Some N. T. Wright thoughts about hell

Luke Timothy Johnson on Ephesians

L. T. Johnson

"Ephesians could be regarded --- even more so than Romans --- as a summary of Paul's gospel.

"In Ephesians we find a masterly statement on the work of God in the world and church, expressed not in the passion of polemic or in the logic of argumentation but by prayerful meditation .... it is the pervasive atmosphere of prayer that is its most distinctive feature.

"In Ephesians, theology informs prayer, and prayer itself is the vehicle for theology." --- Luke Timothy Johnson (The Writings of the New Testament, Fortress Press)

Once Vineyard, now Anglican

Todd Hunter's spiritual journey has taken him from being a parishoner at Greg Laurie's church to being the leader of the Vineyard Movement to being president of Alpha USA to being ... an Anglican bishop.

That makes for some story, huh?  You can actually read that story in the book below (J. I. Packer wrote the foreword).  If you don't have time to browse through the book, Hunter sketches the story out in an interview with Frank Viola that can be read here.

Free materials from Craig Keener

Dr. Keener

Craig Keener is a generous Christian.  I know.

Back when I was starting this blog, Craig --- a widely-recognized Bible scholar --- took time to participate in an interview that was so generously extensive that I posted it in an eight-part series.  (Craig's fellow scholars, Peter Davids and Larry Hart, also graciously consented to interviews and have otherwise provided information for this blog.  My deepest thanks to all.)

I want to further highlight Craig's generosity today by providing links to some valuable material he is making available online for free.

First, there is an 11-part course in hermeneutics that can be accessed here.  Then there is his commentary on Matthew in the IVP New Testament Commentary Series (IVP Academic).  You can access that either here or here. (Craig also produced a more extensive commentary on Matthew --- over 1,000 pages --- that you can purchase here).  Finally, he has summarized a portion of his book, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels, and made that summary available here.

Craig, a professor at Eastern University's Palmer Theological Seminary, is also a scholar that believes that the gifts of the Spirit are for today (professors Davids and Hart also share that view).  His book Gift & Giver:  The Holy Spirit in the Church Today (Baker Academic) provides a deeply Biblical --- and sensible --- presentation of that view.

Enjoy those free materials --- and pass'em on.

HarperOne gives us Hell ... now, Allah

Talk about a one-two punch --- HarperOne, the imprint of publisher HarperCollins has one.  At least, this month it does.

Hard on the heels of the controversy about Rob Bell's new book about heaven and hell, HarperOne has another book sure to set the internet ablaze, Allah:  A Christian Response by Miroslav Volf.  It is set for release March 15, according to Christianbook.com.

As in the case of Bell's book, we have not read Volf's book.  However, we have a much better idea of where Volf is going to go with his argument.  Witness this quote from a March 3 article written by Volf on the website, Huffingtonpost.com:

"The fact of the matter is this:  fearful people bent on domination have created the contest for supremacy between Yahweh, the God of the Bible, and Allah, the God of the Quran.  The two are one god, albeit differently understood."

Let me state clearly --- I do not believe that.

But, let me state just as clearly, I think Volf's entire case deserves a hearing, and I will give it that in May when I have a little more time for reading.

United Methodist bishop William Willimon says in his endorsement of the book, "I've read many attempts to think like Christians about Islam.  This is the best I have read.  Volf wonderfully explicates Islam in a way that demonstrates the best of Christian thought about God."

We shall see.

Other than Willimon's endorsement, why would I believe Volf's provocative idea deserves a full hearing?

Well, Volf --- a Yale University professor --- is no stranger to evangelical readers.  In 2000, Christianity Today named his book, Exclusion and Embrace , one of the classic books of the 20th century.

Also, it is not lost on me that Volf is a Pentecostal by experience, if not by church affliation.  In Mark Oppenheimer's 2003 article about Volf in The Christian Century, Volf is quoted as saying,

"I have, as a young person, 'spoken in tongues.'  It was a result of prayer in search of words that couldn't find them.  There was nothing miraculous in what I experienced.  I experienced it as a freeing.  It came gently, then subsided."

Of course, credibility is not determined by anecdotes about experiences.  The ideas in Allah: A Christian Response will rise or fall on their own.  And I will read them carefully.

Rob Bell, hell --- and let's all yell!

If you are unaware of the furor caused by the pre-publication buzz about pastor Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins:  A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (to be released March 15, according to Amazon.com), welcome back from your rest, Rip Van Winkle.

The Christ-follower segment of the internet is largely in a state of tumult, with  premature --- and often harsh --- denunciations of Bell ("he's Universalist", "he's a heretic" and so on), and pushback from those like New Testament scholar Ben Witherington III, who say, Chill folks, we haven't even read the book!  (What many have seen is this promotional video for the book).

So what's my take?  I don't have one.  I haven't read the book.

What I have to offer is more substantial than an opinion on a book I haven't read; it's a link to my friend Paul Wilkinson's blog, Thinking Out Loud.  Paul, you see, is one of a tiny number of people who have seen the book --- at least a draft copy.  You can read Paul's thoughts on it all here.

After that, it's back to sleep, Rip.

[UPDATE March 7:  Pastor and New Testament scholar Greg Boyd says he, too, has read Bell's book --- and says further that Bell is not a universalist.  You can read Boyd's comments here.]
[UPDATE March 11:  Louis McBride, the Bible and academic book buyer for Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, posted his review of the book today.  McBride also has a master's degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  He blogs here.  In his review, he notes Boyd's review, as well as, that of Tim Challies, one of the best-known evangelical bloggers.  Evidently, Challies disagrees with Boyd --- Challies thinks Bell is a universalist.]
[UPDATE March 11:  Bell will be launching his book March 14 at a live event in NYC.  You can read the particulars here.]
[UPDATE March 13:  Theologian Roger E. Olson pleads for cooler heads to prevail.  You can read it here.]
[UPDATE March 14:  Christianity Today editor Mark Galli posted his review today.  You can read it here.]
[UPDATE March 15:  Fuller Theological Seminary president Richard Mouw weighs in.  You can read it here.]

Anyone for ... pietism?

Bayor University professor Roger Olson tells of when one of his professors, Wolfhart Pannenberg, used to say, "One thing I am NOT! --- a Pietist."

Hmmm ... pietism must be something very objectionable.  In popular usage today, the speaker usually means "someone who is emotional --- and not rational --- about their religion" when applying the term, pietist.

But, when one looks at the 17th-century foundation of Pietism, it seems not emotionally imbalanced, but well-rounded.  Even, dare we say it, biblical.

Historians are in agreement that the movement we now call Pietism had its specific roots in the efforts of Philip Jacob Spener in Germany.  Spener's book, Pia Desideria (written in 1675), was the 'constitution' of the Pietist movement.

Noted historian Justo Gonzalez summarizes Pia in this manner:

"Here he [Spener] expressed six 'pious desires,' which became the program for Pietism.  The first of these was that Christians should organize into small groups to study Scripture in a spirit of devotion.  Since Spener called these small groups collegia pietatis, this first point of the program, jointly with the title of the book itself, gave the movement the name of 'Pietism.'  Second, Spener desired that the commonly held doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers be made effective by entrusting laity with the leadership of the small groups.  Third, he hoped that believers would move beyond Christianity as a set of doctrines, and come to experience it as a living faith.  As a consequence of this third point, the fourth would be that controversies among Christians would always take place within a framework of a spirit of love.  Then, points of five and six had to do with the pastoral leadership of the church:  the fifth being that pastors be trained in the devotional tradition of Christianity and in the practice of leading a flock, not only in theology and other academic matters;  and the sixth, the pulpit cease being a place for obscure and detailed theological disquistions, and recover its role in inspiring, instructing, and feeding the disciples. 

"Although missions were not included among Spener's six points, very soon Pietism came to be known for its eagerness to share the faith with others, and thus was one of the fountainheads of the modern missionary movement among Protestants."  --- from Essential Theological Terms (Westminster John Knox Press), pp. 132-133.

Further light reading about Pietism can be done at Roger Olson's blog:

• Reclaiming Pietism (more controversial that you might think)
• Reclaiming Pietism Part 2
• Reclaiming Pietism Part 3
• Reclaiming Pietism Part 4
• Reclaiming Pietism Part 5 (Final)