Funny friends are a gift from God. … Today at lunch I was talking about the sci-fi-ishness of Ezekiel 1. The discussion prompted my friend to point out that in verse 16—“a wheel within a wheel”—reveals the divine origin of spinners.
Van Til 2.0
Until recently, readers wanting to tackle the works of Cornelius Van Til could expect a number of difficulties along the way. Van Til’s complex and lengthy arguments, and his robust vocabulary, had the potential at any point to turn a reader’s well-fought comprehension into a concession of confusion. Readers (like myself) need a trail guide through the writings of Van Til. And now we have them.
P&R has been releasing classic works by Van Til in a retypeset version of the original, adding to them detailed introductions and hundreds of clarifying footnotes to lead the reader in their journey through the works of this pioneer of apologetics. To date three volumes are available in their newly edited form:
Christian Apologetics, second edition, edited by William Edgar (P&R, 2003). Paperback, 206 pages. $10.39.
An Introduction to Systematic Theology, second edition, edited by William Edgar (P&R, 2007). Paperback, 409 pages. $13.64.
The Defense of the Faith, fourth edition, edited by K. Scott Oliphint (P&R, 2008). Paperback, 427 pages. $13.19.
Hosea, Gomer, and Christ’s Redemptive Love
A blunt-honest reminder of our sinful rebellion—and God’s love—from Joshua Harris’s sermon Sunday:
“To redeem something is to buy it back; to save it by purchasing it. The redemption described here [Ephesians 1] is deliverance by payment of a price. In the Old Testament book of Hosea we find an incredible story that illustrates the spiritual blessing that Jesus Christ has given us.
Hosea was an Old Testament prophet, and God called this man to marry a woman of ill repute. And so Hosea married this woman named Gomer. And she was unfaithful to him. She left him. She was an adulteress and even gave herself to prostitution. Her life was so degraded by her sin that eventually she became a slave.
And in the book of Hosea the story is told of Hosea walking through the marketplace and he comes upon the place in the market where the slaves are sold, where human beings are being sold to other people because of their debt. And Hosea comes upon his wife being auctioned off as a slave. And in a picture of God’s incredible love for his people, Hosea steps forward and lays the money on the table to purchase his wife back from slavery.
This woman who was unfaithful to him, this woman who broke his heart, this woman who is an adulteress, he buys back out of slavery and brings home to be his wife! This is an incredible picture of the love and care of God for us, his people. We have disobeyed him, we have been unfaithful to him, and yet he comes searching for us and he redeems us. And this is what Jesus has done for us!”
-Joshua Harris, sermon, “God’s Blessings in Salvation,” Ephesians 1:3-14, 9/21/08, at Covenant Life Church (Gaithersburg, MD); 15:06-17:17 markers.
Thomas Manton (series index)
Today I posted a review of the Complete Works of Thomas Manton which caps a 5-part series on the Puritan. Manton is one of the most valuable, yet of the one of the most overlooked, of the Puritans. In case you missed one or more of the posts, I offer you this little series index:
Review of the Complete Works of Thomas Manton
Interview: 10 Good Reasons to Read Manton Today
The Presidents
Until the inauguration in January, PBS is offering free downloads of 13 documentaries in “The Presidents” series (American Experience). iTunes users can find an entire index to the 20 hours of video by clicking here.
HT:SW
Mini-Marsden on Jonathan Edwards
George Marsden, author of the brilliant biography Jonathan Edwards: A Life (Yale, 2003) is back with a new biography—A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (Eerdmans, 2008). The books is now available and costs about $11.00. In the preface of the new title, Marsden explains the origin and purpose of this new biography.
“In 2003 I published Jonathan Edwards: A Life with Yale University Press on the occasion of the three-hundredth anniversary of Edwards’s birth. Prior to being asked to write that major biography, I had already told my friends at Eerdmans that some day I would write a life of Edwards for them. So with the cooperation of both publishers, I agreed that after I wrote the more definitive biography for Yale, I would write something shorter for Eerdmans. The happy outcome is that, having already published a much longer, closely documented work, this book could be kept brief without any scholarly apparatus. With the exception of a few items noted in the acknowledgments, documentation for whatever is said here can be found in the larger work. Nevertheless, I need to emphasize that this book is not an abridgement of Jonathan Edwards: A Life. Rather it is a fresh retelling in which I have tried to include just what is most essential and most engaging. A few things, especially the recurrent theme of Edwards and Franklin, are new. My hope is that the result will appeal not only to the general reader but also to church study groups and to students in college courses in American history or American religious history. In the retelling, I have tried to keep the interests of each of these audiences in mind.”
Tony Reinke 