An International Journal for Students of Theological and Religious Studies Volume 43 Issue 2 August 2018
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An International Journal for Students of Theological and Religious Studies Volume 43 Issue 2 August 2018 EDITORIAL: When Revival Comes 169 D. A. Carson STRANGE TIMES: The Rolling Stones Will Stop 173 Daniel Strange Paul and Gender: A Review Article 178 Thomas R. Schreiner Songs of the Seer: The Purpose of Revelation's Hymns 193 Robert S. Smith Have Theologians No Sense of Shame? How the Bible 205 Reconciles Objective and Subjective Shame Jackson Wu Apocalypse Now: The Neo-Bultmannian Universalism 220 of David Congdon’s The God Who Saves Michael McClymond The Kuyperian Impulse of the Benedict Option 235 James D. Clark The Rule of Faith and Biblical Interpretation in 257 Evangelical Theological Interpretation of Scripture Adriani Milli Rodrigues Book Reviews 271 DESCRIPTION Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition website in PDF and HTML, and may be purchased in digital format with Logos Bible Software and in print with Wipf and Stock. Themelios is copyrighted by The Gospel Coalition. Readers are free to use it and circulate it in digital form without further permission, but they must acknowledge the source and may not change the content.. EDITORS BOOK REVIEW EDITORS General Editor: D. A. Carson Old Testament Systematic Theology and Bioethics Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Peter Lau David Garner 2065 Half Day Road Malaysian Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary Deerfield, IL 60015, USA Seremban, Malaysia 2960 Church Road [email protected] [email protected] Glenside, PA 19038, USA [email protected] Managing Editor: Brian Tabb New Testament Bethlehem College & Seminary David Starling Ethics and Pastoralia 720 13th Avenue South Morling College Rob Smith Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA 120 Herring Road Sydney Missionary and Bible College [email protected] Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia 43 Badminton Road [email protected] Croydon NSW 2132, Australia Contributing Editor: Daniel Strange [email protected] Oak Hill Theological College History and Historical Theology Chase Side, Southgate Geoff Chang Mission and Culture London, N14 4PS, UK Hinson Baptist Church Jackson Wu [email protected] 1315 Southeast 20th Avenue International Chinese Theological Portland, OR 97214, USA Seminary Administrator: Andy Naselli [email protected] East Asia Bethlehem College & Seminary [email protected] 720 13th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA [email protected] EDITORIAL BOARD Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School; Hassell Bullock, Wheaton College; Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology; Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul; Paul House, Beeson Divinity School; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Gavin Ortlund, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College; Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College; Mary Willson, Second Presbyterian Church; Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship; Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary. ARTICLES Themelios typically publishes articles that are 4,000 to 9,000 words (including footnotes). Prospective contributors should submit articles by email to the managing editor in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf). Submissions should not include the author’s name or institutional affiliation for blind peer-review. Articles should use clear, concise English and should consistently adopt either UK or USA spelling and punctuation conventions. Special characters (such as Greek and Hebrew) require a Unicode font. Abbreviations and bibliographic references should conform to The SBL Handbook of Style (2nd ed.), supplemented by The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.). For examples of the the journal's style, consult the most recent Themelios issues and the contributor guidelines. REVIEWS The book review editors generally select individuals for book reviews, but potential reviewers may contact them about reviewing specific books. As part of arranging book reviews, the book review editors will supply book review guidelines to reviewers. Themelios 43.2 (2018): 169–72 EDITORIAL When Revival Comes — D. A. Carson — D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and general editor of Themelios. ecently I was speaking in a part of the country known for its antagonism to the gospel. Church planting in that area is very hard work. The small number of confessionally strong churches are making headway, but slowly. I admire these pastors, evangelists, and church planters more than RI can say; it is a pleasure and a privilege to spend time with them. In the course of a meal with several of them, one pastor said, “I know full well that I may serve all my years working in the teeth of strenuous opposition that may get worse before it gets better. But suppose that genuine revival breaks out, whether in one church or in a larger region. What should my priorities be?” Great question—not least because this brother was not awash in pessimism. While working faithfully in a day of small things, he retained confidence that the Lord’s arm is not shortened, such that he could not save. By this time, the pastor in question has a pretty good idea of what godly ministry looks like when the opposition is pretty intense, but he wondered how his priorities should change if the Lord in his mercy visited him with the blessings of reformation and revival. As it happens, I’ve been on the edge of such visitations a couple of times. In 1970–1971, when the so-called Canadian Revival swept through parts of Western Canada, sparked by ministry led by the Sutera twins, I was serving as pastor of a church in British Columbia. And then, brought up as I was in French Canada, I witnessed the unprecedented (for Québec) multiplication of about thirty-five French- speaking churches to just under five hundred, in eight years (1972–1980). More importantly, I’ve tried to read some of the histories of revivals in various corners of the world, partly to think through what is genuinely of God and what is not. As a result of my own experience and of my reading, filtered by what I understand Scripture to say, my list of dos and don’ts when revival comes, in no particular order of importance, would look something like this: (1) Re-read some serious literature about what is real and what is most likely fraudulent in revival. You cannot do better than to begin with A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, and A Treatise Concerning the Religious Affections, both, of course, by Jonathan Edwards. Edwards is remarkably open to various displays, but the real test is never the display but God- centered righteousness, gospel-fueled integrity. About a century after Edwards, some “revivals” in Kentucky and elsewhere produced a disproportionate number of illegitimate births nine months later. One can guess why: emotional intensity often combines with human intimacy which, if it is not of God, is more likely to produce babies than righteousness. Knowledge of abuses easily breeds a slightly supercilious cynicism, while infatuation with revival easily breeds naïveté. Don’t be cynical; don’t be gullible; be discerning. 169 Themelios (2) Examine your own heart; fan the flames of personal devotion to Christ. Abundantly use the ordinary means of grace: that is, instead of relying on the intensity of the revival, turn again and again to Bible reading, prayer, self-examination and confession, death to self-interest, a joyful focus on the cross, faithful evangelism, service, and eager anticipation of the glories yet to come. If instead you rely for your sustenance on the sweeping movement of the revival, ignoring the ordinary means of grace, you are likely to burn out in a frenzied pursuit of what is instantly gratifying but not very nourishing. (3) When revival comes, large numbers of people display boundless energy for the things of God. In your role as a minister of the gospel, direct that overflowing energy toward Bible study and prayer, toward corporate worship that is full of the Word, not toward revival experiences but toward Jesus himself. Times of revival are clarion calls for increased commitment to anointed expository preaching, not an excuse for informal chats studded with pious clichés. One of the great things that happened in connection with the Québec movement was the far-sighted establishment of SEMBEQ (=Séminaire Baptiste Évangélique du Québec), which became a conduit for the theological and pastoral training of that generation and the next. It is easy to think of genuine movements of God that petered out in silliness and warm nostalgia, because the energy released in the movement was never directed toward training. (4) Keep out the press. Transparently, that’s not possible, not even strictly advisable—but work toward that end. More precisely, if in God’s mercy you find yourself serving in a time of great blessing, do not announce it, do not “puff” it, do not promote it. By all means work to expand the ministry, but by service and teaching and preaching, not by gimmicks. Eventually, of course, the press will find you. Then you must answer questions with self-deprecation, with lots of emphasis on the matchless grace of God, with a steadfast refusal to promote “stars” and “celebrities.” Do everything you can to avoid the “experts” who arrive en masse, trying to analyze the revival and “catch” the revival to carry it somewhere else.