Year: 2010
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F.W. Robertson’s Life and Death
F.W. Robertson (1816-1853) was the kind of preacher people spoke of in superlatives: Charles Dickens reportedly said that “he was one of the greatest masters of elocution I ever knew. To hear Robertson read the church prayers was in itself a liberal education.” He was very popular in his day, and after his death (on…
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Happy Birthday, Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Today (August 14) is the birthday of Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), an English composer of church music. Wesley was a musician’s musician, with strong opinions about the number of pedals on the organ, the quality of Anglican music, the training of vocalists, and precisely how to combine tradition and innovation. To hear what he was…
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"Trinitarian Theology's Exegetical Basis: A Dogmatic Survey"
I have a new article about the Trinity and the Bible in the latest issue of the Midwestern Journal of Theology. It’s called “Trinitarian Theology’s Exegetical Basis: A Dogmatic Survey.” It’s based on a paper I presented last year in New Orleans at the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. If you’re into “Dogmatic…
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The Coming of the Book
Today (August 10) is the day when, in the year 610, Muhammad began to receive the revelation of the Qur’an. That is, Muslims believe that Allah revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, and most scholars believe that August 10 was the date of that event in 610. The event is called Laylat…
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Adoniram Judson (1788-1850): Three Yadanas and the Threefold Cord
Today (August 9) is the birthday of Adoniram Judson, a great missionary who knew how to change his plans when the situation demanded it. For example, he intended to be a missionary to India, but when he got to India, missionaries were no longer welcome, and he ended up working in Burma. He wanted to…
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My First Publication Ever
Cleaning out the garage to make room for some basic woodworking tools, I found what I believe is my first publication ever. That is, it’s the first time I wrote something, was paid for it, and saw it printed by a national publisher. It’s from 1982. I was 14 years old. The publication was Cracked,…
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Tragedy of King Saul
Reading the story of Israel’s first king this week, it occurred to me that this story in 1 Samuel has all the makings of a classic tragedy: his early promise, his fatal flaws, his downfall, the lament sung over him by David his successor. It’s got the epic sweep of salvation history, the dark mystery…
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Who Says We've Got Trinity Problems?
Over at Justin Taylor’s blog, Robert Sagers points out that all the back issues of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology are now online. That journal has had some good editorial vision in the last 13 years, so having every article just a .pdf away is a great resource. One of my favorite moments in…
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Giant Chocolate Bunny: Siedell's God in the Gallery
My review of Dan Siedell‘s book God in the Gallery just came out in the latest issue of Cultural Encounters. The same issue also has a short essay by Siedell, extending and updating some of his ideas about art and religion since the 2008 publication of his book. In fact, the whole issue of Cultural…
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How Mark Begins His Gospel
Where does the story of Jesus begin? Mark opens with “the beginning of the gospel,” as written in Isaiah. Not with a genealogy going back to Abraham (as Matthew), not with an author’s preface, the conception of John the Baptist, or a genealogy going back to Adam (as Luke), and not with high-flown theological dicta…
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Anywhere But the Suburbs
There are occasional days when I heartily affirm with Randy Newman: ‘I love LA!’ More often, I hate it. On Tuesday morning I flew back to Los Angeles, with its cars and concrete, its hurry and hustle and hassle. I had been in the Southeast for two weeks – with good friends in Nashville and…
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Mark Shaw on Christian Revival
I imagine most Christians would agree that they would love to see revival come to their local church and, more so, to the worldwide Christian church. In fact, there are still a handful of churches out there that schedule a weekend or week of “revival” meetings each year. Yet most of us have likely never…