Top Ten iPad Apps

I am a book man. More specifically I am a physical book man. Do not get me wrong, I think e-readers and other digital books can be amazing resources for those who need a compact way to carry their library with them. My good friend Justin is getting ready to move to Cote d’Ivoire to teach Bible and train pastors and will not be able to take a theological library with him, so I thank God that he will be able to take most of his books on his Kindle. I just prefer physical books, and since I do not foresee any life or ministry situations that would require a portable library in the near future, I will stick with good old paper and ink.

Having said that, I must also comment that I am an dedicated Accordance user and since I purchased the relevant language resources from Accordance a few years ago, I have not not open my physical copies of BDAG, NIDNT, TDNT, Spicq, Louw and Nida, HALOT, NIDOTTE, BDB or TWOT. They had been sitting on my self collecting dust for two years without any use. So I finally broke down and sold them. Some of the profits from those sales went to pay for a new iPad, which I absolutely love. I have spent the last few weeks setting up my iPad and finding all the apps that will make it function almost like a proxy for my MacBook. At this point, I rarely ever need to take my MacBook off my desk at home. Below are my favorite apps with a little description of how I use each. If you are also an iPad user, please let me know if you have found any other apps that are useful for readers, writers or Bible and theology teachers and students.

1. Accordance Bible Software – Simple enough. Whatever you have on your Accordance desktop can go anywhere with you on the iPad. This is probably the app I use most. This app is really what sealed the deal for me to buy the iPad. *Also works on iPhone.

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2. Dropbox – This is one of the best apps out there, not only for the iPad, but for all computers. With Dropbox you can set up a folder on your computer that automatically syncs all the files in it with any other device (computer, iPad, iPhone, or web). Anytime to make a change anywhere it automatically makes the same changes to the file everywhere else it exists. I know there are other cloud programs that do this, but Dropbox is the best. *Also works on iPhone.

3. Documents to Go – DtG can sync with you Dropbox account so you can work on all your documents on your iPad or iPhone. If you use Microsoft Office for Mac like I do this app is the best way to read, edit and create Office files on the iPad. With Dropbox, there is almost nothing I do on my Macbook that I cannot do on my iPad. This means that most of the time, my Macbook stays at home and I can just take my iPad to school to use in teaching. *Also works on iPhone.

4. ReadingPlan – This is a great app for Bible readers. It automatically syncs Bible reading plans for daily reading. You can choose from a couple dozen plans already in the app or create your own. This app could be very useful to anyone who has difficulty keeping with a Bible reading program or wants to try a read through the Bible in a year plan for the first time. *Also works on iPhone.

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5. Christian Creeds and Reformed Confessions – This app includes the great creeds of the Church (Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian) and the great confessions of the Reformed tradition (Belgic, Heidelberg, Dort, Westminster). I use this app daily as my wife and I work to memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism in our devotional time . *Also works on iPhone.

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6. Fighter Verses – This app from Desiring God has absolutely revolutionized by approach to Bible memorization. I have found that most “memory verses” we learn in evangelicalism are taken out of context and although we may use them to express truth, we usually use them differently than the author intended. This app gets you to memorize large chunks Scripture at a time. It uses repetition and games to memorize and even has a special section for kids. *Also works on iPhone.

7. GoodReader – This is the best PDF reader and marker I have found. This app allows me to do all the marking in different colors that I do for my visual textual analyses of original language exegetical work. I also use it for reading journal articles that are available in PDF. If you read a lot of PDFs and want to mark them up, this app will be perfect.

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8. Dragon Dictation – This app records whatever you say and transfers it into text. Now I do not use this app all that much, I often say I think better with my fingers than with my lips, but when I am driving in the car and get an idea that I do not want to forget, I can use this app and send myself a text email of what said. It is usually pretty mistake free. *Also works on iPhone.

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9. Kindle – As I already said, I am physical book guy, but having the Kindle app allows me to have some books with me all the time, especially those free and really low priced classics available from Amazon. Right now I have the works of Wodehouse to entertain me if I am waiting for something as well as R. C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God (free), Scot McKnight’s The King Jesus Gospel, and Douglas Bond’s Hostage Lands. If you do not mind reading books off a screen then his might be the best thing about the iPad for you. *Also works on iPhone.

10. Netflix – I hate TV. It kills your brain and most of it is trash, but from time to time I do like a good movie, especially a good documentary or movie/series based on classic literature. There are tons of documentaries and classic literature films on Netflix so my family subscribes. *Also works on iPhone.

 

Review of NAC Isaiah 40-66 by Gary V. Smith

Smith, Gary V. Isaiah 40-66. Vol. 15B The New American Commentary, ed. E. Ray Clendenen and Kenneth A. Mathews. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holdman, 2009.

Gary Smith is professor Christian Studies at Union University in Jackson, TN.

The New American Commentary series is a expositional and theological series that seeks to provide commentary on the text the Bible in order to assist pastors in Bible teaching and sermon preparation. Like all the NAC, this volume from Gary Smith is from a conservative evangelical theological position which upholds the inspiration and inerrancy of the text. Smith is also the author of the Isaiah 1-39 in the NAC series.

Smith offers insightful exegetical comments on the text and shows a clear ability to handle the exegetical issues from the Hebrew text. Yet, his comments refuse to be bogged down in the minutia of Hebrew grammar and remained focus on explaining the text from its smaller structure to its greater cohesive units.  In addition, Smith shows a depth of research by constantly setting the events and language of Isaiah in their eighth century Ancient Near Eastern contexts. In addition, Smith does not shy away from engaging in topics of history and widely quotes and cites critical scholars when their work enlightens the original meaning of the text. Some of Smith’s best work comes in the THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS sections where he shows that his exegetical skill is equaled by his ability to understand the text as a theological document that intends to reveal God to its readers. These sections deal with topics of Biblical, historical and systematic theology and often engage with the contemporary significance of a text that is twenty-eight hundred years old.

This balance of exegetical and theological insight is best scene in Smith’s extended section on the Suffering Servant in chapter 53. Commentaries from conservative evangelicals often jump at the chance to show the significance of this text for understanding the atoning work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament (and well they should). However, these good intentions often lead to overlooking the original historical meaning of the text which Isaiah wished to communicate to his Israelite readers. Smith avoids this temptation and masterfully exposits what the Suffering Servant text meant to Israel and only then turns to its relevance for the New Testament; which he shows organically grows out of the original Israelite meaning.

Overall, the two volume set Smith has offered on the prophet Isaiah must be included with Oswalt’s NICOT set as the two must-have commentaries on the greatest of Israel’s literary prophets.

 

My Favorite Book of 2011

This is late, I know, but I have been up to my eyes in curriculum writing and editing for my students. But now that I am caught up with my writing schedule and even a bit ahead, I have a bot more time to write here. So here my favorite books that I read in 2011.

#10 Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology (Andreas Kostenberger) – There is not a lot of innovation here, but innovation is usually not a good thing when it come to Biblical interpretation. On the other hand, compilation and comprehensiveness are, and that is what this book has given us. There is now a ‘Best Available Book’ on Biblical interpretation.

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#9 The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789 (Robert Middlekrauff) – My favorite history book from the year and probably the best book on the the American Revolution I have read. Stays mainly with the narrative of the major players and armies but includes just enough about the regular life of normal Revolutionary colonials.

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#8 The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction (Alan Jacobs) – A wonderful investigation of the role of reading and books in culture and the life a thoughtful person. A bit lite on recommending the classics for me, but still excellent.

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#7 Cornelius Van Til: Reformed Apologist and Churchman (John Muether) – I love Van Til, if you read this blog, you know this. John Frame has a small biography and some other biographical information in his analysis volume, but this biography from Muether is extremely helpful in understanding what Van Til was up against as he was developing his apologetic and fighting for Reformed orthodoxy in the early to mid-twentieth century. There is also a fair amount of information on the history of Westminster Theological Seminary.

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#6 What I Learned in Narnia (Douglas Wilson) – Again, I love C. S. Lewis, if you read this blog, you know this. Wilson might be one of the few people who life and thinking has been affected by Lewis more than mine. After Planet Narnia, this is one of my favorite analyses of Lewis’ Narnian world.

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#5 Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books (Tony Reinke) – Simply the best Christian introduction to the necessity and love of reading.

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#4 The Betrayal (Douglas Bond) – This is an excellent historical fiction novel about the life of John Calvin. Bond is an excellent writer in terms of characterization and plot, but the older style of language of this book is also beautiful. I am now reading Bond’s Crown and Covenant series about the 17th century Scottish Covenanters.

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#3 Reasons for Faith: Philosophy in the Service of Theology (K. Scott Oliphint) – An excellent advanced introduction to Christian philosophy of religion. Having had been part of the Reformed tradition for awhile now, it cured me of my tenuous relationship with compatiblism.

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#2 A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New (G. K. Beale) – The magnum opus of one of the great New Testament and Biblical theological scholars of the past 30 years. 1000 pages of brilliant exegesis, Biblical theology and redemptive historical theology.

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#1 God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (James Hamilton) – This is a game changer. The ‘center’ of the Bible has been argued over for 2000 years. Instead of a center for the text, Hamilton convincingly identifies the ongoing central theme and purpose of the canon and individual books. D. A. Carson is working on a 2-volume whole Bible Biblical theology, but at least for now, this is simply the best Biblical theology book there is.

 

New Books…WTS Bookstore

I would like to again thank everybody who continues to read my thoughts here and click on the links, especially those from WTS Bookstore. With my most recent WTS Bookstore gift card I was able to get the following:

Robert Letham – Union with Christ: In Scripture, History, and Theology

K. Scott Oliphint – God with Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God

Robert Peterson – Salvation Accomplished by the Son: The Work of Christ

ed. K. Scott Oliphint – Justified in Christ

Starr Meade – Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Study: A Survey of the Bible

 

G. K. Beale on the Eschatological Nature of New Testament Biblical Theology

Sometimes there is an idea that is known to the Biblical and theological scholarly world. It can be an acceptable idea and even an idea that is generally agreed upon by a significant percentage of the guild without there being a foundation or standard expression of that idea to which all wishing to understand may turn. I think the Already/Not Yet nature of the salvation and the eschatological nature of reality introduced in Christ’s death and resurrection was one of those ideas, until now. I am yet finished and long from thoroughly digesting G. K. Beale’s A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New but I think he may have finally produced the comprehensive and standard work on the inaugurated eschatology nature of New Testament theology. I think Beale has comprehensively completed the task of Gerhardus Vos. The following sentence from the introduction is simply brilliant:

“Therefore, the apostles understood eschatology not merely as fututology but as a mind-set for understanding the present within the climaxing context of the redemptive history. That is, the apostles understood that they were already living in the end times, and that they were to understand their present salvation in Christ to be already an end-time reality. Every aspect of their salvation was to be conceived of as eschatological in nature. To put this another way, the major doctrines of the christian faith are charged with eschatological electricity. Just as when you put on green sunglasses, everything you see is green, so Christ through the Spirit had placed eschaological sunglasses on his disciples so that everything they looked at in the Christian faith had an end-time tint. This means that the doctrine of eschatology in NT theology textbooks should not merely be one among many doctrines that are addressed but should be the through which all the doctrines are best understood. Furthermore, eschatology should not be placed at the end of NT theology textbooks or at the end of chapters dealing with all the different NT corpuses because it purportedly describes only the very end of the world as we know it. Rather, the doctrine of eschatology could be part of the title of such a textbook because every major theological concept breathes the air of a latter-day atmosphere.” (18).

This eschatological viewpoint for Beale finds its goal in the new creation kingdom that the entire Biblical storyline and reality of history has been pressing toward since the first promise of salvation recorded in Gen 3.15. The following video of Beale gives a great introduction and snippet of what this book is all about.

 

Review of Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings & Analysis by Greg Bahnsen – Preface & Ch. 1

Bahnsen, Greg L. Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1998.

I would like to thank P&R for this review copy.

Greg Bahnsen was Scholar-in-Residence at the Southern California Center for Christian studies before his death in 1995.

I am in agreement with John Frame that Cornelius Van Til is the most important theological figure of the 20th century. So this and the following reviews of this volume will not attempt to evaluate Van Til’s theology of apologetics, since I am already thoroughly convinced that he is right, but evaluate Bahsen’s portrayal of Van Til. I was introduced to the work Van Til through the writings and lectures of John Frame and then the work of K. Scott Oliphint. Only then did I attempt to read sections of Van Tal’s voluminous corpus itself. And now with this volume by Bahnsen, I hope to add to my knowledge and ability to defend the Christian faith while remaining loyal to lordship Christ and authority of the Bible. While this volume is often suggested as the best way to introduce oneself to Van Til’s work, I can already attest that it is also valuable as a further analytical resource for those hoping to better understand Van Til and his Biblical and Reformed notion of apologetics.

Bahnsen opens by explains that the current volume is needed for three main reason: 1. Van Til was so prolific an introductory summary and analysis is necessary. 2. Van Til often uses terms and expressions that are unknown to those who are not familiar with the history of Western philosophy, especially early 20th century British idealism. 3. Van Til’s ideas about the apologetic task are often presented in abstract and are a sharp break from most previous (and most current) approaches to Christian apologetics and therefore not immediately welcomed by most who are only acquainted with such other approaches. The preface ends by explaining the structure of the book and giving and example of how the readings from Van Til will be printed in a different font than the text of Bahsen’s analysis. I have not seen this done in other texts with primary sources accompanied by editorial analysis, but I find it very helpful and conducive to the task of comparing the original and the analysis.

In the first chapter, we are introduced, without delay, to the foundational question of Van Til’s work: in all things, including the apologetic task or any other intellectual endeavor, to whom do we owe our highest allegiance? The answer is of course Christ, and therefore the content of his Word. Bahnsen introduces this point by pointing to Calvin’s comment on 1 Pet 3.15 which shows that “the prerequisite for offering a reasoned defense of the Christian faith is to have “set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts.”" (2). The essential element of Van Til’s work is that if Christ and his revealed Word are the foundation for knowledge and wisdom (and they are), then we cannot pretend to approach a defense of the Christian faith or an evangelistic presentation of that faith by ignoring or implicitly denying that they are as such. This is actually a self-contradicting process. “If the apologist treats the starting point of knowledge as something other than reverence for God, then unconditional submission to the unsurpassed greatness of God’s wisdom at the end of the argumentation does not really make sense. There would always be something greater than God’s wisdom–namely, the supposed wisdom of one’s intellectual starting point. The Word of God would necessarily (logically, if not personally) remain subordinate to that autonomous final standard.” (3). Therefore it follows that, “God’s revelation is more than the best foundation for Christian reasoning; it is the only philosophically sound foundation for any reasoning whatsoever.” and “The task of the apologist is not simply to show that there is no hope of eternal salvation outside of Christ, but also that the believer has no present intellectual hope outside of Christ.” (4-5).

I quote Bahnsen directly in such excess here to show one of the strengths of this volume, it’s clarity. Van Til’s work can be hard to understand, as many have previously noted. Van Til was writing in the philosophical climate of the beginning of the twentieth where words had technical meanings  that at times seem to betray their most natural reading. In addition, English was Van Til’s second language, after Dutch, and even he recognized that he was not the most intelligible writer at times.

Following this brief introduction, Bahnsen provides an brief summary of Van Til’s life and career. Especially helpful here is the discussion of Van Til’s role within the Reformed community of his time and relationship with those most recent stalwarts of the Reformed tradition from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Finally, the first chapter ends with four selections from Van Til that present his project clearly in his own words. Throughout these selections and his previous introductions, Bahnsen provides definitions and explanations of terms that are necessary for properly understanding Van Til, including “presupposition” and “transcendental”.

 

Review of The Priestly Vision of Genesis 1 by Mark Smith

Smith, Mark S. The Priestly Vision of Genesis 1. Philadelphia: Fortress, 2010.

Mark Smith is Skirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University.

I would like to thank Fortress Press for this review copy.

Recent years have seen a great divide in the interpretation of the early chapters of the Bible. Some have claimed that the entirety of the Christian faith is dependent upon a reading of Genesis 1-3 that sees the Bible as a modern history book and the world no more than 4400 years old. Others have decided that since current main stream scientific research seems to contradict the creation account, Genesis 1-3 must not contain any actual information about the creation of the world, or if it does it is obviously wrong and must be rejected. Others have simply tried to interpret the early sections of Genesis in terms of their Ancient Near Eastern context and genre. This is the most promising approach from my point of view, both in terms of Christian theological convictions and historical exegesis. However, some attempts at this approach are better than others.

Smith’s main purpose is to survey the recent work on Genesis 1 in terms of an Ancient Near Eastern setting. After an introductory chapter defining the purpose, plan and format of the book, Smith presents three ways that creation is described throughout the Old Testament: Creation as Divine Might (God as warrior and defeater of chaos), Creation as Divine Wisdom (God creates the world out of his own wise counsel) and Creation as Divine Presence (God as priest creates the universe to be his temple).

This volume does not take an continuous exegetical approach to understand the purpose of Genesis 1, but investigates the issues that surround the chapter’s interpretation, including the poetic structure,  parallels of genre, structure, comparison and contrast with other Ancient Near East creation accounts. While some of these are good studies, other are less convincing especially the account of God overcoming the primeval chaos, or Chaoskampf, in order to create. Recent studies by David Tsumura have definitively shown that this theme is lacking the opening chapters of Genesis. Another argument comes in the second have of the book, when Smith argues that Genesis 1 is actually a later addition to original creation story of Genesis 2-3. This thesis is not the same as the 19th century Documentary hypothesis, but seem to share similar form critical origins

On the whole, this volume is useful to evangelical students, those who uphold the authority and truth of the text, as an introduction to the issues involved in interpreting Gensis 1 as an Ancient Near Eastern cosmology. If you are interested in how to begin thinking about these issues or how the wider guild of OT studies understands them, this text will provide ample information. However, Walton’s The Lost World of Genesis One and Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament and Longman’s Introduction have much better conlcusions.

 

New Books of Note

There are some excellent new books out for the holiday season. The most important and greatly awaited is G. K. Beale’s A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New. Back in 2006 a friend of mine at Wheaton mentioned that Beale, who was his professor at the time, was working on a NT theology. As soon as I heard that I was really excited. A few years later the same friend mentioned that it would not just be a NT theology but a Biblical theology that draws out the connections and organic development of the OT into the NT. Then I got really excited. Earlier this year I saw the Baker info on the book and saw that it was 1072 pages. Then I could not wait. When my copy arrived from WTS Bookstore last week and I started reading it, I realized that this would be one of the great volumes of Biblical theology.

I love teaching Bible studies. My favorite type of Bible study to teach is those on how to study the Bible. There are some great books out there that can be used for these types of studies. I usually use Gordon Fee’s How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth. This is a great volume to help people on their first step into Bible study, but Bible teachers and especially those who teach how to study the Bible need something more; they need a full treatment of Biblical interpretation in order to be familiar and comfortable in dealing with all the issues in Biblical study. Andreas Kostenberger‘s Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology seems to be the new standard for this. I have not read the whole thing, but have scanned most of the chapters and it looks like a one stop shop for most of the interpretive and hermeneutical issues of Bible study.

Robert Letham‘s book on the Trinity was brilliant. I can only assume that this new volume Union with Christ: In Scripture, History, and Theology, will be equally excellent even if shorter.

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K. Scott Oliphint‘s works on apologetics and philosophy of religion have been hugely helpful for me. His new book God with Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God sounds like it should be an excellent work on Theology Proper. If its as good as Oliphint’s other work I’ll get through it pretty quickly.

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Because of union with Christ, the doctrine of salvation can be thought of as an application of Christology. Robert Peterson‘s volume Salvation Accomplished by the Son: The Work of Christ which attempts to draw specific connections between the two is sure to be quite interesting.

 

Review of Apologetics to the Glory of God by John M. Frame

Frame, John M. Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1994.

I would like to thank P&R for providing this review copy.

John Frame is professor of systematic theology and philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando. He is the J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary. He is the author of several other books including the A Theology of Lordship series: The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, The Doctrine of God, and The Doctrine of the Christian Life; Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought, Apologetics to the Glory of God, No Other God: A Response to Open Theism, and Perspectives on the Word of God: An Introduction to Christian Ethics.

Presuppositional apologetics has historically not been a popular method within evangelicalism. This is mostly due to a complete lack of awareness on the part of most and a near complete misunderstanding from many others. This lack of awareness and understanding can be understood as most presuppositional apologists have written on a deeper theological level than that which most layman are accustomed. In nine chapters, Frame’s Apologetics to the Glory of God seeks to both explain the theological basis for presuppositional apologetics and explain its practical use in evangelistic conversations.

In the first chapter, Frame explains the purpose and range of apologetics. Here, he discusses the relationship between the Bible and natural revelation and the role of the apologist with God in presenting and defending the Gospel. In the second chapter, Frame provides the readers with some tools by explaining the philosophical basis and structure used in apologetics, with sections on the three areas covered by classical philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Here, metaphysics is given much more space than either of the others. This is a bit perplexing given the epistemological foundations of presuppositional apologetics. In the third chapter, Frame explains how faith, the Bible and evidence play a role in belief while also discussing the idea of proof and how arguments work. In addition, Frame introduces the transcendental argument. In the next two chapters, Frame applies the tools previously introduced to the question of the existence of God and proving the authenticity of the Gospel. Here, Frame tackles some of the classical apologetic questions from the history of philosophy. Chapter six and seven survey the argument par excellence in terms of theistic belief: the problem of evil. Frame first addresses many of the past attempts to solve the problem and then offers his version of a Biblical response. In the eighth chapter, Frame goes on the offensive and shows how to attack the beliefs of the non-believer, centered around the non-believers idolatry. In the ninth and final chapter, Frame provides some sample conversations to flesh out his methodology. The volume also includes two appendices. One a response to Ligonier’s Classical Apologetics, the another a response from Jay E. Adams to Frame.

Overall, Frame’s attempt comes up flat compared to other works on presuppositional apologetics. It is not a bad book by any stretch, but does not have the immediate explanatory force of Richard Pratt‘s Every Through Captive, nor does it have the theological punch of Van Til’s original works or the contemporary work of K. Scott Oliphint. Throughout, I kept thinking of passages in Van Til or Oliphint that provided a fuller explanation with better exegetical precision and theological reflection than what Frame offers. This volume could be used an introductory volume between Pratt and Van Til/Oliphint, but a little more effort in the later will provide much greater reward.

 

A Dangerous Form of Arminianism

As someone who stands within the Baptistic strand of the Reformed tradition, it should not be a surprise that I think all forms of Arminianism have their inherent dangers. It seems clear to me that the logical end of Arminianism is semi-Pelagianism, but that does not mean that Arminians are therefore semi-Pelagians. This is not the dangerous form of Arminianism I wish to discuss today.

In a recent post following the release of his new book Against Calvinism, Roger Olsen discusses some of the reasons that he is not a Calvinist. Recognizing that he approaches Biblical interpretation differently from Calvinists do was not a surprising admission from Olsen, but what followed was. He first describes what he sees as the Calvinist approach to scripture, which I find quite good, and then his own Arminian approach.

“It seems to me that most 5 point Calvinists I know seem bound and determined to believe anything they think the Bible says regardless of how horrific that may be.  In other words, IF they became convinced that somehow they had been overlooking something in Scripture (as they think I do) and, in fact, God and the devil are actually the same being such that God is evil, they would believe it because the Bible says it.“

Olsen intends this to be negative in terms of Calvinist Biblical interpretation. While I certainly do not speak for the Reformed tradition, I am happy to be known as one who is “determined to believe anything they think the Bible says regardless of how horrific that may be“. This seems like the good and necessary consequence of the inspiration, inerrant and authority of the Biblical text. Here’s rub: the term ‘may’. What our sinful depraved minds see as horrific may not line up with the perfect omniscient and sovereign God of the universe sees as horrific. We can assume that Olsen means that God sovereignly choosing the elect for salvation and not choosing the reprobate is in his mind horrific. Let me first say, that this is not a horrific teaching, but a beautiful and majestic one that shows the love and grace of God to his people. Yet, even if I was deeply offended by this teaching and my heart saw it as horrific, my absolute commitment to the authority of scripture would require me to accept it.  Let us look at Olsen’s  discussion of his approach before we look at the implications of this view.

“I, on the other hand, presuppose that God cannot be evil; that goodness and being belong inextricably together or else there is no ground for basic trust.  This is why Wesley said of Romans 9 (paraphrasing here)–whatever it means it cannot mean that!  He means, no matter how much Romans 9 (and other Scripture passages) SEEM to say that God selects some people to save UNCONDITIONALLY, leaving others WHO HE COULD SAVE (because election to salvation is unconditional and saving grace is irresistible) to eternal torment in hell, it cannot mean that.  Why?  Because God is good.  Even Calvinist Paul Helm, a leading evangelical Calvinist thinker, agrees (as I show in my book) that “goodness” attributed to God cannot be totally different from every understanding of goodness (and love) we know of.  When Wesley rightly said of Romans 9 that it cannot mean “that” (what Calvinists believe it means) he wasn’t dismissing Romans 9 as uninspired, not part of God’s Word.  He was saying IF it means that (and fortunately there are other valid interpretations than the Calvinist one) God is not good but a monster worse than the devil because at least the devil is sincere.  (Wesley is talking about God’s universal will for salvation–1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9, etc.).  To those of us who are not Calvinists this seems right.  That’s why we cannot be Calvinists–because IF WE believed what Calvinists believe God would not be good and therefore could not be trusted.“

While Olsen note that he believes there are better exegetical explanations for Romans 9-11 or other passages that deal with divine sovereignty than those offered by Calvinist interpreters, he makes it very clear that even if a Reformed interpretation was the only option, the text cannot be interpreted so. Olsen admits that even if he was faced with undeniable exegetical evidence, he would not accept a Reformed doctrine of God and salvation. Why? Because he has preestablished concepts of goodness to which God must adhere. There are three deeply troubling problems here. First, this is blatant and admitted eisegesis. Olsen admits that the text cannot be interpreted in a certain way because his preconceptions require him to believe otherwise. Second, it is implicit idolatry as it removes God from his role as Creator and definer of goodness and instead requires God to conform to human ideas. Finally, such a hermeneutic renders Biblical interpretation impossible. Could not those who advocate for universalism, homosexual normality or any other deviant theological belief argue the same. Consider the following: “Whatever John 14.16 means it cannot mean that Jesus is the only way to God because that is unfair and God must be fair.” or “Whatever 1 Cor 6.9-10 means, it cannot mean that homosexual behavior is unacceptable because such behavior is the loving and God is love.” These statement along with Olsen’s approach here are the logical end of a theological method that puts humanity’s reason and mind prior to the revelation of God.

As one within the Reformed tradition, I would prefer that all Christians were convinced of the Reformed doctrine of election and effectual calling. But I hope that if you are an Arminian, you will be one because you think that is what you think the Bible teaches, not because your preconceived doctrine of God forces you to accept interpretive decisions even if you admit cannot justify them exegetically. That is a very dangerous form of Arminianism.