William J. Dumbrell and the Covenant with Noah
I am thankful that when I first begin to read and study in the area of biblical theology that I discovered the work of William J. Dumbrell. He is very helpful, and I pray he continues to write and publish for many years. Attached is a summary of his article on the covenant with Noah, an article published in 1979. I summarized the article for my own purposes when I was first working through many issues in biblical theology. He wrote a number of articles during that time period which are worth tracking down. Many of his thoughts on the "big picture" of biblical theology can be found (in a tad more clear and accessible form, imho), in his The Search for Order: Biblical Eschatology in Focus.
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- Published: 27 September 2012 27 September 2012
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Thomas Weinandy and Impassibility
A number of years ago I stumbled upon Thomas Weinandy's book, Does God Suffer (Notre Dame, 2000). To my mind it is the best thing available on the impassibility of God. In particular, I have re-read chapter 8, "The Incarnation--The Impassible Suffers", numerous times. Reading this chapter alone is like taking a first-rate seminar on Christology. If you can find a copy, this book is highly recommended. Here is an essay by Weinandy that appeared in First Things magazine back in 2001, summarizing the heart of his argument.
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- Published: 24 September 2012 24 September 2012
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Henri Blocher Tackles the Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment
Perhaps one of the most challenging and difficult doctrines for Evangelicals (and all traditional Christians) is the notion of everlasting punishment. To my mind, one of the finest treatments is the essay by Henri Blocher on the topic, found in Nigel Cameron, ed., Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell. I recently found a sermon online by Blocher on this difficult issue. It can be accessed here.
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- Published: 19 September 2012 19 September 2012
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Russell Kirk and the Southern Tradition
The Imaginative Conservative has posted an older essay by Clyde Wilson, where Wilson reflects on Russell Kirk's appreciation and affirmation of the Southern tradition. Kirk's book on John Randolph of Roanoke (his master's thesis!) expressed great appreciation for the Virginian. Similarly, Wilson notes that Kirk had read the agrarian Donald Davidson's The Attack on Leviathan with great appreciation (and Kirk subsequently made sure it was re-published). And Kirk's appreciation for South Carolinian John C. Calhoun was profound (see here for an earller post on Kirk on Calhoun). Wilson's essay is a good introduction to Kirk's appreciation of the Southern tradition.
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- Published: 18 September 2012 18 September 2012
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Constitution Day
Happy Constitution Day. In celebration of the Constitution of the United States, here is a link to a piece I wrote recently on the constitution; here is a link to a post from a while back; here is a link where Joe Sobran recounts his trek to the Constitution.
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- Published: 17 September 2012 17 September 2012
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Russell Kirk on John C. Calhoun
A number of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Clyde Wilson. Professor Wilson has spent many years editing The Papers of John C. Calhoun. He taught history for many years at the University of South Carolina. I was wanting to look up something on Calhoun the other day, and turned to Wilson's edited volume, The Essential Calhoun: Selections from Writings, Speeches, and Letters (Transaction, 2000). I noticed (and had forgotten) that Russell Kirk had written the foreword to this one volume collection of Calhoun's writings (by the way, the introduction by Wilson himself is an excellent way to get acquainted with Calhoun). Calhoun's own understanding of consitutional government, and of the way in which a constitutional government can slide into tyranny is arguably unmatched. Calhoun wrote in 1842:
"As the Government approaches nearer and nearer to the one absolute and single power, the will of the greater number, its action will become more and more disturbed and irregular; faction, corruption, and anarchy, will more and more abound; patriotism will- Details
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- Published: 03 September 2012 03 September 2012
- Hits: 4433 4433