Faster Unto Thee

Ryken's "Choosing a Bible" for Free

Today I stumbled across a free online copy of Leland Ryken's Choosing a Bible: Understanding Bible Translation Differences at the ESV Blog. I own a print copy that I purchased several years ago and have pointed others to it as well.

Formerly titled Bible Translation Differences, the little booklet is adapted from Ryken's larger book The Word of God in English. The booklet argues for an essentially literal approach in Bible translation, against the dynamic equivalent approach. Obviously, it is in support of the ESV, but the points he makes are part of why I prefer to use an essentially literal translation like the ESV over the NIV or the more extreme The Message.

This booklet is worth reading, arguing with, and gleaning much gold from.

Rerun of an old post: Help Me Find This Book By Thomas O. Summers

This is an old post from last March.

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I have been searching online for a copy of Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity by Thomas O. Summers but have not found one. The book was published in 1888 by the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Nashville. The picture you see is of vol. 1 of a two volume set that I obtained through inter library loan. The title on the spine and the title page do not match for some reason. The name "Tigert" on the spine refers to The Rev. Jno. J. Tigert of Vanderbilt who arranged Summers' theology lectures and added some material to turn it into a full textbook.

If you know where I can purchase a copy, or at least view a digital one online, please let me know!

New Blog by Bishop Donald N. Bastian

Bishop Emeritus Donald N. Bastian has a new blog, Just Call Me Pastor. It should prove worthy of regular visits.

Bastian was a Bishop in the Free Methodist Church of North America and then the first Bishop of the Free Methodist Church of Canada. His pastoral wisdom and writing style make for good reading. Pastors will want to visit his blog along with laypeople who wish to benefit from a seasoned minister's reflections on ministry, theology, and the Christian life.

His book God's House Rules was reviewed here a few years ago. His sermons on Christian family life are still available as Mp3 files through that post as well.

Help Me Find This Book by Thomas O. Summers

I have been searching online for a copy of Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity by Thomas O. Summers but have not found one. The book was published in 1888 by the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Nashville. The picture you see is of vol. 1 of a two volume set that I obtained through inter library loan. The title on the spine and the title page do not match for some reason. The name "Tigert" on the spine refers to The Rev. Jno. J. Tigert of Vanderbilt who arranged Summers' theology lectures and added some material to turn it into a full textbook.

If you know where I can purchase a copy, or at least view a digital one online, please let me know!

Free Theological Resource: American Theological Inquiry

A post on Jason Goroncy's blog alerted me to the presence of a new online theological journal that should prove to be helpful in many ways: American Theological Inquiry.

This journal is broadly ecumencial, requiring the article authors to affirm "the Ecumenical Creeds of Christendom (Apostles’, Athanasian, Nicæno-Constantinopolitan, Chalcedonian). Exceptions are permissible with reference to the filioque clauses and Athanasian anathemas."  The purpose of the journal is:

To provide an inter-tradition forum for scholars who affirm the historic Ecumenical Creeds of Christendom to constructively communicate contemporary theologies, developments, ideas, commentaries, and insights pertaining to theology, culture, and history toward reforming and elevating Western Christianity. American Theological Inquiry (ATI) seeks a critical function as much or more so as a quasi-ecumenical one. The purpose is not to erase or weaken the distinctives of the various ecclesial traditions, but to widen the dialogue and increase inter-tradition understanding while mutually affirming Christ’s power to transform culture and the importance of strengthening Western Christianity with special reference to Her historic roots.

Free Theological Resource: Writings of P.T. Forsyth

I became interested in the writings of theologian P.T. Forsyth this year as I read I. Howard Marshall's essay in The Atonement Debate.  I found two of his books in the library catalog of our local Christian college but wanted my own copies of The Cruciality of the Cross and The Work of Christ.  But on my way to Amazon, I did one more search and came across this site, Scriptura P.T. Forsyth.  Here theologian Jason Goroncy has posted the books of Forsyth in pdf format - FOR FREE. 

My interest in Forsyth is due to my hope that his thoughts about the atonement might help answer the question of whether or not the Penal Substitution theory of the atonement can be incorporated into Wesleyan-Arminian thought.  More on that later, I hope.

For now, enjoy this quality theologian for free and spend your Amazon budget on some other books.  And drop Goroncy a thank you note for his efforts.

Free Theological Resource: Themelios Journal

In my ongoing quest to find quality and FREE theological resources I have come across another good one, Themelios.

Themelios is a great journal that was in print until issue 32, but now has been transitioned to an online format.  The articles in Themelios are aimed at theological students and pastors and have great content, offering good summaries of key theological issues.  Many of the articles read like they came from the lecture notes of good professors - and they probably have.  This is a great resource for students and pastors who need a primer on certain issues and who are looking for something to read that is in between vacuous Christian magazines and heavy theological journals. 

In the current issue:

• EDITORIALD.A. Carson
• Minority Report: Why Should Thoughtful Evangelicals Read the Medieval Mystics?Carl Trueman
• Blondel Remembered: His Philosophical Analysis of the "Quest for the Historical Jesus"Paul Hartog
• Nonviolence in the Ancient Church and Christian ObedienceKirk R. MacGregor
• Truthfulness in Usefulness: Stanley Fish and American Literary PragmatismDane C. Ortlund
• An Augustinian MindsetPeter Sanlon
• Mission: A Problem of DefinitionKeith Ferdinando
• PASTORAL PENSÉES: How a Mega-Church is Rediscovering the GospelJoe Coffey
• Book Reviews

All the past and present articles are available for free online.  Check it out here.

Further Impressions on the ESV Study Bible

My first overall impressions of the ESV Study Bible were very positive and my esteem for it continues to rise.  Here are some more thoughts about this wonderful new tool

1.  I mentioned in my last post about this new resource that its sheer size would limit where I took it and how I used it. That has turned out to be true - sort of.  While it is too big to lug around for hospital visits and can look imposing at a patient's bedside, I still bring it along with me - but keep it in my car.  You see, I can't part with it.  I may use my pocket sized ESV at the beside, but I keep my ESV Study Bible nearby - you know, just in case.  The notes and resources in it are so helpful and so spark my curiosity that I can't part with it. Its mere presence makes me feel prepared to answer my own questions and those of others.  Sure, this habit reflects my own drive to engage in theological discussions, but that is just how useful this new tool has become to me.

2.  The notes do reflect a Reformed bent, but not oppressively so.  Schreiner's notes on Romans allow a little wiggle room for Arminians as do the notes on other books, most of the time.  But the notes are always reflect a conservative, evangelical viewpoint, which is just what I want.  The notes also do go beyond offering mere background information or just a straight interpretation of some passage as most study bibles do by offering responses that often amount to systematic theology leading to application.

3.  From front to back, the introduction, articles, and notes often reflect a very passionate and Puritan understanding of spiritual formation and worship.  I love it! From the Preface to the ESV which quotes the words the Moderator of the Church of Scotland uses when handing a Bible to the new monarch in Britain's coronation service, "This Book [is] the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; this the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God", to the notes and John Piper's article, "Reading the Bible in Prayer and Communion with God," this study Bible emphasizes the joy and experience of knowing and communing with God through his Word.  There is a sense of worship that permeates the ESV Study Bible that persuades you that the contributors were not merely concerned with presenting solid scholarship, but with presenting scholarship that sparks worship. This is obviously not a study bible for purely academic-minded readers. 

4.  But the ESV Study Bible does lack a few things.  First, it could really use an article summarizing Old Testament and New Testament history, like my  New Oxford Annotated Bible (1991) has.  Most of the historical info one needs is scattered throughout book introductions and in the notes, but 2 articles that give one an overview of the activities of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires in relation to Israel would have been helpful for the Old Testament, and one article on relevant stuff for the New Testament would be helpful too.  Second, I miss red lettering.  I like to see the words of Jesus in red because it helps me locate specific passages in the gospels quickly and develop a snapshot outline of passages.  Third, a second ribbon marker would be nice.  Fourth, so far I have not been able to find a good summary of Hebrew parallelism like the one in my New Oxford Annotated Bible.  Considering how much poetry there is in the OT, this is a great omission. But all of these things that I say this new study Bible lacks, except for the additional marker ribbon, just might be in there somewhere in some article or note that I have overlooked.  This book is so big I will be discovering new treasures for years.

All in all, this is simply the best study Bible available today.  Considering giving one for Christmas?  You can't find better prices than at Christian Book Distributors.  My copy was about $56 dollars from CBD, and my local Christian bookstore had the same edition for $96.  Wow.  CBD even beats Amazon last time I checked.

It Has Arrived - the ESV Study Bible - Initial Impressions

It arrived today!  It felt just like Christmas when my copy of the ESV Study Bible arrived in the mail today.  I pre-ordered it several months ago, getting the best price through CBD, and it was worth the weight.

The Religion Today Summaries from Crosswalk on October 17 noted that the ESV Study Bible is selling quite well:

According to a news release, the new ESV Study Bible is undergoing its second printing even before it hits shelves, thanks to pre-order demand that surpassed the initial 100,000 printing. Another 50,000 copies are being printed, with a third printing to follow. Mark Traphagen, Web Sales Manager for Westminster Bookstore in Philadelphia, PA, reports record-breaking sales for the new Study Bible, making it "by far the fastest selling new product in the history of our store." The new study Bible, which uses the bestselling ESV translation released in 2001, contains more than 200 full color maps, 100 articles and introductions, more than 40 illustrations, and 20,000 notes. The notes pinpoint differences between evangelical Christianity and other world religions as well as discuss different interpretations of significant passages. The ESV Study Bible is the most comprehensive study Bible ever published. It was created by a team of 95 of the world's leading biblical scholars, hailing from 10 countries, nearly 20 denominations, and more than 50 colleges, seminaries, and universities.

I have had little time today to look my copy over, but here are a few initial impressions:

1.  It is a beast.  It is heavy and large.  2" thick, with a cover that is 6 7/8" by 9 5/8" long.  While its thorough study features make a less featured Bible seem anemic, and will make one feel prepared in the field to answer questions, its shear size will usually prohibit me from carrying it along on hospital visits, etc.

2.  It is beautiful.  The cover, fonts, binding, paper, layout (single column for the biblical text), etc. are all very well done.  The book is beautiful and a pleasure to use.  There are a few pages in my copy where there are printing errors  (the ink is too light or too heavy), but it is not quite enough to make me exchange it for another copy.

3.  The font used for the biblical text is easy to read, yet elegant enough to gain your visual respect.  Interestingly, and something of a bummer for me, the words of Jesus are not in red.

4.  The introductions to each book are great, though I am sure they vary in quality to some degree due to the fact that various authors wrote them.  I spent some time reading the intro to Ezra and it was very helpful.

5.  The diagrams, charts, and maps are the best I have ever seen in a study Bible.  They truly set a new standard and are perfectly placed. 

6.  A cursory read through the notes, etc. definitely reveals a Reformed bias, but not oppressively so to us in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition.  As I spend more time this Bible and get a better feel for it, I will post my review of the notes and articles' theological orientation.  But the list of authors is revealing - lots of classically Reformed folks from places like Covenant Theological Seminary and Reformed Baptists from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and other places.  I have only noticed one Wesleyan so far - John N. Oswalt who wrote the notes for Amos.  The articles at the end of this Bible also reflect a heavy emphasis on the Reformers, Puritans, etc.  Don't get me wrong - I love that stuff too, but a little Wesley could have been brought in.

I will make posts on the theological content and orientation of this new tool soon.  For now, I can say that the ESV Study Bible is a must-buy.

Free Resources from Concordia Theological Seminary

More and more schools and ministries are becoming generous in offering free theological resources online.  One such school is Concordia Theological Seminary of Fort Wayne, IN.

Concordia's Walther Library digitizes and makes available quite a bit of quality theological material, especially articles from Concordia Theological Quarterly.  The free offerings are mostly from a fairly conservative Lutheran standpoint, and cover a wide-range of theological topics.  One can search the articles by author, title, or subject.  I found a helpful article on the atonement that may help me with my dissertation.

As I discover more free resources on the web I will keep sharing them with you.  And feel free to share what you have found by clicking on "comments" below and posting your find.

Meeting a Need: South African Theological Doctorates

For several years I have been stuck.  I have been trapped by a dilemma that seemed to have no solution, but now one has appeared.  The dilemma is this: how can I continue in pastoral ministry while at the same time pursuing an academic degree in systematic theology when there are no schools close by to me that offer such a degree? 

The issue of a school being nearby is crucial to me since I do not wish to relocate near a school and leave my present ministry.  You see, doctoral programs require a thing called residency; you must physically live near the school in order to participate in traditional classes, engage with a community in scholarly pursuits and, not of least importance, help the school maintain its accreditation.  Accreditors, it seems, require residency in research-oriented doctoral programs.  In practial doctorate programs, such as the D.Min., residency is usually limited to a few weeks a year, in contrast to several years for a Ph.D. or Th.D.

So one solution for folks like me is to seek out a solid, credible, but not accredited doctoral program that can be completed without residency.  Now, there are few schools that provide a high-quality doctoral program in theology.  One excellent unaccredited school is Columbia Evangelical Seminary.  This school provides a quality Th.D. program that is truly respectable and fits the needs of many people, and does so at a great price.  But if one needs a degree from an accredited school to qualify for teaching, etc. at an accredited school, a degree from an unaccredited school will not suffice.

So what to do?  If you don't want to or cannot relocate to go to school, is there another option?  Yes, there is.  The answer is distance learning through one of the strong schools in South Africa.  There are several strong, fully-accredited, academically sound universities and at least one private seminary that can help: The University of South Africa, University of Stellenbosch, University of the Free State, University of Pretoria, and others. 

My choice is the South African Theological Seminary (SATS), a relatively new and private school that is fully accredited and academically strong.  SATS offers a Doctor of Theology degree (the theological equivalent of a Ph.D.) that requires no residency.  All the work is done via a mentor, dissertation committe, etc.  Thank God for the internet! And while the cost is more than doing a D.Th. through one of South Africa's state-supported schools, the difference is worth it because it is a firmly evangelical school. I have been "provisionally accepted" into their program.  I can begin once I send them the first year's tuition.

Are doctorates from South Africa finding good acceptance here in the U.S.?  Check out DegreeDiscussion.com for a thoughts on this. The acceptance appears to be growing based on the quality work of some who hold them.  Sure, it can be argued that it is best for one's career to relocate and attend a school at home, but when the choice appears to be between a quality doctoral program via distance learning and no doctoral program at all, the choice is clear. 

I'd love to hear from others who have experience with one of the South African schools in the fields of either biblical studies or theology.  What has been your experience?

Covenant Worldwide Free Resources

In my ongoing quest to find excellent and free theological resources on the web, today I cam across a ministry of Covenant Theological Seminary, Covenant Worldwide.

Covenant Worldwide is Covenant Theological Seminary's free offering of master's-level lectures and study guides to the world.  There is no course credit given, of course, for downloading and listening to the lectures, but great gains can be made by church leaders and others who have no access to a good theological education due to finances, location, etc.  And these lectures, just like the ones at Biblical Training, are a wonderful brush-up on subjects for pastors or can be used to fill in gaps in a theological education. 

Every lecture is from a staunchly Reformed perspective, promises to be high quality, and is FREE.