Tuesday 13 December 2016

Themelios 41, 3 (December 2016)


The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.

Editorial
D.A. Carson
Seekest Thou Great Things for Thyself?

Off the Record
Michael J. Ovey
Choose Your Fears Carefully

Matthew Lillicrap
Fulfilling the Heroic Ideal: A Triperspectival Approach to Christian Moral Heroism
The Human fascination with the heroic is evident from ancient mythology to the heroic epics of modern cinema. Real-life heroes, those deemed morally heroic, are no less fascinating, but arouse unease. What does the heroic have to do with the ordinary? ‘Common sense’ morality defines heroism as beyond ordinary, with minimal moral authority. Meanwhile Christians also feel uneasy. Talk of heroes appears to risk marginalising Christ, the hero of Scripture and history. This essay engages these issues, utilising John Frame’s tri-perspectival approach to Christian ethics, to find that far from resisting the heroic, the gospel would have us both embrace Christ as hero and strive for the unexpected heroism he calls for.

Lydia Jaeger
Facts and Theories in Science and Theology: Implications for the Knowledge of Human Origins
This article examines the status of facts and theories in science and theology. The biblical worldview upholds human knowledge, while highlighting its limited, situated and personal character. Some developments in 20th-century science and epistemology confirm such an understanding of knowledge. Of particular relevance here are the failure of logical empiricism and Kuhnian, Polanyian and presuppositional epistemologies. Comparing the construction of scientific and theological knowledge, this article focuses on what science and theology contribute to the study of human origins and how to harmonize specific insights gained in both fields. It explores a nonreductionist, multidimensional model of intellectual inquiry in which both science and theology can contribute to our understanding of human reality.

Pierce Taylor Hibbs
We Who Work with Words: Towards a Theology of Writing
This article works toward a “theology of writing” in order to inform and encourage Christian writers, helping them to consider not just what they write but why they write, and in whose image they write. The author lays a theological foundation for language and writing in the Trinity, then applies this to human writing. The aim is to show that writing is a Trinitarian, image-bearing craft by which we mark the world with our presence.

Fred Farrokh
The “Same God Question”: Why Muslims are Not Moving Toward Christians
Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? This “Same God Question” has again captured the attention of the Christian public. Increasing numbers of Christians are now responding in the affirmative, especially as they seek amicable relations with Muslims. This article looks at this age-old question from the Islamic point of view, noting that Muslim scholars have not mirrored their Christian counterparts in moving toward theological reconciliation. Indeed, the foundational teachings and example of Muhammad restrict them from doing so, thus creating a dynamic of “one hand clapping” in interfaith discourse. While Muslim scholars have largely minded their Unitarian orthodoxy, Christians have been much more lax in standing for their belief in one loving God, eternally co-existent as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Encouragingly, the Triune God of the Bible is now drawing Muslims to himself in unprecedented numbers. Christians may enhance this movement by unashamedly proclaiming this unique God to Muslims.

Pastoral Pensées
Andrew David Naselli
Seven Reasons You Should Not Indulge in Pornography
You should not indulge in pornography for at least seven reasons: (1) It will send you to hell. (2) It does not glorify God with your body. (3) It is a poisonous, fleeting pleasure. (4) It foolishly wastes your life. (5) It betrays your wife and children. (6) It ruins your mind and conscience. (7) It participates in sex slavery.

Book Reviews

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