Wholly Living: A New Perspective on International Development

This is the title of a new report, just published by Theos in partnership with CAFOD and Tearfund, and kindly available in full here.

The October 2010 Newsletter from Theos notes:

‘The report examines human wellbeing in the context of both the UK and international development. It invites the UK government and citizens to enter the debate on how best to create an environment in which to engender human flourishing. Examples taken from the UK and the developing world indicate that people are most fulfilled when they are productive, creative and have strong relationships with others.

Wholly Living calls for a holistic approach that recognises that economic growth is an important – but not the only – driver towards human fulfilment and that unless growth is sustainable, it can do more harm than good. It argues that people flourish most when they are able to fulfil their potential and live in healthy relationships with others. Drawing on academic and theological understandings of flourishing, it calls for the UK government to consider a range of policy ideas in the areas of economics, environment and governance.’

10/10/10 Global Prayer

Micah Challenge is ‘a global coalition of Christians holding governments to account for their promise to halve extreme poverty by 2015’, seeking to establish ‘a global movement to encourage deeper Christian commitment to the poor, and to speak out to leaders to act with justice’.

This prayer for Micah 2010 will be used in churches around the globe on 10/10/10:

‘O Lord, our great and awesome God, loyal to your promise of love and faithful to all who honour and obey you, hear our prayer. We pray for those who live in poverty, we cry out for those who are denied justice and we weep for all who are suffering. We confess that we have not always obeyed you. We have neglected your commands and have ignored your call for justice. We have been guided by self-interest and lived in spiritual poverty. Forgive us. We remember your promises to fill the hungry with good things, to redeem the land by your mighty hand and to restore peace. Father God, help us always to proclaim your justice and mercy with humility, so that, by the power of your Spirit, we can rid the world of the sin of extreme poverty. As part of your global church, we stand with millions who praise and worship you. May our words and deeds declare your perfect goodness, love and righteousness to both the powerful and the powerless so that your Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.’

Mark Fackler on Big Ideas of the Bible

Mark Fackler (ed.), Big Ideas of the Bible: 101 Key Theological Concepts Explained in Everyday Language (Uhrichsville: Barbour Publishing, 2010), 240pp., ISBN 9781602606975.

Here’s another helpful book to add to the number currently on offer which do biblical theology by exploring themes across the whole Bible. This one is arranged alphabetically, moving from Adoption to Worship, taking in major biblical themes (e.g., Covenant, God, Salvation) as well as not-so major themes (e.g., Bridegroom, Joy, Renewal) along the way. Illustrated with colour photographs, and with two pages for each entry, this would make a helpful guide for someone just starting out in exploring the Bible, complementing the systematic reading of passages with a sense of the topics which span the whole of Scripture.

Michael S. Horton with R. Scott Clark

Having mentioned Michael Scott Horton’s forthcoming volume on systematic theology, I thought I would also link to a conversation/interview between him and R. Scott Clark at ‘Office Hours’ from Westminster Seminary California. The mp3 is available here.

Clark asks him several questions about systematic theology, how his volume fits with others that have been produced, whether there are any biblical models of systematic theology in Scripture, the history of systematic theology writing, and more besides.

Horton says he is trying to do something between Bavinck’s Dogmatics and Berkhof’s Systematic Theology, and hopes that his volume will help people think not only about the connections between doctrines, but also their historical-theological development. He says he anticipates that people will dip into it as a reference work, but also hopes that thoughtful lay people will read it and use it as a launch pad to get into the Scripture and think through the coherence of its teaching.

Fred G. Zaspel on B.B. Warfield

Fred G. Zaspel, The Theology of B.B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary (Wheaton: Crossway/Nottingham: Apollos, 2010), 624pp.

Crossway and Apollos are publishing a substantial book on the theology of B.B. Warfield. Justin Taylor (‘Between Two Worlds’) interviews the author here, and Crossway provide a lengthy excerpt of the volume here.

That Warfield’s writings are many and diverse – not to mention spread over books, articles, pamphlets and book reviews – has made a comprehensive account of his theology difficult. Zaspel, it would seem, has made a significant contribution in filling that gap.

In the interview with Justin Taylor, he comments: ‘I suppose I was a bit surprised to learn that the doctrine of inspiration was not the focus of Warfield’s career or literary output. We all know Warfield as the one who articulated this doctrine (inspiration) with more clarity and at more length than any other, and I think we naturally assume that this was his own “center.” But it wasn’t. He was above all else a Christologian. The person and work of Christ forms the greatest segment of his published works, and this was clearly his own center of gravity.’

International Bulletin of Missionary Research 34:4 (October 2010)

There are some interesting-looking pieces in the latest International Bulletin of Missionary Research, including:

Jonathan J. Bonk

Missions and the Liberation of Theology

Titus Presler

Mission Is Ministry in the Dimension of Difference: A Definition for the Twenty-first Century

Stuart J. Foster

The Missiology of Old Testament Covenant

R. Daniel Shaw

Beyond Contextualization: Toward a Twenty-first-Century Model for Enabling Mission

Gregory J. Liston

Asking the Big Questions: A Statistical Analysis of Three Missiological Journals

James R. Rohrer

The Legacy of George Leslie Mackay

Wong Man Kong

The Legacy of Carl Thurman Smith

IVP Academic Alert 19, 3 (Winter 2011)

The latest Academic Alert is available from IVP (USA), profiling – among other items – a massive volume on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach by Michael R. Licona, and the bound-to-be-controversial-since-it-goes-against-the-current-grain Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom by Peter Leithart.