Themelios Is an International Evangelical Theological Journal That Expounds and Defends the Historic Christian Faith
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An International Journal for Students of Theological and Religious Studies Volume 39 Issue 3 November 2014 EDITORIAL: The Underbelly of Revival? Five Reflections 405 on Various Failures in the Young, Restless, and Reformed Movement D. A. Carson OFF THE RECORD: Is It a Mistake to Stay at the Crossroads? 411 Michael J. Ovey Bye-bye Bible? Progress Report on the Death of Scripture 415 Robert W. Yarbrough Three Reflections on Evangelical Academic Publishing 428 Andrew David Naselli Participants in What We Proclaim: Recovering Paul’s 455 Narrative of Pastoral Ministry William R. Edwards The Gradual Nature of Sanctification:Σάρξ as Habituated, 470 Relational Resistance to the Spirit Steven L. Porter PASTORAL PENSÉES: Keeping Eschatology and Ethics 484 Together: The Teaching of Jesus, the Work of Albert Schweitzer, and the Task of Evangelical Pastor-Theologians Stephen Witmer Book Reviews 501 DESCRIPTION Themelios is an international evangelical theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. It was formerly a print journal 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 www.theGospelCoalition.org. It is presented in three formats: PDF (for downloading and printing), Logos edition (for searchability and mobile access), and HTML (for greater accessibility, usability, and infiltration in search engines). Themelios is copyrighted by The Gospel Coalition. Readers are free to use it and circulate it in digital form without further permission (any print use requires further written permission), but they must acknowledge the source and, of course, not change the content. EDITORS BOOK REVIEW EDITORS Systematic Theology and Bioethics Hans Madueme General Editor: D. A. Carson Old Testament Covenant College Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Jerry Hwang 14049 Scenic Highway 2065 Half Day Road Singapore Bible College Lookout Mountain, GA 30750, USA Deerfield, IL 60015, USA 9-15 Adam Road [email protected] [email protected] Singapore 289886 [email protected] Ethics (but not Bioethics) and Pastoralia Managing Editor: Brian Tabb Dane Ortlund Bethlehem College and Seminary New Testament Crossway 720 13th Avenue South David Starling 1300 Crescent Street Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA Morling College Wheaton, IL 60187, USA [email protected] 120 Herring Road [email protected] Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia Contributing Editor: Michael J. Ovey [email protected] Mission and Culture Oak Hill Theological College Jason S. Sexton Chase Side, Southgate History and Historical Theology Golden Gate Baptist Seminary London, N14 4PS, UK Nathan A. Finn 251 S. Randolph Avenue (Suite A) [email protected] Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Brea, CA 92821, USA P. O. Box 1889 Administrator: Andy Naselli [email protected] Wake Forest, NC 27588, USA Bethlehem College and Seminary [email protected] 720 13th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA [email protected] EDITORIAL BOARD Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School; Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology; Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul; Paul House, Beeson Divinity School; Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; James Robson, Wycliffe Hall; Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College; Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College; Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship; Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary. ARTICLES Articles should generally be about 4,000 to 7,000 words (including footnotes) and should be submitted to the Managing Editor of Themelios, which is peer-reviewed. Articles should use clear, concise English, following The SBL Handbook of Style (esp. for abbreviations), supplemented by The Chicago Manual of Style. They should consistently use either UK or USA spelling and punctuation, and they should be submitted electronically as an email attachment using Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx extensions) or Rich Text Format (.rtf extension). Special characters should use a Unicode font. 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 39.3 (2014): 405–10 EDITORIAL The Underbelly of Revival? Five Reflections on Various Failures in the Young, Restless, and Reformed Movement — D. A. Carson — D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. ot long ago, a friend wrote me asking questions about what he called “the underbelly of revival.” Here in the US, and to some extent elsewhere, we have witnessed a significant movement of (mostly young) Christians who have sometimes been tagged “the young, restless, and Re- Nformed.” In part, this movement is embodied in such organizations as Together for the Gospel, Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, 9Marks, and Acts29; in part, it surfaces in many local churches in many countries. My friend, however, drew attention to the sad litany of the last few years: squabbles, accusa- tions of inappropriate behavior, adultery, burnout, and more. We need not attach names and events to these things; most of us know about them, and all of us can imagine them or have seen them elsewhere. So my friend posed the questions, But it makes us wonder . whether the thrill and euphoria of being part of something that feels like revival may serve to dull the senses in some. Has the “success” of this movement some call “Young, restless, Reformed” blinded many of us to ministry’s true nature? Has the perceived fruitfulness clouded the vision of some (many?) to some of the things that matter most? Have some of us grown lax and flabby? Are we making silly presumptions based on perceived “success” in ministry in recent years? Two prefatory things must be said. First, the word “revival” embedded in these questions is used a bit loosely. Mercifully, it is not used in the sense common in some Southern states where it often serves as the near equivalent of “evangelistic meetings” (as in “Last month we held a revival”). It is closer to the more historic sense of a special movement of God’s Spirit that brings with it deep conviction of sin, fresh contrition and fresh holiness, and concomitant zeal for God’s Word and God’s glory—a special movement that may be as short as a few hours or as long as many years, and may result in thousands being renewed, and more thousands being converted. Some of the characteristics of revivals have not been particularly strong in this “young, restless, and Reformed” movement. Second, it must be said that some observers would be very happy to see the movement sputter out, especially if it could die in shame. There is no glee quite so mean as that which harbors an “I told you so” delight at the failures of a movement that God has blessed. But my interlocutor does not belong to these critics; he is not among the heirs of the critics of the New England awakening that took place at the time 405 Themelios of Jonathan Edwards, critics who could find only things to criticize but who could not see the glory. Rather, he belongs to the movement itself and wants to learn the hard lessons as well as the happy ones. In what follows, I offer five brief reflections called forth by my correspondent’s questions. (1) The failures that have taken place during the past few years were not the sorts of things that could happen only when a movement is flourishing. Flawed leadership, immorality, bullying, and dissensions are frequently found in churches and organizations with no history of remarkable growth, with no sign of extraordinary blessing from God. Long before the young, restless and Reformed movement started, I witnessed churches that had to dismiss their senior minister because he had committed adultery. I saw a dear friend abandon his wife of twenty-nine years and his highly influential expository ministry because he chose to “come out” and declare himself a homosexual. Certainly I observed some remarkably sad and barren church splits. During the lean years in Québec before 1972, before the Lord began to pour out remarkable blessings on the church, it would not have been true to say that although the churches were small and struggling they were all mature, sanctified, and passionate about the gospel. We did not have to wait until the period of growth and vitality (growing from about thirty-five churches to just under five hundred in eight years) before we witnessed moral failures. In at least some cases, it may be that the growth in numbers of serious Christians brings with it a corresponding growth in the number of moral failures, without the proportion of failures being any higher. We do well not to talk ourselves into an assumption that revival must have an ugly underbelly that would not exist if the revival were not there. (2) The scope and intensity of the blessings of a fruitful movement nevertheless do frequently have a bearing on this ugly underbelly, whether in perception or in reality, and this in at least four ways: First, when many good things are happening, a calamitous failure stands out and draws attention to itself. In a time of spiritual declension and no growth, should a minister embezzle funds or sleep with someone other than his spouse, he will draw local attention to his failure, but the failure will not attract national comment. But if the minister is publicly identified with an expanding and vital ministry, not only will his failure draw much more widespread attention, but inevitably some pundits will start speculating (or pontificating!) on the intrinsic weaknesses of the movement.