FALL 2015 | VOLUME XX | ISSUE 2 THE JOURNAL FOR BIBLICAL MANHOOD & WOMANHOOD JBMW Editorial Jason G. Duesing Is Proverbs 22:6 a Promise for Parents? Jonathan Akin A Reminder That Children Are Gifts, Blessings, and Arrows Rachel Jankovic Let Boys Be Non-Medicated Boys Greg Gibson Oranges to Hand-Grenades: Comparing TGC to ISIS Demonstrates Misunderstanding of Both Positions Ben Montoya Missing the Target Grant Castleberry When You Indulge in Pornography, You Participate in Sex Slavery Andrew David Naselli William Webb’s Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic Brandon D. Smith Satan’s War on Marriage Jim Brooks Children Are a Divine Gift, Not a Human Right: Biblical Clarity and Gospel Comfort for Those Contemplating In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Jason Meyer Gender Studies in Review Fall 2015 Volume XX Issue 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL THE JOURNAL FOR BIBLICAL 01 The Self-Reliant Conscience of Evangelical Stoicism MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD Jason G. Duesing is a biannual publication of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood ISSN: 1544-5143 ESSAYS & PERSPECTIVES 06 Is Proverbs 22:6 a Promise for Parents? CBMW President Jonathan Akin Owen Strachan 09 A Reminder that Children are Gifts, Blessings, and Arrows Executive Director Rachel Jankovic Grant Castleberry 12 Let Boys Be Non-Medicated Boys JBMW STAFF Greg Gibson Editor 16 Oranges to Hand-Grenades: Comparing TGC to ISIS Jason G. Duesing Demonstrates a Fundamental Misunderstanding of Both Positions Assistant Editor Ben Montoya David Schrock Production Manager 21 Missing the Target Mathew B. Sims Grant Castleberry Layout and Design Nick Ng STUDIES Senior Consulting Editors 23 When You Indulge in Pornography, J. Ligon Duncan, III You Participate in Sex Slavery Wayne Grudem Andrew David Naselli Rebecca Jones 30 William Webb’s Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic: Peter R. Schemm Jr. Some Considerations and Concerns Bruce A. Ware Brandon D. Smith Peer Review Board 36 Satan’s War on Marriage Everett Berry Jim Brooks Jason DeRouchie Jim Hamilton Barry Joslin FROM THE SACRED DESK Heath Lambert Rob Lister 46 Children are a Divine Gift Not a Human Right: Jason Meyer Biblical Clarity and Gospel Comfort for those Scott Swain Contemplating In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Jason Meyer Editorial Correspondence [email protected] GENDER STUDIES IN REVIEW Subscription Correspondence 54 A Review of Wesley Hill. Spiritual Friendship: [email protected] Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian Derek Brown CONTACT CBMW AT 2825 LeXington Road • Box 848 59 A Review of Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. We Cannot Be Silent: Louisville, Kentucky 40280 Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, and the 502.897.4065 (voice) Very Meaning of Right and Wrong. [email protected] (e-mail) Colin Smothers cbmw.org (web) 62 A Review of Wm. Young. Eve: A Novel ©2015 CBMW. The mission of the Tim Challies Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is to set forth the teachings 65 A Review of Denny Burk and Heath Lambert. Transforming of the Bible about the complementary differences between men and women, Homosexuality: What the Bible Says about Sexual Orientation created equal in the image of God, and Change because these teachings are essential for Cody McNutt obedience to Scripture and for the health of the family and the Church. 68 A Review of Thomas Bergler. From Here to Maturity: CBMW is a member of the Evangelical Overcoming the Juvenilization of American Christianity Council for Financial Accountability. Scott Corbin 71 A Review of Kevin DeYoung. What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? Trent Hunter 74 A Review of Eric Metaxas. Seven Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness. Kimberly Campbell 77 A Review of Matt Chandler. The Mingling of Souls: God’s Design for Love, Marriage, Sex, and Redemption. Jonathon Woodyard EDITORIAL THE SELF-RELIANT CONSCIENCE OF EVANGELICAL STOICISM Jason G. Duesing | Editor Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Provost and Associate Professor of Historical Theology Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Kansas City, Missouri t the outbreak of World War II with the imminent threat of German attack felt by many Londoners, the British government sought to inspire and instruct their citizens in their plight Aof endurance. To avoid paralysis of daily activity or mass hysteria caused by an avalanche of anxiety, the leaders propagated a sloganeering campaign. Colorful posters were placed in well traf- fcked areas and reminded the faithful that “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution, Will Bring Us Victory.” Perhaps the most popular slogan, however, was “Keep Calm and Carry On” as it resonated well with the stif-upper-lip constitution of many Britons.1 Te idea of self-reinforced state- ments to bolster courage and focus energy, especially in the face of danger, is noble and proven efective for wartime morale or even sporting arena triumph. However, for the Christian, the temptation to anchor one’s daily faith to self-reinforcement tactics can prove dangerous. Tus, as contemporary culture continues to morph and decline, is it time merely to practice our 1. “So What is this ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ Ting All About Ten?” Keep Calm and Carry On, accessed October 28, 2015, http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/history/. COUNCIL MEMBERS Peter Jones BOARD OF REFERENCE Charles S. & Rhonda H. Kelley Dennis & Barbara Rainey Daniel L. Akin Rebecca Jones S. M. Baugh Beverly LaHaye Robert Saucy Donald Balasa Mary Kassian Wallace Benn Gordon R. Lewis James Sauer James Borland George W. Knight III Tal Brooke Robert Lewis Siegfried Schatzmann Austin Chapman C. J. Mahaney Nancy Leigh DeMoss Crawford & Karen Loritts Thomas R. Schreiner Jack Cottrell R. Albert Mohler Jr. Lane T. Dennis Erwin Lutzer F. LaGard Smith J. Ligon Duncan III Heather Moore Thomas R. Edgar John F. MacArthur Jr. R. C. Sproul Steve Farrar Dorothy Patterson John Frame Connie Marshner Joseph M. Stowell III Mary Farrar John Piper Paul Gardner Richard L. Mayhue Larry Walker Wayne A. Grudem James Stahr W. Robert Godfrey Marty Minton Stu Weber Joshua Harris K. Erik Thoennes Bill H. Haynes J. P. Moreland William Weinrich Daniel Heimbach Bruce A. Ware David M. Howard Sr. J. Stanley Oakes Luder Whitlock H. Wayne House R. Kent Hughes Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. Peter Williamson Susan Hunt James B. Hurley J. I. Packer Elliott Johnson Paul Karleen Paige Patterson 1 JBMW | FALL 2015 stif-upper-lip and “Keep Calm and Carry On”? Should we circle the wagons of paranoia and fear to bolster strength to ride out a storm of moral change while saying nothing? In his 1947 classic, Te Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, Carl F. H. Henry called for “contemporary evangelicalism to reawaken to the relevance of its redemptive message to the global predicament.” He believed that the truth was stronger than fction and that evangelicals had a message for the world. He said, “Te message for a decadent modern civilization must ring with the present tense. We must confront the world now with an ethics to make it tremble, and with a dynamic to give it hope.”2 So, if in any sense, we have shirked from this kind of optimism, Henry would no doubt be disappointed. Te “Uneasy Conscience” of which Henry spoke was the tendency of 1940s fundamentalists to grow uneasy with how to interact with a changing culture and retreat instead of engage. Te funda- mentalists were not uneasy about the truths of the Bible but rather with how to apply them well to the modern situation. I think for the growing evangelical minority today, the same temptation is present and, not knowing how to withstand the cultural pressures, the easiest thing to do appears to be to wor- ry and retreat. But as Henry said, this mentality leaves no voice “speaking today as Paul would, either at the United Nations sessions, or at labor-management disputes, or in strategic university classrooms whether in Japan or Germany or America.”3 So there is a great need today for instructing evangelicals in how to engage the culture. Te idea of hunkering down in the face of shifting morality is something Martyn Lloyd-Jones lik- ened to the Stoicism referenced in Acts 17. Lloyd-Jones, the medical doctor turned preacher explained that in ancient times, Te Stoic was a serious and thoughtful man, an honest one who believed in facing the facts of life. Having done so he had come to the conclusion that life is a difcult business and a hard task, and that there is only one way of going through with it and that is that you must exercise frm discipline upon yourself. Life, said the Stoic, will come and attack you, it will batter and beat you, and the great art of living, he said, is to remain standing on your feet. And the only way to do it is to brace back your shoulders, to set a frm upper lip, to go in for the philosophy of courage, and say, ‘I am going to be a man!’ .... You just decide that you are not going to give in, you are not going to be defeated; whatever may happen to you, you are still standing, you are going on and you will stick it to the end. Te philosophy of grit, the philosophy of courage, the philosophy of the stif upper lip.4 Tis kind of Stoicism that is high on morality, asceticism, and indiference, plays well in our day of mutual challenges to “Just grind it out” to such a degree that there is a version of it we might call Evan- gelical Stoicism. Here, we self-philosophize when we counsel to “Remind yourself at all times what you can control and what you can’t.” Evangelical Stoicism is philosophy of coping that says, “We cannot control the weather or the economy, but we can control our thoughts and actions.” From dieting, to keeping up with technology, to pursuing academic studies, to dealing with trials, to enduring family gatherings or tensions, we easily drift into Stoicism whether we know it or not.