– Over at The Briefing’s website, Mark Baddeley has begun what looks to be a very helpful series.

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“Graeme’s convictions about the authority of Scripture, its dual authorship, its profound and textured unity, its Christological centre, and its vital relevance for all who want to know God and to live as his forgiven people are not only expressed but explained with all the care and skill of this master teacher.”

“All over the world Moore College is known for its approach to biblical theology. Biblical theology in this sense is attention to the unfolding unity of Scripture with its focus on the fulfilment of God’s promises in Jesus Christ. It has proven to be not only a productive way to see how the parts are related in an overarching whole, but also an aid to responsible application of individual narratives. Before jumping straight from the story of, say, David and Goliath, to our situation today, that story is located in the unfolding purposes of God. We see God’s anointed deliverer winning the battle against the enemies of his people while the beneficiaries enjoy the victory without achieving it themselves. Seen in this light, the story of David and Goliath anticipates the victory of Christ on the cross, a victory won for us rather than by us. 

The roots of this approach go back to the teaching ministry of Donald Robinson at Moore College in the 1950s through to the 1970s. He mapped out the unity of the Bible in a compelling way which captured the imagination not only of his students but later the students of his students. Graeme Goldsworthy, who learned the approach from Robinson, was a key figure in popularising it around the world through his books Gospel and Kingdom and According to Plan.

Graeme has now produced a more advanced text on the subject, one which explains the foundations and principles of the approach. To my mind this is the ‘must read’ Christian book of the year. Understanding and proclaiming the teaching of Scripture is so essential to the health of Christian living, both at a congregational and personal level, that those of us involved in any way in such ministry need regular stimulus to think hard about what we are doing. It is all too easy for us to slip into bad habits such as ignoring the immediate and larger context of the passage we are reading, imposing our own concerns upon the text of Scripture rather than allowing Scripture to determine the nature and intensity of our concerns, and, in our rush to show that the Bible really is relevant, trivialising its message by wrongheaded or overhasty application. Good biblical theology helps us to understand deeply the contribution of individual texts to unfolding message of the Bible, to discern why this particular part must be heard in its singularity, and to appreciate how the message of this passage cuts across my life, as a follower of Jesus on this side of his death, resurrection, ascension and the donation of his Spirit at Pentecost.

Readers will discover the deep theological roots of this approach. Graeme’s convictions about the authority of Scripture, its dual authorship, its profound and textured unity, its Christological centre, and its vital relevance for all who want to know God and to live as his forgiven people are not only expressed but explained with all the care and skill of this master teacher.

My copy just arrived today. I can’t wait to dip into it and get excited all over again by the message of God’s involvement in the world he has made to bring all things under the feet of Christ and to a fulfilment of his promises that brings unfathomable blessing. Why not join me in reading it this year?

A launch of the book is being planned for a few months’ time at Moore College in Sydney.”

– First published at Dr Thompson’s blog, Theological Theology.

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– At Reformation21. Worth pondering.

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– Media release at Anglican Media Melbourne.

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– Carl Trueman has a thoughtful Christmas reflection at Reformation 21.

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– from Gerald Bray’s editorial in the Winter 2011 issue of Churchman. (PDF file.)

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‘He was born outside a small hotel in an obscure Jewish village in the great days of the Roman Empire. The story is usually prettified when we tell it Christmas by Christmas, but it is really rather beastly and cruel. The reason why Jesus was born outside the hotel is that it was full and nobody would offer a bed to a woman in labour, so that she had to have her baby in the stables, and cradle him in a cattle-trough. The story is told dispassionately and without comment, but no thoughtful reader can help shuddering at the picture of callousness and degradation that it draws.’ So wrote J I Packer in his classic Knowing God (1973).

Christmas reminds us of our sin, of that there is no doubt. We needed saving and continue to do so. The fact that we seek to beautify these ugly facts of the Christmas event, and continue to trivialise their importance with a range of activities that leave us too exhausted to reflect and rendered unable to grasp its seriousness by our round of trivial festivities, demonstrates our propensity to crowd God out. 

I often wonder why this is so. Is it, as someone has said, that ‘man cannot bear too much reality’? The reality that we cannot save ourselves or even improve ourselves as fit to meet and live with God is sobering and ignored by most. Sadly, if we fail to see our predicament we rob ourselves of benefiting from God’s remedy and consign ourselves to living lives alone and far below the fullness He would have us enjoy.

Or is it that we settle for less simply because the less is so enjoyable in and of itself, yet makes no real demands on us? The food, family reunions, holidays, Boxing Day test matches, camping with friends, annual backyard cricket games, Boxing Day specials and time to enjoy gifts bring their own pleasures. Few would want to deny that, but they are only shadows of life lived for the Creator who makes the good gifts possible. Fancy settling for the wrapping paper rather than the chocolates, or the glad wrap rather than the turkey! Yet that’s what we do when we fail to either thank God for the gifts or seek our lasting joy in relationship with the Giver. It would be akin to expecting an expensive gift from our friend or parent but not wanting to enjoy friendship with them!

When God became man and dwelt amongst us it was so we too could enjoy God. But since He is God we must allow Him to call the shots and set the agenda. Yet, as millions have proved, His demands are not burdensome, indeed they are life-giving since they not only keep us from the consequences of doing our own thing, but give us the opportunity to increasingly learn the joys of doing His will.

Christmas is an invitation from God to do what we do when we are confronted with a table full of goodies – to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’. When I enjoy a cheese cake, chocolate slice or roast dinner it is because I make the choice to eat the food which causes me both delight and nourishment. The humility and love of Jesus in coming amongst us assures us that when we taste and see how good He is – by confessing our sin, turning to Him and trusting Him with our life – He will neither let us down nor leave a bad taste in our mouth.

Peter Brain
Bishop of Armidale.

Source. Photo: Russell Powell.

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– Douglas Wilson has written this obituary for Christianity Today. (Photo: Wikipedia.)

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“It’s ironic,” one Brooklyn city official commented at Thursday’s press conference, “that the Klu Klux Klan can meet freely in public schools, but churches, who were the backbone of the civil rights movement, are not allowed.”

– John Starke, the new pastor of All Souls Christian Church in the Upper West Side of New York, asks for prayer for his church and more than five dozen others. (h/t Carl Trueman.)

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Under intense pressure from the Greens, with whom they formed a coalition after the last election delivered a hung parliament, from its own left faction, and from a bold and confident gay lobby which has mounted a very sophisticated publicity campaign, the Labor Party has endorsed a right of same sex unions to style themselves ‘marriages’. In a largely successful attempt to claim the moral high ground (an astonishing thought in itself)  this world-wide campaign has adopted the slogan ‘marriage equality’.

It should be abundantly clear that this is not about providing financial and legal security for homosexual relationships…”

– ACL President Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology to explain why opposing changes to marriage is an act of love.

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