My book Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love is due out in just a few months (August 2013), and is already available for pre-order at Amazon. Crossway’s fine copy-editor has finalized the text with me, and I’ll be checking page proofs soon. I’m also gathering a few endorsements from generous theologians and historians, which I’m excited to share in due course. I’ll be doing some promoting of the book this summer and fall, but having just... Read more
Matt Jenson and Fred Sanders are discussing the recent book on the doctrine of the Trinity by Stephen R. Holmes, The Quest for the Trinity. In part 1, we set up Holmes’ project and his approach. In this installment, we discuss what he says about the history of the doctrine (chapters 3-8). In these core chapters, Holmes covers the early fathers, spends considerable time on the fourth century, surveys the middle ages and the Reformation, then looks at the period... Read more
I’d like to suggest an alternative to the common understanding of a well-known verse. Verse 12 of Psalm 90 is translated: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (ESV). The verse is usually taken as a prayer for God to give us the wisdom that comes from considering the brevity of our lives. Spurgeon’s comments on the verse spell out the contents of the wisdom: “Men are led by reflections upon the... Read more
The Trinity was forgotten for a period of “centuries of doctrinal tragedy,” until suddenly in the middle of the twentieth century, theologians rediscovered it. Several decades after that ecumenical rediscovery, evangelical theologians are finally catching up. “So goes the standard story,” say Daniel Treier and David Lauber, the editors of Trinitarian Theology for the Church (IVP, 2009), but they are keen to encourage some revisionism. This excellent 2009 book is composed of 11 of the papers delivered at the 2008 Wheaton Theology Conference on the practical,... Read more
The Spring issue of Credo magazine has a great set of articles on the doctrine of the Trinity. The whole 75-page issue is free online, well designed, and brilliantly edited. Scott Swain on “the mystery of the Trinity,” Mike Reeves on “why a triune God is better than any other,” and Robert Letham on “how the triune God transforms our worship.” I got to write the warm-up article, entitled “The Trinity: The God Behind the Gospel.” My main task was... Read more
It is quite common to hear from various Christian circles on how we must influence Washington with Christian values, and that bringing our nation to a more Christian footing morally, cultural and politically must be a top priority. But even if we did succeed in creating this optimum Christian society, what are the chances of its permanence? St. Augustine’s answer is not to count on it. A look into his theology of history tells us why. While this essay is... Read more
We had a blast talking through Tom McCall’s Forsaken a few months ago and thought we’d do the same with Stephen Holmes’ recent book on the Trinity, published in the US as The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History and Modernity (IVP Academic, 2012) and in the UK as The Holy Trinity: Understanding God’s Life (Paternoster, 2012). Thanks to IVP and Paternoster for review copies! (The book’s identical, by the way, just with different titles and covers.)... Read more
Everybody knows about the magazine called Credo, right? It’s a newish (started 2011) quarterly that is made available for free online (via issuu or pdf). Each issue is elaborately designed and in full color, and the content so far has been excellent. Matthew Barrett of California Baptist University is the executive editor, and he and his team are doing great work. The latest issue of Credo is on the Trinity, and it’s remarkably well put together. I did one of... Read more
As we careen at breakneck speed towards the legalization of gay marriage, as people yell and stamp and scream and justify and demonize, consider this moving, quiet, patient, eloquent plea (with a follow-up) by an anonymous writer to just stop using words that freeze, reduce, diminish and thrash gays and lesbians. I was attracted to comic books because it clearly spelled out who was good and evil; the good guys won most of the time and what I liked at the... Read more
My church hosted a great event last week, an Easter walk with a multi-station dramatic telling of the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It helped set up our congregational experience of Holy Week, and the church also produced and handed out two small devotional booklets for daily readings to do through the week. One booklet was for reading with younger children, and one was appropriate for older kids and adults. Here’s the link for the pdf of the latter booklet. ... Read more
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