Books for Christmas!

I am pretty excited about the books I received for Christmas. I was given The Word of Christ and the World of Culture by Paul Luis Metzger, Engaging the Doctrine of God edited by Bruce L. McCormack, Participation in Christ: An Entry Into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics by Adam Neder, and God's Being is in Becoming by Eberhard Jüngel (but, this one is on back order). I am quite excited about my new reading and I look forward to engaging with the theology of these great scholars. I look forward to future posts about these books and these theologians. I hope everyone had a great new year and is looking forward to what it will bring. Peace

Update: It's been a while

So, I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. I had finals and then flew to Spokane to spend Christmas with Megan's family. It has been great to be back in Spokane, I never thought that I would miss it. I have enjoyed being with Megan's family and seeing old friends. I spent some beneficial time with Dr. Adam Neder and Dr. Jim Edwards from Whitworth University and have devoted a good amount of time to coffee shops and drinking beer with my Father-in-law. I have also spent a lot of time reading. I finished Karl Barth's book on Mozart, read the first 20 pgs. of Church Dogmatic 4/3.1 Glory of the Mediator, I started reading a book on marriage called "For Men Only," and I am currently reading "The Mediator of Communion" on Barth's Christological Pneumatology out of "Disruptive Grace" by George Hunsinger. I am by no means excited to go back to Pasadena other than to see friends and start this next quarter at Fuller. I am taking intensive Hebrew, which should be review since I have already taken Hebrew, and I am really excited for my directed study with Dr. Mouw on Commonness. I hope everyone had a Great Christmas.

Center for Barth Studies Review: "Participation in Christ: An Entry in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics"

Adam Neder's book Participation in Christ: An Entry in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, has just been reviewed by the Center for Barth Studies at Princeton. The review is a very good one, which highlights the strength's of Neder's argument of "participation in Christ" as the foci of Barth's "Church Dogmatics" as a whole. I am on my way to reading this book and when I do I will post a review of my own. I recommend that anyone interested in Karl Barth's theology take a look at Adam Neder's book.
Der Evangelische Theologe has also posted a link to this review.

New Books Worth Noting

Reading the Decree: Exegesis, Election and Christology in Calvin and Barth (T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology) Publication Date: November 17, 2009

by David Gibson, Francis Watson 

 

 

 

 

 

 Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ (Intervarsity Press, November 30, 2009)

 by Thomas F. Torrance, Robert T. Walker

 

 

 

 Proposing Theology (Veritas), SCM (October 1, 2009)

By John Milbank

The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, October 16, 2009)

By James R. Edwards

All of these books are available at Amazon.com

The Bood of Revelation: Judgment and Redemption

This last week I have been doing a lot of study on the book of Revelation. I would argue that Revelation is one of the most untouched books in the Bible merely because people don't really know what to do with it. If anything the use of Revelation has been limited to apocalyptic and eschatological ones. Throughout my reading and research I forced myself to disregard all of the apocalyptic fluff that is often the basis for understanding Revelation. Revelation has become a one issue book, but in all reality it has much more to offer the Church. 

I recognized the passages of judgment and the over arching theme of God's judgment in the "end," but even more so I recognized the relationship between judgment and redemption. In the book of Revelation the judgment of God and the redemptive act of God in Christ are inseparable. Judgment is the punishment and destruction of all creation that opposes the Kingdom of God and redemption is the salvation and establishment of a “new creation.” The act of judgment on the part of God is by no means evil or unjustified, but deserved (Rev. 16). And, the redemption of God is not deserved, but given by grace to those who have stayed faithful to the Lord. The judgment of God is a necessary act, which rids creation of all sinfulness as preparation for the final redemptive work of God. 

It is important that the theme of judgment in Revelation not be ostracized from redemption. Judgment is often a hard theological theme to talk about, but Revelation gives us the comfort of redemption. Judgment is the necessary precursor for the redemptive purpose of God and even in light of judgment, it is a sweet thing to look forward to the redemption of the Lord.

 Recommended Books:

Stephen H. Travis, Christ and the Judgment of God. (Colorado: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009); The last two chapters of this book are very helpful for understanding "judgment" in Revelation.

George Eldon Ladd, A theology of The New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993); This is a timeless NT theology classic

Richard Bauckham, The Theology of The Book of Revelation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993); Bauckham does a great job of analyzing and engaging the theology of Revelation