Theology

White Horse Inn: “Sin and Grace in the Christian Life”

September 17, 2007 by Phil Gons

Being under the weather for the last few days, I’ve had the opportunity to lie around and listen to MP3s. One I listened to was an episode from Michael Horton’s (Wikipedia) White Horse Inn entitled “Sin and Grace in the Christian Life” (Summary | MP3), dated 8/19/07. I think this was the first time I’d listened to Horton, and my previous exposure to him came primarily through reading his contributions to Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation—a good book, but not without some issues.

The topic of discussion in the radio program was grace and the problem of ongoing sin in the Christian life. Michael Horton led the discussion with Kim Riddlebarger, Rod Rosenbladt, and Ken Jones. I love gospel-centered theology and preaching, and I agreed with much of what they said. However, I found some of the discussion a bit disturbing and imbalanced—perhaps more what they didn’t say than what they did say.

The launching point for the discussion was a recording taken at a Christian conference of answers to the question, “What do you think happens if you die with unconfessed sin?”

Theological Journal Library to Add BibSac 1–90

September 14, 2007 by Phil Gons

If you don’t have the Theological Journal Library published by Hampton Keathley of Galaxie Software, you need to get it—period. These journals are without a doubt some of the best theological resources that you can get for the money. Volumes 1–9 are currently available, and Volume 10 should be coming out sometime in October (assuming Hampton is on the same schedule as last year). Each volume includes 50 journals (Volumes 1–5 are sold together and contain 250 journals), and the average cost per journal is just under $1 ($.67 if you buy the bundle).

Here’s what you get if you buy all 9 available volumes:

Hundreds of Free ETS Papers at RMM!

September 9, 2007 by Phil Gons

Reclaiming the Mind Ministries has just announced the launching of their online Theological Library, which contains hundreds of ETS papers from the last five years. The papers are (1) free, (2) fully searchable with selectable text for copying and pasting (most of them),1 and (3) available for viewing online2 or downloading and viewing as PDFs. There’s a wealth of helpful material there that I’m sure you’ll want to take advantage of!

I stumbled across one out of a couple dozen that didn’t have selectable text. It appears that the vast majority do. [↩]
They currently have a problem displaying superscripted text; an inch of blank space appears before every footnote. [↩]

Packer’s Forthcoming Systematic Theology

September 7, 2007 by Phil Gons

The Wikipedia entry for J. I. Packer says that “he is now at work on his magnum opus, a systematic theology.” This was the first I’d heard about this. I’d love to find out more. Can anyone verify that this is true and perhaps share some additional information like (1) the expected length, (2) how far along he is, (3) the expected publication date, and (4) the publisher?

A Google search didn’t yield anything concrete. The best information I found was from a couple of comments on Mark Dever’s blog post “Where’d All These Calvinists Come From? Part 7 of 10” (J. I. Packer):

Packer on the History and Theology of the Puritans

September 7, 2007 by Phil Gons

RTS Virtual at iTunes U just recently added J. I. Packer’s (Regent | Wikipedia) 16 lectures on the History and Theology of the Puritans. It looks like a great series of lectures. Packer’s adeptness in Puritan history and theology is evident in his helpful book A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Wheaton: Crossway, 1994).1

This book is available for Libronix. [↩]

The Merit of Faith: Genesis 15:6 in JPS

September 5, 2007 by Phil Gons

I just received the JPS Bible and Torah Commentary Collection (9 volumes) from Logos and started “thumbing” through a couple of the volumes. I’m glad I picked it up. It looks like a valuable series—primarily for what it reveals about modern Judaism’s understanding of the Tanakh.

As I expected, though, I’m going to disagree with many of the interpretations that it defends. Nahum Sarna’s interpretation of Genesis 15:6, for example, is disappointing on several levels.1

Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis, The JPS Torah commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 113. [↩]

The Pronunciation of “Propitiation”: The Mystery Solved

August 29, 2007 by Phil Gons

This is my final post on the pronunciation of “propitiation.” I promise.

The Oxford English Dictionary, “the definitive record of the English language,” has the answer to the mystery behind Carson’s unusual pronunciation of “propitiation” as prō-pĭs-ē-ā-shŭn. As I suspected originally,1 it is an older pronunciation formerly used in England and France. Here’s the relevant portion from the pronunciation section: “Anglo-Norman propiciatiun and Middle French propiciation, propitiation (French propitiation, †propiciation).”2

No doubt, then, Carson picked it up in French Canada or during his studies in England at Cambridge University.

“A Debtor to Mercy Alone” | Augustus Toplady

August 26, 2007 by Phil Gons

Here’s another solid text from Toplady that I enjoyed meditating on this morning and last evening.

A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on,
My person and off’ring to bring.
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour’s’ obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.

The work which His goodness began
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is yea and amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Not all things below or above,
Can make Him His purpose forgo,
Or sever my soul from His love.