9781433532412
$19.11 USD $22.99 USD
Modern theologians have focused on the doctrine of divine impassibility, exploring the significance of God’s emotional experience and most especially the question of divine suffering. Professor Rob Lister speaks into the issue, outlining the history of the doctrine in the views of influential figures such as Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther, while carefully examining modernity’s growing rejection of impassibility and the subsequent evangelical response. With an eye toward holistic synthesis, this book proposes a theological model based upon fresh insights into the historical, biblical, and theological dimensions of this important doctrine.
“Though a young and upcoming evangelical scholar, Rob Lister has made a very significant contribution to one of the most difficult theological doctrines, the impassibility of God. By combining historical theology, interaction with contemporary nonevangelical theories, a retroductive theological method, circumspect metaphysical reflection on divine revelation, biblical theology, and systematic theology (especially theology proper and christology), Lister offers a convincing case that God is both impassible and impassioned. This book sets the standard on this topic and is a model of evangelical scholarship at its finest!”
Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Although the concept of divine passibilism, appropriate in some ways for a deeply sentimentalized culture, is all the rage in modern theology, for most of the history of the church, God was viewed as being impassible. Why was this so, and how did the Bible shape this perspective of God? And can we construct a model in this regard that does justice to what the Scriptures and church history say about God, and that also engages with modern sensibilities? This study by Rob Lister is extremely helpful in answering these questions: it is preeminently scriptural, takes the Rezeptionsgeschichte of this doctrine very seriously, and satisfactorily answers current concerns.”
Michael A. G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Rob Lister boldly goes where few evangelicals have gone before in this very helpful study of how best to make sense of what Scripture says about God’s emotions. Lister does away with caricatures of the Patristic tradition as having sold out to Greek philosophy, surveys contemporary evangelical positions on divine impassibility, and provides a constructive hermeneutical method and theological model for doing justice both to the impassibilist tradition and to biblical language about divine emotions. As G. K. Chesterton observes, ‘an inch is everything when you’re balancing,’ and to Lister’s credit he completes his routine without falling off the balance beam that is systematic theology.”
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
“Understanding how an infinite God relates to finite creatures is at the heart of most theological difficulties. How can God be holy and sovereign and personal and relational? That God is transcendent and immanent is central to understanding the God of the Bible. In this book, Rob Lister has given us tremendous help in navigating these deep theological waters. His theological method is a fantastic and much needed model of biblically grounded synthetic analysis that incorporates keen exegetical insights that are well informed by historical theology. Lister offers a biblically balanced understanding of God’s emotional life so that his sovereign majesty and covenant intimacy are preserved. The implications of this study for understanding God, humanity, Christ, relationships, and emotions in general are far-reaching and vital. I pray that the conclusions and theological method of this excellent work are deeply and widely influential for the glory of God.”
Erik Thoennes, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Chair, Biblical and Theological Studies Theology Department, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University; Pastor, Grace Evangelical Free Church, La Mirada, California
“In this well-organized and well-written volume, Rob Lister challenges the view that the church fathers’ version of divine impassibility precluded God’s showing emotion. He swims upstream against modern passibilism, and he opposes those evangelicals who reject impassibility in the name of affirming divine passion. I was impressed with Lister’s accuracy and kindness whenever he takes exception to others’ views. The work is largely positive and constructive rather than negative and reactive. Lister argues ‘passionately’ for the view that God is both impassible and impassioned, even as he is both transcendent and immanent. Lister’s work demonstrates multiple areas of competence—historical, biblical, theological, and philosophical—and is nuanced, holding that ‘God’s passion transcends human passion both ontologically and ethically.’ I am, therefore, pleased to commend it to readers for serious consideration.”
Robert A. Peterson, Professor of Systematic Theology, Covenant Theological Seminary
“Whether God is subject to suffering is hardly a recent question, but it is an issue that contemporary Christians have been constrained to ponder carefully in order to provide scripturally measured and biblically tempered answers in a generation that prefers to conceive of and worship a God forged after human likeness. Despite the profundity of this issue and the inherent difficulty of giving adequate expression to whether God is passible or impassible, Rob Lister provides accessibility and clarity to this issue in a scripturally governed, admirably balanced, and manifestly humble manner. He engages theologians ancient and modern as his theological conversation partners while he guides readers through the many pitfalls and hazards that threaten to entangle us primarily in two antithetical but equally defective views of God: either to cast him in our image and likeness or to project onto him an aloofness that renders him cold, even grotesque. Lister rightly insists that in order to provide biblically rooted answers to the questions he addresses it is crucial to acknowledge and embrace the chasm that distinguishes the Creator from his creatures. Yet, equally crucial is the fact that the Creator made humanity, the creature, in his image and after his likeness, for this is God’s revelatory nexus by which God makes himself known to us both as impassible and as impassioned.”
Ardel B. Caneday, Professor of New Testament Studies and Biblical Theology, Northwestern College; coauthor, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance
“This is an excellent study in systematic theology that exemplifies detailed research in biblical theology and historical theology, and draws these into a coherent systematic construction with relevance for contemporary life. I found Lister’s hermeneutical and theological analyses of passibilist and impassibilist arguments to be instructive and sharp. The project is well conceived and follows an explicit methodology with systematic guardrails from Scripture to frame the difficult biblical and theological details. Lister has ably handled difficult questions that impinge on God’s impassibility and passionate involvement with his creations: God’s relation to time and eternity, incarnate suffering, biblical accounts of God’s repentance, theodicy, and God’s immanence and transcendence. Despite the difficulties, Lister provides careful definitional distinctions and clarity of communication in a surprisingly light writing style that is uncommon to academic theology.”
John E. McKinley, Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University; author, Tempted for Us
Part 1: The Doctrine of Divine Impassibility in Historical Context
2. Contextualizing Patristic Thought on Divine Impassibility: The Hellenization Hypothesis
3. Patristic Models of Divine Impassibility
4. Medieval and Reformational Reflections on Divine Impassibility
5. Assessing the Widespread Rejection of Divine Impassibility in Modern Theology
6. Contemporary Impassibilist Thought and Evangelical Reflection on Divine Impassibility
Part 2: A Contemporary Case for Understanding God as Both Impassible and Impassioned
7. Impassible and Impassioned: Toward a Viable Theological Hermeneutic
8. Impassible and Impassioned: Interpretive Prospects
9. Impassible and Impassioned: A Theological Model
10. Impassibility and Incarnation: A Concluding Christological Reflection
Category: | Theology |
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Format: | Paperback |
Page Count: | 336 |
ISBN-10: | 1-4335-3241-7 |
ISBN-13: | 978-1-4335-3241-2 |
Size: | 6.0 in x 9.0 in |
Weight: | 16.2 ounces |
Published: | November 30, 2012 |
$18.69 USD $19.99 USD
Must the gospel message include a call for people to repent of their sins? “No,” say Free Grace advocates. Is evidence of a changed life an important indication of whether a person is truly born again? “No, again,” these advocates say.
But in this book, Wayne Grudem shows how the Bible answers “Yes” to both of these questions, arguing that the Free Grace movement contradicts both historic Protestant teaching and the New Testament itself.
This important book explains the true nature of the Christian gospel and answers the question asked by so many people: “How can I know that I’m saved?”
“Credence without commitment and assurance without action are the hallmarks of the so-called Free Grace version of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is, however, unbiblical, anti-evangelical, and sub-Christian, as Grudem’s patient and well-informed analysis clearly shows.”
J. I. Packer, Board of Governors' Professor of Theology, Regent College
“The so-called ‘lordship controversy’ has been simmering for several decades now. I’m thankful for several fresh resources that deal with these matters accurately and succinctly. Wayne Grudem’s book in particular is an excellent and very useful digest of the main doctrinal and biblical issues under debate. He answers the questions with uncommon clarity and skill, always from Scripture.”
John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California; President, The Master's College and Seminary
“Within evangelicalism, there is a kind of presentation of the Bible’s teaching on grace that actually diminishes what the Bible teaches about grace, while purporting to elaborate and emphasize it. Wayne Grudem carefully, charitably, wisely, and pastorally takes on that kind of teaching in this book. This is an issue that especially pastors and those preparing to be pastors need to think through clearly, because confusion in our teaching and preaching on this will harm the sheep and our witness.”
J. Ligon Duncan III, Chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi
“Ever so fair and irenic, New Testament scholar and trusted theologian Wayne Grudem gives no quarter to the purveyors of the so-called Free Grace gospel as he exposes their troubling pattern of selective reading of the standard Greek lexicons, as well as of famed theologians, to effect the illusion of support for their position. Grudem does more than demolish a house of cards as he pastorally lays out what the New Testament says about the nature of the gospel, repentance, faith, and assurance. Grudem’s critique is a gift of love to the church universal, and especially to those under the unfortunate thrall of errant teaching.”
R. Kent Hughes, Visiting Professor of Practical Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary
“With grace, patience, pastoral tenderness, and honesty, Wayne Grudem takes a careful look at biblical teaching on the gospel and evangelism as he critically examines the teaching of what is called ‘Free Grace.’ As well intentioned as this position is, Grudem argues it falls short in five areas. He is fair, citing Free Grace materials in full and engaging biblical texts with care. I commend this book as one who has had similar discussions on these topics with people who hold this position, people whom I also respect as Grudem does.”
Darrell L. Bock, Executive Director of Cultural Engagement, Howard G. Hendricks Center, and Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
“This book is charitable yet rock-solid in its penetrating insights regarding the Free Grace movement. The soteriology of this movement is thoroughly consistent—and deeply flawed. Grudem has addressed a number of the key issues and texts in a gracious and gentle manner. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Free Grace movement and its implications for the gospel.”
Daniel B. Wallace, Senior Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
“Wayne Grudem’s book on Free Grace is the best I have read on the subject, and I commend it with enthusiasm for several reasons. First, it is biblically saturated, showing us again and again what the Scriptures say. Second, Grudem’s explanations are so clear that virtually any Christian can read and understand this book. Third, the book is amazingly kind, generous, and charitable. Grudem isn’t on the attack. He loves those with whom he disagrees, and that love shines through the book. Fourth, Grudem recognizes the issue is massively important since it has to do with the nature of the gospel we preach and proclaim. He argues convincingly that works are a necessary fruit of salvation, which doesn’t threaten free grace but upholds what the great Reformers taught about salvation.”
Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Associate Dean of the School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“This excellent and insightful book is much needed in the church today, especially in view of ever-increasing focus on the nature of the gospel. His analysis of the ill-named Free Grace movement is clear, thoroughly biblical, and entirely persuasive. He deals forthrightly yet charitably with the views of those who advocate this mistaken conception of the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. All Christians will benefit greatly from reading Grudem’s analysis. I cannot recommend this book too highly.”
Sam Storms, Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
“With care and weighty biblical and historical argumentation, Grudem applies his clear-headed reasoning to show where the Free Grace view has gone wrong. Because this disagreement has to do with the very nature of the gospel, saving faith, and the basis of assurance, it is critical that Christians understand rightly what Scripture teaches on these matters. “Free Grace” Theology provides an excellent guide to understanding why the traditional Protestant and Reformed view of these matters accurately expresses biblical teaching and where the Free Grace view misleads. Every Christian can benefit from reading this book, to grow in clarity and conviction of understanding of what salvation by faith alone truly means.”
Bruce A. Ware, T. Rupert and Lucille Coleman Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Conclusion
Bibliography
General Index
Scripture Index
$14.94 USD $14.99 USD
YOU’VE GOT MAIL – OF ENCOURAGMENT AND SUPPORT – DIRECTLY FROM THE APOSTLE PAUL. When you open the Smart Guide to the Bible Series: Corinthians, it’s like opening your mail box and finding personal letters from the Paul! In writing to his beloved church, he left a Christian “how-to” guide to believers of today. Nowhere will you find more words of encouragement, advice on conflict, the value within suffering and knowledge about your spiritual gifts than from Paul. And this is the book that will help guide you through it all.
Contributor(s) | Dewey Bertolini , Larry Richards |
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About the Contributor(s) |
Dewey Bertolini Dewey Bertolini is the Teaching Shepherd at New Hope Christian Fellowship in McMinnville, Oregon. Dewey has spoken to thousands of students and adults across the country and inspired them in their walk with Jesus Christ. Larry Richards Dr. Larry Richards is a native of Michigan who now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Larry has taught and written Sunday school curriculum for every age group, and he has published more than two hundred books. |
ISBN-10 | 1418510130 |
ISBN-13 | 9781418510138 |
Release Date | May 5, 2009 |
Weight (lbs) | 1.3400 |
Height | 9.38 |
Width | 7.63 |
Length | 352 |
Length Unit | Pages |
Publisher | Thomas Nelson |
Who It's For | Men, Teen Boy 13-17, Teen Girl 13-17, Women |
Series | The Smart Guide to the Bible Series |
Format | Paperback |
Language | English |
$27.23 USD $28.00 USD
1 and 2 Kings is the second volume in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible and follows Jaroslav Pelikan's volume on Acts. It is the first Old Testament commentary in the series. This volume, like each in the series, is designed to serve the church--through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible.
The general editor for the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible is R. R. Reno (editor, First Things). Series editors include Robert W. Jenson (Center of Theological Inquiry); Robert Louis Wilken (University of Virginia); Ephraim Radner (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto); Michael Root (Catholic University of America); and George Sumner (Episcopal Diocese of Dallas).
Scheduled Contributors R. R. Reno (editor, First Things) on Genesis Thomas Joseph White (Dominican House of Studies) on Exodus Ephraim Radner (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto) on Leviticus David L. Stubbs (Western Theological Seminary) on Numbers Telford Work (Westmont College) on Deuteronomy Paul Hinlicky (Roanoke College) on Joshua Laura A. Smit (Calvin College) and Stephen Fowl (Loyola College) on Judges & Ruth Francesca Aran Murphy (University of Notre Dame) on 1 Samuel Robert Barron (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles) on 2 Samuel Peter J. Leithart (Theopolis Institute for Bible, Liturgy, and Culture) on 1 & 2 Kings Peter J. Leithart (Theopolis Institute for Bible, Liturgy, and Culture) on 1 & 2 Chronicles Matthew Levering (Mundelein Seminary) on Ezra & Nehemiah Samuel Wells (St. Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican Church, London) and George Sumner (Episcopal Diocese of Dallas) on Esther & Daniel Charles Raith II (John Brown University) on Job Ellen T. Charry (Princeton Theological Seminary) on Psalms 1–50 Lauren Winner (Duke Divinity School) on Psalms 51–100 Jason Byassee (Vancouver School of Theology) on Psalms 101–150 Reinhard Hütter (Duke Divinity School) on Psalm 119 Daniel J. Treier (Wheaton College) on Proverbs & Ecclesiastes Paul J. Griffiths (Duke Divinity School) on Song of Songs Paul Martens (Baylor University) on Isaiah Kevin Vanhoozer (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) on Jeremiah Robert W. Jenson (Center of Theological Inquiry) on Ezekiel Mark S. Gignilliat (Beeson Divinity School, Samford University) on the Minor Prophets Phillip Cary (Eastern University) on Jonah James B. Jordan (Theopolis Institute for Bible, Liturgy, and Culture) on Zechariah & Haggai Stanley Hauerwas (Duke Divinity School) on Matthew John Michael McDermott (Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, OH) on Mark David Lyle Jeffrey (Baylor University) on Luke Bruce Marshall (Southern Methodist University) on John Jaroslav Pelikan (Yale University) on Acts David Yeago (Trinity School for Ministry) on Romans Kimlyn Bender (Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University) on 1 Corinthians D. Brent Laytham (St. Mary’s Seminary & University) on 2 Corinthians Kimlyn Bender (Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University) on 1 Corinthians Kathryn Greene-McCreight (The Episcopal Church at Yale) on Galatians John Webster (University of St. Andrews) on Ephesians George Hunsinger (Princeton Theological Seminary) on Philippians Christopher R. Seitz (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto) on Colossians Douglas Farrow (McGill University) on 1 & 2 Thessalonians Risto Saarinen (University of Helsinki) on the Pastoral Epistles with Philemon & Jude R. David Nelson (Baker Academic & Brazos Press) on Hebrews Timothy George (Beeson Divinity School, Samford University) on James Douglas Harink (The King’s University College) on 1 & 2 Peter Michael Root (Catholic University of America) on the Letters of John Joseph L. Mangina (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto) on Revelation
$20.48 USD $24.99 USD
The Thessalonian epistles are probably best known for what they reveal about the last days. But there is much more to these letters than just end times prophecy. In this devotional commentary, John F. Walvoord, one of evangelicalism's most prominent leaders, and Mark Hitchcock, a leading Bible prophecy expert, guide you through the prophecy and exhort believers on practical matters such as moral purity, disciplined living, church relationships, prayer and church discipline.
Walvoord's stalwart writing has been greatly expanded upon by Hitchcock, with additional introductory and background material, charts, and in-depth explanations at key points. Now also updated with the Bible content in the English Standard Version (ESV), this volume in the renewed Walvoord Commentary Series stands ready to reach a whole new generation with the spiritual insights the apostle Paul had for the Thessalonians.