Download or read book The Auburn Avenue Theology Pros and Cons written by E. Calvin Beisner and published by . This book was released on 2004-02 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Knox Theological Seminary Colloquium on the Federal Vision. Have you noticed people nearly paralyzed in their Christian lives because, try as they might, they get no assurance of their salvation? Or, at the opposite extreme, are you troubled by the rampant antinomianism in contemporary Christianity? Prominent Christian Leaders present ideas about covenant theology, the objectivity of the covenant, the sacraments, and the relationship of faith and obedience that they believe will address both errors afflicting the presumptuous and comforting the afflicted."--Back cover.

Download or read book By Faith Alone written by Gary L. W. Johnson and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2007-03-06 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Reformation swept across Europe with a God-glorifying gospel of grace. Now the doctrine of grace cherished and proclaimed by the Reformers is under renewed assault from an unexpected place—the evangelical church itself. With the help of several theologians, Gary L. W. Johnson and Guy P. Waters trace the background and development of two seemingly disparate movements that have surfaced within the contemporary church-the New Perspective(s) on Paul and the Federal Vision-and how they corrupt the truth of salvation by faith alone. By regaining a focus on the doctrine of grace, pastors, seminarians, and future leaders can regain the cohesion, coherence, and direction to truly build the church to withstand the attacks of false and empty doctrines.

Download or read book A Church Wide Enough for Everyone written by Steven H. Propp and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2018-02-03 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Schaeffer and Douglas West are best friends living in Oklahoma in 1963when they discover that they both sense a calling to become ministers in a mainline Christian denomination. But from seminary and their early years in ministry to their golden years looking back on what it takes to lead a congregation, a stimulating, sometimes puzzling, yet often inspirational world of theological controversies and congregational concerns would unfold for these two men of God. A Church Wide Enough for Everyone follows these two men on their journey to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the Christian faith in a postmodern world. After moving to Berkeley, California, to attend college and seminary, they have little time to ponder the vast social changes taking place before they immediately enter into intensive critical study of the Bible and Christian theology. And as Robert is then thrust into the ordained ministry with his wife, Faye, both men must in their own ways face the political, cultural, and ideological pressures of each passing decade, responding to challenges from both within the church and from outsiders. Are mainline churchesand Christian theologydead? Or might they be revitalized in the current century? A Church Wide Enough for Everyone and the inspired journeys of two ministers offers a window into how this revitalization and new understanding is possible.

Download or read book Calvin and the Federal Vision written by Jeong Koo Jeon and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2009-06-12 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Calvin (1509-64) was the pinnacle of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation in Europe. As we celebrate the five hundred-year anniversary of his birth, it is worthy to explore Calvin's covenant theology, which may be one of the best windows to understand and evaluate his theology as a whole. In recent years, the Federal Vision has been surfaced in the American conservative Reformed and evangelical circles. It has strong hermeneutical, theological, and practical attachment with Calvin. Although Calvin was a covenant theologian, he firmly maintained the evangelical distinction between law and gospel, especially in his exposition of justification by faith alone (sola fide) and salvation by grace alone (sola gratia) with a balanced emphasis of believers' covenantal obedience. Moreover, we will find out that Calvin not only applied the distinction between law and gospel to soteriology but also in the depiction of redemptive history. In Calvin, the distinction between law and gospel was foundational for the depiction of biblical vision of eschatology in the Garden of Eden before the Fall and under the Old Covenant. However, the exponents of the Federal Vision deny any validity of the distinction between law and gospel in hermeneutics, theology, and practice while they identify themselves with those of Calvin. In that sense, we may identify the Federal Vision not with the Protestant Reformation and Calvin but as consistent monocovenantalism in which they deny the distinction between law and gospel and apply that monocovenantal principle consistently to their understandings of hermeneutics, soteriology, the doctrine of double predestination, and sacramental theology.

Download or read book The Sabbath Complete written by Terrence D. O’Hare and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sabbath-Lord's Day controversy exists because of a lack of faithful hermeneutics and attempts to validate denominational traditions with Scripture. Terrence O'Hare has studied this topic for a decade and presents his findings with the hope of attaining a consensus among professing Christians. The Sabbath Complete is thoroughly researched and comprehensive in its scope. In a readable and instructional manner O'Hare analyzes the full range of biblical texts on this topic, two millennia of church history, and literature from Jewish, Catholic, and many Protestant varieties, thus providing a comprehensive and unique answer that should appeal to a wide range of interested readers.

Download or read book Adam Christ and Covenant written by A. T. B. McGowan and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This book was released on 2016-07-21 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: McGowan reviews challenges to and disagreements over Reformed covenant theology and proposes that its strengths can best be retained by separating the two key ideas of union with Adam/Christ and God’s covenantal dealings with his people.

Download or read book Driven by God written by Jae-Eun Park and published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. This book was released on 2018-10-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than two millennia believers have struggled with the antinomy of God's absolute sovereignty over and man's ultimate responsibility in justification and sanctification. Theologians have used some version of the terms »active justification« and »definitive sanctification« in an attempt to illuminate this mystery. However, in the past decade scholars have begun to criticize these concepts, saying that they are unsupported in Scripture, lead to theological confusion, and are of no practical benefit to believers.Through the work of theologians from the broader Dutch Reformed tradition, especially Herman Bavinck, Alexander Comrie, Herman Witsius, and Abraham Kuyper. Jae-Eun Park demonstrates that the terms »active justification« and »definitive sanctification« are derived from Scripture and serve to clarify, not obscure the doctrines of justification and sanctification. In addition, the book shows that neglect, misuse, or misunderstanding of the terms have resulted in contemporary criticisms that are unconvincing and unfounded.Writings of the aforementioned theologians define and expound four characteristics held in common between active justification and definitive sanctification, i.e., inseparability, objectivity and decisiveness, Christ-centeredness, and God's absolute sovereignty – concepts of the mentioned theologians. All four characteristics of active justification and definitive sanctification emphasize the »God-driven« nature of salvation.Jae-Eun Park explains how – when properly defined and presented – the two terms are important theologically, bringing clarity to the issue of the perfect balance between God's sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation. He also shows how active justification and definitive sanctification offers practical assurance of their perseverance unto glory to true believers, and provides pastors with an invaluable tool for exhorting parishioners who may have lapsed into either triumphalism or defeatism.

Download or read book The Covenant Theology of Jonathan Edwards written by Paul J. Hoehner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-05-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a theologian in the Reformed tradition, covenant theology was for Jonathan Edwards the internal scaffolding that gave shape to the biblical story of redemption. The establishment of the eternal rule of righteousness as the basis of the believer's communion with God and eternal happiness is a central theme beginning with the Covenant of Works, grounded in the eternal Covenant of Redemption, and culminating in the Covenant of Grace. It is the basis for the law-gospel distinction in Edwards and the early architects of federal theology. For the "God intoxicated" New England Puritan preacher, this was no dry academic exercise. Rather, it was a joyous and affectionate discovery and embrace of what God had ordained in eternity, what Christ accomplished in history on the cross, and what the Holy Spirit is doing and will complete in the church. This study grew out of current discussions in Reformed scholarship questioning aspects of traditional covenant theology. As a key transitional figure in the history of Reformed theology, Edwards's thinking is still relevant. The richness and depth of Edwards's vision of redemptive history provides a clear and comprehensive understanding of his Reformed soteriology and the role of evangelical obedience in justification.

Download or read book Participation and Covenant written by Dick Moes and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-03-13 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Participation and Covenant: Contours of a Theodramatic Theology, Moes develops a theological framework that has participation in the life of God in Christ through the Spirit as its integrative center. In doing so, he enters into conversation with covenant or federal theology, particularly as it has been presented by Michael Horton, in which the integrative center is the concept of the covenant. He argues that God’s fundamental relationship with humanity does not entail a covenant ontology—a fundamentally legal and ethical relationship to God, as we find in Horton’s presentation—but rather an ontology of participating in God’s loving presence in Christ through the Holy Spirit. For this relationship we were created, and this participation is therefore natural to us. Accordingly, a theodramatic framework that incorporates a reframed understanding of divine-human covenants and that has participation in the life of God in Christ by the Spirit as its integrative center is better able to give direction for clearly communicating the gospel in our secular culture and for properly shaping our Christian identity and practice—in the face of the secularism that affects the church, too—than Horton’s framework of covenant theology.

Download or read book Word Water and Spirit written by John V. Fesko and published by Reformation Heritage Books. This book was released on 2013-08-26 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book represents a substantial accomplishment, one that provides a useful resource for those wanting to deepen their understanding of the sacraments, particularly baptism. Reflecting a massive amount of research, against the background of an in-depth survey of various views of baptism in church history, Fesko provides an extensive exegetical and biblical-theological study of the covenantal and eschatological significance of baptism followed by systematic theological reflections on key issues like baptism as a means of grace, the efficacy of baptism, the biblical warrant for infant baptism (and against paedocommunion) and the importance of baptism for the church. One need not agree with his reflections at every point to benefit from his considerable labors." - Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology, Emeritus, Westminster Theological Seminary

Download or read book Restored to Our Destiny written by Brian G. Mattson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-10-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A close conceptual analysis of Herman Bavinck’s (1854-1921) four-volume Reformed Dogmatics, this book explores what is broadly understood as the central motif of his work, the “organic” relationship between nature and grace, and highlights an overlooked aspect to this motif. Bavinck’s view of nature and grace is not only rooted in his Trinitarian theology, but, more importantly, in his covenant theology. Exploring Bavinck’s link between the doctrine of the imago Dei to an eschatology uniquely provided by Reformed covenant theology, this book serves to illumine the rationale behind his signature dogma that “grace restores and perfects nature.” Given the link between the nature/grace motif and covenant theology, this book raises the question whether the one can stand without the other.

Download or read book Progressive Covenantalism written by Stephen J. Wellum and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biblical covenants provide the backbone to the narrative plot line of Scripture; therefore, it is essential to think through the interrelationship between the biblical covenants, starting in creation and culminating in Christ, in order to rightly grasp the "whole counsel of God."

Download or read book Receiving Back One s Deeds written by Benjamin M. Dally and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2022-11-16 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the relationship between justification by faith and final judgment according to works as found in Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians within a Protestant theological framework. Benjamin M. Dally first demonstrates the diversity and breadth of mainstream Protestant soteriology and eschatology beginning at the time of the Reformation by examining the confessional standards of its four primary ecclesial/theological streams: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican. The soteriological structure of each is assessed (i.e., how each construes the relationship between justification and final judgment), with particular attention given to how each speaks of the place of good works at the final judgment. This initial examination outlines the theological boundaries within which the exegesis of Second Corinthians can legitimately proceed, and illuminates language and conceptual matrices that will be drawn upon throughout the remainder of thebook. Then, drawing upon the narrative logic of Paul’s Early Jewish thought-world, Dally examines the text of Second Corinthians to discern its own soteriological framework, paying particular attention to both the meaning and rhetorical function of the “judgment according to works” motif as it is utilized throughout the letter. The book concludes by offering a Protestant synthesis of the relationship between justification and final judgment according to works in Second Corinthians, giving an explanation of the role of works at the final judgment that arguably alleviates a number of tensions often perceived in other readings devoted to this key aspect of Pauline exegesis and theology. Dally ultimately argues a three-fold thesis: (1) For the believer one’s earthly conduct, taken as a whole, is best spoken of in the language of inferior/secondary “cause” and/or “basis” as far as its import at the last judgment. (2) One’s earthly conduct, again taken as a whole, is soteriologically necessary (not solely, but secondarily nonetheless) and not simply of importance for the bestowal of non-soteriological, eschatological rewards. (3) There are crucial resources from within mainstream Protestantism to authorize such ways of speaking and to simultaneously affirm these contentions in conjunction with a robust, strictly forensic/imputational, “traditional” Protestant understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Download or read book Living for God written by Mark Jones and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What difference should doctrine make on our day-to-day Christian life? This book summarizes Christianity in 5 core truths—the Trinity, the Son of God, the Spirit, the church, and heaven and hell—to show how theology is intended to bring people closer to God. Drawing from writers throughout church history—particularly St. Augustine, Richard Baxter, and C. S. Lewis—this book summarizes the building blocks of “pure Christianity” and how they shape minds, hearts, and actions, so readers can know simply and concisely what it means to live for God.

Download or read book In the Name of Our Lord written by Jonathan D. Watson and published by Lexham Press. This book was released on 2021-07-21 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who is a member of the church? Christians divide on how one enters the church body. Matters are quickly complicated once other factors are considered, such as faith, instruction, baptism, first communion, and formal membership. Who should be baptized? What role does instruction play? And what is the best order of these things? Jonathan D. Watson's In the Name of Our Lord provides an explanatory typology and incisive analysis for thinking through these interrelated questions. Watson's four--model framework accounts for the major historical varieties of relationship between baptism and catechesis as initiation into the church. With this framework in place, Watson then considers each model in relation to one another. With a guide to navigating the terrain, readers can comprehend, compare, and contrast these different theological formulations. Readers will have a sophisticated but clear system for thinking through foundational matters that are important to every pastor and congregant.

Download or read book They Who Endure to the End written by Everett Berry and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is it possible for a true believer in Christ to apostatize? If so, how? Also, how can professing believers know if they are truly born again? What assurance can they have that they will never renounce their faith? These questions have been asked for centuries as Christians have wrestled with what Scripture says about these matters. The search for answers has instilled strong disagreements among Christian traditions. In this book, we navigate the terrain of this debate by examining the pertinent biblical data, surveying the history of major views that have been advocated by various denominations, and offering a synthesis of all this material in the hopes that readers can see how Scripture assures believers of their security in Christ.

Download or read book Christ Jesus the True Israel written by Brent E. Parker and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-01-11 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the relationship between the nation of Israel, Jesus Christ, and the church? Pastors and theologians come to significantly different conclusions. The reigning systems of evangelical theology, covenant theology, and dispensationalism answer this question by stressing the continuity of the Israel-church relationship (covenant theology) or emphasizing discontinuity (dispensationalism). In more recent times, progressive covenantalism has emerged as a via media between these two theological approaches by providing a different proposal for unpacking the biblical covenants, and by highlighting that to rightly understand the people of God in biblical theology, the person of Jesus Christ must be the focal point. In Christ Jesus, the True Israel, Brent E. Parker presents the case for the importance of typology in this debate, arguing that national Israel is a type, not unlike other Old Testament types (e.g., the sacrificial system, the temple, etc.), that reaches its antitypical fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Moreover, the Israel-church relationship is also typological, but only through Christ. Parker demonstrates that the progressive covenantal approach is a viable system of theology that seeks to preserve what the whole Bible says regarding the people of God, from Israel to Christ and from Christ to the church.