Foundations 86 (Summer 2024)

Issue 86 of Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, published by Affinity, is now available from here (now requiring an email address for a link to a downloadable pdf) which includes the below essays.

Donald John MacLean

Editorial

Jonathan Bayes

Review Article: Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction

Steve Bishop

Abraham Kuyper: Inspiration, Revelation, and Scripture

This paper examines Kuyper’s view of the Scriptures. It stresses Kuyper’s organic and pneumocentric view of the Scriptures. These emphases serve to show that Scripture is both of divine and human origin.

Lee Gatiss

John Owen and Relating to God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

This article presents the foundational importance of the Trinity for the Christian life. Considering the teaching of John Owen, and his context in the seventeenth century, helps us see that the great blessing of the Christian life is that we have fellowship with the one true and living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And, in particular, that we have distinct communion with him as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit.

Roger Fay

John Wesley and Aldersgate

This article considers the significance of John Wesley’s experience on 24 May 1738 when his heart was “strangely warmed”. It argues against attempts to dilute the evangelical significance of this experience.

Ian Shaw

Slavery, the Slave Trade and Christians’ Theology – Part 1

In this article I explore the different positions taken by Christians in America and Britain, through the 17th to 19th Centuries, regarding slavery and the slave trade. In a second article I will reflect on the theological themes that framed how they thought, spoke and acted.

Thorsten Prill

Missionary – What’s in a Word? A Critical Discussion of a Disputed Term

This article discusses the meaning of the word “missionary” and its use in today’s church. It looks at the biblical, historical and contemporary understandings of a phrase which triggers a variety of responses even among Christians. Some insist that “missionary” has become a discredited term and others hold that it no longer reflects their broader understanding of mission. However, those who still use it find support both in the Scriptures and mission history. Given the similarity of the phrase “missionary” and the biblical term “apostle” one can argue that missionaries are followers of Christ who are sent to continue with the apostolic task without claiming the same authority as the Twelve or the Apostle Paul. Therefore, the preaching of the gospel, the planting of churches and the training of church leaders lie at the heart of their mission. This work might be accompanied by other activities, such as social, educational or medical programmes, but, as demonstrated by the early representatives of the Protestant mission movement, it should always be carried out with sensitivity, respect and humility.

Book Reviews

Themelios 46, 1 (April 2021)

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

Editorial

Brian J. Tabb

The Neglected Virtue of Contentment

Strange Times

Daniel Strange

Coming to Our Senses: The Case for a Civil Elenctics and an Elenctic Civility

Henri A.G. Blocher

Canonicity: A Theologian’s Observations

The topic of the biblical canon raises a specific, twofold difficulty for evangelical systematic theologians: the appeal to the Spirit’s testimony and a recognition of divine providence in history. It is crucial to recognize that “canon” entails both a principle – a body of teaching incorporating the word of God that binds the conscience of believers – and a list of books officially recognized as authoritative by the world-wide church. The principle of canon and specific canonical books are organically linked. While the validity of our confession of the canon of Scripture cannot be proven on any “neutral” ground, believers have sufficient clarity and confidence to confess the rule we need in radical dependence on God.

Matthew Bingham

Brains, Bodies, and the Task of Discipleship: Re-Aligning Anthropology and Ministry

Exploring the intersection of anthropology and ministry, this article offers an appreciative critique of recent authors who suggest that effective Christian discipleship requires holistic, bodily engagement. James K.A. Smith and others have helpfully drawn attention to ways in which contemporary evangelical approaches to Christian formation can risk over-emphasizing the transfer of information while neglecting things like desire, love, and imagination. Having thus diagnosed the problem, these authors suggest that the solution lies in a turn towards “embodied rituals” that they believe can more effectively form the whole person. Through a critical evaluation of this proposal, the present article seeks to distinguish between its attractive aspects and those which would unhelpfully undermine the Reformation emphasis on the primacy of Word ministry. The article concludes by suggesting ways in which evangelicals might advance a more holistic approach to discipleship that is congruent with longstanding Reformation priorities.

Daniel K. Eng

‘I Call You Friends’: Jesus as Patron in John 15

This article proposes that John 15:13–16 draws on the language of Roman patronage, which impacts the understanding of Jesus’s sayings regarding friends. We will suggest that φίλος conveys a regent obedient to a royal patron. Thus, the role of Jesus’s friend is one of subordination, not equality. After an introduction to patronage, this article makes the case that Jesus portrays himself as the greatest patron. First, John’s farewell discourse points to the disciples being subordinates. Second, Jesus makes a contrast between slaves and friends, which is consistent with many patronal relationships. Third, Jesus describes himself as a broker, mediating benefit from the Father. Fourth, inscriptions and provincial coinage contained terms like ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙΣΑΡ (friend of Caesar), referring to regents of the emperor. Patronage best explains the saying, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (15:13).” Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice for subordinates makes his patronage greater than Caesar’s.

Scott MacDonald

Spirit-Anointing and New Testament Church Leadership: Are Our Church Leaders Uniquely “Anointed?”

Does the church need Spirit-anointed leadership? “Anointing” is an increasingly common topic in relation to Christian leaders. This article aims to clarify the role of Spirit-anointing in the Old and New Testaments, with special attention to texts that are explicitly relevant to the church’s experience (i.e., 2 Cor 1:21–22; 1 John 2:20, 26–27). The misuse of the term “anointing” arises from a recast of Old Testament pneumatology as post-Pentecost. This misapplication of Old Testament texts denigrates the Holy Spirit’s expanded role of inhabitation in the New Testament era. Furthermore, the obfuscation of Spirit-anointing has incurred significant harm to the practices and doctrines that relate to local church leadership.

Doosuk Kim

The Parting of the Way: A Survey of  the Relationship between Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries CE

People today clearly view Judaism and Christianity as different religions. Undisputedly, however, Jesus and his followers were Jews in the first century. When did the parting of the way between Jews and Christians take place? What are the decisive factors that made the two ended up so far from each other? This essay examines this relationship in its social, theological, historical, and political context. The evidence suggests that though the exact time and impetus for the parting remain elusive, the parting of the way began in the first century and gradually became clearer in the second century.

John Kegley

The Nature and Task of Theology in John Owen’s Forgotten Work

Theologoumena Pantodapa may be John Owen’s most comprehensive theological work and his greatest contribution to the Reformed tradition. However, this work was not translated into English until 1994. Since its translation, it has received a noticeable lack of scholarly attention. This essay seeks to fill a part of the void in scholarship by examining Theologoumena Pantodapa’s historical context, structure, and key themes. This examination is profitable and pertinent for pastors, students of theology, and all Christians as it includes an analysis of Owen’s hermeneutical method, understanding of the relationship between theology and practice, and comments on the character of the gospel theologian.

Jarred Jung

Trinity, Creation, and Re-creation: A Comparison of Karl Barth and Herman Bavinck’s Trinitarian Doctrines of Creation

Karl Barth’s doctrine of creation, while rooted in his doctrine of the Trinity, errs in the way that creation is conflated into re-creation, resulting in a diminished doctrine of creation at the expense of his christological Trinitarianism. By comparing Barth’s doctrine of creation with that of Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck, this article argues that Bavinck offers a doctrine of creation that is as equally grounded in the doctrine of the Trinity as Barth’s and yet avoids the shortcomings of Barth’s doctrine by appropriately distinguishing between creation and re-creation. As such, Bavinck serves as an appropriate example of doctrinal emphasis for theologians and pastors.

Geoffrey Butler

Appeasement of a Monster God? A Historical and Biblical Analysis of Penal Substitutionary Atonement

Long considered a key tenet of evangelical theology, the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement has come under particularly intense scrutiny in recent years. Critics claim that it is a fairly recent innovation with little support prior to the Reformation, and that it depicts Yahweh as comparable with the pagan deities of the OT. This article makes the case that, on the contrary, the substance of penal substitutionary atonement has been taught from the church’s earliest days, arguing that the doctrine stems directly from a careful, thoughtful engagement with Scripture, which from beginning to end points toward the sacrificial death of Israel’s Messiah.

Robert D. Golding

Making Sense of Hell

Christian universalism (the view that all people are eventually saved) is largely predicated upon a negative reaction to the traditional doctrine of hell. It is therefore a “second option” to those who see hell as illogical, unnecessary, and/or cruel. In this article, I will argue that hell is not only logical and just but that it is also conceivably necessary. I will do this by way of a theological examination of those who occupy hell’s harrowing halls. This is essential because the loss of the traditional doctrine of hell can mean the loss of souls along with it. Doubting hell is playing with eternal fire.

Book Reviews

Foundations 78 (Spring 2020)

Issue 78 of Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, published by Affinity, is now available (here in its entirety as a pdf), which includes the below essays, mostly focused on the discipline of systematic theology. The summaries are take from Donald John MacLean’s editorial.

Donald John MacLean
Editorial

Donald John MacLean

God is Our Refuge and Strength

This is a section of the sermon preached in the first ‘virtual’ service we held at Cambridge Presbyterian Church following government advice for churches to cease meeting physically.

Jonathan Bayes

Review Article: Robert Letham’s Systematic Theology

We begin with an excellent in-depth review article on Bob’s Systematic Theology by Dr Jonathan Bayes. The review is insightful, sympathetic, but also offers correctives from Dr Bayes’ Reformed Baptist position.

Martin Foord

The Need for Systematic Theology in Theological Education

Foord outlines the nature of theological education, the nature of systematic theology and makes a compelling case for the necessity of the latter in training for pastoral ministry. Foord does not shy away from highlighting the weakness of systematic theology done badly, but rightly argues that this should not be used to discredit its vital importance, when done well.

Daniel Schrock

John Murray, Biblical Theology and Systematic-Theological Method

Murray was a systematic theologian of the first order, but he was this because he was first an exceptional exegete and biblical theologian. Daniel Schrock’s article does a wonderful job in expounding and defending Murray’s theological method.

Benedict Bird

John Owen’s Taxonomy of the Covenants: Was He a Dichotomist or a Trichotomist?

Owen’s articulation of covenant theology has been a matter of scholarly dispute. Bird is a safe guide through these debates, and opens up Owen’s views simply to enable us to weigh them in the light of Scripture.

Thorsten Prill

The Use of English in Cross-Cultural Mission: Observations from Africa

Thorsten Prill presents the case that missionaries should learn local languages, even where English is spoken.

Book Reviews

Foundations 70 (Spring 2016)

Issue 70 of Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, published by Affinity, is now available (here in its entirety as a pdf), with the following contributions. The essays by Ted Turnau and Andrew Latimer will be particularly significant for those interested in cultural engagement and the role of Christians in the contemporary world.

Ralph Cunnington

Editorial

Benedict Bird

The Covenant of Redemption According to John Owen and Patrick Gillespie

John Owen and Patrick Gillespie made profound contributions to the Reformed understanding of the “Covenant of Redemption”, or pactum salutis. Owen discusses it in at least sixteen of his works  from  1645  onwards.  Gillespie’s work, The Ark of the Covenant Opened, 1677, has  been described as “the most elaborate work in the English language” on the subject. The importance of the doctrine, in Owen’s view, is apparent in the Preface that he wrote to Gillespie’s work. He says “the truth herein is the very centre wherein all the lines concerning the grace of God and our own  duty do meet, wherein the whole  of  religion  doth  consist.” Both  authors  regard  the doctrine as the intra-Trinitarian foundation of the Covenant of Grace apart from which no man is  saved.  Both  explain  that  God’s  salvation  plan was  the  result  of the  eternal  counsels  of  the persons of  the  Trinity,  such  counsels having  the features of  a  covenant  and  including Christ’s distinct personal concurrence. Other theologians have rejected the notion of an intra-Trinitarian covenant, on the basis that it contradicts the undisputed truth that God has one indivisible will, and have sought  instead  to explain  the plan  of  salvation  simply  in  terms  of  divine decree. Yet Owen  and  Gillespie  regard  the  “pure  decree”  explanation  as  an  inadequate account  of  the Scriptural data – and hence an inadequate account of the whole foundation of God’s covenantal dealings with his people which underpin the whole of theology. In their view, the Covenant of Redemption provides a more compelling and faithful account, and does so without dividing the indivisible Trinity. This essay explores the alignment of their thinking on this vital issue. 

Ted Turnau

Dialogues Concerning Cultural Engagement (Part One)

In  this two-part essay,  the author addresses  the  subject of Christian  cultural engagement  in a post-Christian context. In Part One (Foundations 70), the author establishes that cultures of the West can be characterised as post-Christian. He then explores the issue of engagement through a  series  of  dialogues  with  different characters:  1)  the  Knight,  who  represents  a  political approach to cultural change, 2) the Gardener, who represents the Benedict Option espoused by conservative writer Rod Dreher, and 3) the Member of the Loyal Opposition, who represents the posture  of  “faithful  presence”  espoused  by  sociologist  James  Davison  Hunter.  Part  Two (in Foundations 71) gathers the various characters for a round-table discussion. After pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each, the author lays out his own approach which focuses on imaginative  cultural  engagement  using  the  arts  and entertainment.  He  explores  the  issue  of same-sex  marriage  as  a  case  study,  and the  reconciliation  between  gay  activist  Shane Windemeyer  and  American Christian  businessman  Dan  Cathy  as  an  example  of  winsome engagement in which each discovered a common humanity in the other. Our goal is a cultural engagement that is an analogue to that kind of winsome reconciliation that creates space within which  estranged  parties  can  meet,  or  what  the  author  calls “planting  oases”.  He  then  briefly considers two examples of this in the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, and U2’s Superbowl performance in February 2002. 

Andrew Latimer

Is the Adamic Work of Christ Shared with the Believer? A Critique of Van Drunen

One of the ongoing debates in Reformed theology is how Christians are to engage with the wider culture. David Van Drunen’s book “Living in God’s two Kingdoms” provides a clear presentation of a two kingdoms approach to cultural engagement and is written to challenge the “vision that the  redemptive  transformation  of  culture  is central  to  the  Christian  life”.  This  article  aims  to show how Van Drunen’s misreading of the covenant with Adam sets him on the wrong course, and  leads  to conclusions  which  are  at  odds  with  the  New  Testament’s  description  of  the Christian life. He fails to see that alongside an “exile paradigm” for believers in this age, the New Testament  also  describes  a  “conquest  paradigm”,  and  he  misses how  the  New  Testament teaches that in Christ believers share in Christ’s Adamic work.

Ben Rogers

Ryle and Evangelical Identity

This  article  examines  J.C.  Ryle’s  understanding  of  Evangelical  identity.  More specifically,  it examines his discovery, definition, and defence of Evangelical principles. He was convinced that Evangelical religion, which is characterised by five distinguishing principles, was the religion of the Scriptures, the Thirty-nine Articles, the English Reformers, the leading Pre-Laudian divines, and the leaders of the Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth century. This conviction was born out of his own conversion and reinforced by his study of the Bible and church history, and it led him  to  become  an  outspoken  advocate  of  Evangelical  principles  and  an apologist  for  the Evangelical cause.

Samuel Crossley

Recent Developments in the Definition of Evangelicalism

The  second  half  of  the  twentieth century  saw  a  spike  in discussions pertaining  to Evangelical identity. During these discussions the term “Evangelical” came to be used with greater intensity and was deployed in an increasingly technical manner. This phenomenon was in no small part due  to  the Evangelical  renaissance, where New and  Conservative Evangelicals  came  to  global prominence. This paper  examines the  two distinct  approaches  to defining  an Evangelical  that were used in this period, with particular reference to the propositional approach of John Stott and Martyn  Lloyd-Jones  and  the phenomenological  approach  of David Bebbington. The paper finishes by considering the merit of these two approaches in the present day. 

Book Reviews

Richard Simpkin

The Message of Worship (Risbridger)

Tim Ward

Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Scepticism

Themelios 40, 3 (December 2015)

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

Editorial

D.A. Carson

On Disputable Matters

Off the Record

Michael J. Ovey

Is the Wrath of God Extremist?

Jeremy R. Treat

More than a Game: A Theology of Sport 

Sports have captured the minds and hearts of people across the globe but have largely evaded the attention of Christian theologians. What is the meaning of sports? There seem to be two polar responses: some dismiss sports as merely a game, while others worship sports as nearly a god. This essay argues that when viewed through the lens of Scripture, sports are more than a game, less than a god, and when transformed by the gospel can be received as a gift to be enjoyed forever.

Rob Smith

The Amorality of Atheism

This essay explores the question: Can there really be such a thing as objective morality in an atheistic universe? Most atheists (both old and new) are forced to admit that there can’t be. On atheism, objective morality is necessarily an illusion. Yet due to the reality of human moral experience, many atheistic philosophers feel compelled to provide a naturalistic account of “the universally experienced phenomenon of the ought.” Such an enterprise is self-defeating, as it can only be achieved by maintaining a position that is intellectually incoherent or by redefining ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in a decidedly non-moral way. The atheist thus faces a tough choice: maintain atheism and embrace amorality or maintain morality and embrace theism.

Andrew J. Spencer

Beyond Christian Environmentalism: Ecotheology as an Over-Contextualized Theology

When Christian theology fails to adapt to the cultural context in a healthy manner, it can lead to a loss of cultural relevance. Proper contextualization is essential. This essay argues that ecotheology, which is a form of liberation theology, is an example of a contextual theology that is more closely linked to the contemporary context than it is to traditional forms of Christian doctrine. To argue this thesis, the essay will first provide an overview of ecotheology, demonstrating its consistency with praxis theology using an ecocentric hermeneutics of suspicion. Then the essay will offer critiques of ecotheology to show where the movement presents a helpful corrective and where it becomes over-contextualized.

Daniel Strange

Rooted and Grounded? The Legitimacy of Abraham Kuyper’s Distinction between Church as Institute and Church as Organism, and Its Usefulness in Constructing an Evangelical Public Theology

The question of the precise nature and scope of the church’s mission has been both perennial and thorny. In recent years many evangelicals have made positive reference to Abraham Kuyper’s distinction between the church as ‘institute’, and the church as ‘organism’ noting this is a helpful and necessary way of distinguishing between the organised church with its own particular and specific roles and responsibilities, and the church understood as Christians in the world, living out their God-given vocations in all spheres of life. This article describes and critiques Kuyper’s distinction asking whether it is a help or a hindrance, and offering possible other ways of delineating and distinguishing the mission of the church.

Andrew Ballitch

“Not to Behold Faith, But the Object of Faith”: The Effect of William Perkins’s Doctrine of the Atonement on his Preaching of Assurance

The Elizabethan Puritan, William Perkins, is accused of exclusively pointing people inward to signs of repentance or to their sanctification for assurance of salvation. It is assumed that he was bound to this strategy because he affirmed particularism in the atonement. Both Perkins’s accusers and defenders have tended to amass evidence from Perkins’s writings explicitly on assurance and, as such, there is a need to look at his actual practice. While Perkins certainly did point individuals toward themselves in his preaching, this article will show that he also pointed doubters to Christ and gospel promises for assurance.

Pastoral Pensées

Matthew Barrett

The Duty of a Pastor: John Owen on Feeding the Flock by Diligent Preaching of the Word

In the twenty-first century the pastor is expected to fulfill an incredible amount of ministry responsibilities. Too often, unfortunately, the proclamation of God’s Word becomes just another duty in an unending list of ministry assignments. In order to counter such a trend, this article looks to the Puritan, John Owen, who reminds pastors that their first priority is to “preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). After a brief exploration of Owen’s own pastoral ministry, we will examine a sermon Owen gave at an ordination service in 1682 in order to understand why, exactly, Owen believes everything hinges upon gospel-proclamation. In doing so, we will probe four pillars Owen affirms as indispensable to such a task, as well as identify the specific tools Owen says every pastor must possess and utilize. Whether one is a brand new pastor, a seasoned shepherd, or a professor training others for future ministry, Owen sheds invaluable light upon the most important undertaking in the church, namely, feeding the people of God the Word of God. 

Book Reviews

Credo Magazine 5, 4 (2015)

The current issue of Credo is available, this one devoted to John Owen (2016 sees the four hundredth anniversary of his birth).

Matthew Barrett writes in the Editorial:

‘It is hard to exaggerate the importance and influence of Owen’s life and writings. His books were and still are some of the best works in theology that we have, standing alongside those of Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and many others...

‘What is so remarkable about Owen, however, is not merely the robust, biblical nature of his writings, but his insistence that theology affects the Christian life. In other words, Owen refused to separate head and heart. Doctrine must lead to doxology every time, otherwise we have not truly understood its purpose. Therefore, Owen is the Doctor who looks into the human soul in order to diagnose our spiritual disease and offer us a cure in Jesus Christ.’

The magazine is available to read here, and an 11 MB pdf of the whole issue can also be downloaded here.

Ecclesia Reformanda 1, 1 (2009)

Yesterday I received a copy of the inaugural volume of this journal. The website blurb reads:

‘Ecclesia Reformanda is a new print journal for pastors, theological students, and scholars, that seeks to serve the Church in its ongoing reformation according to God’s Word. The editorial board believes that historic Reformed theology offers the best expression of the theology of Scripture, and so the journal is confessionally Reformed. However, a genuinely Reformed theology is always looking for God to shed new light on his Church from his Word. It is therefore always reforming. Ecclesia Reformanda is distinctively Reformed, with a contemporary cutting edge. It presents some of the best in British Reformed thinking and writing to serve the Church, her teachers, and her Lord.’

The contents are as follows:

Matthew W. Mason
Editorial

R. S. Clarke
The Maximalist Hermeneutics of James B. Jordan
James B. Jordan’s maximalist hermeneutic seeks to read the Bible in a way that allows the depth and richness of its meaning to be discerned. The relationship between special and general revelation is important, as the world teaches us how to understand the Bible, and the Bible shows us how to interpret the world. The reader of the Bible should learn to be sensitive to all its literary tropes, in particular its rich symbolism and typology. Controls on this maximalist hermeneutic are not found in externally imposed rules but in theological and ecclesiastical traditions which themselves derive from the Bible.

Sarah-Jane Austin
The Poetry of Wisdom: A Note on James 3:6
James 3:6 presents complex exegetical difficulties and is often declared textually corrupt. However, since James was probably influenced by Hebrew wisdom literature, and since this is typically poetic, a consideration of Hebrew poetic parallelism may help to make sense of the text as it stands. Viewed in the light of Berlin’s analysis of parallelism, James 3:1-12 is particularly rich in poetic devices, and this suggests that in 3:6 poetic function overrides the requirements of normal syntax. A reading is proposed which arranges the verse in three balanced couplets and situates it in the overlap of two major groups of metaphors.

Matthew W. Mason
John Owen’s Doctrine of Union with Christ in Relation to His Contributions to Seventeenth Century Debates Concerning Eternal Justification
In 1649, Richard Baxter accused John Owen of teaching eternal justification, whereby the elect are justified from eternity, rather than when they believe in Christ. More recently, Hans Boersma has also argued that Owen taught justification prior to faith. Through an historical examination of Owen’s doctrines of justification and union with Christ, I demonstrate that he distinguishes various types of union with Christ: decretal, forensic, and mystical. He is thus able to maintain a mainstream Reformed Orthodox doctrine of justification by faith, whilst also maintaining that faith is a gift of God, purchased by Christ, and applied through Christ.

Matthew Roberts
Thinking Like a Christian: The Prolegomena of Herman Bavinck
This article outlines the main contours of Herman Bavinck’s Prolegomena. Bavinck’s insight was that theological method must be grounded in the substance of theology itself, specifically in its Trinitarian and covenantal aspects. Theology is to be understood as a critical part of the image of God, as he is reflected in the believing consciousness of men in the Church, in response to God’s revelation in Christ. This concept is tightly integrated with Bavinck’s central understanding of the gospel as God fulfilling his creation design in Christ. In this way Bavinck derives a robustly Christian account of knowledge and certainty.

Book Reviews