My Review of “Gospel Writing” by Francis Watson
I just received the latest issue of the Westminster Theological Journal which contains my review of Francis Watson’s latest volume, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Eerdmans, 2013).
This volume is an impressive piece of work, covering a wide range of issues related to Gospel origins. As can be expected with any book, I agreed with some parts, disagreed with others, and am still pondering a few things.
In particular, I was interested in Watson’s view of canon. Without diving into the details of the book, his canonical model is quite similar to the “Canonical Criticism” approach I outline in my book Canon Revisited (p. 48-59). Generally speaking, this was the … Continue reading...
Where Are They Now? RTS Charlotte Alumnus Matt Howell
Last week I mentioned that I am starting a new series of blog interviews entitled Where Are They Now?, highlighting some of our alumni over the years. I ask each alumnus a series of questions that show how God is at work in their lives and in their ministries (for the prior installment see here).
This installment will focus on Matt Howell (class of 2oo9), RUF minister at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), and formerly RUF minister at Appalachian State. During his time in Charlotte, Matt was my teaching assistant and did a fantastic job (he also wrote a hilarious song about me for the senior banquet, but … Continue reading...
Where Are They Now? RTS Charlotte Alumna Cynthia Ruble
One of the great blessings of being a part of a seminary like RTS Charlotte is that I get to see, over the course of many years, how God uses our graduates in special ways throughout the globe. Over the past 13 years, it has not only been a joy to teach these students, but it has been a joy to watch these students become faithful laborers in the vineyard.
For this reason, I am starting a new series of blog interviews entitled Where Are They Now?, highlighting some of our alumni over the years. I will ask them a series of questions that tells us more about how … Continue reading...
Did Jesus Really “Become” God? My Review of Bart Ehrman’s Latest
Last week I mentioned that I have begun a new series on my blog responding to Bart Erhman’s latest volume, How Jesus Became God–The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (HarperOne, 2014). For the prior posts in this series, see here and here. Future posts will come over the next few weeks.
Many of the posts in this series (though not all) will be drawn from my full-length review of Ehrman’s book. I have just learned that Reformation 21 has now posted that full review here.
The review covers a lot of ground, ranging from early Christian views of semi-divine figures, to whether Jesus claimed to be … Continue reading...
When You Fail to Distinguish Second and Third Use of the Law–A Response to Tullian Tchividjian
Last week, Jen Wilkin wrote a very helpful article on TGC entitled “Failure is not a Virtue.” The purpose of her article was to push back against those who advocate what she calls “celebratory failurism.” She says, “Celebratory failurism asserts that all our attempts to obey will fail, thereby making us the recipients of greater grace. But God does not exhort us to obey just to teach us that we cannot hope to obey.”
Put differently, Jen was concerned about those who view the law only negatively (as a means of exposing failure), and rarely discuss how Christians are empowered to obey it.
Just recently, Tullian Tchividjian has … Continue reading...