Book Review: A System of Bible Doctrine

The final review for this course involves the book, System of Bible Doctrine, by John Thornbury. As a Baptist minister of fifty four years, Reverend Thornbury seeks to communicate what seems to be a very complex system of doctrine into layman’s terms, as stated in the rear cover’s summary:

“For too long it has been thought that the study of doctrine should only be undertaken by trained theologians and professional academics. Many believers are intimidated by complicated and obscure terms and are put off by concepts that bear the names of scholars who have been long dead. Teaching has been considered outdated and irrelevant.

John Thornbury aims to put such an idea to rest, as he sets out the main doctrines of the Christian faith, yet in a short and concise way. He does not attempt to explain truths in great detail with complicated theories, but allows God’s Word to speak for itself, plainly and simply, covering such things as what the Bible says about God and creation, man, the gospel, the Christian life, and the future.”

In fact, along with the subjects mentioned above, Thornbury deals with the subjects of grace, the Bible, and the church.

Well written, and indeed, concisely stated, the work does meet expectations in that the topics are not covered in great detail, complicated theological theoretical thought is not present, and concepts named after church fathers are not mentioned (with apologies to Calvin and Arminius). Yet for all its promise, the book does suffer from two major failings.

First, it fails in its implied promise to abstain from the use of “complicated and obscure” theological terminology. While the use of such vocabulary is severely limited, terms such as predestination, free moral agency, dispensation, imputation, infusion, propitiation, justification, and sanctification make their way into the discussion with little to no explanation. In short, the book, at times, seems to say, “you can take the boy out of seminary, but you can’t take seminary out of the boy.”

Second, and I feel more serious, is the clear theological bias present throughout the book. Thornbury makes it clear from the outset that he is writing from a conservative, orthodox, Calvinist, Baptist perspective. He also adds several theological “judgment calls”, as it were, all using variations of “it is my opinion”. To compound issues, Reverend Thornbury makes some dismissive comments regarding issues that he believes central to “liberal” churches; issues that are shared by churches that may in fact be conservative or moderate in theology. By choosing to abrogate a position of neutrality in his writing, Thornbury comes across not as a seasoned minister / theologian, but rather as someone with some axes to grind, and System of Bible Doctrine is his chosen grindstone.

In summary, System of Bible Doctrine fails to live up to its billing. While useful to those who share the author’s doctrinal positions, it is ineffective as a neutral, concise, and informative tome for doctrinal education.

Book Review: The Case for Christ

Nearly ten years ago, my spiritual mentors told me about a book involving the story of an atheistic journalist who sought to disprove Christianity and instead found himself becoming a follower of Jesus. Being busy in my career at the time, and being at a different place in my spiritual journey, I thought the story was interesting, but it wasn’t something that I would be willing to invest my time in reading. Now being in a new place in my journey, and discovering that one of the required reads for this course was that story, The Case for Christ, I found that the intrigue had returned and then some.

The Case for Christ documents author Lee Strobel’s twenty-one month journey from atheist to Christian. With all the doggedness and intensity one would expect from experienced investigative reporter covering the crime beat, Strobel starts out with the intent of establishing a mythological Jesus by disproving the historical Jesus.

Strobel structures his research around different criteria of evidence that might be utilized were this case being argued in a courtroom. These categories of evidence are, in order of appearance in the text:

• Eyewitness Evidence
• Documentary Evidence
• Corroborating Evidence
• Scientific Evidence
• Rebuttal Evidence
• Identity Evidence
• Psychological Evidence
• Profile Evidence
• Fingerprint Evidence
• Medical Evidence
• Evidence of the Missing Body
• Evidence of Post-Resurrection Appearances
• Circumstantial Evidence

In pursuit of this evidence, Mr. Strobel crosses the country to interview several Christian scholars selected not only for their expertise, but also for their character and objectivity. Such well known scholars as Bruce Metzger, D. A. Carson, Gary Collins, Craig Blomberg, and Greg Boyd assist Strobel in his quest for truth.

When all the evidence has been submitted and reviewed, Strobel reaches his verdict; the Jesus portrayed in the Bible stands up to evidentiary review and can be accepted as a legitimate historical figure, untainted by mythological corruption. The end result? Mr. Strobel moves from skeptic to saint; accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Case for Christ is an excellent read and presents a compelling case for the veracity of the historical Jesus. As such, it is an effective resource in witnessing to skeptics within the modern culture. However, within the growing postmodern culture, with its inherent disdain toward all things scientific, The Case for Christ may not be as credible a resource for evangelism. This in no way diminishes the quality of Mr. Strobel’s work, but it does delineate the possible limitations or challenges involved in using the book as an evangelical resource for some segments of the American population. If one desires to use this text as a resource in witnessing to postmoderns, I would recommend pairing it with a more philosophical text, such as C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, or Ron Martoia’s Static. Additionally, an ability to articulate personal experience of spiritual transformation, as described in Chapter 14 of Strobel’s book.

Despite the challenges listed above, The Case for Christ remains a powerful tool for apologists. I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone seeking to investigate the claims of Christ from a logical perspective.

A Review of C. S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity"

In recognition of resuming my Masters' studies, I am putting up the three book reports I just completed for my Apologetics class.

If one were to generate a list of the greatest Christian writings of the Twentieth Century, C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity would very likely be found at or near the top. The book originates from a series of radio talks done by Lewis during World War II. In 1952, these talks, “The Case for Christianity”, “Christian Behaviour”, and “Beyond Personality”, a Preface, and some additional notes and editions, were arranged in written form and published as a single work.

In the Preface, Lewis establishes two parameters regarding this work:

First, he is writing from the perspective of a layman; an educated layman, but a layman nonetheless. This is not the work of a formally trained theologian (though he does admit to sending Part II – Christian Behaviour” to four clergymen for review). Thus the language and metaphor used in describing theological principles is appropriate for communicating with the lay person. Theological terms such as justification, sanctification, and the like, are rarely utilized, and if so, are explained.

Second, he is writing from a perspective free of denominational bias (Lewis himself is Anglican). Therefore, he deliberately intends to avoid content that is divisive along denominational lines: balance between grace and works in salvation, veneration of the saints (and for that matter, the Virgin Mary), various views of Communion, and so on. While he freely admits that this has caused him to be criticized for not taking a firm stance one way or another, it does (in my opinion) provide a balanced look at the Gospel (which is how it really should be).

The entirety of Part I deals with what Lewis calls, “The Law of Nature”, which he describes as an inherent sense of morality, or a sense of fair play, which defines the sense of right and wrong. From this starting point, he moves into a discussion of some of the objections that might be put forward against such a statement (for example, that this morality sense is nothing more than instinctive behavior). He further develops this argument to land upon the conclusion that this “Law of Nature” does not have its source in mankind, but rather outside of mankind. The source of this sense of morality is God.

Part II addresses the basic beliefs of Christianity in layman’s terms. He begins with a discussion that separates the primary monotheistic world religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; Mohammedanism as he calls is) from those that are polytheistic or pantheistic (Buddhism and Hinduism). However, there is no development of the difference between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

This follows with a chapter differentiating Christianity from atheism and dualism. In addressing dualism, Lewis moves into the conflict between God and the devil, culminating in the introduction of Jesus and the Atonement to the equation. It is in this section that the well known argument of Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or whom He said He was; the Son of God.

Part III deals with the subject of Christian behavior (or behaviour as it is spelled in Queen’s English). In it, Lewis deals adroitly and reasonably with the issues of sexual and social morality, forgiveness, morality vs. psychoanalysis (in which he takes a jab at Freud), and pride, to name a few. In particular, the chapters on sexual morality, Christian marriage, and forgiveness should be required reading for any couple desiring to marry.

In the final section of the book, Mr. Lewis deals with perhaps the trickiest subject to comprehend in Christian theology; the doctrine of the Trinity. In particular, his explanation of the difference between the natural life (bios) and the spiritual life (zoe) is exemplary.

Although I’ve long been familiar with Lewis’ works, I had not until this point read any of his Christian works. Given the high regard this work is given in contemporary theology, my main concern was whether or not his arguments would continue to be relevant in this postmodern age where relativism is the rule of the day. I was pleased to see that his arguments are still as pertinent as they were 55 years ago. For example, relativism states that right and wrong are subjective definitions, subject to interpretation by the individual. However, this still presupposes that each human being has a sense of right and wrong. This means that immorality exists (as opposed to amorality which would erase all definitions of right and wrong). This being the case, Lewis’ argument that mankind carries an inherent sense of right and wrong is still pertinent.

That isn’t to say that the book doesn’t have its flaws. The glossing over of the differences between the monotheistic religions is, I believe, significant, but perhaps it was less so in Lewis’ day. I also believe the statement that Lewis makes regarding the German philosopher Hegel being a pantheist may be incorrect.

There are also some challenges in comprehension due to language and cultural references unique to Great Britain. While in most cases, the meanings of these sections can be deduced from context, some may require a little research into the England of Lewis’ day to fully understand his point of view in an illustration. These flaws, however, are insignificant compared to the beautiful, simple description of the Christian life that Mr. Lewis provides.

In the end, Mere Christianity remains a staple of 20^th and 21^st Century theological thought. It is a work from which layman and clergy alike can benefit by its reading.

Is This What We're Coming To?

I just read an article on Yahoo about a ring of young adults (college age) who were running a crime ring intent on stealing from celebrities. My first thought is that they were stalkers. Turns out that they were motivated by a desire to own designer clothes and jewelry like the celebs wore; so they stole it.

My intial reaction was, "Is this what we're coming to?"

I'm not going to rant that materialism is evil; most of us are materialistic on some level; comes with living in the US and having "The American Dream" beat into our heads. But when people come to the point of being so materialistic that they are willing to steal what others worked for so they can have it, we've wandered into dangerous territory. These kids (and I say kids in respect to my age) could have applied the drive and intellect used to plan these crimes into entrepreneurial endeavors that could have earned them the same perks (over time) as the celebs. Instead, they chose the easy way out.

As I get older, I see how easy it is to allow media to push our people to the point of being swept away in the river of materialism. It's not healthy. There's no filter; no balance. I see why Jesus was so intent on asking those who wanted to follow Him to sell their belongings and give the money to the poor before following Him. I see why, when He sent the disciples out for the first time, He told them to take nothing with them. I get it now. The point wasn't that followers of Christ are supposed to live in poverty. The point was being willing to unencumber oneself of the things that potentially (not always) hinder us on the journey of life. When we are so focused on having stuff that it becomes an obsession, we miss the opporunities to genuinely help others, opportunities to allow greater spiritual growth in us, and opportunities for others to see Imago Dei in us.

The issue isn't possessions; it's about possession obsession.; like the parable of the farmer who had such a harvest he was going to tear down his barns, build new ones, and take his ease. We know how well that worked out.

No matter how much or how little we have in our family, I pray that we are able to always give back; bless others.

Until next time...

Randomness

DISCLAIMER: The thoughts expressed on this blog are mine and mine alone. They do not represent the thoughts of my wife, any other member of my family, or my friends. You want to know what they think, ask them personally.

OK...now with that out of the way...

RANDOM UNRELATED THOUGHT: Was watching the World Series last night and saw the home plate umpire was Mike Everitt. I actually went to college with Mike. He was a senior trumpet player in the Pride Marching Band at NMSU when I was just a freshman tuba. Even back then he talked about his dream to be a major league umpire. Now he's calling World Series games. Well done Mike!

OK...now on to the blog...

Oh, did I mention that Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is the best Dave Matthews Band CD ever?

Oops...sorry...

Anyway...have a great night!

Remapping, Part Deux

Earlier this month I rambled a bit on here about my year of "remapping"; creating a new map of my personal and spiritual surroundings after moving through the previous year of disorientation that was the result of Sanctuary, V1's demise, and our sudden dislodging from Cuyahoga Falls. I've not been forthcoming about the details of the remapping process and what God is leading me to through it. That has been intentional as I needed to have a bit more detail laid out and talk to some key people in my life about what is going on and get input. Now that I've done that, I'm a bit more willing to share.

My remapping process has led me back to a familiar place; the calling to church plant. I really never though that I'd ever consider this again. However, with each passing day in talking to various people, and getting a really good feel of Christy's thoughts on this, it's clear that the next stage of my journey is going to involve church planting. I'm not planning on, nor do I sense that I should be moving into church planting quickly. Rather, this is the goal God has set for me, but there are some milestones to reach along the way that will serve to prep me for that. Some of this milestones are already in the process of being met.

First, I am resuming my Master's studies after a two year hiatus. This is going to be a lot of work, but I believe that this is a task God has set for me to complete as part of my preparation. Not so much about being prepared to be a vocational pastor, but rather using it as a new means of spiritual formation in my life. This will be a means for me to crystallize my ability to communicate my beliefs and why I believe them. Sure, having the piece of paper helps with denominational necessities, but if that were the only motivation for going back to school, I wouldn't do it.

Second, and related, I will be investigating ordination. My heart is not necessarily set on a particular denomination, but initially I will starting to reconnect with my Anglican friends. I don't really have a desire to wear a cossack and a collar, but rather I'm intrigued by their passion to plant churches. Maybe they're who God wants me to partner with; maybe not. But I need to start the journey somewhere and the Father can take it from there.

Third, I don't really know for certain HOW the church plant is going to look. There are a lot of ideas floating around in my mind from a house church network (which was what Sanctuary, v1 was intended to be at first), to something more along the lines of a non-profit that uses the fine arts to positively impact the community (an expansion of what I'm doing with The Weekend Project). I believe that the main reason that I feel no rush to actually implement a church planting process relates to this. My remapping journey has made it clear to me how important it is that I not try to plant a church that fits someone else's "tried and true" model. Rather, it needs to be a natural extension of me; something that fits me like a well worn shoe or a comfortable pair of jeans. If the "church plant" is me, rather than what someone else thinks I should be, then it will prosper. The type of people who resonate with that ethos will over time naturally be drawn. No gimmicks. No advertising.

I have a new map. There are many new destinations to visit and people to meet. Let the journey begin.

Another Snippet from Debrief

Here's another sample from the book:

In looking back at my own experience and in hearing the stories of other church planters who had to close their doors, it seems that “knowing your role” plays a key role in whether those church communities thrive or wither.

I'm sure you were looking for more, but you'll have to wait until the book is finished.