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"Amillennialism 101" -- Audio and On-Line Resources

 

Living in Light of Two Ages

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Entries from September 1, 2010 - September 30, 2010

Wednesday
Sep222010

Keynes? Hayek?  Schumpeter?

I was a business major in college and took the basic economics survey courses (macro and micro).  One thing those courses did not do is cover the history of economics in any detail.

Since much of contemporary political debate has become a discussion of competing economic theories (Marxism, Socialism and Capitalism), I felt the need to brush up a bit on these issues.  There are theological implications here as well.  Remember Gordon Gecko's "greed is good" mantra?  How does one justify that, biblically speaking?

Over the years, I've become a big fan of the Teaching Company, because I have been able to fill in the gaps in the crummy education provided me by the State of California.  I've taken a number of courses in music, art, literature and history.  These are university-level courses, and not distinctly Christian in perspective, much less Reformed.  The survey course on the Reformation is pretty good, the course on Luther is so-so, the course on C. S. Lewis is very good.  I do wish they'd dump Bart Ehrman, however, who teaches most of the New Testament and early church courses.  I won't spend a nickel on these.

One class which has been especially helpful to me is "Thinking About Capitalism," taught by Dr. Jerry Z. Muller from the Catholic University of America.  Click here.  All Teaching Company courses go on sale regularly, so I'd wait until this one goes on sale again (hopefully soon). 

This course offers a thorough introduction to many of the economic issues that people in my circle discuss and debate on a regular basis.  There is no math, nor charts.  The lectures are not about the nuts and bolts of economic theory per se.  Rather, the lectures (quite capably delivered, by the way) deal with the history/ideology behind the various economic schools and famous economists (i.e., Smith, Marx, Keynes, Hayek, and Shumpeter).

The lecturer is friendly towards Capitalism, but not uncritically so.  I have found this material very helpful, especially in weighing the Keynes/Hayek debate.  I'm with Hayek for the most part, have come to especially appreciate the work of Schumpeter, and discovered that Keynes didn't advocate everything which is attributed to him by politicians seeking to pack pork into spending bills to "stimulate" the economy.  Like any economist worth the name, Keynes too wanted a balanced budget.

Tuesday
Sep212010

Humbled and Appreciative

I thought readers of the Riddleblog might enjoy this picture.

On Saturday, September 18, White Horse Media held a "meet and greet" for our local supporters.  Our most gracious hosts (Mr. Kurt Winrich and his wife Debi) presented us with a cake in honor of our twentieth anniversary on the air.  Mike Horton, Rod Rosenbladt and I were present.  Brother LeBron (Ken) Jones remained (with his many talents) in South Beach.

In any case, we are truly humbled by the testimonies we heard from those in attendance and we very much appreciate all the support White Horse Inn listeners have given us through the years.

The picture is also proof that sports coat sans tie is all the rage for middle-age pastors and talk show hosts.

Monday
Sep202010

"Earnestly Desire the Higher Gifts" -- 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

Here's the audio from yesterday's sermon, the twenty-fourth in our series on 1 Corinthians.

Click here
Sunday
Sep192010

This Week's White Horse Inn

Good News vs. Good Advice

The most important difference between the religions of the world and the Christian faith is the difference between law and gospel. At the core of every religion is the application of moral instruction and advice for personal transformation. This appeals to all human beings because we are all wired for law. But the essence of Christianity is not law but gospel. Christ fulfilled the law and paid the penalty for our lawlessness. The gospel therefore is not good advice that needs to be applied, but good news to be believed (originally aired February 10, 2008).

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



Saturday
Sep182010

Who Said That?

"My own mind is my own church"

Leave your guess in the comments section below.  No google searches or cheating.  Answer to follow in one week.

Friday
Sep172010

The Theology of B. B. Warfield

This is a book I have been eagerly awaiting (Click here to order

As a student of Warfield myself, one of the things I've long desired is a systematic treatment of Warfield's theology.  Now we have one. 

B. B. Warfield wrote occasionally on every conceivable theological topic.  He even wrote at length about systematic theology (which I address in my Ph.D. dissertation--The Lion of Princeton).  But he never produced a systematic theology of his own.

Fred Zaspel has undertaken the Herculean task of going through Warfield's vast body of writing (and I mean vast!), and assembled a systematic treatment of Warfield's thought.  Zaspel has arranged this material just as you would find it if Warfield had written a systematic theology.

I was privileged to have read through some of the draft manuscript before this went to press and I can heartily recommend this book to you.

Warfield is still a giant among men and may this volume help him speak to us today!

Thanks to the folks at Crossway for doing this!

Here's the publisher's info

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Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851–1921) was undoubtedly one of the greatest Reformed theologians in the history of America. As professor of didactic and polemic theology at Princeton University, he wrote extensively in defense of fundamental Christian doctrines. While his writing touched on the full spectrum of theological topics, it was spread over hundreds of periodicals, books, and pamphlets, and a significant portion has never been published in an accessible form. Warfield stands as a dominant figure on the theological landscape, but few have a comprehensive grasp of his theology, largely because of the difficulty of tracing his ideas through numerous sources.

Fred G. Zaspel has spent many years studying Warfield’s published and unpublished writing, and presents here a concise and coherent systematic theology per B. B. Warfield. For the first time ever, readers can, in one volume, access the content of this great theologian’s academic, sermonic, and devotional works. Scholars, pastors, and students will profit from the unique combination of comprehensive detail and devotional warmth in this systematic theology.


Endorsements

“Serious Christians who have dipped into Warfield find his writings to be a wholly admirable mix of rigorous exegesis, mature theological synthesis, and frank devotion to Christ. Much of his work is known only to specialists, not least because when Warfield first published it, it was scattered over many journals and books. Indeed, a fair bit of it was never published. Zaspel’s Warfield remedies the problem admirably: one hopes and prays that it will entice a new generation of readers to delve deeply into Warfield’s contributions.”
D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

“B. B. Warfield’s distinguished achievements as a systematic theologian have been obscured by the episodic, ad hoc publication of his major theological statements. But even if Warfield did not think it necessary that he write a single, connected systematic theology, it is nonetheless most welcome that Fred Zaspel has done the job for him! The result is a very useful compendium that gives both admirers and detractors of Warfield a full and coherent account of his theology. All who are in the least interested in Warfield or who care at all about vigorous Calvinist theology will find this a most valuable book.”
Mark A. Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

“B. B. Warfield does not need an introduction for evangelical Christians. He is well known as a major conservative theologian at the close of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. His scholarship in biblical, historical, and doctrinal fields was often without a match. As a Professor in Didactic and Polemic Theology in Princeton Theological Seminary, he was content to use the three volumes of Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology as the textbook and to pour out the fruits of his labor in a flow of searching articles in a number of theological reviews. Many of these have been republished in book form, but they have not been systematically arranged in one text. That is what Dr. Zaspel has done in culling from the great mass of Warfield’s writings his actual statements in the order they could have followed had Warfield written a one-volume Reformed theology. In this form Warfield may enjoy a renewed effectiveness for our age. With great enthusiasm I highly recommend this volume and hope it will receive a wide reception.”
Roger Nicole, ETS Co-founder and its Seventh President

“B. B. Warfield was without doubt the greatest of the theological minds of Old Princeton, and he remains a towering influence within both his own confessional Presbyterian tradition and wider conservative evangelicalism. Nevertheless, while his writings are still in print, clearly written, and very accessible, their occasional nature means that there is no convenient way of gaining from them a good grasp of the overall shape of his theology. Until now, that is. In this volume, pastor-theologian and passionate Warfield aficionado Fred Zaspel has produced a work of historical and theological synthesis that sets Warfield’s thought in context and offers a comprehensive account of his thought on the major loci of theology and the controverted points of his day. In this, Fred has left us all—the veteran Warfield fan and the neophyte—deeply in his debt.”
Carl R. Trueman, Academic Dean and Vice President, Westminster Theological Seminary

“Well before the transdenominational convergence of what we now call the evangelical church, B. B. Warfield spent forty years as the Presbyterian Horatius, holding the bridge that leads into the citadel of the Westminster Standards against those he saw as spoilers from the wastelands of liberalism. A heavyweight academic and a complete player in the fields of systematic, exegetical, historical, and polemical theology, he scattered his wisdom in hundreds of articles, which this book surveys and integrates with great skill. Warfield can now be seen in his full stature as the godly giant that he was, thanks to Fred Zaspel’s labor of love. Best thanks, and hallelujah!”
J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College; author, Knowing God

“This work is long overdue. That a theologian of the stature of B.B. Warfield should not have had a comprehensive overview of his entire corpus such as this one by Dr Zaspel says far more about the thinking of Evangelicals and the ranks of the Reformed in the twentieth century than it does about Warfield. This truly excellent and eminently readable work will serve both as a primer to Warfield's thought as well as an outline of the systematic theology he never wrote. Highly recommended.”
Michael G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Director, The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies

“B. B. Warfield was the last towering figure in a long line of Old School Presbyterian intellectuals known for their unshakable faith in the truth of Scripture and their practical, experiential Calvinism. That strain of scholarly conviction had a long history in New England, especially in Princeton. Its seeds were planted by New England’s earliest Puritan ministers—men such as John Cotton and Richard Mather. It gained widespread influence (and set down roots in the soil of Princeton) under the ministry of Jonathan Edwards. It gave birth to Princeton Theological Seminary under the leadership of Archibald Alexander. Charles and A. A. Hodge carried on the legacy at Princeton Seminary, and when the younger Hodge died in 1886, B. B. Warfield became that institution’s fourth Principal. He also was its last great conservative theologian. Both profound and prolific, Warfield produced an invaluable body of theological and polemical writings that remain immensely influential—because the issues Warfield contended with are virtually the same issues that trouble the church today.

“Fred Zaspel’s work is the first detailed, readable digest of Warfield’s theology, and it is an immensely helpful volume. Dr. Zaspel puts Warfield’s published writings in clear perspective against the theological issues that dominated that era. He also shows how those same issues—and Warfield’s clear and persuasive teaching—remain relevant to us today. Dr. Zaspel writes with such clarity and simplicity that this volume will be a valuable help and encouragement to lay people and serious theologians as well—a highly recommended addition to anyone’s library.”
John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California

“The great B. B. Warfield was essentially an occasional writer. His works are largely made up of learned articles, encyclopedia entries, and popular journalism. Fred Zaspel had the great idea of rendering this vast body of material into a compendium, a Warfield systematic theology. He clearly has what it takes to do the job superbly well: a love for his subject, care and attention to detail, and, above all, a thorough knowledge of Warfield’s writing. The result is a book that does not replace the Warfield volumes, but provides an accurate, thematic entry into them. It will be of inestimable benefit to all students of this outstanding Reformed theologian. Well done!”
Paul Helm, Teaching Fellow, Regent College; author, Faith with Reason

“The ‘Lion of Old Princeton’ roars and purrs in this helpful survey. The author finely displays the passion and wit as well as intellectual credibility of Warfield’s remarkable work.”
Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

Thursday
Sep162010

Yet Another Reason to Hate Flying

According to a recent news story, budget airlines are experimenting with so-called "saddle seating" so they can pack more people into an airplane (Click Here).

You sit at an angle, you support yourself with your legs, and you get a whopping 23 inches of leg room--down from the "roomy" 30 inches of most coach seating.

I'm sure hoping this doesn't catch on!

I'm not afraid of flying, but I hate it.  It is a giant hassle (getting in and out of the airport, all the security issues, etc.), and now it often takes me a couple of days to recover.

I knew I hit middle-age when the airline seat, the softness or hardness of the hotel bed, along with the pillow I slept on, had as much to do with the success of the trip as anything else.  It is hard to speak or do business when your neck is out of whack or your back hurts.

I hate being packed into a small and uncomfortable seat.  I hate being told that you can't get up and move around the plane like the good old days.  I remember dressing up to fly, eating real food on plates with silverware.  Everybody watched the movie. 

Remember the lounge upstairs in the second level of the 747?  You could hang out there, chat and even play pong.  Now that was the way to fly!

No wonder TV evangelists, celebrities, politicians and athletes buy their own jets.  Sure beats saddle seating!

Monday
Sep132010

"One Body, Many Members" -- 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

The audio from Sunday's sermon has been posted:

Click Here
Sunday
Sep122010

This Week's White Horse Inn

Justification & Imputed Righteousness

What is the heart of the gospel message? On this program the hosts make the claim that the essential core of the good news is the doctrine of justification by an imputed righteousness, namely, that we are declared righteous not because of anything we have done but rather on the basis of the righteous life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The hosts also discuss how this doctrine is being ignored or outright denied in our time (originally aired October 7, 2007).

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



Saturday
Sep112010

Who Said That?

"It's been my observation that Reformed men who justify silence in the public square under the rubric of `two-kingdom theology' and `the spirituality of the church' are usually unconcerned about the sexual anarchy, oppression, and bloodshed of innocents that has long been the foundation of our civil compact here in these United States. In my experience they simply don't give a rip.

It's self-evident on any terms a civilized man accepts for the foundation of common law that sending wives, sisters, and mothers off to fight our enemies is evil, but see if spirituality-of-the-church men address the civil magistrate condemning this evil? It's self-evident on any terms a civilized man accepts for the foundation of common law that ripping unborn babies apart in their mothers' wombs is an evil as great as the world has ever known, but check out whether the two-kingdom men you know write about it on their blogs, speak against it in the public square, preach against it in their pulpits, or show up at the killing place to lift a finger to stop it."

Please leave your guess in the comments section below.  PLease, no google searches.  Answer to follow next week.