrection of the Body: The Witness of the New Testament
The State in the New Testament
Jesus and the Revolutionaries
Peter

BAH. HUMBUG!

2006-12-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

Evangelical Christians are an unusual lot, especially at Christmas time. I am always amused how a significant minority eschew Christmas on the premise that its origins can be traced to the Roman Catholic Church. Others celebrate the holiday, while lamenting its secularization, pointing out that “X” has even replaced “Christ” in Christmas!

Such claims, which have no foundation in fact, somehow find their way into evangelical thinking, and in turn influence one’s perspective of Christmas. Over the next few days we will examine these and many similar assertions and show that they fall far short of truth. Today we look at the first two.

CLAIM 1: CHRISTMAS IS A ROMAN CATHOLIC HOLIDAY

This claim is based on the thesis that the word Christmas is derived from Christ-mass, and is thus linked to the Catholic sacrament of holy mass. This conclusion, however, is erroneous.

Any authorized dictionary will reveal that the English word “mass” evolved over the years from the Anglo-Saxon maesse, which in turn was derived from the Latin missa, meaning “to send.” Consequently the etymological meaning of Christmas is “Christ is sent.” Therefore, the term actually represents the true nature of the holiday. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman . . .” (Gal. 4:4).

CLAIM 2: CHRIST HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM CHRISTMAS

While some fearful retailers have instructed their store clerks to greet shoppers with the less offensive “Happy Holiday” rather than the traditional “Merry Christmas,” the “X” in Christmas is not a secular substitute for Christ.

A number of years ago George Beverly Shea wrote a popular Christmas song that went like this: “Don’t wish me a Merry Xmas or a happy holiday. Put Christ back into Christmas on this happy holy day.” While the catchy lyrics are still being sung today, they are based on an erroneous claim that “X” in Xmas is an irreverent attempt to remove Christ from Christmas. The facts prove otherwise.

Xmas has a long history. X is the Greek letter chi (pronounced ki) and is the first letter in the Greek word Christos. The early church used it regularly as an abbreviation for Christ, just as we use “W” to refer to George Bush. Abbreviations such as FDR, JFK, or LBJ are used commonly as a device to shorten a word or words, while retaining the clear identity of the person.

Wycliffe, Tyndale and a host of other devoted Christians throughout church history have abbreviated the name Christ with the simple use of X. Obviously they were not attempting to remove Christ from their vocabulary. Xmas has been a legitimate way of referring to Christmas since the first century until now.

The next time you see Xmas scrawled across a display window or written in big green or red letters on a banner over the perfume counter; use the occasion to explain to the sales person the origin of the word. It will make for a great witnessing opportunity.

George Bush's America and the Kingdom of God

2006-10-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

I will be presenting a paper this year at ETS (Washington, DC) entitled "George Bush's America and the Kingdom of God." It will be given on Thursday November 17 in the Grant Room at 11:00 a.m.

The topic of discussion will center on a Christian's responsibility to government and whether or not there is a conflict between one's allegiance to the Kingdom of God and the State. It should stimulate a lot of scholarly discussion.

Hopefully, attendees will find their way to the session, since the time and place of the presentation have been changed.

Criswell Theological Review Tackles Tongues

2006-10-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

The Fall 2006 edition of the Criswell Theological Review (CTR), of which I serve as Editor, examines the "tongues controversy" that has recently rocked the Southern Baptist Convention. Both the International Mission Board (IMB) and the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX) have taken a strong stand against tongues. CTR has invited a group of scholars to write pro and con articles on the validity of speaking in tongues. Additionally, the Editor has conducted an exclsuive interview with Tom Hatley, former Chair of the IMB when the anti-tongues policy was proposed and passed.

A few articles will appear on the CTR website in the near future. You can access them at: www.criswelljournal.com

Hopefully. you will get your appetite wet and want to subscribe to CTR.

Walter Rauschenbusch's Version of the "Kingdom of God"

2006-04-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

On his Jesus Creed blog Scot McKnight got a conversation going about Walter Rauschenbusch being an emergent forerunner. Hopefully, the following two book reviews will add to the discussion. In them, I compare and contrast the ministries of Walter Rauschenbush and A. T. Pierson, two early twentieth century stalwarts, the former a modernist and the latter a fundamentalist, but both captured by the kingdom of God.
________________

Occupy until I Come: A. T. Pierson and the Evangelization of the World. By Dana L. Robert. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003, 322 pp., $32.00. The Kingdom Is Always but Coming: A Life of Walter Rauschenbusch. By Christopher C. Evans. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004, 348 pp., $25.00.

These latest volumes in the Library of Religious Biography offer a vivid comparison and contrast between two of America’s most influential Christian leaders during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Arthur Tappan Pierson, recognized as the “Father of Fundamentalism,” was a successful pastor and missionary promoter whose concern for souls and strong social consciousness led him to minister both evangelistically and practically to the urban poor. Likewise, Walter Rauschenbusch, later dubbed the “Father of the Social Gospel,” had a similar two-fold approach to ministry. Both men, native New Yorkers, traced their theological roots to Puritanism and Pietism, wrote gospel hymns, served inner-city pastorates, befriended the wealthy, and focused the latter half of their ministries on bringing in the Kingdom.

In time, their theological perspectives changed. Pierson abandoned postmillennialism to become a leading spokesman for the nascent fundamentalist movement. Rauschenbusch, while continuing to affirm the need for individual conversion, picked up the gauntlet of liberalism and became its leading proponent in North America. Rauschenbusch was a lifelong Baptist; whereas, Pierson, a lifelong Presbyterian, submitted to believer’s baptism at the age of fifty-eight.

Occupy until I Come is a well-researched and thorough treatment of the life and ministry of A. T. Pierson. It traces his life from his days as a student at Union Theological Seminary to his writing of five articles for The Fundamentals, conservatism’s answer to higher criticism. Dana Robert, Professor of World Mission at Boston University, demonstrates her familiarity with Pierson’s fifty books and thousands of articles, and draws from them often to piece together Pierson’s illustrious career as a pastor, apologist, missionary strategist, prolific writer, and conference speaker. By the end of the book, the reader comes away with a profound respect for both Pierson and Robert.

Pierson was reared in New York City in a family with strong Christian and abolitionist roots. As a postmillennialist, Pierson initially believed that the church could bring in the Kingdom of God by aggressively Christianizing the world. His views changed, however, when the famous British man of faith George Mueller sat him down and explained that the Bible predicted perilous times and apostasy for the last days; a far cry from ushering in the Kingdom. Pierson became an avid premillennialist (although he never embraced a belief in a pre-tribulation rapture).

Robert points out that this was just one of several theological crises in Pierson’s life. Others included his receiving a “baptism in the Spirit” (not of the speaking in tongues variety) during the 1857-58 Businessmen’s Prayer Movement. Another came at the age of forty, while serving as pastor of the largest church in Detroit. After attending a series of evangelistic messages, Pierson realized he was prideful and greedy, and had sought the approval of the rich. As a result, he started living by faith, depending on the Lord to meet his needs. Then came his revelation in 1885, based on Matthew 24:14 and 2 Peter 3:12 that the coming of the Kingdom could be hastened by aggressive evangelism. He resigned his pastorate and took to the road as a missionary conference speaker calling for “the evangelization of the world in this generation.” Another crisis, but certainly not the last, came when he chose to be baptized by immersion. This led to his expulsion from the Philadelphia Presbytery. Each crisis led Pierson to more fully dedicate his life to the Lord’s service.

Through Robert’s meticulous research and clear explanations, the modern reader gains much insight into many nineteenth century American church customs, movements and practices, such as the pew rental system, the Women’s Temperance Movement, the influence of dispensationalism on missions, and the sense that industrialization was driving a wedge between management and labor. Many evangelicals, including Pierson, were social activists who believed that the rich had a moral responsibility for the welfare of the poor.

As a missionary speaker A. T. Pierson influenced Robert Speer, Samuel Zwemer, and John R. Mott to give their lives to missions. He was also the keynote speaker at the Mount Hermon conference of 1886, where 100 young men answered the call to missions. The Student Volunteer Movement traces its beginning to this meeting.

Besides his contributions to missions, Pierson’s most notable legacy was his commitment to orthodoxy. When liberalism began sweeping through the mainline denominations, Pierson joined other concerned Christian leaders in publishing The Fundamentals, a series of booklets designed to “contend for the faith” and answer the critics of Christianity. Because of his prolific pen and apologetic abilities, Pierson was invited to write five of the major articles. Each booklet was distributed free to pastors throughout America. This marked the beginning of the Modernist-Fundamentalist split in American churches. In time, the booklets were combined into a twelve volume set of books, which are still available today in a five volume set. Because of his contribution to the cause, Pierson was often called the “Father of Fundamentalism.” Unfortunately, Robert devotes only two pages (282-283) to this major event. She could have introduced the reader to R. A. Torrey and the other stalwarts who contributed to The Fundamentals and explained how, if any, they interacted on the project.

On two occasions Pierson successfully served as pastor of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. He spent the final two decades of his life “on the road,” the last ten devoted to teaching believers how to live victoriously. He was a favorite speaker at the Keswick conferences in England.

Robert has written a superb book. It should be read by all who wish to understand the contribution A. T. Pierson made to the cause of Christ.

++++++

The Kingdom Is Always but Coming by Christopher H. Evans, Associate Professor of Church History at Crozer Divinity School, is the informative biography of William Rauschenbusch, who was a contemporary of and lived in close proximity to A. T. Pierson. Ironically, Evans holds the same teaching position at Crozer that Rauschenbusch did a century earlier when the school was known as Rochester Theological Seminary. Drawing upon a treasure trove (180 boxes) of letters between Walter Rauschenbusch and his contemporaries, personal diaries, unpublished documents, and newspaper clippings, plus interviews conducted with family members, Evans gives us an intimate look into Rauschenbusch’s life and thinking. We glimpse into his heart for evangelism, his agony over his own children not being converted, his belief that the Social Gospel was the authentic gospel (“faith without works is dead”) and his understanding that the Kingdom of God was the cornerstone of Christianity. Rauschenbusch believed that the rediscovery of the Kingdom of God was as important for the modern church as justification by faith was for the Reformers.

The Kingdom Is Always but Coming is the third book written about Rauschenbusch in the past sixty years, and of the three it is the definitive biography. The first, Walter Rauschenbusch (Macmillan, 1942) by Doris Sharpe, paints her subject in glowing terms. Evans avoids such a temptation by showing Rauschenbusch’s weaknesses as well as strengths, his legitimate contributions as well as his controversial theories. For example, because of his German ancestry, Rauschenbusch had divided loyalties during WWI and called for American neutrality; he embraced religious pluralism toward the end of his life, possibly because his children were outside the fold; he became the leader in the Men and Religious Forward Movement, a 1910 version of the Promise Keepers; he petitioned the local government to build New York’s first public playgrounds; he believed a woman’s place was in the home (despite his daughter becoming a feminist); he called for a redistribution of wealth; and he stated that “the religions of Jesus and Paul were antithetical to each other” (278).

Paul Minus’s Walter Rauschenbusch: American Reformer (Macmillan, 1988) was much more factual and scholarly than Ms. Sharpe’s, but lacked some of the research data available to Evans.

Evans forcefully presents Rauschenbusch as a man in pursuit of the Kingdom, who believed that as more converts were won to Christ, the social conditions of the world would improve, setting the stage for the second coming. America would lead the way by ushering in the Kingdom. It was incumbent upon the church therefore to promote and live by Kingdom ethics. This involved promoting justice and standing for the poor. The love of Christ was to be manifested in our actions. This was often costly to the Christian, but it was through a life of vicarious suffering that God would bring about societal reconciliation and final redemption. Through two major books and numerous scholarly articles, Rauschenbusch called upon his academic and ministerial colleagues to promote “Social Christianity.” This teaching was brought down to the lay level by Charles Sheldon’s book, In His Steps, which asked the question, “What would Jesus do?”

One wishes Evans would have dealt more with the relationship between Rauschenbusch and Augustus Hopkins Strong, the noted “New Light” Calvinist theologian and president of Rochester Theological Seminary. Despite being apprehensive about Rauschenbusch’s acceptance of the moral view of the atonement and his questioning of the Old Testament’s divine authority, Strong brought him on as a faculty member. Although not stated, this may have been out of kindness to Rauschenbusch’s father who was one of the seminary’s founders. By the end of his presidency, Strong who himself flirted for a while with liberal theology, filled half of the seminary’s teaching positions with liberals. At the close of his life, he regretted it.

Like many biographers, Evans has difficulty at times presenting a clear chronological narrative. When dealing with certain major themes in Rauschenbusch’s life, Evans is forced to jump ahead of his story to carry out the train of thought. In the next chapter, he turns back the clock. This leaves the reader to sort things out chronologically.

Evans briefly mentions a few fundamentalist’s reactions to Rauschenbusch’s theological writings. Much more was needed in this area. Did he have friends in the opposite camp? Did he ever correspond with or debate his theological adversaries? Evans mentions only two: Pastor I. D. Haldeman (FBC, New York City), who believed Rauschenbusch’s theology was “clearly outside the boundaries of biblical Christianity” (225) and Pastor William Bell Riley, who Evans fails to identify as pastor of FBC, Minneapolis and President of Northwestern Schools. This reviewer knows from other reading that Rauschenbusch spoke on occasion for the Student Volunteer Movement. How did this relationship change as the Modernist-Fundamentalist debate heated up in the early 1900s? Did Rauschenbusch and Pierson ever cross paths?

Overall these deficiencies are minor and only concern the hard-nosed student of history.

When Walter Rauschenbusch died of colon cancer in 1918, postmillennialism was also in the throes of death. WWI had unofficially turned the idealistic theology on its head. Until his last breath, however, Rauschenbusch was looking for the Kingdom. A half-century later, Martin Luther King, a graduate of Crozer Theological Seminary, said that Rauschenbusch’s writings gave him the theological basis for non-violence.

The Kingdom Is Always but Coming is a fascinating read and helps us to understand the evolution of the Social Gospel in America. For many evangelicals this book will be an eye-opener. It shows how a conservative theologian becomes a liberal. This reviewer, however, came away liking Walter Rauschenbusch, despite his flaws. Rauschenbusch the man has a lot to offer evangelicals. He never lost sight of the Kingdom of God nor its ethical implications for the Church. Additionally, he was forever an evangelist, calling upon sinners to repent and be converted. If Walter Rauschenbusch were alive today, he might be considered part of the broader evangelical camp, not someone who could join the Evangelical Theological Society, but one whose books would be read by its members.

Those desiring to understand the early development of American evangelicalism and modernism, as seen through the eyes of their respective leaders, will find Occupy until I Come and The Kingdom Is Already but Coming very helpful.

Criswell Theological Review -- Providing for an Honest Dialogue

2006-04-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

As editor of the Criswell Theoligical Review, I receive many letters about our journal. Our Spring '06 issue on "The Emergent Church" stirred quite a conversation among bloggers. Recently, I received an email asking where CTR (and its sponsor Criswell College) stands on emergent. Here was my reply:
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Thanks for your inquiry. Neither CTR nor the Criswell College takes an "official" stand on emergent. I imagine our faculty is split on the issue. CTR is an academic journal which seeks to explore various theological issues and trends from a scholarly perspective. We have covered such topics as Open Theism, New Perspective on Paul, Kingdom of God, etc. Our Fall '06 CTR will deal with tongues (the recent tongues controversy within the SBC and the 100th anniversary of the Azusa Street revival make this a relevant issue).

As editor of CTR, I believe I have a responsibility to present all sides of an issue, allowing the honest reader to evaluate the articles on the validity of their claims. In this manner, truth has a way of surfacing. For example, the CTR reader who approaches the emergent articles with an open mind should be able to compare and evaluate the arguments of each writer. This is why we place both pro and con articles in our journal (Hammett, Smith and Driscoll write critically of the movement. McLaren, Mills and Webber write in favor of it).

I personally believe that those on both sides of most issues often talk past each other. Each starts with certain presuppositions (which may or may not be valid) and works out from there. As a result, they have already settled certain issues in their minds, and do not want to be challenged by or give ground to the other side. Additionally, they make judgments without actually reading the other side's writings; thus, making honest inquiry impossible. I know this is true with many emergent critics, especially among the clergy. They would rather follow their leaders than read the primary sources for themselves. In this way they don't have to think. It is equally true with the pro-emergents. While the leadership may grasp the issues, the rest simply follow.

CTR hopes to challenge the status quo. If read in its entirety, the pro/con articles in CTR may be the first time a person hears both sides of an issue. In this way, we hope to make a contribution to the dialogue.

Alan Streett, Editor
Criswell Theological Review