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Modern Reformation: Thinking Theologically

Issue: Interpreting Scripture

Volume 19, Issue 4



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  • "The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University" by Kevin Roose

    Liberty University may conjure up different thoughts, ideas, and emotions for Christians from diverse backgrounds, denominations, and geographical regions. But for the nonbeliever, these emotions are no doubt even stronger. "Fundamentalist," "intolerant," "homophobic," and "irrational" are just some adjectives that probably come to the minds of many, regardless of their Christian or secular leanings. Kevin […]

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  • "Practicing Protestants: Histories of Christian Life in America, 1630-1965" edited by Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, Leigh E. Schmidt, and Mark Valeri and"The Shaping of Ulster Presbyterian Belief & Practice 1770-1840" by Andrew R. Holmes

    Does the average worship service of a local Presbyterian congregation say anything in general about the human condition? Does it reveal much about the township or county in which its members reside? Is it possible, in other words, to generalize about topics other than religion on the basis of a small church's weekly service? Social […]

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  • Point of Contact

    The theme of this provocative little book is: "Jewish rock music critic meets German Lutheran Baroque composer." I am not making this up. The author, Eric Siblin, is a former pop music critic for the Montreal Gazette. After submerging himself in countless rock and pop concerts, Siblin concluded that the "Top 40 tunes had overstayed […]

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  • In This Issue

    In this issue and the next, we arrive at the heart of our yearlong theme. Thus far we have done a lot of spade work: first in diagnosing the problem of biblical illiteracy in evangelicalism, then in defending the nature of the Bible (inspired and inerrant) that we hope to recover, and most recently by […]

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  • Interpreting Scripture by Scripture

    As Paul reminded Timothy, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is [therefore] useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16)–all Scripture, not just our "life verses." At the same time, the Westminster Confession properly reminds us that not everything in Scripture is equally plain or equally important. We have to […]

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  • Ten Theses on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture

    Introduction: The Ugly Divorce between Theology and Biblical Studies According to David Bebbington’s well-known definition, “biblicism” is one of the four marks of evangelicalism, along with substitutionary atonement, conversion, and activism. For years, one of the chief questions fueling my work has been: What does it mean to be biblical? During this time, I witnessed […]

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  • Navigating Old Waters through the Fog of the New Atheism

    The Bible has long been considered by Christians to be the inspired revelation of God's loving plan of redemptive history. It is also thought by many to be a source of moral wisdom for disciples of Jesus to live faithfully. Nevertheless, there have been and probably always will be critics of the Christian faith who […]

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  • Why We Don't Stone Adulterers

    The Bible is a mysterious book to many people, not least because of the peculiar (and harsh) laws and punishments one finds in the Old Testament. I can recall a discussion of religion and ethics on Larry King Live a number of years ago, when the evangelical guest was asked why he could be so […]

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  • The Bible and African Christianity

    There are now more Anglicans in Nigeria than in England. This is a reflection of the stunning growth of Christianity, not only in Nigeria but in many parts of Africa. On any given Sunday in Zambia, for example, 80 percent will now be in a church of some sort. In 1900, it is estimated, there […]

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  • Bible, Inc.

    Scoot over "Big Tobacco," "Big Pharmacy," and "Big Oil" and make room for "Big Bible." While your business may be languishing during the present economic recession–cha-ching!–Bible publishing continues to flourish. A 2003 survey conducted by Zondervan found that the average American household contains 3.9 Bibles, (1) sustaining a juggernaut industry with more than 20 million […]

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  • Why Can't We Just Read the Bible?

    In 2003, White Horse Inn co-host Michael Horton interviewed D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. As we feel this subject is still relevant–especially to this issue on "Interpreting Scripture" and in particular to Kevin Vanhoozer's article (see page 16) on biblical studies versus theology–we are […]

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  • Worship and Life between the Already and the Not Yet

    "Eschatology… precedes everything," writes Rev. Jason Stellman in the preface to Dual Citizens. Life on earth can only be understood through the lens of what lies beyond: we can understand the past and present only in light of God's promises for the future. This is the underlying premise of Stellman's book, a richly biblical devotional […]

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