BLOGDOM TODAY – So What Did We Miss?

Well, I’ve just about caught my breath from the conference posts, but thought it might be an idea to just list a few things some of us might have missed whilst we have all been away. No pretty pictures in this post, I am sorry, but lots of lovely links to take up all the room instead!

This week, I will not be as available as normal to interact with email and comments since I am traveling with work and will not have time in the evenings to blog, and then when I get back I have a sermon to prepare for next Sunday. I have a couple of articles already written that should get published whilst I am away, though, thanks to my ever-patient editorial assistant! There will, however, be no MLJ Monday today, and possibly not next Monday either.

Make sure you DON’T miss the posts from the DGM conference whatever you do – just follow my headline links and get reading. But for those of us who have been consumed with that conference, what did we all miss?

The ESV Bible Reaches Five-Year Milestone. Five years ago on 1st October 2001 the ESV was released. Three million copies later, J. I. Packer believes it could be one of the most significant things with which he has ever been involved. I wonder if this will be the version that finally replaces the KJV, which is still (bizarrely) the best seller as far as I know. To celebrate there were, of course, a couple of blog potshots taken against it!

ESV person and number changes. Better Bibles Blog reports two times where the ESV has changed her to you or they. The good news is that, unlike some translations, they tell us in the footnote that the context of the verses seems to demand the change, and it’s 2, not over 3,000.

Singular “they” in ESV 1 John 3:24. Wayne thinks that he has found another inconsistency in the ESV with its own translation principles. We are up to three so far! In this specific example, it is simply not possible in English to say “He in Him,” so I understand why they did it.

“God’s purpose in ordering marriage is peace. One takes the husband’s role, one takes the wife’s role, one in guiding, one in supporting. If both had the very same roles, there would be no peace.” Over on T4G, they are quoting Chrysostom as a complemenatrian.

The marginalization of evangelical feminism. Dave Warnock sits on the other side of the fence from me on a whole host of different issues. What I love about blogging is that I get to actually hear what people like Dave think of people like me and hopefully understand his perspectives.

David Field: Roasts Anglican Bishops. Despite being a lecturer at Oak Hill, he suggests a new test for bishops – “If I heard that X were to be my successor as pastor-teacher of the congregation I’ve cared for over the last ten years, would I be thrilled, content, mildly concerned, or dismayed?”

An assault on our friends the Pyromaniacs. “In the middle of a serious exposition of Scripture or analysis of a deadly error within the Church of Jesus Christ, one’s sense of sobriety is assaulted by a cartoonish parody usually involving the ubiquitous Pyromaniacs label. It appears to the non-fans like gamesmanship. Gamesmanship about matters of doctrines that have split churches, turned homes upside down, divided families, and have consequences of such importance that agonized prayer and thought must be invested in the imbibing of them is simply unfunny.”

Tim Keller. Articles and audio by Tim Keller.

Guiseppi’s Ramblings: Non-Cessationism and John Piper. More quotes from Dr. Piper on the charismatic issue.

Heavy Dluxe journey towards charismaticism. Seven careful posts on the Spirit later, this blogger feels he has become a reformed charismatic. This whole series is well worth reading and interacting with.

The Perfect and the Prophets. Eddie Beal weighs in with some heavy logic regarding Dan Phillips’ view that the perfect in 1 Corinthians 13 “most likely refers to the completed result of the process of revelation.”

“Perfect” – Canon or Christ, Part 2. Mathew Sims’ continuing discussion regarding the meaning of the “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:8-12. He references several other bloggers’ arguments, and then lays out the evidence to support his own view, including a fantastic table which identifies usage in the Old Testament, inter-Testament, and New Testament. For those of you who may have missed part 1, you can access it here. Sims will have one more post on this topic, which will be written from an historical perspective.