Review: The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

A book on Luke 15, the parable of the two sons (commonly called the parable of the Prodigal sons). Those who have not read or heard of a good exposition on this passage would be in for a treat with Keller’s book. As I was reading this book I can’t help it but to compare it to John MacArthur’s “Tale of Two Sons.” Personally I enjoyed MacArthur’s work better since it went over more exegetical materials and insights into the passage. Keller’s work spent more time on the Older Brother than MacArthur’s. I appreciate Keller’s attention to the search for one’s motive in doing things, that is we are doing things to earn merit to control God, then we are like the older brother in the parable…and we are doing it wrong. I disagree with Keller that the Father represents God, since I see the referent to be Jesus to be consistent with the reason why Jesus told this parable was due to the Pharisees seeing Jesus reaching out to “sinners.” One good exegetical insight Keller brought out from the parable of the two sons that I never noticed before is the fact in the previous parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep, there was a “search and rescue” being done but this story lacks that and he brings out that it should have been the responsibility of the older brother to find the younger son which he failed to do. Self-righteous religious people don’t search out for the lost to see them back to the father–ouch, for those who don’t have a heart for the lost. Over all good book.

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Mid-April 2013 Presuppositional apologetics round up

I’ve been caught up with the week long series on Biblical counseling and concern for psychology so I didn’t have the chance to put up our regular round up of Presuppositional apologetics links until now.  These are links from April 8th-21st 2013.  Enjoy and share with others!  What other links have you read that we should know about?

1.) God: The Ground and Source of Knowledge

2.) Audio Lecture on Cornelius Van Til by Geoff Thomas

3.) Are You an Evangelical Apologist?

4.) Repent so you can understand

William Edgar’s Thoughts on Gay Rights

5.) Interviewing James White: What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur’an

5.) Misframing Adam and Evolution

6.) Answers in Genesis Research Journal: A Response to Peter Enns’s Attack on Biblical Creationism

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Index to Marathon Series on Biblical Counseling and concern for Psychology

We have completed our week long Marathon series on Biblical counseling and concern for Psychology.  Here is the compilation of our posts related to this topic from this week and also from the past.  Book mark this as a resource–and also to visit in the future as we will add more links and resources to equip God’s people to think Biblically and apply a Christian worldview in the areas of helping people with their problems.

• Writings:
  • Choose Biblical Counseling Not Psychology
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
  • The Goal of Biblical Counseling
  • Ten Ways Apologetics Help in Biblical Counseling
  • The Role of the Mind in Sanctification
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
    • Part 3
    • Part 4
    • Part 5
  • Christian Neutrality and Psychology
  • Pre-courtship Counseling: Seven Relationship Questions
• Free Courses:
  • Westminster Theological Seminary’s Professors on Biblical Counseling
  • Pastoral Counseling Course by Dr. Stuart Scott
  • Marriage and Family Counseling Course at The Master’s Seminary by John Street
• Book Reviews:
  • Review: Freud by R.J. Rushdoony
  • Review: One Nation Under Therapy by Christina Hoff Sommers, Sally L. Satel
  • Recommendation: Godliness Through Discipline By Jay Adams
  • Book Review of “Out of the Blues: Dealing with the Blues of Depression & Loneliness” by Wayne Mack
  • Review: If You Bite & Devour One Another by Alexander Strauch
  • Review: Eternal Security by Arthur W. Pink
• Other:
  • Depression Poem
  • Interview: The Domain for Truth Interviews Pastor Edward Caballero Concerning His Thoughts on Pornography
  • Links Concerning the Biblical Perspective on Psychology
  • General Revelation Equals Psychology?
  • Deathbed moment: True guilt and truth of God matters

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Review: Eternal Security by Arthur W. Pink

Note: I am reviewing this book as part of our biblical counseling and concern for psychology series on our blog.  EvangelZ previously wrote a good summary of Christian counseling is to glorify God as opposed to other man based system of “fixing” man which ranges from happiness to feeling better, etc.  The goal for Christians in counseling is to glorify God and ultimately we need to understand man’s problem in theological and biblical categories.  I find it quite fruitful in dealing with problems in the Christian life to discuss about the assurance of salvation and this book would be a great resource for you for that.

REVIEW

A book that has a doctrinal devotional flavor. Arthur Pink in this book talks about the doctrine of a believer’s security in their salvation. He gives particular care in his treatment so as to avoid the antinominan version of “once saved always saved” in which sanctification and holiness doesn’t even matter, while also avoiding the pitfalls of Arminianism that assumes we can lose our salvation. Antinomianism would lead one to become a libertine while Arminianism has the tendency of assuming legalism. The Biblical balance teaches that God not only ordained the eternal life of the elect but He has also ordained the means of a believer’s eternal security by persevering in the faith. Though the book is not as exegeticaly based as I would like, nevertheless Pink does give a good amount of verses for readers to look up and study further on. I appreciated that the doctrine of eternal security was not only discussed here in terms of it’s nature and importance, but also its’ benefits and marvel. Pink demonstrates in this book how this doctrine would motivate believers to holiness. A Practical book and was a great spiritual refreshment to read.

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD

You can access a free copy of this book in PDF form by clicking HERE.

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Westminster Theological Seminary’s Professors on Biblical Counseling

Westminster Theological Seminary has no doubt been tremendously impactful in churches across the world beyond the Conservative Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC).  Besides Reformed Theology, the Seminary has also also introduced to the church at large in other denomination Presuppositional apologetics (as systematized by their professor Cornelius Van Til) and also Biblical Counseling through Jay Adams who taught there from 1963 through 1983.  Westminster Seminary also houses the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) which has been training people in Nouthetic Counseling since 1968.  Many professors in Biblical counseling in other seminary do have their doctorate work done at Westminster.  No doubt it would be appropriate to see what resources WTS has made available to the Public.  The Seminary has free audios available of lectures concerning Biblical counseling over at Itunes University!

Here are the topics the lectures covered:

1.) Dynamics of Biblical Change

2.) All Theology is Practical Theology

3.) When People Go Insane

4.) Command: Resist the Devil

5.) Dealing with a Person’s Past

6.) Union With Christ: Dynamic for Change

7.) Temptation

8.) Homosexuality

9.) Union With Christ: God at Work

10.) A.D.H.D Diagnosis

11.) Therapy and Faith: Integration or Inundation?

You can access the audios at ITunes University by clicking HERE.

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Early April 2013 Van Tillian Links Round Up!

Here are some links related to Presuppositional apologetics between April 1-7th, 2013.  Enjoy!

1.) Ted Turnau interviewed concerning Presuppositional apologetics and Pop Culture.

2.) Report on a Historical Theology Lecture on Cornelius Van Til

3.) Apologia Radio Interview: Answering the fool w/Sye Ten Bruggencate

4.) Dr. Richard Pratt on the Claim that the Bible Contradicts Itself

5.) Doppleganger Theism

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Free! Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Conference 2013 on Man online for download

Thanks to Jeff Downs for directly letting us know about these resources!

I have enjoyed past audio downloads from Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s Spring Conference especially last year’s topic on Old Princeton.  Each year they focus on a particular subject and have their faculty along with distinguished guests lecture and preach on various facets of the subject.  This year was on the doctrine of man.  This year’s audio is already available for free download!  They are originally from here.

Supernatural Creation of Man by Dr. Richard Belcher

The Covenant of Works by Guy Prentiss Waters

Temptation and the Fall by Dr. Joel Beeke

Red in Tooth and Claw? An Exegetical Evaluation of the Doctrine by Matthew Hoist

Imago Dei – Man, the Image of God by Dr. Nelson Kloosterman

Original Sin and Depravity by Dr. Joseph A. Pipa Jr.

The Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission – an Integrationist Model by Dr. Nelson Kloosterman

Questioning the Philosophy of Science Used to Question the Bible’s Doctrine by Gabriel Fluhrer

Q&A Sessions

Godly Dominion by Dr. E. Calvin Beisner

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Review: Reformation for Armchair Theologians by Glenn S. Sunshine

Of all the books I have read in the Armchair Theologians series this is the one I learned the most from. There were many things I did not know before about the Reformation that I picked up from this work. The author Glenn Sunshine tells us in the introduction that the book was originally an adaptation of a series of studies and lectures he presented on the Reformation. I thought he did a pretty good job with the history. What I like about this introductory work to the Reformation in contrast with others that I read before is the fact that this book gave more of the historical and political contexts of what was going on while the church and theologians were hammering out a Protestant theology. It was such a tumultuous time period with wars and persecution for Protestants. I appreciated the book’s discussion on the political and social atmosphere that the Reformation took place; there were many times as I read the book that I thought to myself of the biblical truth that what man and rulers might have meant for evil, God brought about good in spite of it. Surely the Reformation would probably not have had a lasting effect if the Catholics were able to militarily wiped out Protestants; but this did not occur since various other wars going on in Europe at that time that tied down or disunited Catholics politically. As a result the Reformation was not militarily crushed and survived it’s infancy. But that does not mean this period was peaceful; on the contrary, by the time the Reformation was reaching the second generation much bloodshed would be spilled with religious wars such as the Thirty Year’s War, etc. I appreciated the author’s decision to discuss the Reformation not just about Luther, Zwingli and Calvin as most classical introduction do, but also how the Reformation spread and fared in other places such as with the Dutch, France, England and Bohemia, etc. It’s a history that’s not always pretty especially with the various rulers’ persecution and political drama. The author did a good job writing this book in a format that is interesting and engaging narrative form. I would recommend this book.

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Greg Bahnsen lecture on foreordination and human responsibility

Greg Bahnsen was a prolific Christian apologist who has made a tremendous contribution in popularizing Presuppositional Apologetics before his untimely death in 1995.  He is probably Cornelius Van Til’s best known disciple.  Here is an audio lecture on the topic of foreordination and human responsibility found on Youtube.

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Early through Mid March 2013 Van Tillian Links

I have not been recently able to keep abreast with Presuppositional apologetics links around the web due to important milestone events in my family’s life hence the delay in our regular installment of Presuppositional apologetics links.  Well, here are some links around the web that I noted.

Reference: God–Do Christians and non-Christians have a basis to refer to the same referent when they talk about “God”?

New Apologetics eBook – “Christianity Supreme—Defeating Non-Christian Worldviews”– Mike Robinson’s latest book!

What About the Heathen?–Very good article by Fred Butler examining the presuppositions of this common object and also evaluating this objection in light of a non-Christian worldview.

Original Sin and Depravity– This is one message from the Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s Spring Conference on Theology of Man that is up!

Christianity and Barthianism–Jared Oliphint on Van Til’s take on Karl Barth.

Profiles in apostasy–Steve Hays insightful thoughts.

Problems With Authority in Classical and Evidentialist Apologetics–The guys over at Choosing Hats have something to say about this.

Interview on Logic: A God-Centered Approach–An interview with Vern Poythress on his latest book!

Our Genes are Like ‘Ruthless Chicago Gangsters’– Gary DeMar on the problem of a materialistic worldview taken to it’s logical conclusion and it’s lack of ability to account for morality.

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Book Review: Calvin for Armchair Theologians by Christopher Elwood,

This is the fourth book I read in the “Armchair Theologians” series, and one of the better ones I would say though my favorite was on Martin Luther. This work does a good job in explaining John Calvin’s biography–how he started out as a humanist and lawyer and eventually a pastor and theologian. Calvin’s story of how he got to Geneva is a testimony of God’s providence–for Calvin was originally taking a detour to another place and happened to visit the city only to be persuaded (well threatened with God’s Wrath) to stay–an important decision that made tremendous impact in history. I appreciated the author’s discussion about the Institutes of Christian religion, and the background for why Calvin wrote this book along with the author’s observation of how Calvin organized his theology. What I appreciate the most about this book is the fact that the author tackled some of the controversies surrounding Calvin with the consideration of Calvin in his historical situation. Evaluating Calvin in this light removes some of the objections people have stated against him or his theology. For instance, in the Predestination debate with Bolsec, the author revealed that Bolsec was the one who initiated attacking Calvin’s view first and also reminded the reader that Bolsec’s negative biography had an ax to grind. It seems that there cannot be any discussion about Calvin’s controversial life without the mention of Michael Servetus. Contrary to some myths, Michael Servetus was not killed by John Calvin since he was a pastor/theologian and not a member of the magistrate. In addition, the book pointed out that Calvin at that time didn’t enjoy a particularly good relationship with the rulers of Geneva so it’s doubtful how much pull Calvin had on the officials during that time. Calvin’s involvement at first was to correct Servetus and he was even originally not in favor of any punishment against Servetus. The book also considered the Servetus controversy in it’s historical setting, and while it does not necessarily excuse what happened it should slow down the modern critic from ignorantly assuming Geneva was a hotbed of Calvinistic tyranny. Geneva at that time had already a reputation for being too tolerant for sheltering what some perceived to be too many theological wild cats and when Servetus came along the officials in Geneva even consulted with other cities as to what to do with him.  Thus, Geneva was under mounting pressure to do something. Readers must remember that this was not a time period in which religious tolerance was at a premium; yet Geneva’s only religious execution was Servetus in contrasts to the multitudes the Roman Catholics managed to kill in religious wars or burn at the stakes those who were Protestants, etc. The most problematic part of the book was the last chapter on the heirs of Calvin, where the author’s careful and thoughtful reflection gets unhinged and his theologically more liberal perspective shows. Elwood thinks that theological Liberals, Barthians, Neo-Orthodox and Liberation Theologians are legitimate heirs to Calvin’s legacy while seeing Conservative Reformed Christians such as those of Old Princeton as the wacky right wing extremists of Calvin’s theological lineage. This would seems strange to most people and no doubt this reveals more of Elwood’s theological paradigm than it does about Calvin’s legacy. Elwood here assumes that Semper Reformanda gives license for him to assume that whatever have changed over time can be rightly called “Calvinistic.”  However I don’t think that’s true to the spirit of Semper Reformanda–Calvin’s principle of “always reforming” assumes a high view of Scripture and the Word of God as normative–something that some of Calvin’s alleged heirs that Elwood asserts in this book have failed to subscribe to.

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Book Review: Papal Power by Henry T. Hudson

 

With the election of the new pope no doubt there is much buzz on the internet about the Pope.  It was timely to review this book.

The chapter on the Patristics was heavily reliant on secondary sources; I wished he could have dealt with the early Patristics directly. However, the author was able to bring out a lot of quotation from primary sources concerning Luther and the Reformation. The book had a good chronology of Luther’s developing view of the Papacy. It also quoted a good amount of the documents directly in the chapters touching on Vatican one and two. The mention of fallible popes on pages 151-52 and 172 gives names of heretical popes and contradicting popes for readers to do further research if they like. The copy I have of this book was published by the Trinity Foundation and I enjoyed appendix A, which featured a tract that was an alleged speech delivered in Vatican 1 in opposition against Papal infallibility. It was surprising to learn from the book that there has been a stream of Catholics who historically opposed the idea of Papal infallibility even up to the time of Vatican 1, and this stream include reputable Catholic scholars. It was actually a greater delight to read appendix A of an actual Catholic objection to Papal infallibility in print during the sessions of Vatican 1. This book makes me want to read more about the Pope (it’s history, doctrine, etc) and perhaps even chasing some of the trails of footnotes and sources cited. I wished the discussion of the Biblical data could have been longer and rather than discussed in both the beginning and end of the book, it might have been more better to organize it and present it in the beginning. I do recommend this book.

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Questions to Ask Pelagians when they bring up Romans 5:12

I typically avoid facebook debates.  This was an exception.  The topic was on Original sin and there was one individual who insisted on denying the doctrine of Original sin, camping out on the biblical passage of Romans 5:12.  He asserts:

Technically speaking, the man born evil thesis, does not have a good basis.

The Pelagian critic quoted from the Revised Standard Version, in which Romans 5:12 states:

 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned –

He insisted that Romans 5:12 is contrary to Original sin since death spread to all men because all have sin.  But those who embrace the doctrine of original sin would not deny this, that all men have sinned.  The question should have been focused on the relationship if any, there is between Adam, sinners, sin and God.

The “debate” that went on avoided actually looking at Romans 5:12 more clearly according to it’s context.  Pressing the Pelagian to look at the context was like getting a cat to a bath.  Finally, to make things easier I fielded some yes and no questions concerning the relationship of Adam and all sinners in light of Romans 5:12 and it’s context.  These questions were never answered but nevertheless I thought they might be helpful if you have to deal with someone who denies original sin and wanted to look at Romans 5:12 (though I might add, my position on Original Sin does not rest on Romans 5:12 as a stand alone, but verses following it in Romans 5).

These questions are not intended to be “silver bullet” but I hope they clarify differences and challenge one to think about the relationship of Adam and sinners more carefully.

Here are the yes or no questions:

1.) Is there any relationship between Adam and all sinners?
2.) Are all human sinners descendants of Adam?
3.) Was Adam a sinner?
4.) Was Adam’s death an eventual consequence for Adam’s sin? 
5.) Assuming all things being equal will all sinners die?
6) Do babies die?
7.) Do you believe it is Biblical that one man’s disobedience many were made sinners?

Here would be my answer to these questions:

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. Yes (Cf. James 1:15).
6. Yes.
7. Yes.

The last question was rather intentional.  If the Pelagian were to say “no,” that question 7 is unbiblical, it would be quite ironic:  Question 7 is a quotation word for word from Romans 5:12 (in this case, the RSV, but substitute the translation the Pelagian happen to be using).

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Book Review: The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther by Steven J Lawson

NOTE: This book just came off the press (March 2013) and was on sale and promoted widely during Shepherd’s Conference!  I thought it would be timely to put up this review.

This was a very edifying read; one ought to purchase it for their pastor! The book makes the case that Luther must be understood as a preacher before all other roles that he had, whether it’s a theologian, professor or writer. I learned that Luther zeal for preaching was done while he was doing everything else in ministry and on any given Sunday he preached three to four sermons with the first service beginning at at 5 AM! He would preach a sermon every two days. While I have enjoyed other biographies on Luther in the past (see for instance, this recent post), what makes this particular book unique is that this book on Martin Luther as a preacher is written by Steven Lawson who is himself a powerful and passionate preacher. There’s nothing like a good preacher having the insight on another famous preacher. Lawson is not only a preacher but he has proven himself in the past to be a capable writer especially in the area of the history of preaching and this work doesn’t disappoint. For a work in which the body comes in at 122 pages, Lawson’s historical leg work is amazing with 324 footnotes total. The sources he cites indicate his familiarity with both secondary sources and English translation of primary sources on Luther. And he’s able to do this without making the book feel boring.  On the contrary, reading the book made me felt passionate about preaching especially when I got to chapter five on Luther’s passionate delivery in the pulpit. I couldn’t go to sleep until after three in the morning because I wanted to preach God’s Word as a result of reading this book!  I am a firm believer that true Christ-centered preaching that’s Biblically driven can’t be delivered as a mono-tone lecture–one must internalize the Word of God and let the Word set you ablaze with a conviction of it’s truth and power. I highly recommend the book for all readers.

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Spring 2013 Conference on Doctrine of Man by Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Schedule

In the past I’ve enjoyed listening to Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s Spring Conferences, especially last year’s topic on Old Princeton.  This year, their focus is on the Doctrine of Man.  The doctrine of man has wide implications on this side of eternity and the next and affects the sphere of politics, apologetics and evangelism, etc.  I can’t wait for the audios to be uploaded.  For now, here’s the schedule listed from their website:

Tuesday : March 12
9:30 – 12:00	Open House at GPTS
10:30 – 11:15	Pre-Conference Chapel at GPTS (Cal Beisner)
11:15 – 12:15	Prospective Student Luncheon at GPTS
11:00 – 1:00	Registration Table and Bookstore Open at WRPC
1:15 – 2:30
Supernatural Creation of Man Dr. Richard Belcher Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, N.C.
3:00 – 4:15
The Covenant of Works Dr. Guy Waters Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS.
4:15 – 4:45	Question and Answer
5:00 – 6:30	Catered Dinner
7:00 – 8:30
Temptation and the Fall* Dr. Joel Beeke President and professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and pastor of Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation..

Wednesday : March 13
9:00 – 10:15
Red in Tooth and Claw? An Exegetical Evaluation of the Doctrine of Death Before The Fall Rev. Matthew Holst Minister of Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Woodstock, Ga.
10:35 – 11:50
Thomas Boston and the Four-Fold State Dr. Bill Vandoodewaard Associate Professor of Church History at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and Visiting Professor of Church History at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
11:50 – 12:15	Question and Answer
12:20 – 1:30	Catered Lunch
1:45 – 3:00
Imago Dei – Man, the Image of God Dr. Nelson Kloosterman Ethics Consultant for Worldview Resources International in St. John, IN.
3:30 – 4:15	Question and Answer
4:15 – 7:00	Dinner Break
7:00 – 8:30
Original Sin and Depravity* Dr. Joseph Pipa President of Greenville Seminary and Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology..

Thursday : March 14
9:00 – 10:15
The Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission – an Integrationist Model Dr. Nelson Kloosterman Ethics Consultant for Worldview Resources International in St. John, IN.
10:35 – 11:50
Questioning the Philosophy of Science Used to Question the Bible’s Doctrine of Man Rev. Gabriel Fluhrer Organizing pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church near Raleigh, N.C.
11:50 – 12:20	Question and Answer

 

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