Green Baggins recently posted a call for repentance for those in the FV camp. Not surprisingly, this elicted quite a few comments (279 to be exact), and among them I noticed the following comment by Gary Johnson. Gary is one of the editors of the book I am currently reviewing (By Faith Alone), and because …
A Mousetrap Gospel
I’ll explain the title shortly. Promise. The next chapter in By Faith Alone is by Rick Phillips, and in it he tackles two different challenges to the Reformed doctrine of imputation. The first is on the part of contemporary Arminians, who say that God accepts our faith in lieu of righteousness, and the second is …
Federal Vision Earthquake
The next chapter in By Faith Alone is by T. David Gordon, and it too is a critique of N.T. Wright. The bulk of the chapter is just fine. Gordon, like Venema, is not hyperventilating over this, and he brings Wright’s approach to biblical theology under scrutiny, and does so in a moderate and fair …
Write That Spot Down
Chapter one of By Faith Alone is a critique by Cornelis Venema of N.T. Wright’s views on justification. This chapter was very good, and was admirable on a number of levels. Readers of this blog know that I have learned a lot from Wright, and I appreciate much of what he has to offer. In …
Oh, Never Mind
Guy Waters’ Introduction has three main sections. In the first, he summarizes the doctrine of sola fide. That section was quite good in many respects, actually. I can say this because I affirm, believe, and teach the doctrine of sola fide. The only place I would quibble with Waters here is that I would want …
Us Dwarfs
Full disclosure right at the outset. The Foreword to Faith Alone was written by David Wells, and if that man’s books were orange juice concentrate, I could still eat them right out of the can with a spoon. When he is on his message (which is the exposition of the soul destroying nature of relativistic …
Like Scarsdale
So here I sit in the Chicago airport, exercising the patience of Job, or at any rate thinking that I ought to be exercising the patience of Job. No, nothing to do with the flights. I just finished reading Michael Horton’s contribution to Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry. I was seriously disappointed — I think …
Not Exactly Joy Upon Joy
The third essay in Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministy is by Iain Duguid, and is entitled “Covenant Nomism and the Exile.” It is really quite good overall, and my critical comments will not be extensive at all. There is one place where he has a superb interaction with N.T. Wright’s confusion about courtroom imputation. In …
A Caveat
As the previous post made clear, I genuinely appreciate a lot of what N.T Wright writes. Not only do I think it is true, but I believe that many in the Reformed world desperately need to learn many things from him. That said, I have been recently looking again at some of the issues we …
Evil and Debt Forgiveness
Today I just finished reading a new book by N.T. Wright — Evil and the Justice of God. I have quibbles and quabbles here and there, but the book as a whole is simply magnificent. If you want a treatment of the problem of evil that functions within the categories of biblical theology, and concludes …