Andy Naselli, research assistant to D.A.Carson, has done a great service in producing what must be a definitive list of Carson’s publications, divided into five categories: (1) Books; (2) Articles; (3) Reviews; (4) Lyrics; (5) Edited Series.
Many of these are downloadable as pdfs (retaining original pagination), seven of which are entire books – listed below – freely available.
The list is posted here on the Gospel Coalition website. Andy Naselli’s original post (with some background information) can be found here.
Letters Along the Way: A Novel of the Christian Life (Wheaton: Crossway, 1993).
Holy Sonnets of the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1994).
For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, Volume 1 (Wheaton: Crossway, 1998).
For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, Volume 2 (Wheaton: Crossway, 1999).
The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Wheaton: Crossway, 2000).
Love in Hard Places (Wheaton: Crossway, 2002).
Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008).
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Saturday, 6 June 2009
John Newton on Guidance and the Bible
‘Others, when in doubt, have opened the Bible at a venture and expected to find something to direct them in the first verse they should cast their eye upon. It is no small discredit to this practice that the heathens, who knew not the Bible, used some of their favourite books in the same way… for if people will be governed by the occurrence of a single text of Scripture, without regarding the context, or duly comparing it with the general tenor of the Word of God, and with their own circumstances, they may commit the greatest extravagances, expect the greatest impossibilities, and contradict the plainest dictates of common sense, while they think they have the Word of God on their side.’
‘In general, he [God] guides and directs his people by affording them, in answer to prayer, the light of his Holy Spirit, which enables them to understand and to love the Scriptures. The Word of God is not to be used as a lottery; nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which, detached from their proper places, have no determinate import; but it is to furnish us with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct.’
J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom, ‘John Newton on Divine Guidance’, in Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life’s Decisions (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2008), 244, 246.
‘In general, he [God] guides and directs his people by affording them, in answer to prayer, the light of his Holy Spirit, which enables them to understand and to love the Scriptures. The Word of God is not to be used as a lottery; nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which, detached from their proper places, have no determinate import; but it is to furnish us with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct.’
J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom, ‘John Newton on Divine Guidance’, in Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life’s Decisions (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2008), 244, 246.
Friday, 5 June 2009
Encounters 29 (2009) on The Bible and Mission
This issue of Encounters from Redcliffe College revolves around their annual lecture in World Christianity, given this year by Chris Wright (International Director of Langham Partnership International) on the topic of The Bible and Mission. In the lecture (72.1MB audio file available for a limited time here), Chris describes a ‘missional hermeneutic’ – a way of reading the Bible ‘missionally’ – before applying the approach to Jeremiah.
In addition to two book reviews, this edition includes a number of responses to the lecture, representing a variety of contexts – Malaysia, India, Colombia, Asia, the US and the UK.
In addition to two book reviews, this edition includes a number of responses to the lecture, representing a variety of contexts – Malaysia, India, Colombia, Asia, the US and the UK.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Richard Hays on New Testament Eschatology
Richard Hays, ‘“Why Do You Stand Looking Up Toward Heaven?” New Testament Eschatology at the Turn of the Millennium’, Modern Theology 16:1 (2000), 115-35.
Hays discusses what he sees as the ‘three unsatisfactory strategies’ of the Johannine option (eternal life now), the Jesus Seminar (driving a wedge between Jesus and the gospels), and N.T. Wright (apocalyptic eschatology historicised) (117-25).
He then lists seven reasons why the New Testament’s apocalyptic eschatology is essential to the Christian faith (125-31):
(1) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to carry Israel’s story forward.
(2) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology for interpreting the cross as a saving event for the world.
(3) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology for the gospel’s political critique of pagan culture.
(4) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to resist ecclesial complacency and triumphalism.
(5) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology in order to affirm the body.
(6) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to ground its mission.
(7) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to speak with integrity about suffering and death.
The passage of time has not disconfirmed apocalyptic hope any more than it had for those to whom 2 Peter was addressed.
He concludes:
‘The recovery of unabashed apocalyptic theology is… a recommendation pressed upon us by the character of the New Testament witnesses themselves, who steadily and adamantly construe the significance of Jesus’ proclamation, as well as his death and resurrection, within apocalyptic categories… If, as I have contended, the canonical New Testament is strongly apocalyptic in its interpretation of the story of Jesus, then to live and think within that story will necessarily draw the church into sharing its apocalyptic frame of reference. As we are formed by the story, we will learn to discern our own place as servants charged to watch expectantly in this time between the times’ (133).
Hays discusses what he sees as the ‘three unsatisfactory strategies’ of the Johannine option (eternal life now), the Jesus Seminar (driving a wedge between Jesus and the gospels), and N.T. Wright (apocalyptic eschatology historicised) (117-25).
He then lists seven reasons why the New Testament’s apocalyptic eschatology is essential to the Christian faith (125-31):
(1) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to carry Israel’s story forward.
(2) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology for interpreting the cross as a saving event for the world.
(3) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology for the gospel’s political critique of pagan culture.
(4) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to resist ecclesial complacency and triumphalism.
(5) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology in order to affirm the body.
(6) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to ground its mission.
(7) The church needs apocalyptic eschatology to speak with integrity about suffering and death.
The passage of time has not disconfirmed apocalyptic hope any more than it had for those to whom 2 Peter was addressed.
He concludes:
‘The recovery of unabashed apocalyptic theology is… a recommendation pressed upon us by the character of the New Testament witnesses themselves, who steadily and adamantly construe the significance of Jesus’ proclamation, as well as his death and resurrection, within apocalyptic categories… If, as I have contended, the canonical New Testament is strongly apocalyptic in its interpretation of the story of Jesus, then to live and think within that story will necessarily draw the church into sharing its apocalyptic frame of reference. As we are formed by the story, we will learn to discern our own place as servants charged to watch expectantly in this time between the times’ (133).
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart on 1 and 2 Kings
Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 98:
‘The book of Kings is ultimately answering the question, “In light of God’s covenant with Abraham [the land] and with David [an everlasting throne], how did all of this happen to us?” The answer: God has not failed his people; his people, led by their kings, have failed their God. The covenants, after all, have the contingency of Israel’s faithfulness written into them. But the covenant also promises return from exile for those who return to Yahweh (Deut 30:1-10).’
‘The book of Kings is ultimately answering the question, “In light of God’s covenant with Abraham [the land] and with David [an everlasting throne], how did all of this happen to us?” The answer: God has not failed his people; his people, led by their kings, have failed their God. The covenants, after all, have the contingency of Israel’s faithfulness written into them. But the covenant also promises return from exile for those who return to Yahweh (Deut 30:1-10).’
Slipstream with Chris Wright on The God I Don’t Understand
The Slipstream podcast for June is now online and features an interview with Chris Wright on his recent book, The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009).
Monday, 1 June 2009
Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible (9/50) – The Promise to Abraham: Restoration, Restoration, Restoration
‘Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible’, from London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is a series of fifty emails designed to look at the main milestones of the biblical story, seeking to show how whole-life discipleship is woven through Scripture as a whole, from beginning to end. Here is the ninth of the fifty emails.
The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’
Genesis 12:1-3
The downward spiral of rebellion in Genesis 3-11 is thankfully shot through with moments of God’s mercy – in promising the destruction of the serpent, in providing coverings for Adam and Eve, in giving Cain a protective mark, in saving Noah and his family, in reaffirming his blessing on creation and humanity after the flood. Even against the backdrop of the building of Babel by those who want to ‘make a name’ for themselves, judgment is not the last word: God does not reject the nations, but chooses one family for the sake of the nations, to bring blessing to the nations.
That God does not leave us to our own devices is seen in the promise to Abraham, a threefold promise of restoration – land, descendants, and blessing. The guarantee of ‘people’ and ‘land’ shows the inseparability of who we are from where we find ourselves, both still crucial to human identity; but the assurance of a large family and a place for them to live is not the ultimate restoration. God’s purpose (ratified in chapter 15, marked with the sign of circumcision in chapter 17, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob in the narratives that follow) is to mediate blessing to all nations, restoring humanity to its original purpose.
Thus begins the first episode in a long story, rooted in a people and a place, in which God progressively works out his plan of restoration. And it will become clear as the story unfolds that all of human life, even creation itself, are included in its scope. God’s promises to Abraham may be read in conjunction with Genesis 1 – as a re-affirmation of his blessing on men and women and the whole earth.
Covenants made between God and his people serve as major milestones in the biblical account. But the key that unifies them, and which undergirds this one with Abraham, is the principle of promise. As Paul notes in Galatians 3:29: ‘If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise…’
An inexpensive wineglass cracks and is thrown away. A rare vase breaks and is rebuilt, piece by piece, with precision and care, perhaps over a long period of time, until it’s made whole again. Some broken things are restored because they’re precious, because they’re loved.
God remains, to this day, in the restoration business.
For further reflection and action:
1. From what you can recall of the stories that follow in Genesis, spend some time reflecting on how the promises appear to be threatened by all sorts of factors… except that God remains faithful, preserving the seed, working for good even while others intend evil.
2. Follow up some references to Abraham in the New Testament (e.g., Galatians 3:15-18; Romans 4:13-16; Hebrews 11:8-19). How are God’s promises to Abraham ultimately fulfilled?
3. Think of ‘broken’ people and situations – in our own lives and the lives of others, in families, in churches, in workplaces, in countries across the world – and ask that the God who will one day ‘bring all things in heaven and on earth together’ (Ephesians 1:10) will provide a foretaste of that restoration to those in need.
The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’
Genesis 12:1-3
The downward spiral of rebellion in Genesis 3-11 is thankfully shot through with moments of God’s mercy – in promising the destruction of the serpent, in providing coverings for Adam and Eve, in giving Cain a protective mark, in saving Noah and his family, in reaffirming his blessing on creation and humanity after the flood. Even against the backdrop of the building of Babel by those who want to ‘make a name’ for themselves, judgment is not the last word: God does not reject the nations, but chooses one family for the sake of the nations, to bring blessing to the nations.
That God does not leave us to our own devices is seen in the promise to Abraham, a threefold promise of restoration – land, descendants, and blessing. The guarantee of ‘people’ and ‘land’ shows the inseparability of who we are from where we find ourselves, both still crucial to human identity; but the assurance of a large family and a place for them to live is not the ultimate restoration. God’s purpose (ratified in chapter 15, marked with the sign of circumcision in chapter 17, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob in the narratives that follow) is to mediate blessing to all nations, restoring humanity to its original purpose.
Thus begins the first episode in a long story, rooted in a people and a place, in which God progressively works out his plan of restoration. And it will become clear as the story unfolds that all of human life, even creation itself, are included in its scope. God’s promises to Abraham may be read in conjunction with Genesis 1 – as a re-affirmation of his blessing on men and women and the whole earth.
Covenants made between God and his people serve as major milestones in the biblical account. But the key that unifies them, and which undergirds this one with Abraham, is the principle of promise. As Paul notes in Galatians 3:29: ‘If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise…’
An inexpensive wineglass cracks and is thrown away. A rare vase breaks and is rebuilt, piece by piece, with precision and care, perhaps over a long period of time, until it’s made whole again. Some broken things are restored because they’re precious, because they’re loved.
God remains, to this day, in the restoration business.
For further reflection and action:
1. From what you can recall of the stories that follow in Genesis, spend some time reflecting on how the promises appear to be threatened by all sorts of factors… except that God remains faithful, preserving the seed, working for good even while others intend evil.
2. Follow up some references to Abraham in the New Testament (e.g., Galatians 3:15-18; Romans 4:13-16; Hebrews 11:8-19). How are God’s promises to Abraham ultimately fulfilled?
3. Think of ‘broken’ people and situations – in our own lives and the lives of others, in families, in churches, in workplaces, in countries across the world – and ask that the God who will one day ‘bring all things in heaven and on earth together’ (Ephesians 1:10) will provide a foretaste of that restoration to those in need.
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