As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
We have previously reviewed the first four volumes of IVP’s Ancient Christian Doctrine series (see the reviews here). This series is a commentary on the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed drawn from the writings of the patristic period of church history (AD 95-750).
At the beginning of July, I became the first research professor that Central Seminary has ever employed. The transition from the presidency to the research professorship took a few months, but now I seem to be getting settled into a new routine. Frankly, I love what I’m doing.
During the years that I was president of the seminary, I continued to teach a full course load. That has not changed—I am still in the classroom and get to experience plenty of contact with students. When I get hungry for more, I park in a chair out in the hall and pretend to read. Almost invariably, one or more students will stop by for good conversation.
The administrative duties, however, have been taken away. In their place, I have been granted the opportunity to devote my time to research and writing. The terms of this arrangement are pretty flexible. I can work at home with minimal interruptions when I need to focus on writing. I can even work from a remote location if I wish. One of my doctoral advisers used to do some of his best work from a “writing shack” in the north woods, and I am giving serious consideration to that alternative.
This week I have been devoting myself to final edits on a book for Regular Baptist Press. The title has not been decided yet (titles typically belong to the publisher and not the author). The volume, however, is an overview of Baptist distinctives and polity.
This is the first time I’ve worked with Regular Baptist Press. Having worked with several other publishers, I have some standard of comparison. Regular Baptist Press is as helpful and easy to work with as any of them. While it has published few new volumes for several years, RBP was recently tasked with producing books that will promote the distinctive position of Regular Baptists. Consequently, RBP was looking for a book on Baptist polity and distinctives at the same time that I was beginning to write one.
Amazon Affiliate LinkPreviously, we have reviewed volumes 1 and 2 of the Ancient Christian Doctrine series from IVP. This series of five volumes is a commentary on the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
Read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5, 6 and 7.
Mere moments after all dead Christians have been gloriously resurrected, all living Christians will be transformed and will “be caught up together with them”—without ever experiencing physical death (NKJV, 1 Thess. 4:17). What a blessed hope!
But what kind of a body will we have when we are ushered into the presence of our Lord “in the clouds,” even being with Him “in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17)? This is a question that cannot be fully answered this side of heaven. But God has given us a few hints which He intends to be sufficient for now.
First, the absolute certainty of bodily resurrection is a basic teaching of the Bible. From the book of Job more than 4,000 years ago (cf. Job 19:25-27) to the book of Daniel more than 2,500 years ago (cf. Dan. 12:2), the people of God were instructed in this doctrine. (See also Ps. 16:9, 10 and Isa. 26:19).
Tragically, some Jews denied this truth. They were the Sadducees, a small but powerful group of leaders in Israel who dominated the high priesthood and were subservient to the Roman emperor. One day they confronted the Savior and ridiculed the concept of resurrection (Matt. 22:23-33).
But let nobody fool you. It is not painless for the child, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. Abortion is not an excision of a featureless bunch of cells; it is infanticide. We have revived the practice of child sacrifice to the new deities of casual sex and convenience.
Poll Results
What is your take on the Fruit of the Spirit? Which BEST represents your view? Please comment!
Discussion