You might be wondering: what happened to the “Reviews” page? We have updated the website and in the future all books reviews and interviews will be posted directly on the Credo blog. You can also see a list of the most recent reviews here.
By Matthew Barrett -
Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence (Text and Canon of the New Testament)
I am very thankful for scholars like Daniel Wallace, perhaps the leading scholar when it comes to textual criticism. He has gone head to head with Bart Ehrman, both in writing and in formal debate. Recently Wallace has edited a volume, Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament, which focuses on the degree to which the scribes who copied their exemplars corrupted the autographs.
The book begins with the full transcription of Wallace’s presentation at the Fourth Annual Greer-Heard Forum, in which he and Bart Ehrman debated over the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts. Adam Messer looks at the patristic evidence of “nor the Son” in Matthew 24:36 in a quest to determine whether the excision of these words was influenced by orthodox Fathers. Philip Miller wrestles with whether the least orthodox reading should be a valid principle for determining the autographic text. Matthew Morgan focuses attention on the only two Greek manuscripts that have a potentially Sabellian reading in John 1:1c. Timothy Ricchuiti tackles the textual history of the Gospel of Thomas, examining the Coptic text and the three Greek fragments, using internal evidence in order to determine the earliest stratum of Thomas. Brian Wright thoroughly examines the textual reliability of the passages in which Jesus appears to be called God, concluding that the textual proof of the designation theos as applied to Jesus in the NT merely confirms what other grounds have already established.
Also, be sure to check out the interview Justin Taylor did with Wallace.
Journeys of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism
This is a fascinating book, exploring the “theological migrations” occurring today by drawing from first-hand accounts. Here are the views, their representatives, as well as those responding:
Wilbur Ellsworth-Eastern Orthodoxy
Response by Craig Blaising
Francis J. Beckwith-Catholicism
Response by Gregg Allison
Chris Castaldo-Evangelicalism
Response by Brad S. Gregory
Lyle W. Dorsett-Anglicanism
Response by Robert A. Peterson
What makes the book diverse is that unlike a typical multi-views book, those representing each position do not in turn respond to the other views. Instead, different scholars respond to each chapter.
With the noticeable theological migrations that have occurred in the last decade, this is an important conversation to have and should reveal some of the motivations behind each representative’s shift in religious tradition.
The World of the Early Church: A Social History
One of the most challenging aspects of reading the Old and New Testaments in the 21st century is that the world we live in is the 21st century. Therefore, historical and social background books are always of interest. One new book that seeks to take us back into the ancient world is The World of the Early Church: A Social History, by Simon Jones. The book seeks to answer a simple question: How did the first Christians live their daily lives? Jones looks at archaeological evidence, the role of pagan religions, common entertainment, family life, employment, society structures, the role of women, etc. I will be interested to read the reviews of other historical background scholars to see if this work by Jones is accurate and helpful.
Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology (Invitation to Theological Studies Series)
Kostenberger and Patterson have written an advanced treatment of hermeneutics, using a “hermeneutical triad” method: historical setting, literary context, and theological message. Chapter by chapter they apply their hermeneutical triad to each genre of the Bible. I imagine this volume will become a textbook in many seminaries. Here are a couple of the many (!) commendations:
“This is a well-written, clear, and thorough book on the principles of biblical interpretation for the whole Bible. It would be an excellent book for an upper-level hermeneutics course at the college level or an introductory hermeneutics course at the seminary level. Pastors will also find this a useful book to get an overview of the interpretative principles for different parts of the Bible from which they are preparing to preach. Seminary students and pastors will also benefit from the concluding chapter that applies the interpretative approach of the book to the task of preaching. The authors rightly contend that hermeneutics is to be viewed through the triadic lens of history, literature, and theology. This is not so much a theoretical approach to hermeneutics but a competent hands-on guide for interpreting the different kinds of literature that one encounters in the Bible. In this respect, each chapter helpfully concludes with a sample passage in which the principles discussed in the chapter are applied and illustrated, followed by study questions for the student and important bibliographical resources pertaining to the chapter. This is one of the best general and most thorough introductions to interpreting the English Bible that I have read.” –Gregory K. Beale, Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary
“This introduction to hermeneutics is outstanding in several ways: It takes full account of the unique divine authorship of the Bible; it is clear, readable, and doctrinally sound; it attends to the spiritual state of the interpreter; it provides detailed guidance for understanding the historical background, literary and linguistic features, and theological significance of each text; it is coauthored by an Old Testament and a New Testament professor; and it insists that right interpretation must end in application to life. It is an excellent book that will be widely used as a standard textbook for years to come.” –Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
Wait a second…this is not a new book! Oh yes, you are right. But it is a new edition! And in this new facelift Mark Dever has written the foreword. Believe it or not, Packer wrote the book almost 50 years ago. It has proved to be one of those books that readers return to again and again, something not uncommon for a book by Packer (e.g., Knowing God). Dever writes in the foreword, “I’ve often recommended this book to faithful Christians who are confused about how they are to think about prayer, missions, giving-any area in which our efforts could be wrongly pitted against God’s own necessary action. Packer introduces us to clear truths, handles Scripture with exemplary care, and supplies us with just the right amount of illustrations and applications.”
Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics
Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics is a large, reference volume treating many of the ethical issues in ancient and contemporary culture. Joel Green opens with an “Introduction,” Allen Verhey follows with “Ethics in Scripture,” then comes Charles Cosgrove with “Scripture in Ethics: A History,” and last is Bruce Birch on “Scripture in Ethics: Methodological Issues.” The book follows your typical dictionary format, covering topics from A to Z. In my estimate, it appears that there are few conservative evangelicals who have contributed to this volume. So, if you are a conservative evangelical, the volume may provide you with a very different perspective when it comes to ethics and from contributors from a variety of religious traditions (e.g., Methodist, Catholic, Liberal Protestant). In that light, I expect there to be many articles (especially since it is on a subject like ethics!) that will be frustrating to work through. But it is important, in my opinion, to read scholarship from the opposite viewpoint.
Here are just a couple of sample articles and authors that I will be reading:
“Blasphemy.” –Darrell L. Bock
“Dualism” and “Anthropological” – Scott B. Rae
“Idolatry” – Brian Rosner
“Reformed Ethics” – Dirkie Smit
The Gospel as Center: Renewing Our Faith and Reforming Our Ministry Practices. Edited by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller. Crossway, 2012.
Now here is a book you will want to buy. I will let the blurb speak for itself:
The church is reeling because of the relativistic mindset of our world. Up until a generation ago, most adults had similar moral intuitions whether they were believers or not, and the core of protestant orthodoxy was still intact. Yet, in the wake of postmodernity and secularism, all that has changed.
Convinced that gospel-centered ministry is utterly imperative for such a time as this, contributors D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Kevin DeYoung, Philip Ryken, Bryan Chapell, Thabiti Anyabwile, Richard Phillips, Sam Storms, and others defend the gospel and traditional doctrines.
To strengthen the center of confessional evangelicalism, this volume collects the 14 booklets in the Gospel Coalition Booklet series. In addition, this volume includes a preface, the Gospel Coalition’s foundational documents, and indexes. The editors and contributors represent a wide range of denominations and are united not only by belief in the biblical gospel, but also by the conviction that ministry today must be increasingly Gospel centered.
Click here to read the table of contents and the first chapter by Carson and Keller.
Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals, and he is the author of several forthcoming books. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two daughters, Cassandra and Georgia. He is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.
[Editorial note: This review is also published on The Gospel Coalition.]
N. T. Wright. How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. 
Reviewed by Matthew Barrett and Michael A.G. Haykin
We know Jesus was born of a virgin and that he died on the cross and rose from the grave. But what about all that stuff in the middle? What does the life of Jesus have to do with anything? According to N. T. Wright, Christians have neglected all that stuff in the middle (the “missing middle” as he likes to call it). “I have had the increasing impression, over many years now, that most of the Western Christian tradition has simply forgotten what the Gospels are all about” (vii). Who is to blame for such an oversight? According to Wright, the early church creeds and the early church fathers are to blame for having failed to say anything about the life of Jesus. Wright believes this oversight is “the reason why Christians to this day find it so hard to grasp what the Gospels are really trying to say” (12). The early church fathers were so consumed with proving that Jesus is God, and the Reformers were so consumed with Paul’s emphasis on the gospel consisting of what Jesus achieved in his death (atonement and justification), that the church has lost sight of the life of Jesus and what it is all about.
Therefore, a massive, fundamental rethinking about the Gospels is overdue. And here is his antidote: While the creeds were “focused on Jesus being God,” the “Gospels were all about God becoming king” (20). Stated otherwise, Wright’s central thesis is that the Gospels are all about “how God became king—in and through Jesus both in his public career and in his death” (175).
There are several strengths to Wright’s book. First, Wright does us all a favor by taking us back to the Old Testament, demonstrating that the story of Israel has its fulfillment in the person and work of Christ. Wright spends the majority of his book comparing OT texts with NT texts in order to demonstrate how Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior and King of Israel, by whom God has reclaimed his sovereign reign over his enemies and the nations. However, the Gospels are so shocking because the King who inaugurates his kingdom does so by dying on a cross.
Second, Wright correctly resists some of the popular ways Christians have approached the Gospels. Christians have at times made the Gospels strictly about going to heaven, Jesus’ ethical teaching, Jesus as a moral exemplar, and so on. But Wright shows that such approaches miss the message of the Gospels completely. The Gospels are about Israel’s Messiah, the kingdom of God, the redemption and renewal of God’s people, and much, much more.
Third, Wright highlights an overlooked purpose of the incarnation, namely, God dwelling with his people in the person of his Son. While in the OT Yahweh dwelt in the temple and tabernacle, in the NT Yahweh now dwells with his people in his Son, who has taken on human flesh. Jesus is the “personal presence of Israel’s God, coming to be with his people and rescue them from the plight their sins have brought upon them” (96). In short, Jesus is God with us (Matt 1:23; 28:18-20).
Serious Blemishes
Despite these strengths (and others), Wright’s book is tainted by several serious blemishes. And each of these weaknesses can be characterized in the way Wright tends to blame diverse aspects of orthodox theology for missing the message of the Gospels.
First, some of the claims that Wright makes regarding the history of the church are quite astounding. To begin with, Wright argues that “most of the Western Christian tradition has simply forgotten what the Gospels are really about” (vii). This sort of comment makes for good journalism, but it is shoddy scholarship. It fails to take into consideration the significant reflection, for example, of the church fathers on the life and ministry of Christ—witness, for instance, the biblical commentaries of Origen or Cyril of Alexandria—or the detailed studies of the Puritans, which began as sermons, like those of Richard Sibbes or Thomas Goodwin, on various aspects of the Gospels.
Given such a misdirected slant on the reading of Christian history, it is not surprising that in chapters 1 and 2, for instance, Wright critiques the entire creedal tradition of the church. Wright’s central concern is that the “great creeds” of the Patristic era, which later generations such as the Reformers and Puritans heartily embraced, “pass directly from his [that is, Jesus’] virgin birth to his suffering and death.” The canonical Gospels, Wright correctly notes, do not (11; cf. 12, 19). While Wright appreciates the creeds for their remarkable “brevity, dense clarity, and evocative spiritual power” (12; cf. 257), he believes the creeds helped obfuscate the four biblical accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus by focusing on Jesus being God instead of God becoming king.
Now, the creeds do focus on the deity, death, and resurrection of Christ, yet not without some warrant from the Gospels and Paul (1 Cor 15:1-3). Is not the Gospel of John written against the background of a proto-Gnostic movement that denied the reality of the incarnation? Moreover, Wright writes as if the creeds were all the church fathers penned. Of course, they were not. Patristic preaching and exegesis were vitally focused on the life of Jesus, for the fathers believed that their salvation was deeply rooted in both the life/ministry and death/resurrection of Jesus. And if we think of the reformers and Puritans, to take only one other group of historical figures, again there is more to their witness than the great creedal statements of the Ancient Church. Their confessions and catechesis, as well as their public preaching, did grapple with what is recorded in the Gospels about Christ. Wright may not like what they said, but there is no gainsaying their concern to declare “the whole counsel of God.”
In sum, from a historical perspective, Wright’s writing off the long historical witness of the church to the Jesus of the Gospels is either sheer chronological snobbery of the type C. S. Lewis once condemned, or just plain ignorance.
Blame Bullets, Bombs, and Especially Democracy?
Perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of Wright’s book is his prolonged rant on the use of violence in warfare by the government and especially his loathing of democracy, particularly American democracy. Fox News, the killing of Osama bin Laden, small government, the system of voting on government officials, the separation of church and state, etc.—all of these are unforgivable sins for Wright. Wright despises the wedge between religion and politics, faulting democracy, whereby society has ordered “itself according to its own internal wishes and whims, fears and fancies.” Wright goes on: “Instead of the ‘divine right’ of rulers, politics was now ordered the world—at least in France and America—on the strict basis of a separation between church and state” (35).
You might be wondering what this has to do with Wright’s reading of the Gospels. For Wright, if we follow the Gospel narratives consistently, we will recognize that Jesus has instituted a “new theocracy.” In Jesus, God’s kingdom is not only in heaven but on earth. Therefore, Christianity cannot be just a religion. At the climax of his argument is this simple truth: first-century Jews would have balked at the separation of church and state. Consequently, though this is a word many fear, Wright believes we need to resurrect the word theocracy if we are to make proper sense of the Gospels and the reign of King Jesus on earth. Wright says, “It is, of course, the absence of any equivalent to Temple or Torah in our contemporary culture that makes our own way of posing the political questions so very different from those of the Jews of Jesus’s day” (173). And again, “Theocracy, a genuine Israel-style theocracy, will occur only when the other ‘lords’ have been overthrown” (206). A “new empire,” a “new theocracy” has been inaugurated that trumps Caesar’s empire. Exactly what this theocracy should look like, however, is undefined. Wright is clear, however, that it has no barriers between church and state and no government that bears the sword. But the divine right of rulers is reinstated.
Kingdom and Politics
It is not our purpose here to address the politics of Wright (though we can say at the very least that Wright’s comments abound with political caricatures unworthy of any scholar). What we do want to address, however, is Wright’s assumptions in regard to the kingdom and politics, church and state. First, Wright assumes that Christ’s victory over his enemies through suffering (not bombs and bullets!) is the model for not only the church but the state as well. Simply put, such an assumption cannot make sense of Paul’s assertion in Romans 13:4, “for he (i.e., governing official) is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Second, underneath Wright’s argument is a massive presupposition, namely, that we should never drive a wedge between religion and politics. But the separation of church and state is a biblical one. The authority of the church and the authority of the state belong to two distinct and separate spheres. If there was ever a moment for Jesus to remove the “wedge” between religion and politics it was when the Pharisees asked him whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. But the response of Jesus (“render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s”) actually preserves the separation of church and state. Jesus does the same in John 18:36, when Pilate asks Jesus if he is king of the Jews (a question that seeks to discover the political authority of Jesus and whether or not it is a threat to Rome). Jesus answers, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Everything Wright says turns the words of Jesus on their head. For Wright, the kingdom of Jesus is of this world, as becomes obvious in his promotion of a political theology. Finally, consider 2 Corinthians 10:3-4. There Paul affirms that though we “walk in the flesh,” we do not wage war “according to the flesh.” Keep in mind, Paul is addressing the church. He then states, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” Wright’s Anglican presuppositions never make sense of these texts, nor can they.
Third, Wright’s advocacy of some form of “new theocracy” (which he fails to define clearly) wrongly assumes that since separation of church and state would have been unthinkable to first-century Jews, so also should it be rejected today. But Wright fails to recognize the discontinuity between the old and new covenants. In the old covenant Israel is a theocracy, wielding the sword while regulating worship. But in the new covenant the types and shadows of the old covenant have been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Yes, we do have a king who reigns, who is sovereign over the nations, and who has defeated his enemies. But our king’s victory in the cross is a spiritual one. Only in the second coming will he come in judgment bearing the sword, executing justice on his enemies once for all. Wright misses this already-not-yet tension in Scripture. For Wright, the cross has brought the kingdom of God to earth, but the primary application of the cross is not “in abstract preaching about ‘how to have your sins forgiven’ or ‘how to go to heaven,’ but in an agenda in which forgiven people are put to work, addressing the evils of the world in the light of the victory of Calvary” (244).
In other words, for Wright the cross is not so much about vicarious substitution for the forgiveness of sins but bringing to earth social justice and a new and improved political agenda. “Those who are put right with God through the cross are to be putting-right people for the world. . . . From this there flows both a new missiology, including an integrated political theology, and the new ecclesiology that will be needed to support it, a community whose very heart will be forgiveness” (244). However, the NT never advocates such an “integrated political theology” supported by the church. To the contrary, the primary application of the cross is about “how to have your sins forgiven” (Acts 2:38). The gospel Christians proclaim to the nations is not a political one, but a message of salvation for sinners (Mark 16:15).
To conclude, Wright does a lot of blaming. The early church fathers, the orthodox creeds, evangelicals, democracy, Western Christianity, and others all get blamed for messing up Jesus. But fear not, Wright has come to the rescue after 2,000 years of misunderstanding and butchering Jesus to show us the true meaning of the life of Jesus that we have all missed. One begins to get the feeling by the end of the book that in Wright’s mind, everyone else has got it wrong. However, as this review has briefly sought to demonstrate, Wright’s way of looking at Jesus and the kingdom is not so much a return to the biblical text but the agenda of an Anglican churchman seeking to apply a political theology to the Gospel narratives.
Matthew Barrett (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is executive editor of Credo Magazine. He is the author of several forthcoming books.
Michael A. G. Haykin is professor of church history and biblical spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has authored numerous books, including his latest, Rediscovering the Church Fathers: Who They Were and How They Shaped the Church.
How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens. By Michael J. Williams. Zondervan, 2012.
Reviewed by Dave Jenkins
Recent years have seen an increase in quality books addressing the Christ-centered nature of Scripture. Following in this tradition, Dr. Michael Williams wrote How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens. Written in the tradition of the best-selling How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth series, this book aims to help readers read the Bible through “Jesus lens,” which will aid Christians to “keep our reading, understanding, teaching, and preaching properly focused on God’s grand redemptive program that centers on his own Son” (9). The Jesus lens “ensures that our exegetical bowling balls stay within the lane and don’t go crashing over into areas where they can cause a lot of damage to the faith of believers and to our ability to use the Bible fruitfully in our service to God” (9).
How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens is very well-written and easy to use. Each chapter contains some introductory comments on the book, a memory verse, and the “Jesus lens,” explores the contemporary implications, and then concludes by giving hook questions. This approach is similar to that of God’s Glory In Salvation Through Judgment: A Biblical Theology by Dr. James H. Hamilton Jr. While Hamilton’s book is more academic in nature, Williams’s work serves as a lay-level introduction to how each book of the Bible points readers to Christ.
Christians who struggle to understand the Christ-centered nature of Leviticus, 1 and 2 Samuel, Kings and Chronicles will find How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens a helpful companion as they learn the way in which Christ is at the heart of every book in his Word. For example, Williams’s explanation of Leviticus will help Christians struggling to read through the entire Bible as he points out that the sacrifices in Leviticus, “with their emphases on acknowledging, celebrating, deepening, and restoring our relationship with God, reveal aspects of a coming ultimate sacrifice when we view them through the lens of Christ” (22).
While the book seeks to explain the Scriptures and does so faithfully, its greatest strength is Dr. Williams’s pastoral approach. While over the years I have read many books in this genre, as I read this book I felt I was being shepherded to understand better the person and work of Christ in all of Scripture. At various points in my Christian life, like many Christians, I have struggled to read through Leviticus and other parts of the Bible, but during such times How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens will be a resource I turn to in my reading of the Word to understand more clearly how Jesus is at its center.
How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens is a good introduction to the Christ-centered nature of Scripture. For further study one should consider checking out Hamilton’s God’s Glory In Salvation through Judgment or any of the works by Graeme Goldsworthy. This book would make a great gift for the new Christian and also a great resource for the advanced Bible student to get a quick overview of the Christ-centered nature of Scripture. Whether or not we are new or mature Christians, we would all do well to read How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens and learn how Christ is at the center of redemptive history and the Word of God.
Dave Jenkins is the Director of Servants of Grace Ministries and host of the radio show Theology for Life. His wife’s name is Sarah, and they live in Caldwell, Idaho. Dave and his wife are members of Sovereign Grace Fellowship Church in Nampa, Idaho. Dave has a Masters of Arts in Religion with an emphasis in biblical studies from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. Currently, he is completing his Masters of Divinity in Professional Ministries via distance education at Liberty University. Dave blogs at Servants of Grace.
The Gospel Focus of Charles Spuregon. By Steven J. Lawson. Ligonier Ministries, 2012.
Reviewed by Lucas Bradburn
“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). Remember. Consider. Imitate. Perhaps no modern writer has better helped the church heed these words of exhortation than Steven J. Lawson. Through his Long Line of Godly Men Profiles, Lawson has masterfully demonstrated the important role that church history plays in the Christian life. In his most recent book, Lawson again brings to the fore a godly man from the halls of church history and gleans enduring lessons from his life. This time, Lawson spends some time looking at the life and legacy of “the Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He does this in three chief ways.
First, Lawson remembersSpurgeon. Following in the footsteps of Iain Murray, Lawson labors to bring the historical record to bear on Spurgeon’s life. Through an abundance of primary source quotations, Lawson allows Charles Spurgeon to speak for himself. What many are quick to forget, Lawson calls our attention to. He does not gloss over the unpopular elements of Spurgeon’s theology, since he knows that these were the most near and dear to Spurgeon’s heart. Indeed, to know Charles Spurgeon truly, one must understand the theology that drove his passion and fueled his preaching. In a word, Spurgeon was unquestionably committed to the Gospel of God’s sovereign grace in Jesus Christ freely offered to sinners. Unpacking this sentence will allow the flow of Lawson’s thesis to unfold.
To start with, Spurgeon was focused on the Gospel. Lawson writes,
“Throughout his prolific ministry, Spurgeon was consumed with a gospel zeal. He made it his practice to isolate one or a few verses as a springboard to proclaim the gospel. He asserted, ‘I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.’ Every time Spurgeon stepped into the pulpit, he set his gaze intently on the salvation of sinners through the proclamation of the saving message of Jesus Christ” (2).
This Gospel focus consisted of, among other things, a full-orbed presentation of the biblical message of salvation—the person of Christ as the God-man, the substitutionary death of Christ as a payment for sin, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the exaltation of Christ as the sovereign Lord.
Tied into his understanding of the Gospel, Spurgeon was also unapologetically committed to the tenets of Calvinism. Lawson cites Spurgeon’s own words to set the record straight regarding his stance on this matter:
“There is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else. I do not believe that we preach the Gospel unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah, nor do I think we can preach the Gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend the Gospel which allows saints to fall away after they are called” (38-9).
Far from being a hindrance to the Gospel, Spurgeon believed that the doctrines of sovereign grace serve as the very foundation of the Gospel. This belief led him to give passionate appeals and invitations to the unsaved to come to Christ for salvation. Spurgeon believed, in perfect harmony with his robust Calvinism, in the freeness of the Gospel offer. Lawson explains, “In one hand, he firmly held the sovereignty of God in man’s salvation. With the other hand, he extended the free offer of the gospel to all. He preached straightforward Calvinistic doctrine, then, in the same sermon, fervently urged lost sinners to call on the name of the Lord.” (xix).
With so much misinformation going around today about Calvinism being anti-evangelism and anti-missions, the life of Spurgeon, recounted so eloquently by Lawson, shows that nothing could be further from the truth. My prayer is that the Gospel focus of Charles Spurgeon—seen especially in his commitment to the sovereignty of God in salvation and the freeness of the Gospel offer—will also be the Gospel focus of the modern evangelical church.
Not only does Lawson helpfully encourage us to remember the theology of Spurgeon, but he also wants us to consider his legacy.Why was Spurgeon’s preaching so impactful? What was it that gave his sermons such lasting power? Chapter six provides Lawson’s answers to these questions. The heading of this chapter, a quote from Iain Murray, says it all: “The true explanation of Spurgeon’s ministry, then, is to be found in the person and power of the Holy Spirit” (105). While he maintained a deep allegiance to God’s Word and the power of the Gospel message, Spurgeon knew that unless God moved by his Holy Spirit his efforts would be in vain. Charles Spurgeon knew nothing of a cold, calculated theology devoid of life. His theology was always closely wedded to his doxology.
In an age that so often separates orthodoxy from orthopraxy, Lawson’s consideration of Spurgeon is just what the doctor ordered. Too many pastors and teachers go around operating in the power of the flesh, rather than in the power of the Spirit. It is no wonder why our churches seem so lifeless. The legacy of Charles Spurgeon should convict the modern church and, Lord willing, incite us to rely solely on the power of the Holy Spirit for renewing grace.
Finally, Lawson not only remembers and considers the life and legacy of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, but he also seeks to imitate him. Lawson shares from his heart when he writes, “As a result of reading his sermons, my life and ministry were set on a course from which I have not veered. From Spurgeon, arguably the preeminent preacher in the history of the church, I learned how the doctrines of grace and evangelistic passion intersect in preaching and ministry. Like the convergence of two mighty rivers, these twin truths become one powerful force in reaching lost sinners with the gospel of Jesus Christ” (125). Having followed the ministry of Dr. Lawson for quite some time now, I can see how true this is. In fact, I would go so far as to say that were Spurgeon here today, he would be proud of his disciple. I am confident that one of the main reasons why Lawson “gets” Spurgeon so well is because he shares the same theological convictions, the same passion for preaching, and the same zeal for the salvation of those who are lost. I can only pray that others may learn to follow in the footsteps of Lawson by carefully imitating the faith of Charles Spurgeon.
Steve Lawson has given us an excellent treatment of C.H. Spurgeon’s life, theology, and ministry. I for one am thankful for his fair analysis of the historical evidence, his passionate and engaging writing style, and his practical exhortations throughout his book. Hopefully, Lawson’s series of profiles will be used by God to continue the unbroken chain of godly men even to the present hour.
Lucas Bradburn is an M.Div. student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. He is married to Allison, and they have two children, Anna and Benjamin.
Inductive Bible Study: A Comprehensive Guide to the Practice of Hermeneutics
Reviewed by Chris Castaldo
Before anyone is prepared to work out his salvation with fear and trembling, he must understand how to study the Bible. Before one can preach, counsel, mentor, and articulate an answer for this faith, he must study the Bible. Christian faith assumes the Bible, without which we are rudderless ships.
Here is the irony: God’s word is the necessary means for growing in conformity to the image of Christ, and yet there are few comprehensive resources to help people engage this process. Over the years as a pastor, I have typically recommended Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, which is especially helpful in explaining techniques required of different genres. However, despite its accessible style, some students circled back to me and admitted that there remained ambiguity concerning the initial steps of the interpretive process. This is the strength of Bauer and Traina’s book, Inductive Bible Study: it starts from square-one by training people to attend to the content of Scripture, to follow a text’s argument, map its narrative flow, and grasp its implications.
If you know anything about the legacy of Robert Traina (1921-2010), you will appreciate how readily accessible his approach is. Many years ago, Traina popularized the three-fold method for extracting meaning from the biblical text through “observation, interpretation, and application.” So axiomatic is this triad that it can be heard in most small group Bible studies across the land. On one level, the volume under review is that simple; but it is certainly not simplistic. It pushes forward to analyze the nuanced questions that this method naturally begs. Thanks to coauthor, David Bauer, Professor and Dean at Asbury Theological Seminary, the volume is rife with helpful discussions about the range of contemporary hermeneutical debates. Dots are connected from these technical considerations to the inductive method, resulting in an exegesis handbook that is both practical and substantive.
The book consists of five major sections.
Part 1. Theoretical Foundations
Part 2. Observing and Asking
Part 3. Answering and Interpreting
Part 4. Evaluating and Appropriating
Part 5. Correlation
There are also six appendices which include the role of presuppositions in contemporary hermeneutical discussion, original languages, and outlining (discourse analysis).
The authors express the book’s purpose in the Preface:
Our intention is to present rather comprehensively our understanding of the approach to the study of the Bible known as inductive Bible study, and to direct this presentation primarily to seminary students and those engaged in Christian ministry. But we anticipate that this volume will be useful also to scholars who are engaged in advanced study of the Bible and who are conversant with contemporary hermeneutical discussions. (xiii)
In keeping with the authors’ intention, this book is not for the new or young Christian. For that person you might consult Howard Hendricks’ Living by the Book or, a step beyond that, Grasping God’s Word by Duvall and Hays. Because Inductive Bible Study is part hermeneutics, part exegesis, part philosophy, and part logic, it is for the motivated reader. It reads like a textbook, but, then again, it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. The upside is its comprehensive scope, fastidious indexing, and bibliography.
Finally, as one whose ministry is often located at the Catholic/Protestant intersection, I see another reason why this book is so critical. The question that I most commonly hear from my Catholic friends concerns the evangelical position of sola sciptura, particularly how we can claim to have reached an authoritative interpretation of the Bible. In this regard, I think the work of Bauer and Traina is also helpful. Their treatment of the issue is too extensive to reproduce here (you’ll need to read the book), but, in this vein, their closing statement bears repeating, “[I]t is potentially helpful to come to the text with a faith perspective only if one is prepared to submit that faith perspective to the corrective judgment of the text” (384).
Chris Castaldo serves as director of the Ministry of Gospel Renewal for the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. He is the author of Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic and a main contributor to Journeys of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism (January 2012). He blogs at www.chriscastaldo.com.
The Hammer of God
Reviewed by Matthew Claridge
Within the past few months, the Gospel Coalition (here and here) brought to the attention of the evangelical world a work of fiction entitled The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz (1905-1998), who served as a bishop in the Lutheran Church of Sweden. It involves a fictional account of three pastors from three different eras in Swedish history struggling with how to apply the “law” and “gospel” in the life of their congregations. Along with our brothers over at the Gospel Coalition, I can affirm that Hammer deserves inclusion in the canon of great evangelical literature. It is a unique and powerful exploration of the gospel’s daily relevance to pastoral ministry and the Christian’s life. Giertz is the first author I have encountered that can translate the “world” of Luther’s thought. If the German Hercules had written fiction, this is what it would look like.
A law-gospel dialectic drives the plots of the stories Giertz tells. By doing so, he offers a form of Christian story-telling virtually without peer in the English speaking world. Lamentably, the drama of much Christian fiction is often more sentimental than noticeably biblical. The conflict is usually resolved when the protagonist “surrenders” his life, the sun pops out, the bluebirds chirp, and the newly awakened believer sings “Victory in Jesus.” Giertz uncovers the seedy underbelly of this kind of triumphalism so often paraded in our lives and mirrored in our fiction. Far from ending the conflict with sin, conversion often exacerbates and deepens it as a superficial application of the law transforms our easily conquered external sins into the pious sins of pride, hypocrisy, flattery, and showmanship.
Hammer is told from the perspective of three pastors. How often in literature are pastors the heroes rather than comic relief? Even the best portrayals do not typically address the concrete practicalities of church life, let alone address them through the lens of a theology of the cross. Remarkably, Hammer is a resource for pastoral ministry as it is a piece of thrilling fiction. I will likely find myself modeling my pastoral conversations based on what I have read here.
Despite the book’s incomparable virtues, it does contain a difficult stumbling block. I had every intention of putting this book in my top 10 of recommended fiction for church members until I got deep into the second novella where Giertz turns toward the subject of Lutheran baptism. The topic is so pervasive and so well articulated that I would be hard pressed putting it into peoples’ hands and dealing with the damage control. A great deal of upfront qualifications and caveats are necessary, and I am not sure it is worth going there for the sensitive Christian. Though disagreeing with Giertz’s baptismal theology, I can sense his pastoral heart and respect his faithfulness to his confession.
It is important to reflect a bit on Giertz’s defense of Lutheran baptism because it reveals the theological trajectory of Luther’s law-gospel dialectic in a way some might not be comfortable with. His genius is to present a real life scenario where his baptismal theology appears to provide the most satisfying resolution. The scenario begins when pastor Fridfeldt is called away on an urgent pastoral visit. An elderly farmer in his parish had just suffered a sever stroke. When the pastor arrives, the man is unconscious and hallucinating. The farmer’s daughter recounts his last coherent conversation: “I said, ‘you are thinking about Jesus, are you not, father?’ and he answered me, ‘I am not able to, Lena. I can’t think any longer. But I know that Jesus is thinking of me’” (165).
With his mind gone, his heart begins to speak disturbing things. This old, church-going, family man begins uttering blasphemies. He speaks derisively of his neighbors, friends and family, recounting sinful episodes and proud opinions he held but had never revealed. Juxtaposed with the babbling farmer is his daughter’s six month-old son who decides to have a tantrum. The child is clearly angry that his dying grandpa is getting more attention than himself. With little else he can do, the pastor takes the child out of the room to give the daughter some peace.
While holding this screaming child, Fridfeldt has an epiphany: “Did he not have precisely the same corrupted nature as the child and the old man? Was not this the only difference, that at this moment his will and his thought had stretched across the dark abyss a thin coating of conscious faith and personal commitment? . . . What if his thought should be shattered and faith’s thin shell broken?” (169-70).
For Giertz, This is an implication of Luther’s dictum: simul iustus et peccator—simultaneously justified and sinful. We are justified even when we cannot consciously express faith in Christ and the “flesh” speaks instead. Giertz emphasizes that “God looks not upon the man who believes nor does he see his indwelling corruption and his sins. . . . God only looks upon the dear Son” (174). From this edifying premise, Giertz draws the conclusion that God can effectively give faith to an infant in baptism: “When we bring a little child, with its corrupted nature, to God in baptism, what can hinder God . . . taking it up into the kingdom of God?” (185).
What are we to say in the face of such a powerful story, in the face of such a powerful expression of God’s sovereign grace, in the face of such a controversial conclusion? Several things should be considered.
First, “the exception proves the rule.” When Fridfeldt is called on to defend his Lutheran view in a debate on baptism, it is significant where Fridfeldt begins his defense. He starts with the question: “Can a little child be saved? And if so, on what grounds?” (182). This is a difficult and pertinent question, but is it really the place to start? Does Scripture ever address this question directly? There are hints and suggestions of an answer, but it is clearly not a primary concern. Yet it is the driving force of Giertz’s argument. Giertz’s story relates exceptional circumstances that should not be allowed to overthrow the normative role of verbalized and, therefore, internalized faith (Rom. 10.10).
Following closely on this is a second weakness: his lack of sound Scriptural support. At one point in the debate, a Baptist pastor asks: “Can you mention a single passage of Scripture that states that a little child can actually be born again?” Three texts are offered: John 3:5, Mark 10:15, and Matthew 10.14. Fridfeldt comments: “The first passage, then, says that God’s kingdom is received through regeneration in baptism. The other states that children can receive the kingdom and that it is just they that receive it in the right way” (187).
The problems with this exegesis are evident. The reference to “water” in John 3:5 is certainly not a reference to Christian baptism, but likely a reference to expectations regarding the work of the Spirit in the new age. It is a very questionable text upon which to build a case for infant baptism. The other references suffer from reading too much into the term “children.” Did Jesus have nursing infants in mind when he said, “Receive the kingdom of God like a child?” Is salvation even an appropriate context for Jesus words: “Let the children come unto me”? This is the extent of Giertz’s Scriptural support. It is meager indeed.
Third, Giertz leaves it without doubt that he affirms baptismal regeneration. That is problematic in itself, and it causes further problems. Giretz explains what his sacramental theology looks like in the life of a typical child of the church: “A child’s heart is open so that God can . . . regenerate it[.] When we grow older . . . we are stubborn and evasive and shut up our hearts with intentional sins. Not until the heart is opened in conversion have we become as little children—and then we can enter again into the kingdom” (185). With that word “again” Giertz appears to suggest that a baptized infant can lose his initial salvation. This is an inextricable problem of all theories of paedobaptism: what do we do with baptized infants who later apostatize as adults? At least in classic Reformed theology, a baptized infant who later “falls from grace” has only fallen out of the “visible covenant of the church.” For Giertz, the dilemma is exacerbated by his baptismal views.
Finally, let uss address Fridfeldt’s original conundrum. Does our salvation depend on our active faith being expressed at all times during our lives? Behind this question is Giertz’s polemic against revival “enthusiasts” such as credo-Baptists, who, in Giertz telling, affirm something very close to this. I would argue this is a caricature of the Reformed Baptist position. I do not have to answer the question of “infant salvation” before I can affirm that Scripture overwhelmingly affirms that active faith is the necessary fruit of regeneration (Acts 2.37-38; Rom. 10.13-15; Eph. 2.8, passim). This faith is expressed not in moral victory, but in a life long struggle against the flesh. This faith is the context of his Christian life, not necessarily the conscious substance of it at every point. Indeed, the farmer’s last words are a testament to his Spirit-wrought faith, not lack thereof: “I can’t think any longer, but I know Jesus is thinking of me.” He knows that much and that is enough. The faith of a mustard seed is more than enough to move the mountain of God’s grace to his aid.
Matthew Claridge is Senior Pastor of Mt. Idaho Baptist Church in Mt. Idaho, ID.
By Matthew Barrett -
The 40 Questions Series, edited by Ben Merkle, from Kregel is a series to invest in. Each book seeks to answer some of the most common and difficult questions on some of the most important topics in theology. The volumes not only helpful to those thinking theological already, but also for those who may be thinking through these theological topics for the first time and need a simple, concise answer to some of their most basic questions.
Of course, I am biased in saying all of this. I am also excited about the series because I have the joy and privilege to be writing 40 Questions on Salvation with Greg Allison, professor of theology at SBTS. Allison and I are already underway in the writing process and we hope the volume will be helpful in answering some of the most fundamental and difficult questions related to salvation.
That said, allow me to introduce the volumes published thus far and encourage you to go and buy them, read them, and give them to people in your churches. Here is the description for each, and take note of the most recent release on the end times.
40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law. By Thomas Schreiner.
This volume by Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner on the interplay between Christianity and biblical law is an excellent addition to the 40 Questions & Answers series. Schreiner not only coherently answers the tough questions that flow from a discussion about the Old Testament Levitical Law, but also writes clearly and engagingly for the student. The pastor, student, and layperson can easily understand Schreiner’s biblical theology of the Law.
40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible. By Robert L. Plummer.
The second in the series organized around common FAQs, 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible tackles the major questions that students, pastors and professors ask about the hermeneutics of reading the bible (i.e. understanding the bible). This is a constant field of study by professor and student alike which empowers the pastor to teach with confidence. Robert Plummer parses the discussion into four parts: getting started, approaching the bible generally, approaching specific texts, and issues in recent discussion. In each section the forty questions lead each exploration. This allows teachers to embrace this book as a textbook and the curious student to engage the book on a pick and choose basis to discover what issues are most pertinent to their study. Sure to be a happy tool for the professor 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible will be essential reading for the student seeking to advance expertly in his biblical studies.
40 Questions About Elders and Deacons. By Benjamin L. Merkle.
Arranged in a Q & A format, this volume tackles the major questions that pastors, church leaders, and students ask about congregational church government, a topic of much interest in the church today. It provides readers with a clear analysis of key biblical passages, succinct answers (4–8 pages each), and discussion questions. The unique format of the book allows the reader to pick and choose what issues are most pertinent to their interests and needs.
40 Questions About the End Times. By Eckhard Schnabel.
Organized in an accessible FAQ format, 40 Questions About the End Times tackles common questions about the final period before Christ’s second coming. In his clear, balanced style, Eckhard Schnabel cuts through the confusion and hype to offer meaningful answers through analysis of the relevant biblical texts as well as theological and practical conclusions. Questions include: Who are the 144,000 in Revelation 7? Will the Church disappear in a rapture to heaven? Does national Israel have a special destiny? What will happen to believers on the day of judgment?
(View Schnabel’s Table of Contents here.)
Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals, and he is the author of several forthcoming books. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two daughters, Cassandra and Georgia. He is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.
Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith
Reviewed by Steven Cowan
Christian Apologetics is the distillation of many years of study and teaching. As the subtitle indicates, it is a thorough defense of the Christian faith, though written to serve as a textbook appropriate for both undergraduate and seminary students.
The book is divided into three parts. Part One presents “Apologetic Preliminaries.” The introductory chapter raises the question of the meaning of life and the role of worldviews is shaping a person’s view of it. Chapter 2 discusses the nature of apologetics, its relation to philosophy and theology, and lays out its biblical basis. Especially helpful were Groothuis’s exposition of the nature of saving faith and the contextual nature of real-life apologetics dialogues.
Chapter 3 is dedicated to apologetic method. After defending the objective truth of the laws of logic, Groothuis argues that “the best method of apologetic reasoning is hypothesis evaluation and verification.” On this method, the “Christian worldview is taken as a large-scale hypothesis. . . that attempts to explain what matters most” (49). This appears to be identical to what is elsewhere called the “cumulative case” method (60). However, Groothuis does more than weigh the Christian worldview against its competitors via a set of epistemic and aesthetic criteria. He combines this with a rigorous presentation of theistic arguments in the fashion of classical apologetics. Indeed, it is evident that Groothuis sees the hypothesis testing method as a variation on classical apologetics (62).
In chapter 4, Groothuis defines and explains the Christian worldview. He discusses the Christian narrative (creation, fall, redemption), the doctrine of the trinity, and the human condition (we’re “question marks in search of an answer”). Chapter 5 responds to common misconceptions and distortions of Christian beliefs associated with topics such as the alleged war between Christianity and science, racism, homosexuality, and sexism. Chapters 6 and 7 defend the objectivity of truth and its importance against postmodern relativism and nihilism. Chapter 8 closes out Part One with a riveting discussion of the prudential incentives for faith, a topic rarely discussed in apologetics texts. Groothuis convincingly argues that prudential concerns, while not showing that Christianity is true, can help motivate unbelievers to be open to considering the evidence for Christianity.
Part Two presents the case for Christian theism. It begins in chapter 9 with an apologetic for the value of theistic arguments, responding to nine objections to natural theology. Chapters 10 through 17 then present all of the major theistic arguments: the ontological argument (chapter 10), Leibnizian and Kalam cosmological arguments (chapter 11), the fine-tuning design argument (chapter 12), the design argument from biology (chapters 13 & 14), the moral argument (chapter 15), the argument from religious experience (chapter 16), and the argument from consciousness (chapter 17). These chapters provide the most complete presentation of theistic arguments of any apologetics text I’m aware of. Though I’m glad to see such a rare compendium of natural theology, it contains significantly more material than would be covered in most introductory apologetics course.
In chapter 18, Groothuis begins the move—ala classical apologetics—from theism to Christianity. Here he outlines Pascal’s argument that human beings are “deposed royalty”—that is, the best explanation for the paradoxical truths that humans are both great and wretched is the biblical view of man as created in God’s image but fallen. This, of course, opens the door to the plausibility of the Christian revelation of Scripture with its view of God, man, Christ, and salvation. As Groothuis puts it, Pascal shows that “humans are (1) wretched because fallen, (2) great because of their unfallen origin, and (3) redeemable through the incarnation” (437).
Chapter 19 is actually written by Groothuis’s colleague, Craig Blomberg. He argues for the accuracy of the New Testament portrait of Jesus, defending the historical reliability of the New Testament documents against various challenges. He also defends the historical plausibility of miracles, especially Jesus’ resurrection. In chapters 20 and 21, Groothuis defends the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ both as a historical fact and a logical possibility. He shows how Jesus claimed to be God incarnate and lived a life consistent with that claim. He also discusses how Jesus’ divine authority supports the authority of Scripture. Moreover, he provides an updated treatment of C.S. Lewis’s famous “liar, lunatic, Lord” argument. Concerning the logical paradox of the incarnation, Groothuis rehearses, among other things, the well-known solution of Thomas Morris. I especially appreciated his rebuttal of those who would leave the matter of the incarnation as an irresolvable paradox (i.e., contradiction).
The resurrection of Jesus is defended in chapter 22. Groothuis rightly (in my opinion) places his defense of the resurrection within the context of a theistic worldview. He first responds to David Hume’s famous arguments against miracles. Then he argues, based upon key minimal facts accepted by most scholars, that Jesus’ resurrection is the best explanation for those facts. After supplying additional evidences for the resurrection in the spiritual experience of believers in history and today, Groothuis responds to naturalistic explanations for the key facts.
Part Three addresses objections to Christian theism. Chapter 23 responds to religious pluralism. The most significant contribution of this chapter is in its discussion of the differences between the world’s religions and the inadequacy of various thinkers to account for these differences on pluralist terms. Groothuis also gives a welcome defense of particularism against Christian inclusivism.
Chapter 24 is a brief but poignant critique of Islam. Groothuis responds to Muslim challenges to the integrity of the biblical text and the deity and crucifixion of Jesus. He also shows the inadequacy of their view of the human condition. In chapter 25, Groothuis tackles the problem of evil. I was particularly gratified to see that he defends a compatibilist view of freedom and thus does not rely heavily on free will as the primary answer to the problem of evil. His solution is the greater good defense—God permits evil in order to bring about greater goods than could be had if he had not allowed evil to exist.
The book includes two appendices. The first defends the traditional doctrine of hell against common objections. The second is a paper by Richard Hess who addresses apologetics issues related to the Old Testament, not least of which is the so-called Canaanite “genocide.”
Christian Apologetics is a truly masterful work. It covers almost all of the major apologetics issues that an apologetics instructor could want and does so in a readable way. My complaints are only two. First, after going to significant lengths to explain the “hypothesis testing model” and define the criteria for assessing worldviews more precisely than any other text does, Groothuis never explicitly applies those criteria to Christianity or any other worldview. The rest of the book proceeds along the standard lines of classical apologetics. Second, there are some topics that would have been welcome in a book that claims to provide a “comprehensive” case for Christianity. For example, chapters on the coherence of the divine attributes and a fuller treatment of the coherence of the trinity. Of course, the book would have to be even longer to accommodate these suggestions. However, perhaps abbreviated versions of chapters 6 and 7, and a discussion of fewer theistic arguments could have allowed these other topics.
These criticisms are trivial, though, when compared to the overall product. I highly recommend this book for use as a primary textbook in apologetics courses.
Steven B. Cowan, Professor of Philosophy, Louisiana College
This review was taken from the January issue of Credo Magazine, “In Christ Alone.” View other reviews like this one today!
To view the magazine as a PDF Click Here
Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ. By Russell D. Moore. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011.
Reviewed by Jared Moore
In Temped and Tried, Russell Moore frames the temptation of Christ within redemptive history and as the answer for the daily temptations all Christians encounter. Christ’s example is not merely our example to follow, but his example is our answer to temptation. We look to his gospel, the good news of his death and resurrection, to reconcile us to his Father. We are not left alone to fend for ourselves for we have one who has conquered, is conquering, and will conquer the evil one. In other words, we cannot triumph over temptation, only Jesus can (195).
Christians exist in a wilderness of temptation where possible pitfalls lurk around every corner and where we least expect it (Ch. 1). Temptation is subtle and leads gradually to a great fall. Justifying a “small” sin eventually encourages us to justify “greater” sins. Sins we would not have committed in the beginning, we are desensitized to embrace later (Ch. 2). As sinners, we want what we want, but it can never satisfy. We must long for eternity more than we long for the temporary. Christ heard his Father’s voice louder than his growling stomach when tempted in the wilderness. Having been made sons and daughters through Christ’s blood, we must hear our Father’s voice louder than our appetites as well (Ch. 3).
Furthermore, what matters in our daily lives is not our selfish vindication, but God’s present and “not yet” vindication of us through Christ. He will defend us in Christ. We must simply preach truth, spread the gospel, look ahead to our vindication, and submit not to the temporary false glory of being right (Ch. 4). We must crucify our desire for power and influence, regardless of how “small” it may be. We must seek God’s glory in Christ, looking to the day when we rule and reign with him forevermore (Ch. 5). Temptations are real, persistent, and common to all Christians. They were common to Christ as well, yet he never sinned. The gospel empowers us, through the Spirit, to live as Christ lived while pleading his blood alone for salvation (Ch. 6). In other words, you cannot triumph over temptation, only Jesus can (Ch. 7). Run to him continually.
In conclusion, Moore succeeds in his desired goal. After reading this work, I cannot help but feel the weight of my sin and the various temptations that plague me. Where will I turn for victory? I will turn to the one who endured temptation and conquered, bled and died as if he failed, and rose triumphantly from the dead to save his people. I look to him afresh and anew, and with honesty, I boldly cry out, “Abba, Father,” due to his finished work. May I continue crying out, from here to eternity.
Jared Moore is pastor of New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, KY. He is married to Amber, and they have two children, Caden and Ava. Jared has an M.Div. in Christian Ministry from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Currently, he is completing his Th.M. in Systematic Theology at Southern Seminary. Jared writes at SBC Voices and Exalt Christ.
