Books

J. P. Moreland is a seasoned Christian philosopher who has provided the Church with some very good tools in defense of the Faith and the Christian Worldview. He has been Professor of Philosophy at Biola for many years. This timely book is most welcome as it engages one of the most pernicious false ideas that has arisen from man’s innate hatred of God (Rom. 1:18-25).

Scientism is essentially the belief that only science, especially the hard sciences, can give us solid knowledge of the world. Although many of its advocates do not come right out and say it in such blunt terms, that is their faith.

Moreland refers to “hard scientism” and “soft scientism,” the difference between them being that the softer variety allows that other fields of study may have something to say, but nothing as authoritative as the pronouncements of “science” (29-30). This belief in the magisterium of the lab coat has come about because of a shift in the “plausibility structure” in the society (32-33). The organized and heavily guarded groupthink that permeates school and university curricula and the media. Behind this is the ever-potent force of people not wanting God to be there (191-194).

In the third chapter the writer relates how the universities were transformed into bastions of secularism, and this was chiefly done by the acceptance of scientism. This shift did not occur because of evidence. “Rather, it was merely a pragmatic sociological shift” (48. Italics are the author’s).

Posted with permission from As I See It, which is available free by writing to the editor at dkutilek@gmail.com.

T. Robertson (1863-1934) was a paragon of excellence in Bible scholarship—fully committed to biblical inerrancy, thorough in his research and study, and clear and readable in his writing. He stands even today unrivaled in his mastery of the New Testament.

Because these lectures were prepared for and presented in a seminary setting, they are more academic than “popular,” compared with most of Robertson’s other writings, but not excessively so. Robertson presents the history and views of the Pharisees in their first century context, as documented in ancient Jewish literature (Josephus, Philo, Mishnah, Talmud, etc.), and discussed in the secondary literature. He also exhaustively presents and analyzes the many contacts, encounters and confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees as reported in the New Testament. The book has extensive bibliography, and is thoroughly indexed.

This little volume is simply outstanding in every way. Used copies as well as print-on-demand editions are readily available.

Quotations from The Pharisees and Jesus

The Pharisees and Jesus: The Stone Lectures for 1915-16, Delivered at the Princeton Theological Seminary by A. T. Robertson. London: Duckworth & Co., 1919. 189 pp., hardback.