Receiving and Giving

Date August 9, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Here are some helpful things for you, followed by a way you can help others…

Scott of valueofthekingdom.blogspot.com has been interacting with me on the atonement issue. Look below his recents posts on that subject to find some great FREE audio resources such as Grudem's Christian Essentials Sunday school class, tons of John Piper, and a few great conferences.

My C.S. Lewis blog, “Never Enough Tea,” is alive again and if you blog about it I might give you The Quotable Lewis edited by Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root, signed by Jerry Root. Get the details here.

Obviously the most urgent needs of Hurricane Katrina victims were food and shelter. As they rebuild, they also have other needs, such as good books to fill the libraries that were destroyed. Improving literacy will have long-term postive benefits, so helping with this cause will go a long way. Please consider donating to the Million Books for Kids Campaign to help out.

Category Posted in Main Page, Miscellaneous, Roger's Posts Comments 1 Comment »

What Is Mark Driscoll's View of Atonement?

Date August 8, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

In my last post I made the claim that Mark Driscoll does not
hold the traditional Reformed view of Limited Atonement. Instead, he calls his
position “Unlimited Limited Atonement.” In this post I will simply be providing
evidence that his view is not the Reformed view, not arguing whether or not his
view is correct.

The crux of the issue is the definition of atonement. Most
simply, atonement means reconciliation between God and man. As Christians, we
believe we are saved because Christ’s death on the cross had an atoning
benefit- we are no longer at war with God but are reconciled to him.

Two views of atonement are typically discussed (particularly
in Driscoll’s sermon). Arminianism teaches that by His death Christ reconciled
all men to Him, meaning every man, women and child throughout human history.
This is usually called Unlimited Atonement. Calvinism/Reformed Theology teaches
that Christ reconciled all of the elect to Him, all people throughout history
whom God had predestined to be saved. This is typically called Limited or
Particular Atonement.

On November 20, 2005, Mark Driscoll preached the eighth
sermon in a series on “Christ on the Cross” called Unlimited Limited Atonement.
In the sermon Driscoll lays out 5 positions on atonement. A text summary of his
sermon is available as well as the full audio.

In the audio, Driscoll puts it this way: “As to the ‘L,’ we
believe both. That Jesus died for all and in a saving way for some.” He means
by this that everyone receives benefits by the death of Christ on the cross,
but only the elect receive a saving benefit. The Reformed view is that there
are other benefits from Christ’s death that everyone experiences; we call this
common grace (as one blogger noted John Piper’s presentation of this). However,
where Driscoll errors is in calling this atonement. Christ only atoned for the
sins of the elect; atonement on the Reformed view is not applied in an
unlimited fashion.

Driscoll goes further: “Therefore, Modified Calvinists
like the Mars Hill elders do not believe anything different than Arminians; we
simply believe what they believe and more.” In other words, he believes Christ
atonement for all and particularly for the elect. Such a view, apart from not
making any sense, is not the Reformed view. Unlimited Limited and Limited
Atonement, contra Driscoll, are diametrically opposed when properly understood.
His position may be equally, or perhaps better, identified as Modified Arminianism.

Category Posted in Main Page, Roger's Posts, Theology Comments 19 Comments »

Another Response to Phillip Johnson

Date August 5, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

I’m grateful for Phillip Johnson’s “short answer” to my
criticisms. I didn’t think a clear distinction was made in his original post
between emerging and emergent, but I appreciate him clarifying that in his
coda.

PJ said: “But it's premature and ill-advised to try to spin
the Emergents off and pretend they constitute a whole separate movement
with absolutely no relationship to the larger “Emerging
Conversation.”” I agree. As I noted, all of the examples he originally gave
are part of the “emerging conversation.” The problem I’m raising is that saying
someone’s part of the “conversation” doesn’t tell me enough about their beliefs
to judge whether or not they’re heretics.

“Emerging” is used in too many different ways to accurately
be used as a heretical label. It’s been used to describe the early church,
churches built by missionaries in other cultures, culturally sensitive churches
(my preferred usage), and culturally embracive churches.

Johnson seems stuck on Driscoll as the sole relatively
conservative voice in the “emerging conversation.” While I agree that the
majority are heading in the wrong direction, there are more on the conservative
side of the spectrum than Johnson seems willing to admit. Dan Kimball and Timothy
Keller, for example, are still popular in the conversation and still orthodox.
He’s right that Andrew Jones is a more fitting figurehead for mainstream
“emerging” than Driscoll, but Driscoll is still a prominent voice.

My main point here is that it’s not helpful to point at
heretics in the conversation and therefore stop engaging in it. Is the
conversation going anywhere? Probably not (hopefully not if they follow
McLaren), but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it, and it doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t try to be helpful to those who are in it. Even if the majority in the
conversation are wrong-headed, I’m not convinced the majority are heretical.
Since the movement is so reluctant to being self-critical (as Johnson had
rightfully pointed out), we should be more engaged as critical voices. Lets
label deserving individuals heretics (e.g. Burke), but let’s encourage the
masses toward historical-orthodox Christianity instead of dismissing them all
together.

PJ: “And Driscoll's dream that “Reformed”
doctrine can be successfully blended with postmodern epistemologies and/or
dialectical methodologies is likewise hopelessly naïve, in my estimation.” I
also agree here, since Driscoll denies Limited Atonement. If he’s successful in
blending anything with postmodern epistemology (though I’m not sure he’s doing
that), it won’t be Reformed, and wasn’t entirely to begin with.

Category Posted in Emerging / Emergent Church, Main Page, Roger's Posts Comments 15 Comments »

Is the Emerging Conversation Going Nowhere?

Date August 5, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

According to Phil Johnson it is. He cites a few examples of
heretical theology being promoted by individuals in the “Emerging Conversation”
as evidence. He concludes:

“I'm not proposing that we literally bust out the meat chubs
and go to work against the Emergent heretics. But I do think it's time
to stop all the gratuitous deferential language and drop the pretense of being
“brothers and sisters” to people who profess to be Christians while
rejecting Christ's exclusivity and doubting or denying other essential tenets
of gospel truth.”

As much as I tend agree with Phil Johnson, I think there are
a number of problems with this post. The foundational problem is that he uses emerging
and emergent interchangeably. This mix up leads to another problem- he broad
brushes those who claim both labels as heretics.

A few months ago I wrote a post clarifying how I think we
should use the emerging/emergent terminology. “Emerging” refers to any church
or Christian who takes into consideration the cultural context in which they
minister, regardless of spatial or temporal location. In other words, a church
does not need to be North American and dealing with postmodernism in order to
be “emerging.” The early church was just as emerging as many churches are
today. Since this label is so diverse in its theology and praxis, it’s not
helpful to broad brush it as good or bad.

While on one hand the “emerging” category is quite broad,
“Emergent” is comparatively quite narrow. It refers to a specific group of
individuals and churches within the contemporary emerging church that have
formed an organization
to promote certain ecclesiastical changes within the North American postmodern
context. This Emergent organization (Driscoll points them out as
“Revisionists”) is primarily led by Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt.

So where do Phil Johnson’s examples fit in? Well, they are
emerging theologians, but that doesn’t help us determine whether or not they’re
heretics. Spenser Burke is the only one I know who has been associated with the
Emergent organization. In these cases I think it’s more appropriate to call
these people liberal theologians. The segments of popular and academic
theologians who are embracing postmodern deviations from historical
Christianity are simply today’s liberal theologians. If calling someone a
heretic is helpful, I think this is a better place to use it. Burke uses
“heretic” as a label to be proud of, citing that Jesus and Martin Luther were
called heretics by those in authority at their times. However, the examples of
good heretics throughout history are quite small in number compared to those
who were truly bad.

There’s a third problem I have with Johnson’s post. By
making the sweeping generalization he does, he shuts the door to the good
points being made by those in the emerging/emergent conversation. Some points
are correct and helpful. Instead of isolating ourselves from the conversation
as he suggests, I think we would be wiser to engage the conversation so we can
grow from the good points while discerning the bad. Isolation doesn’t help us,
and it drives them away further.

Category Posted in Emerging / Emergent Church, Main Page, Roger's Posts Comments 4 Comments »

EFBT 1: A Summary of the Complementarian Position

Date August 4, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Gender Friday is now back from its summer hiatus. Once
again, every Friday we’ll be blogging on gender issues in the church and
culture. For the next few months, Amy and I will be tag-teaming through a book
by Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth: An Analysis of
More Than 100 Disputed Questions. Our goal is to blog on a chapter a week,
though we may deviate from that when necessary. So that it’s clear from the
beginning what our bias is: We agree with Grudem that men and women are of
equal value but were created with different responsibilities in family and
church.

The first two chapters provide a description and positive
case for the Compliementarian view. Following that foundation, Grudem analyzes
Egalitarian arguments and objections through eleven chapters, with a concluding
chapter summarizing the current controversy in evangelical circles. The
following is a summary of chapter 1: A Biblical Vision of Manhood and Womanhood
as Created by God, which explains six key issues revolving around creation and
marriage.

 Key Issue #1:
Men and Women Are Equal in Value and Dignity

            All
discussions of gender should start here since this is where the Bible starts
(Gen 1:27)

Key Issue #2: Men and Women Have Different Roles in
Marriage as Part of the Created Order

            Grudem puts
forward ten arguments from Scripture (some stronger than others) that there was
male headship prior to the Fall; thus distinct roles from creation.

  1. “The
    order: Adam was created first, then Eve (note the sequence in Genesis 2:7
    and Genesis 2:18-23).” (p30) Paul saw this as important- 1 Timothy
    2:12-13.
  2. “The
    representation: Adam, not Eve, had a special role in representing the
    human race.” Eve sinned first, but Scripture says we fell in Adam- 1
    Corinthians 15:22, 45-49)
  3. “The
    naming of the woman: When God made the first woman and ‘brought her to the
    man,’” (31) Adam named her- Genesis 2:23. Naming is a function of
    authority- See God’s naming creation Genesis 1:5-2:20.
  4. “The
    naming of the human race: God named the human race ‘Man,’ not ‘Woman.’
    (34)- Genesis 5:1-2 “Does this make any difference? It does give a hint of
    male leadership, which God suggested in choosing this name. It is
    significant that God did call the human race ‘Woman.’” (35)
  5. “The
    primary accountability: God spoke to Adam first after the Fall…. It
    indicated a primary responsibility for Adam in the conduct of his family.”
    (36) Genesis 3:9
  6. “The
    purpose: Eve was created as a helper for Adam, not Adam as a helper for
    Eve.” (36) She was Adam’s helper by virtue of creation, not in certain
    situations, but in a normative sense. Genesis 2:18, 1 Corinthians 11:9
  7. “The
    conflict: The curse brought a distortion of roles, not the new
    introduction of roles.” (37) Genesis 3:16 is not how the roles ought to
    be, but is how the created roles were distorted.
  8. “The
    restoration: When we come to the New Testament, salvation in Christ
    reaffirms the creation order.” (40) In Christ the curse is reversed and
    the created roles are restored- Colossians 3:18-19.
  9. “The
    mystery: Marriage from the beginning of Creation was a picture of the
    relationship between Christ and the church.” (41) Paul makes this point in
    Ephesians 5:31-32, and it is applied in 5:23.
  10. “The
    parallel with the Trinity: The equality, differences, and unity between
    men and women reflect the quality, differences, and unity in the Trinity.”
    (42) See issue #3 below.

This Biblical model can only be
worked out when husband and wife each avoid errors of distortion in either
being too passive or too aggressive with their roles. Apart from headship, the
man’s responsibility is to provide for and protect his family. Apart from
support, the woman’s responsibility is to care for the home and nurture the
children.

Key Issue #3: The Equality and Differences Between
Men and Women Reflect the Equality and Differences in the Trinity

            See 1
Corinthians 11:3, “’head’ refers to one who is in a position of authority over
the other, as this Greek word (kephale) uniformly does whenever it is used in
ancient literature to say that one person is ‘head of’ another person or
group.” (45-46) So the principle of headship and authority did not begin with
the advent of theology, but is rooted in the eternal relationship between the
persons of the Trinity. Contra culture, authority can be (and is in this case)
a good thing.

Key Issue #4: The Equality and Differences Between
Men and Women are Very Good

            Since the
equality and differences are part of the created order, God’s judgment that it
is very good applies (Genesis 1:31) This order is fair because God it is God’s
decision, not that of sinful man. Because God is all-wise, this order is also
the best for us.

Key Issue #5: This is a Matter of Obedience to the
Bible

            “I think…
God has allowed this controversy into the church to test our hearts. Will we be
faithful to Him and obey His Word or not?” (53)

Key Issue #6: This Controversy Is Much Bigger Than We
Realize, Because It Touches All of Life
            Not
only does our position on this issue apply to marriage and the church, but it has
implications for education, economics, justice, and sports (to name a few).

Category Posted in Gender Issues, Main Page, Roger's Posts Comments 1 Comment »

Book Review: Spiritual Birthline by Stephen E. Smallman

Date August 2, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

American evangelicals often throw around the phrase “born again” with little thought as to what it means. Some might mean a person who has prayed the “sinner’s prayer.” Others may refer to someone who has been baptized. What does it mean to be born again? Pastor Stephen Smallman addresses this question and what it means for faith and evangelism in his new book, Spiritual Birthline.

Pastor Smallman’s book is based on a fundamental analogy between physical and spiritual birth rooted in Jesus’ teaching on being “born again” found in John 3:1-8. Building on this teaching, the author draws parallels between pregnancy and effectual calling, delivery and conversion, and growth and sanctification. As he explains these concepts, Pastor Smallman relates them to biblical teaching and real life stories of new birth.

The book is divided into two parts. The first begins with a study on Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus, then unfolds the concept of the spiritual birthline through our personal testimonies and then through our communities. The second part is devoted to application, dealing with how we can aid in the new birth of other people. Pastor Smallman calls this role the “spiritual midwife,” and after explaining the role he applies it to each step in the birthline. He ends with a chapter on new birth for children born into Christian families and a brief chapter on the importance of living a Christ-like life. At the end of the book is a list of recommended books for further reading and an appendix for adapting the book to a group study.

Though the analogy between physical and spiritual birth is not new (Jesus gave us that one), the material in Spiritual Birthline expands on it in profound and useful ways. Describing the process of conversion and coming to faith is not an easy task, but Pastor Smallman does so with meaningful understanding. The chapter on children who are born into Christian families was my favorite- partly because it describes me, but also because it describes so many people who are not often addressed. Spiritual Birthline is an immensely practical and thoughtful book that I recommend without reservation.

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Book Review: Salvation Belongs to the Lord by John M. Frame

Date July 30, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Salvation Belongs to the Lord is an introduction to
systematic theology that grew out of a class John Frame recorded for the
Institute of Theological Studies. DMr. Frame wrote it for those who are
beginners in theology, though he considers “this work to be college or seminary
level in difficulty.” (x)

After the preface, the book is comprised of twenty-five
chapters covering the broad range of theological topics. These include who God
is, who man is, the relationship between God and man, salvation, the church,
end times, and how to live. At the back of the book is a list of recommended
reading as well as subject and scripture indexes- which are rather important
for a book of this nature.

This introduction to systematic theology applies John
Frame’s multiple-perspective approach to the wide scope of theology.
Specifically, he perceives all things through normative, situational, and
existential perspectives. “When you ask directly what God’s revelation says,
you are using the normative perspective… When you ask about God’s world,
trying to understand situations we get into, I call that the situational
perspective… Then when you ask about yourself, when you seek to know
yourself, you are seeking to know from what I call the existential
perspective.” (77)

Though Mr. Frame
claimed the book is seminary level in difficulty, I did not think it was that
difficult. He does an outstanding job of explaining complex terms and concepts
in a manner that requires no prior introduction to the material. I appreciated
that though he quotes from other theologically works and confessions, the vast
majority of references are to Scripture as the foundation for good theology.

Most of the book is very well thought out and explained on
the basis of Scripture. However, there are a few points that are not. For
example, when discussing whether there is still the gift of prophecy today, Mr.
Frame explains the view of Wayne Grudem at length. In response he simply
states, “I am not convinced of Grudem’s thesis.” (167) An argument or two
against the thesis would have been more helpful then simple disagreement. In
covering the function of the church, Mr. Frame puts forward that the purpose of
the church is evangelism. In all of his discussion of the church, however, he
does not really get into discipleship, and because of that the church he puts
forward seems rather unbalanced- very outward focused but somewhat hollow inside.

Those points aside, Salvation Belongs to the Lord is
a well-done and valuable introduction to systematic theology from which just
about anyone can benefit. John Frame’s multiple perspective approach makes the
unique enough to earn its place next to the other top systematic theologies in
our seminaries and homes.

Category Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts, Theology Comments 3 Comments »

Website Review: eBible.com (Beta)

Date July 28, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Fun and exciting new things are popping up on the Internet
it seems. This time, it’s a re-vamped online Bible loaded with great features.
Personally, I don’t know much about the history of eBible.com, but they say
this new site is 2.0. It’s also in Beta release at the moment, which means it’s
still under development. The neat thing is that they let me in, and after I
tell you a bit about the site, I can give some of y’all passes so you can get
in too!

When I sign in to eBible.com I meet a somewhat familiar
looking search box. Perhaps they put the lovely golden box around it to
differentiate it from Google. This little box is the key to the site that
unlocks all of its tools. I can search by Bible verse, subject, or tag/bookmark.
The image below is of my subject search on baptism:


Note the friendly drop-down menu that’s filling in as I
type. This is helpful if I want to do a search on Manasseh, but all I remember
is that it starts with “Man”- it fills in the rest for me. The only negative
about it, at least at the moment, is that it takes a few seconds to load.

I’ve typed in “Baptism,” so what did I get? A number of
things. Most prominent is a listing of passages that reference baptism. I also
get a link leading me to “Answers” on baptism. Clicking this link leads me to a
series of reference books that discuss baptism. The default reference book is
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, and there’s also a link to that.
There’s also a link to Bookmarks and Tags, but I’ll discuss that a bit later.

Of course the most important part of the site is the Bible,
right?! So here’s a screenshot of one of my favorite passages, Isaiah 6.

Note that I’ve put two translations side-by-side for
comparison (ESV and NASB). I could put more and I’m not sure if there’s a limit
aside from the number of translations available. Another negative for some-
there’s currently no NIV option. Upon right-click I can view the commentary for
each verse or create a bookmark. When I create a bookmark, I can create notes
(that are either private or public) and enter tags for the verse (like Vision).

Let’s say I’ve done a search for “Judgment,” here’s what I
get when I go to the bookmarks:


All the bookmarks that people have tagged publicly are
visible to me. So if the Bible dictionary didn’t cover what I wanted (and often
they don’t), it’s likely someone else did and I can follow their trail to find
what I need. I can also view my own bookmarks privately tagged judgment.

When you first register, you start out with twelve free
books on your online “shelf”. There are others available, but they cost some
money. Which reminds me; aside from those additional books this is all FREE.
It’s one big free public Bible study that can be as public or private as you want
it to be. I’ll call it open-source Bible study. They’re currently working on
features beyond what I’ve described here and I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff.

So the best thing for you now is to go dig in yourself and
see what eBible.com can do for you. They’ve given me a limited number of
invites that I can pass out, and here’s how you get one: leave your email
address in a comment on this post. I don’t care how you write your address if
you want to disguise it from the spam robots (like rogerovertonAThotmailDOTcom),
but you have to leave it here.

Additional thoughts: How does this compare to popular
Bible software? Well, I’m a die-hard Logos software fan. So die hard I own the
most expensive new Gold 3.0 edition. Will I be giving that up for eBible.com?
Definitely not. But it does make me wish for a few new features in Logos such
as tagging and some sort of public exchange of study. Simply put, those
features are useful and for now unique to eBible.com. And of course everything
you save on their website is available anywhere you can connect to the
Internet.

Category Posted in Main Page, Miscellaneous, Roger's Posts Comments 32 Comments »

Book Review: TULIP by Duane Edward Spencer

Date July 27, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Many Christians appropriately associate the acronym TULIP
with Calvinism, but often get stuck trying to remember what each letter stands
for, or more importantly, what each point means. Duane Edward Spencer’s book, TULIP,
is often described as a classic work for explaining the five points.

TULIP, after a brief foreword and preface, begins
with a summary of the five points of Arminianism, to which the five points of
Calvinism are a response. The following chapter compares the two systems of
thought to bring clarity to the distinctions. Next is a foundational chapter on
the will of God, followed by chapters on each of the five points (Total
Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and
Perseverance of the Saints) and a concluding chapter. At the back of the short
book are selections from the Westminster Confession of Faith (1648), a summary
of the historical background of the debate, and a point-by-point comparison of
the two-systems.

The best part of the book is the point-by-point section at
the end. It contains an objective and concise explanation of each point with
supporting scripture as promoted by both sides. Aside from that, I didn’t find
the book very helpful. Take, for example, this error: “Total Depravity,
according to the giants of the Protestant Reformation (such as Luther, Calvin,
and Know) meant that man was as bad off as man could be.” (32) This
would be true if a qualifier were added that it is meant in regards to man’s relationship
with God. However, the way it’s stated it sounds as if man can do nothing good
in any sense (as if Oscar Schindler saving countless Jewish lives was bad), and
this is not the general teaching of Reformed theology.

Worse than that is the uncharitable attitude with which
Spencer wrote this book. “Thus we have two diametrically opposed positions. One
is an opinion, based on the reasoning of the carnal mind (Which is ever at
enmity with God), and the other is a fact based on Scripture.” (64) As much as
I agree with Spencer that false theology is opposed to God, and that
Arminianism is false theology, such rhetoric is not likely to endear the
Arminian reader to consider his case. This book perpetuates the notion that
Calvinists are arrogant, mean-spirited Bible thumpers (unfortunately some are,
but not all).

In my opinion, a far better book on the five points is
The Sovereign Grace of God by James R. White. For a great book that
introduces and defends Reformed theology in a personal and friendly manner,
read David Clotfelter’s Sinners in the Hands of a Good God.

Category Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts, Theology Comments No Comments »

Leon Morris (1914-2006)

Date July 26, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Justin Taylor informs us today about the passing of Leon Morris: “New Testament scholar Leon Morris died on Monday afternoon in Melbourne
after hip surgery, aged 92. His funeral will be at Holy Trinity
Doncaster, Melbourne, on July 31 at 10.30 am.”

Several of the works of Leon Morris are already classics in theology. I know that most, if not all, of the local seminaries use his works as textbooks. My guess is that over the past fifty years (since The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross was first published) the majority of educated pastors and biblical academics have learned from the great pen of Leon Morris.

His other books include:
The Atonement- Its Meaning and Significance
The Cross in the New Testament
New Testament Theology
Jesus is the Christ
numerous commentaries, including editing the Tyndale New Testament Commentary Series.

Available FREE online:
Article: The Dead Sea Scrolls and
St. John’s Gospel
Audio:
Dr. Leon Morris at sermonaudio.com

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