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theLAB

The Logos Academic Blog

The OUP Handbook Interviews: Matthew Levering on the Trinity

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The sixth interview in our series on the OUP Handbooks is with Matthew Levering, co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity. Some of the best of the Oxford Handbooks series are entering the Logos digital library, and they are currently available at a discounted pre-order price. Individual volumes are available, or you can also save money investing in the 8-volume Oxford Handbooks Biblical Studies Collection or the 26-volume Oxford Handbooks Religion Collection.

In what follows, Matthew and I discuss various aspects of the Trinity handbook, including the vast scope of the work and what makes this resource distinct amongst other works on the Trinity.

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The OUP Handbook Interviews: Paul Jones and Paul Nimmo on Karl Barth

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The fifth interview in our series on the OUP Handbooks is with Paul Dafydd Jones and Paul T. Nimmo, co-editors of The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth. In what follows, we discuss various aspects of the work including the depth of the essays and what makes this resource distinct amongst other works on Karl Barth.

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The OUP Handbook Interviews: Robert Kolb on Martin Luther’s Theology

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The fourth interview in our series on the OUP Handbooks is with Robert Kolb, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther’s Theology. theLAB sat down (virtually) with Prof Kolb to discuss various aspects of the work, including the large scope of the essays and what makes this resource distinct amongst other works on Luther.

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From the Author: Phillip Cary’s “The Meaning of Protestant Theology”

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by Phillip Cary

The key concept in The Meaning of Protestant Theology is there in the subtitle: The Gospel that Gives Us Christ.  That’s the core of Protestant theology and the key to its meaning, as well as the center of the distinctively Protestant piety of the Word.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most fundamental form of what Christian traditions call “means of grace,” which is to say: the ways God gives his own Son as our savior, our righteousness, and our eternal life.  When Catholics think of “means of grace,” they think first of sacraments. The Eastern Orthodox may think first of icons. But Protestants think first of the saving power of the Word of God, without which there are no sacraments and icons lose all meaning. Every form of Christian piety needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ if it is to have any meaning at all.  So the Protestant piety of the Word, centered on the Gospel, is a gift to the whole Christian tradition.

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On the Biblical and Historical Doctrine of the Trinity: A Response to Wayne Grudem

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Image: © Tavis Bohlinger

by Matthew Y. Emerson and R. Lucas Stamps

Wayne Grudem, Professor of Theology at Phoenix Seminary and highly influential evangelical theologian, has recently released the second edition of his best-selling Systematic Theology (Zondervan Academic, 2020). While many of us have read Grudem with benefit, assigned his textbook in classrooms, and recommended it to others, some of us have also expressed serious concerns about his treatment of doctrine of the Trinity. So, one of the big questions surrounding this new release was whether or not Grudem would qualify any of his previous teachings on the eternal functional submission of the Son to the Father. Having read the revised chapter on the Trinity, it is apparent that Grudem has attempted to make a couple of noteworthy adjustments/clarifications: he now affirms the eternal generation of the Son (though on fairly narrow lexical grounds and without any significant reference to or defense of the eternal procession of the Spirit) and admits (in some sense) that there is one divine will (although it’s difficult to see how these admissions cohere with his broader understanding of the Trinity; more on this later in the essay). But rather than retract any of his former writings on EFS, he actually doubles down. He still believes the Son is functionally subordinate to the Father, not just in terms of his incarnate mission, but in the eternal life of God himself, even speculating (with only a little caution) that this relationship of subordination in function is precisely what distinguishes the persons as persons. 

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Karl Barth’s Doctrine of the Word of God: Part 1 of 3

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by Justin Eimers

One of the most challenging areas to speak about earnestly is our treatment of the Holy Scriptures. Within the Evangelical community, words like inerrancy and infallibility have been weaponized to intimidate and silence people who are asking simple questions of the text and the Christian community for its adherence to it.

Many Christians know little about these words or their meaning, and even fewer understand how a believer and a non-believer can read the same text and yet come away with entirely different understandings of it. For this, I think it is essential that we look to one of the most formidable theologians in the church’s long history named Karl Barth.

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Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 2020

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This past month (yes, it’s been that long) has been consumed by worries about the pandemic and hours spend indoors resisting the temptation to binge on Netflix. Yet there are still jobs being advertised around the world for those in biblical studies and theology. So take heart, friends, and look at the list below as a sign of hope and human resilience. Happy hunting.

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The Spiritual Discipline of Reading Your Theological Dissidents

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Years ago, The Atlantic had an article entitled, “Study Theology, Even If You Don’t Believe in God.” The author of the article (Tara Isabella Burton) is a Clarendon Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford, where she is working on a doctorate in theology and literature. In this piece, she talks about studying theology as a secularist.

While reading, I was immediately drawn into thinking about my own theological education in various schools in the States and the UK that confessionally are very broad. As well, my pastoral ministry sparked many thoughts reading this, as a member of clergy for over two decades in a theologically minimalist denomination embedded in a complex urban center (Los Angeles, California) that is filled with many traditions, ideas, dogmas and questions. I thought, “If a nonbeliever can study theology, certainly believers should be studying theology with folks of different theologies.”

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John Gerstner’s Edwardsian Shadow

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Put your ear to the ground in Ascension Presbytery in Western Pennsylvania, and it won’t be long before you hear people talking about the life and influence of Dr. John Gerstner (1914-1996). Gerstner was a longtime seminary professor and Reformed theologian in this area, and deeply affected the lives of very many people. Gerstner was Westminsterian in his doctrine and Edwardsian in his convictions. He mentored an entire generation of pastors to savor the doctrines of grace, with a zeal for revival and denominational renewal. 

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Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology: Jan 7–27, 2020

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The past few weeks have seen opportunities in OT, NT, Theology and more introduced to the academic job market, including THREE Biblical Studies posts at Emory. Jobs are to be had from Denmark to Wales, Canada to Norway. Happy hunting!

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