Dominion and Dynasty

Tony Reinke spurgeon

Today Andy Naselli posted an interview with Stephen Dempster about his outstanding book, Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible (New Studies in Biblical Theology; IVP, 2003).

Andy Naselli: How would you summarize your book’s argument in one sentence?

Stephen Dempster: God created humanity to rule the world in his image, and humanity was dethroned from that rule and will be re-enthroned as kings and queens of creation.

AN: How would you summarize your book’s argument in one paragraph?

SD: The Crown of God’s creation is clearly humanity, which is made in God’s very own image and invested with regal authority to rule all of his creation on planet earth. In the beginning there was perfect harmony between God, humanity, and the world. Adam and Eve fell from this regal position when they rebelled against God by listening to the Serpent. The world was plunged into death and chaos under the Serpent’s rule. God promised to restore the lost glory of humanity and creation by sending a human descendant to dethrone and defeat the Serpent, thus reinstalling humanity to its rightful regal role over creation. Consequently, two important themes that dominate the Old Testament stories are land and lineage, and are thus inextricably interconnected. Thus the concern for both in the early chapters of Genesis. Adam and Eve are exiled from Eden, and their hopes focus on a child. Genealogies become extremely important. At the end of the first major genealogy of the Bible, there is a hope expressed in the birth of a child for salvation from the curse upon the creation (Gen. 5:29). When Abram and Sarai appear on the scene, they are chosen by God to be the agents through which the lost glory of creation will be restored, and thus two of the major promises to them are land and descendants. In fact in the ensuing narrative, which focuses on the nation of Israel, the ultimate threats will become exile and barrenness. Eventually the hopes crystallize on the promise of a royal descendant through whom the lost glory of humanity and creation will be restored. Thus the storyline points to David and his line. The lengthy genealogies in the first book of the Bible that point in this Davidic direction are resumed in the last book of the Hebrew Bible, showing that every hope is pinned on David. This last book, Chronicles, begins with nine chapters of genealogies. The genealogies essentially summarize history from Adam to David. With David, the story begins!

IVP Reference Bundles for Logos

Tony Reinke Book reviews, Logos

In my research I am often most helped by solid Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, so I keep a good number of them at hand. While the breadth of information packed into a tightly-edited 5-pound dictionary is impressive, trying to manage all the information is a daunting task—unless that information is electronic and searchable. Thankfully electronic reference books are becoming more common thanks to advanced Bible software programs like Logos.

For the past few months I have benefited from two IVP reference bundles in particular:

The Essential IVP Reference Collection Version 3 ($190.00). Works include:

  • New Dictionary of Biblical Theology
  • New Dictionary of Theology
  • The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
  • New Bible Commentary
  • Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
  • Dictionary of Paul and His Letters
  • Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments
  • Dictionary of New Testament Background
  • IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
  • IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
  • New Bible Dictionary
  • … and other smaller volumes

IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament Bundle ($109.95). Works include:

  • Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch
  • Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books

Anyone familiar with IVP reference works knows these are not ordinary volumes but the fruit of top-tier biblical scholars like D. A. Carson, Desmond Alexander, Graeme Goldsworthy, Sinclair Ferguson, J. I. Packer, Leland Ryken, Tremper Longman, and others. IVP is to be commended for upholding such high standards on their line of reference books.

The books in these two bundles represent 14,000 pages of printed material and cover a broad range of topics: biblical theology, systematic theology, biblical imagery, Jesus and the gospels, Paul, the latter NT letters, important Biblical history and background studies, plus excellent volumes on the Old Testament [note: to date the newest volume the OT series, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (2008), is not yet available electronically]. The bundle also includes my favorite single-volume commentary on the Bible, The New Bible Commentary.

Adding these volumes in my Logos library allows me the freedom to search all the volumes in seconds and easily find cited biblical references (huge benefit!), keywords, and keyword phrases. Rather than surrounding myself with bulky dictionaries, I can take my laptop to the coffee shop and search them exhaustively with nothing more than a few keystrokes.

There are a number of good arguments for the value of electronic Bible software platforms but few are more compelling than the efficiency of sweeping across 14,000 pages of thick reference materials in a few seconds to locate a precious needle of insight in a large encyclopedic haystack. And that is exactly what these additions to my e-library make possible. If you can afford it, the IVP reference bundles are a key addition to any Logos library.

How Personal Idols Destroy Community

Tony Reinke Church unity, Community, Idolatry, Idols, Mark Driscoll, N.T. Wright

Readers of this blog know where I stand on N. T. Wright so I’m not going to take the time to qualify this post and I’ll just jump in by saying that last summer I read Wright’s Surprised By Hope (HarperOne, 2008). The book was okay and while I cannot recommend it I can say that at one point Wright makes very important point about how idolatry undermines community.

Wright’s point is that idolatry is more than a mere internal heart problem—idolatry is something each of us project onto others. Idolatry shapes our value (or de-valuation) of others and carries consequences into our families, our communities, and our churches. He writes,

One of the primary laws of human life is that you become like what you worship; what’s more, you reflect what you worship not only back to the object itself but also outward to the world around. Those who worship money increasingly define themselves in terms of it and increasingly treat other people as creditors, debtors, partners, or customers rather than as human beings. Those who worship sex define themselves in terms of it (their preferences, their practices, their past histories) and increasingly treat other people as actual or potential sexual objects. Those who worship power define themselves in terms of it and treat other people as either collaborators, competitors, or pawns. These and many other forms of idolatry combine in a thousand ways, all of them damaging to the image-bearing quality of the people concerned and of those whose lives they touch. (p. 182)

That’s a great point. In other words, idolatry—while at root a heart issue—not only affects the sinner but also the community. Idols dehumanize the heart and cause us to act inhumanely towards others.

This idol-projecting point is also made Mark Driscoll’s latest book Doctrine (Crossway, 2010):

If we idolize our gender, we must demonize the other gender. If we idolize our nation, we must demonize other nations. If we idolize our political party, we must demonize other political parties. If we idolize our socioeconomic class, we must demonize other classes. If we idolize our family, we must demonize other families. If we idolize our theological system, we must demonize other theological systems. If we idolize our church, we must demonize other churches. This explains the great polarities and acrimonies that plague every society. If something other than God’s loving grace is the source of our identity and value, we must invariably defend our idol by treating everyone and everything who may call our idol into question as an enemy to be demonized so that we can feel superior to other people and safe with our idol. (350-351)

Wright and Driscoll provide a sobering warning. Personal idols dehumanize us, dehumanize our evaluation of others, and necessarily erode community. Personal idols are not isolated in their consequences. We all have something at stake.

My favorite Starbucks

Tony Reinke Reading, Writing

I doubt I exaggerate when I say that I’ve ordered coffee in 100 different Starbucks stores in my life, spread across 15+ states. I’ve help support new ones, old ones, some in airports, a couple in Target or in grocery stores. I frequent one store weekly and another local store I avoid like Sanka.

Each store is unique, but deciding which one is my favorite is not difficult, it’s the one about one hour east of where I live that we stumbled upon as a family one Sunday afternoon during a sight-seeing drive around the Chesapeake Bay. We drove up into the town of Annapolis, Maryland, the state capitol and home of the Naval Academy. The Starbucks we discovered was in the basement of an old hotel and was first opened in 1784. Lore says Benjamin Franklin once enjoyed a drink there. It was a pub at the time. Later the pub morphed into a jazz club and four years ago it became a Starbucks.

It has undergone a lot of change but the stone walls, stone floors, and the thick lumber in the ceiling holding up a historic hotel above it are all original. It sits just across the street from the state capitol building and the governor’s mansion. An old underground tunnel from the state house empties into the back wall of the basement Starbucks, providing an escape for diplomats. While the back half of the store is no longer used as a safe haven for sprinting politicians, it is a nice and cozy and quiet place to read and write (unless a hobbyhorse lobbyist is trying to make a convincing point to an associate at a nearby table—then you’ll need earbuds).

Converting a historic marker into a Starbucks was not easy and a friend who lived in Annapolis at the time (2005-2006) said it stirred up quite a brewhaha. But I’m glad it was converted and it’s now my favorite place to re-caffeinate.

Here it is on the map and here’s a poor iPhone pic. If you are in the area, you should stop in.

So where is your favorite Starbucks or coffee shop? What makes it great for reading/writing?