Killer Quote - from Reason within the Bounds of Religion by Nicholas Wolterstorff

Prof. Nicholas Wolterstorff has reviewed Mark Noll's Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind. I have also reviewed the same book. However, (and I know this will come as a big surprise to many) Prof. Wolterstorff's review is better. Wolterstorff has been writing about the issue surrounding scholarship and the intellectual life for a while. In Reason within in the Bounds of Religion he writes:

The Christian who is a scholar finds himself in two communities: the community of his fellow Christians and the community of his fellow scholars. Each has its own criteria for membership, its own characteristic practices, its own characteristic beliefs, its own characteristic training programs. Without a doubt a person can simply live in the two different communities ... But if one who is a scholar as well as a Christian wants coherence in life - or even if he only wants self-understanding - he cannot help asking, how does my membership in these two communities fit together? (p. 21)

Book Note: A Heart For God by Sinclair B Ferguson

Some books don't merit a review. They are so bad that time is better spent cutting toe nails. Some books don't need a review because they are so good, efficient and basic that a book note suffices. Good, efficient and basic are strange words to use about a book. Good = content and writing style; Efficient = short with no padding; Basic = dealing with an everyday issue in a straightforward way. Actually, I think I can use these words about all Sinclair Ferguson books I have read.

A Heart for God is about the most important thing in the world - knowing God. Ferguson says "A Christian's real development in spiritual life will always be revealed by how much he or she thinks about God - how much he thinks about him, and how highly he thinks about him." (p. 111) Ferguson starts by giving the biblical data for the importance of knowing God such as:

John 17:3 - And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 - Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practises steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

From here the chapters proceed to discuss the Trinity, the Creator, the Covenant Lord, the Ever Present One, the Saviour, the Wise One, the Holy One, and the Faithful Provider. Once these have been pastorally explained Ferguson then brings the reader to the subject of worship. Very fitting. He says "For worship is, essentially, the reverse of sin. Sin began (and begins) when we succumb to the temptation, 'You shall be as gods.' We make ourselves the centre of the universe and dethrone God. By contrast, worship is giving God his true worth; it is acknowledging him to be the Lord of all things, and the Lord of everything in our lives. He is, indeed, the Most High God!" (p. 112) He ends with a Chapter calling Christians to Remember the Lord. Given how Ferguson helps the reader 'know God' why would we ever want to forget the Lord?

I can recommend this book to all Christians, young or old. It makes for great devotional reading and will make you long for a greater knowledge of God.

* This book was purchased at the Evangelical Bookshop, Belfast.

Book Review: Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind by Mark Noll

Everyone I know is smarter than me. I am not naturally or inherently strong intellectually. It is precisely because of this that I have to be disciplined with my mind and thinking process. I know what little strengths I have and need to nurture those strengths. This is why reading 'Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind' is important for me. Noll claims "Understanding more about Christ and his work not only opens a wide doorway to learning, but also checks tendencies toward idolatry that are as potent among scholars as in the rest of humankind." (p. ix)

I also belong to the Evangelical sub-culture of Northern Ireland. This sub-culture is not known for emphasising learning and the intellectual life as important. At the most extreme this sub-culture tolerates learning and the intellectual life as a means to get a job. In some churches it is not uncommon to hear further education and a life a scholarship viewed with extreme suspicion, especially if that education and scholarship is in Theology and related disciplines. Odd, I know. So it is refreshing to read Noll:

"The message in this book for my fellow evangelicals can be put simply: if what we claim about Jesus Christ is true, then evangelicals should be among the most active, most serious, and most open-minded advocates of general human learning. Evangelical hesitation about scholarship in general or about pursuing learning wholeheartedly is, in other words, antithetical to the Christ-centered basis of evangelical faith." (p. x)

Noll is a historian and therefore he is adept at drawing out the significance of the times. For example, in Chapter 1, he highlights the importance of Christians who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries when Christianity moved from an illegal sect to a formally recognised religion of the Roman Empire. Noll calls this time "the Church's first intellectual breathing space" and one challenge the Church faced at this time "was to summarize the faith in authoritative short statements that could specify what Christianity was, define a curriculum for new converts, provide formulas for use in worship, and build barriers against false teaching." (p. 1) This is a great explanation of what creeds were for and Noll weaves creedal statements throughout each chapter. Fascinating. But almost superfluous to the book in my opinion. None of his points would be lost or even weakened if his creedal weaving was removed.

For me, the book really takes off in Chapter 2 - Jesus Christ: Motives for Serious Learning - Noll highlights John 1:2-3, Colossians 1:15-16 and Hebrews 1:2 noting that one of the most basic things these passages affirm is that "for believers to be studying created things is to be studying the works of Christ ... There simply is nothing humanly possible to study about the created realm that, in principle, leads us away from Jesus Christ." (p. 25) With regard to Colossians 1:13 - 2:3 Noll elaborates further:

"The claims are strinking and bear repeating. The apostle says, in effect, that if we study anything in the realms of nature or the realms of the spirit, we study what came into existence through Jesus Christ. Likewise, if we study human interactions or spiritual-human interactions (thrones, dominions, rulers, powers), we are studying realms brought into existence by Jesus Christ. If our study concerns predictability, uniformity, regularity, we are working in the domains of the one who 'is before all things, and [in whom] all things hold together.'" (p. 28)

"The tight conjunction of assertions in Colossians underscores the fact that all humans, including academics are needy sinners who require God. All humans, including academics, remain in need of divine grace even as they explore the depths of 'wisdom and knowledge' hidden in Jesus Christ." (p. 30)

In Chapter 3 - Jesus Christ: Guidance for Serious Learning - Noll, drawing from John 1, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1, focuses on four general expectation that can inform and guide intellectual life:

1. Doubleness. Because Christ is divine and human, two natures in one integrated person, Christian thinkers should be predisposed to seek knowledge about specific things from more than one perspective. "... [F]or a Christian who has experienced the saving power of Christ, it will be a smaller step, when confronting at least some dichotomous intellectual problems, to seek the harmonious acceptance of the dichotomy than for a scholar who does not believe that the integrated person of Christ was made up of a fully divine and fully human nature." (p. 49)
2. Contingency. Contingent statements are not necessarily true (like 1+1=2) or necessarily false (all bicycles have one gear). Contingency will mean pursuing the evidence of experience and not settling for non-contingent statements. As Noll writes "If we know God by experiencing him, so also do we come to know the world." (p. 52)
3. Particularity. Christianity springs from real events about 2000 years ago in a specific location. If read carefully, the Gospels have dust, noise and smell. "The implication can be stated succinctly: because God revealed himself most clearly in a particular time and place, every other particular set of cultural circumstances takes on a fresh potential importance." (p. 55)
4. Self-Denial. A developed and developing intellectual life can lead to pride in degrees and qualifications or pride in academic achievements. This pride can and should shrivel in light of the Good News as Noll writes "... a Christ-centered understanding of why all people require an atoning saviour demands that scholars not trust their own wisdom as the source of their self-worth." (p. 62)

Chapters 4 - 7 move on to specifically look at how Christ's saving work impacts the intellectual life for various disciplines. Noll is upfront and writes that "... these expositions are self-consciously exploratory. They are not intended as final words laying down a law but as first words urging others to take up the task." (p. 65)

Chapter 4 briefly examines the Atonement as a principle to frame scholarship. Noll relies heavily on John Stott's classic 'The Cross of Christ'. This chapter is good, but compared to the others it is a little underdeveloped. It may be that Noll has many more thoughts about the Atonement and scholarship, so much more that another book would be required. I agree with him when he writes that the Atonement "must of necessity have much to do with how the redeemed scholar approaches the tasks of learning." (p. 73) Surely everyone who takes the mantle of scholar or who values the intellectual life could unpack this sentence for a lifetime.

Chapter 5 - Christology: A Key to Understanding History - was probably the highlight of the book for me. It is the most underlined and is very important when I consider my times of doubt (which accompany my times of depression). Noll writes:

"The critical significance of history for Christianity arises, however, not just from how the past bears upon the present, but even more comprehensively from the historical character of Christianity itself ... Christian interest in history writing is a natural consequence of the fact that Christianity is so obviously a religion of historical event." (p. 76)

With regard to the possibility of historical knowledge, Noll admits that history is written by people with a context, that interesting historical facts are complex and historical knowledge is not exhaustive, irreformable or absolute. However, "Christianity has always displayed an innate tendency toward historical realism, in large part because it depends upon events that believers ... assert really happened. Moreover, Christian practice is predicated on the tacit assumption that these past events can be known reliably today and can provide meaning for present life (however far distant they occurred in the past)." (p. 78) Further, "Because all things do in fact hold together in Jesus Christ, historians who write from one particular time and place about an earlier time and place may actually be connected sufficiently with that past time and place to discover at least partial truth about it." (p. 81) This might not be enough for some people but I think it is a profound idea worth trusting. With regard to how Christians write history "The general lesson is that when humans assume that their interpretations of history possess the same level of veracity about God and his purposes as the veracity found in Scripture, there are always real difficulties." (p. 86) This is again very stimulating and worthy of sustained meditation.

Chapter 6 - "Come and See": A Christological Invitation for Science - shows Noll's strengths as a historian. He gives a good short history of the development of science and the relationship it has to Christianity. He provides an important overview of how Galileo Galilei advised how to combine investigations of nature with complete trust in Scripture (p. 103). There is nothing new under the sun. Noll claims that answering questions about science and Christianity responsibly "requires sophistication in scientific knowledge and sophistication in biblical interpretation - exercised humbly, teachably, and non-defensively. Unfortunately these traits and capacities have not always predominated when such questions are addressed." (p. 121) This is not a chapter that young earth creationists will agree with at many points but for me it was important and has helped me think through a number of important issues.

Chapter 7 - Christology: The Foundation of Biblical Study - discusses how to best understand the Scriptures. Noll's two main allies are J I Packer and B B Warfield. This is good because if you were to believe all you read on the internet B B Warfield's work on the Inspiration of Scripture is hopelessly outdated. Noll also uses Peter Enns work Inspiration and Incarnation. I have not read Enns' book but it seems interesting even though a lot of people have been very critical of it. Noll writes "Stressing the capacity of revelation to unite humanity and divinity in perfect integration puts believing scholars on the path to intellectual insight, but only because this is the path to life." (p. 145)

This has been a challenging book to read, not because the writing style was difficult, but because it was so suggestive and stimulating. It was also very devotional causing me to stop and worship God. Not bad for a book about the life of the mind. How has the book changed me? Now, more than ever, I will pursue excellence in intellectual pursuits always being aware that my identity and worth come from Jesus. I will also push back whenever I encounter anti-intellectualism in my own life, church life and work life.

Book Review - Connected: Living in Light of the Trinity by Sam Allberry

This is the second book on the Trinity that I have read in 2012 (the other being The Good God by Mike Reeves). It is vital to know God, but more specifically I am starting to realise (yes, after being a Christian for about 22 years) that knowing God as Trinity throws light on many other things. So why didn't I realise this at the age of 18? Well, I agree with Sam Allberry when he says

"The doctrine of the Trinity was carefully filed in the drawer of 'Things That All Good Christians Believe' and then never really seen again. I had no immediate need to look further into the Trinity, and a number of suspicious were holding me back:

• It doesn't make sense
• It's not meant to make sense
• It's too technical
• It's embarrassing
• It's irrelevant"

(pp. 13-14)

Helpfully and appropriately Allberry says "Such thinking comes to an abrupt and happy halt the moment we begin to look more closely at what the Bible shows us about the Trinity" (p. 15). He goes on to say that:

"Understanding the Trinity helps us make sense of so much of what we hold dear: friendship, marriage, church, love, service, identity. Things that are precious to us, but which we are not always able to properly account for, find new significance when examined in the light of the Trinity. Things we cherish about God - his love and integrity, the coherence of his Word, the nearness of his presence, and, above all, his matchless love poured out for us through the death of Christ - all these can only make real sense when we discover that God is, in fact, Trinity" (pp. 15-16).

Allberry then, as he claimed, turns to the Bible, not so much to prove the doctrine of the Trinity in forms of dogmatics, but unfold the doctrine by looking at key passages. And like a wise pastor he starts to explore the Trinity by turning to the words of Jesus. In Mark 12:28 a teacher of the law asks Jesus "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" And in Mark 12:29 Jesus answers "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." We need to understand and know who God is before we can do what he commands. Allberry then spends chapters 1 and 2 exploring the significance of Jesus' reply to the teacher of the law. He says "It means more than being digitally singular. It speaks of there being a unity to God, that he is undivided ... [a]nd that means we can't have one person of the Trinity without the others" (p. 34).

Allberry also has a subtle and simple approach to teaching important truths. For example, when discussing how God's oneness directs our thinking about the death of Jesus, he refers to Jesus' baptism (Mark 1:9-11) and says:

"This is a wonderful scene of the Trinity in action. Jesus is going forward for baptism, the Spirit is descending and the Father is speaking. (If nothing else, this puts the boot into the idea that the Father, Son and Spirit are all just different roles or modes that God switches between)" (p. 39).

Chapters 3 and 4 then discuss God as Trinity. Again, Allberry takes the reader to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Following Jesus means coming in to the reality of the Trinity. He quickly surveys the plurality of God in the Old Testament and then the Trinity in the New Testament. This is all good stuff and presented simply enough for even the most reluctant reader. Allberry says "The way in which God is one is different from the way in which he is three ... He is one in name and nature and he is three in person" (p. 60). Allberry also relies on John 5:19-23 to show Jesus' relationship with his Father. Importantly, he says that Father, Son and Spirit are not temporary roles, but eternal identities.

Part 2 of the book focuses more specifically on what the Trinity means for us. This is were I think the author is at his best. In Chapter 5, subtitled 'The Trinity and Humanity', Allberry says "... self-discovery starts here: God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All that we were made to be comes from knowing that. Our need for relationships, the importance of serving others, what it means to be sexual beings - all come into true light when seen in relation to our trinitarian Good" (p. 96).

The other chapters address:

• 6 - The Trinity and Gender. Arguing from the equality, difference and headship in the Trinity to the equality, difference and headship in marriage.
• 7 - The Trinity and Church. "Behind the unity-in-diversity of the Church is its heavenly analogue, the unity-in-diversity of the Trinity, and the operational diversity of the church is a reflection of the Trinity" (p. 122). Allberry zooms in on 1 Corinthians 12 which highlights the unity-in-diversity of our gifting. Positively he says "... the church is to be marked by the unity of God the Trinity. Our life together is to reflect that same love, mutual delight and other-person-centredness that characterises the relationships of the Father, Son and Spirit. And as the world looks on, it will see ... Christians showing unworldly care and concern for one another. Hearts, wallets and homes cheerfully opened to help those in need. Those from backgrounds you wouldn't normally see together enjoying their unity in Christ. Believers very different from one another but lit by a love of meeting together, of praising their Saviour and taking his word to heart" (p. 134). Very challenging my Anglican friend.
• 8 - The Trinity and Prayer. Allberry explains that prayer is trinitarian because it is offered by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. This is an excellent chapter and I could provide plenty of quotes that really broadened my understanding of the basics of prayer. Prayer is something I often struggle with but this chapter was a real encouragement to keep praying.
• 9 - A fine exposition of Ephesians 1:3-14 which is a mammoth trinitarian sentence of praise from the lips of the apostle Paul.

Sam Allberry has written a very practical book on the significance of the Trinity. It is easy to read and has helpful illustrations. In fact, it reads so easy that it was not until my second pass through that the profundity of some of his points really jumped out at me. There was a little repetition in the book but that is no bad thing given the topic. Also, section 1 - which addresses the doctrine of the Trinity - could have been a little more meaty and contain an extra chapter presenting the positive scriptural case for the Trinity. In summary, I recommend this book to all Christians and it will likely help us think again about the God who made us, revealed himself to us and adopts us as his children.

* This book was supplied for review by IVP Books.

Why did you write this commentary (Deuteronomy)?

In the Author's Preface to his AOTC Deuteronomy commentary, J. G. McConville writes:

" It has been my privilege to be able to spend a lot of time with Deuteronomy over the years. Though one travels to other parts of the Old Testament, whether clad in the scholarly guise of the 'Deuteronomist' and ' Deuteronomistic' literature, or simply as the theological colossus that guards the entrance to Old Testament theology. So I am delighted to have been able to work on the present commentary, and to see it appear in the Apollos series."

Why did you write this commentary (Numbers)?

Iain M. Duguid, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Grove City PA, writes the following in his preface to Numbers: God's Presence in the Wilderness (Crossway, 2006):

"Before I began work on this volume, I had little exposure to the book of Numbers. I had never preached on a text from Numbers, nor, as far as I know, had I ever even heard a sermon on the book of Numbers. According to my anecdotal surveys of other pastors, I am far from being alone in that regard. When I told another Old Testament professor that I was currently preaching through the book, he expressed the opinion that it was scarcely meant to be preached. I'm sure he was simply saying out loud what many pastors have thought, and at times during the past eighteen months I have been tempted to sympathize with that opinion.

However, I hold firmly to another conviction that trumps any practical difficulties, the conviction that 'All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work' (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). In addition, I understand the central message of the Scriptures from beginning to end to be the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow (1 Peter 1:10, 11; see Luke 24:44-47). I believe that a Christ-centered approach to preaching, which seeks to explore the way in which Old Testament passages prepare for and foreshadow the gospel, makes its truths accessible again to God's people. This approach feeds the hearts and souls of believers, as well as challenging unbelievers, with the result that even less familiar passages can speak powerfully to our congregations.

What I found as I proceeded was that the book of Numbers confronted us week by week with the challenge to live faithfully as pilgrims and aliens in a wilderness world and the encouragement to look to the One who has gone through this wilderness world ahead of us.

I would like to thank the people of Grace Presbyterian Church, Fallbrook for being such eager hearers of God's Word. Every Preacher needs people who have the gift of listening, and it has been a delight to preach the unsearchable riches of God's Word to you and to see your evident love for Christ and his gospel week after week."

Why did you write this commentary (Leviticus)?

From the preface to Mark Rooker's Leviticus commentary (2000, B&H):

"At the end of the process of writing a commentary I am indebted to numerous individuals who have been of tremendous personal encouragement and assistance. I wish to express my appreciation first of all to Dr. George B. Davis, Sr., Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, who both encouraged me to work on Leviticus and was instrumental in recommending me to the New American Commentary series."

"I would like to offer a special thanks to my wife Carole for supporting me throughout the entire project. I would like to thank her for her consistent and patient encouragement to complete the commentary and the extra "sacrifices" she made for the undertaking to be completed. I gladly and appreciatively dedicate this work to her."

"As we begin the twenty-first century, it is apparent that the greatest fear our culture now faces may not be that of a nuclear catastrophe but rather corruption from within. We have witnessed a moral decay in all echelons of our society, even in high places. The religion of the Canaanites is making a decisive comeback! The Book of Leviticus calls us to a holy living under prescribed and unalterable ethical norms but also speaks of a way of atonement. In one sense no book of the Bible could be more relevant. My prayer is that this volume will be of assistance in the exposition and understanding of Leviticus for the church and that the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our transgressions will be exalted. Thanks be to God for the time and strength He has given me to undertake this concentrated study on this precious but often neglected portion of Holy Scripture. Thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ whom I have come to know in a more intimate way through the study of Leviticus (Luke 24:27)."