Reading List for the Summer

I have a lot of reading to do this summer, mainly for two classes I'm taking, but some just for edification and fun.

Hermeneutics:

1. Disciplining Hermeneutics: Interpretation in Christian Perspective, by Roger Lundin.
2. What Is Narrative Criticism? (Guides to Biblical Scholarship New Testament Series), by Mark Allan Powell.
3. God, Language and Scripture, by Moises Silva.
4. Art of Biblical History, The, by V. Philips Long.
5. Models for Interpretation of Scripture, John Goldingay.
6. Is There a Meaning in This Text?: The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge (Landmarks in Christian Scholarship), Kevin Vanhoozer.
7. Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible, Daniel Doriani.

On Evangelicalism:

1. The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys (A History of Evangelicalism), Mark Noll.
2. The Expansion of Evangelicalism: The Age of Wilberforce, More, Chalmers and Finney (History of Evangelicalism), John Wolffe.
3. The Dominance of Evangelicalism: The Age of Spurgeon And Moody (History of Evangelicalism), David Bebbington.
4. Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000, Iain Murray.
5. Old Evangelicalism, Iain Murray.
6. Deconstructing Evangelicalism: Conservative Protestantism in the Age of Billy Graham, DG Hart.
7. The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards: American Religion and the Evangelical Tradition, DG Hart, et al.

On/By John Williamson Nevin:

1. John Williamson Nevin: High-Church Calvinist (American Reformed Biographies), DG Hart.
2. John Williamson Nevin: American Theologian (Religion in America), Richard Wentz.
3. Catholic and Reformed: Selected Writing of John Williamson Nevin (Pittsburgh Original Texts & Translations Series ; 3)
4. The Anxious Bench, Antichrist & the Sermon Catholic Unity, John Williamson Nevin.
5. The Mystical Presence: A Vindication Of The Reformed Or Calvinistic Doctrine Of The Holy Eucharist (1867), John Williamson Nevin.
6. History and genius of the Heidelberg catechism, John Williamson Nevin.

For Edification:

1. The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism, Kevin DeYoung.
2. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, Eugene Peterson.


For Fun:


1. Scarlet (The King Raven, Book 2), Stephen Lawhead
2. Tuck (The King Raven Trilogy, Book 3), Stephen Lawhead

Song of the Week

Ok, just for fun.

Jimmy Buffett, Volcano

Library Bookstore

Just a heads up - if you live in Bloomington you should check out the Bookstore at the Library. The boys and I went over there after school today and got some great books (6 in all) for $4.50. Hardcovers are $1 and paperbacks just $.50. Kids books are even cheaper! The cost goes down tomorrow and on Monday everything left is free. Can't beat free.

James and Paul on Justification

I've had a bunch of questions sent my way this week (there had been something of a drought over the past few week - maybe it had something to do with finals, etc.). One of the questions that came my way was about Paul's teaching that we are justified by faith and not by works and James teaching that we are justified by works and not by faith alone. Both use Abraham as their test case. Are they disputing with one another? Can these two passages be reconciled?

I don't think they are arguing with each other, though James may be correcting an antinomian misunderstanding/misrepresentation of Paul (I know Romans was written after James by a decade or more; however, Paul had been preaching the gospel of grace for a decade or more before James wrote his letter).

I think the key is to see that Paul and James are using the word 'justify' differently. DA Carson sums up my understanding well: "James is using the verb 'justify' in the sense 'vindicate before men'...and therefore James and Paul are talking about different things...Paul the declaration of our righteousness and James the demonstration of our righteousness."

I think there is good reason from the text to believe this. In Romans 4:1-3 where Paul argues that Abraham was justified by faith and not by works he points to Abraham's belief in God's promises. This belief was reckoned to him as righteousness. That event is recorded in Gen 15.

James says that Abraham was justified by his work of offering up Isaac on the alter (James 2:21). The event he draws upon is recorded in Genesis 22 and happened years after he had been declared righteous by God. In the next verse James writes, "You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works". The word completed is telos (ετελειωθη) and has the meaning of completed/perfected - not in adding what was lacking, but in bringing something to its completion/end/goal. So James is saying that Abraham was justified by his works, meaning he was proved to be righteous (not declared to be righteous; something God had already declared decades earlier). Also, James contends that his faith was brought to completion by his works. That accords with Paul's theology expressed in Eph. 2:8-10:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Faith saves, but the kind of faith that saves will be evident in our good works, works we were created to do in Christ Jesus.

What is Classic Rock?

I got this email from iTunes yesterday:

Are you looking for something in our Classic Rock department? If so, you might be interested in these items.

In this message:
* Use Your Illusion I
* Use Your Illusion II
* G N' R Lies
* Appetite for Destruction
* The Spaghetti Incident?
* Live Era '87-'93
* Greatest Hits
* Use Your Illusion

Please, someone tell iTunes that Guns N Roses isn't Classic Rock (and pass the memo on to Pandora and Classic Rock Magazine). The term Classic Rock needs to be used more sparingly and accurately to denote those great bands like the Stones, Steppenwolf, Steve Miller Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cream, The Doors, Pink Floyd.

So, with that in mind what are the best Classic Rock songs or bands in your collection?