Andrew J. Miller
Andrew J. Miller is Regional Home Missionary for the O.P.C. in Central Pennsylvania. He served as a local pastor in Virginia for a decade and is coauthor of Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotionals Through The Westminster Shorter Catechism.
The Old Testament Written in the Blood of Christ: A Review of "The Seminary as a Textual Community: Exploring John Sailhamer’s Vision for Theological Education"
Some writing provokes joy in reading through beauteous prose or by bringing clarity to dense topics, but other literature is compelling because it pinpoints the questions that matter most. John Sailhamer’s writing is the latter sort. [...]
*** Brazos Press | 2022 | 272 pages (hardcover) | $24.99 Today the “supply chain” is often a topic of daily radio programming, a reminder of our human interdependence. Despite constant clues of our dependence on others for the food we eat, the buildings we inhabit, the cars we drive, and the infrastructure of our […]
Thankfully, in recent years the doctrine of God has made a comeback among theologians, and deservedly so. The doctrine of God describes who God is and what he does; it encompasses God’s attributes, like omniscience and omnipotence, as well as the mystery of the Trinity. Yet many Christians do not dwell on these truths because […]
“Biblical Reasoning: Christological and Trinitarian Rules for Exegesis,” by R. B. Jamieson and Tyler R. Wittman
Asking how theologians and biblical scholars relate has become like asking what Athens has to do with Jerusalem. A Nehemiah-like wall has been constructed between the disciplines of theology and exegesis, to which come R.B. Jamieson and Tyler Wittman, declaring in Biblical Reasoning: Christological and Trinitarian Rules for Exegesis, “tear down this wall!” While distinctions […]
*** Baylor University Press | 2021 | 253 pages (hardcover) | $44.99 James K. A. Smith’s readership has surged in recent years through accessible books, such as You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Brazos Press, 2016). You Are What You Love argues persuasively for Christian discipleship focused on habits, virtues, and […]
Has the church lost the conviction that God speaks through his Word? I’ve heard far too many anemic sermons, and surely preached my share—sermons that present information, even connecting the dots of doctrine and application—but without addressing the hearers with the authority of the God who still speaks. We hear Christ speaking when the Word […]
When I attended seminary, I learned not only that eschatology precedes soteriology (Vos), but also that ontology precedes epistemology. Ontology is the study of being, epistemology, the study of knowing. Before we can ask how we know, we need to consider who we are. My former professor Michael Horton puts it this way: “The widest […]
Resident Assistant training took an unexpected turn when, a week before my junior year of college began, our RA supervisor took out a large bowl, filled it with water, and washed our feet, one at a time. His name was Randy. Your typical football player type, he was handsome and dated an attractive blonde. He […]
What is theology good for? Or, more specifically: what are doctrinal formulations from ecumenical councils like Chalcedon or the Westminster Confession of Faith good for? One answer is that such theology helps us properly interpret unclear passages of Scripture. Protestants have traditionally held that the basics of the Christian faith are so clearly expounded in […]
Theology Is for Preaching: Biblical Foundations, Method, and PracticeEdited by Chase R. Kuhn and Paul GrimmondLexham Press, 2021416 pages (paperback), $29.99 Does theological acumen enable better reading and proclaiming of Scripture? If it does, then preaching has a theological element. A visit to an art museum with my artist mother teaches me far more than […]
Some opening sentences address readers similarly to when the door knocks but you know that it is only the UPS worker dropping off a package—there is no urgency to open the door; there is no urgency to keep reading, other than the commitment you already made to reading a book you purchased. Other opening lines […]
“Vital Churches: Elder Responsibility for Their Pastors and Congregational Planning” by Wendell Faris McBurney
Engaged ruling elders bring vitality to a congregation. Like life in a city without the infrastructure of roads, water, and power lines, church life without active ruling elders grinds to a halt and pastors, however talented, find themselves drained. Enter Vital Churches: Elder Responsibility for Their Pastors and Congregational Planning by Wendell Faris McBurney, a […]
“Yesterday I was dead, and today, I live.” Only a select few can say this, Jesus Christ being eminent among them. In fact, Jesus went one step further, declaring in Revelation 1:18: “I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Only a few others in history […]
“Reading Scripture as the Church: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Hermeneutic of Discipleship” by Derek Taylor
Does the church read the Bible differently than others do? If so, how? Derek Taylor’s new book, Reading Scripture as the Church: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Hermeneutic of Discipleship, attempts to answer these questions and more, delving into the interplay between hermeneutics and ecclesiology. Taylor charts the way forward to an “ecclesial hermeneutic” that is, “a hermeneutic […]
Question upon question arises about our future: will schools be closed in the fall? Will the pandemic intensify when the weather cools? Will the economy recover? For Christians and church leaders, one question particularly haunts us: will worship services be disrupted again? Panic seems to reign all around us. The recent lockdown, with its physical […]
