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Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http: //thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. 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. General Editor: D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Managing Editor: Brian Tabb, Bethlehem College and Seminary Consulting Editor: Michael J. Ovey, Oak Hill Theological College Administrator: Andrew David Naselli, Bethlehem College and Seminary Book Review Editors: Jerry Hwang, Singapore Bible College; Alan Thompson, Sydney Missionary & Bible College; Nathan A. Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Dane Ortlund, Crossway; Jason Sexton, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary 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

Heaven's Fractal Net explores the uniquely useful geometrical forms found in nature and in cultures of the world. The visual shapes of fractals attract eyes with their fascinating beauty. They appear in images and designs with reiterated patterns whose parts are self-similar to the whole pattern--just as a fern frond is structured with smaller and smaller self-similar branches. The fractal-like imagery in religious architecture has been used to symbolize infinity, consciousness, vertigo, and wonder. In nature fractals serve as dynamic configurations for circulation, including the branching shapes of trees and lungs, rivers and nerves. A wealth of fractal examples is found in arts, symbols, and decorations. Heaven's Fractal Net is a book which explores self-similarities in worldwide cultures, providing a rich background for examining many geometrical shapes used by humanity, exploring processes of creativity in wisdom traditions, and delving into archetypal images in depth psychology. Fractals offer an organizing principle for many different kinds of hierarchies and composites, and in recent years ""fractal"" has become a familiar household word for a new yet ancient geometry.

Not a reference tool, this unique work is a teaching-learning guide to studying the Book of Revelation. The focus is on showing how rather than on telling that. Charts followed by leading questions and statements help both faculty and students to see how St. John adopted and adapted his sacred texts (as well as Jewish and Greco-Roman resources) in light of his convictions about and experience of Jesus. Noticing the dominance of words and themes leads one to discover the primary concerns of the Author and his readers. Observing how John internally arranged his visions provides a clue as to the kind of work it is and how it was meant to function.

Contemporary writers who have chosen to comment on the lives of people mentioned in the Bible invariably fall into one of two groups: the first provide us with pen portraits that paint the individual(s) without a single failing; the second appear to be so intent on portraying the weakness(es) of those whom they write that there is little or nothing for us to emulate. This work attempts to be different. By paying attention to the literary nuances in the original text, as well as the history, geography and social milieu of the different people, an attempt has been made to provide an accurate description of each person and his/her work. Next to our Lord Jesus Christ there is no one in the New Testament who can be compared with the Apostle Paul. Around the life of the Lord Jesus there clustered, on the one hand, His disciples, and on the other, His malignant adversaries. Similarly, around the life of Paul we read of his loyal friends as well as his relentless enemies. Paul's friends and foes, who are mentioned in the book of Acts, are treated in this book. When Paul was nearing the end of his earthly pilgrimage, he was languishing in the Mamertine Prison in Rome. It was then and still is a cold, comfortless dungeon. Paul wrote to Timothy and urged him to come to him before winter and bring with him certain of his possessions, including a cloak, that he had left in Troas. Paul, of course, had many friends, but Timothy was closest to Troas. Who were his friends, and what did they do? They are representatives of the multitude of people who, often unhonored and unsung, are worthy of our attention, for in many respects they are like us. It is the hope of the author that reading about these men and women will encourage a fresh study of the book of Acts.

This notebook--a spiritual journal by noted evangelical theologian Donald Bloesch--covers a range of subjects, including sin and sainthood, heresy and orthodoxy, the church and the sacraments, marriage and celibacy, failure and success, despair and hope.Bloesch's lucid, concise writing style polishes and illuminates the gems of his thought. The result is a scintillating collection of precision and depth--a treasury of theological reflection.

In an age of theological innovation and doctrinal discount, the heritage of evangelical Reformed theology is in increasing danger of betrayal. Old established understandings of ""the faith once delivered to the saints"" are under attack, disturbing the peace of the church, tarnishing its witness, and challenging its purity. Against the pressures of newer fashions in thought, Douglas Vickers here returns to the seventeenth-century confessions of faith and illustrates from successive chapters common to three of those confessions the ways in which, and the reasons why, traditional beliefs and doctrinal constructions are to be preserved. Among questions examined with biblically informed insight are the relation between eternity and time and its significance for the gospel of redemption, the meaning and function of saving faith, the accomplishment of redemption by the incarnate Christ, the significance of his heavenly high priestly office, the high doctrine of the Christian believer's union with Christ, and the implications these doctrinal realities hold for the Christian life.In a discussion of contemporary theologies, When God Converts a Sinner examines such innovations as the New Perspective on Paul, Federal Vision theology, Shepherdism, and other attempts to effect a paradigm shift in historically received theology.

Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) was one of the most influential preachers in the twentieth century. He believed every sermon ought ask and answer some question that genuinely troubles individuals or the societies of which they are a part. Answers to Real Problems gathers several significant sermons from Fosdick's long ministry. The selection is rooted in current needs. This collection presents him asking and answering questions that still weigh--or ought to weigh--on the minds of people today. Here is one of America's finest preachers talking about war, nationalism, the relationship between liberals and conservatives, the plight of the church, public ethics, private morality, and more.

This work explores a perennial question that Christians who are called to teach must consider: So what makes our teaching Christian? It considers the essential and distinctive elements of Christian teaching by examining the apostles' teaching ministry in the Book of Acts and aspects of Jesus's own teaching in the Gospel of John. It proposes how teaching in the name, spirit, and power of Jesus relates to the teaching ministries of Christians today. For example, an in-depth look at Jesus's teaching of both Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman known in Christian tradition as Photini provides insights for transformative teaching of both insiders and outsiders in a Christian community. This work is a theological, pastoral, and educational exploration of Christian teaching that has implications for both laity and clergy in their ministries.

From the "alpha" to the "omega," Pierre Teilhard de Chardin offers an evolution-of-consciousness paradigm of the universe and a triumphant vision of humankind and its future. Guided by a "creative process" that motivated Teilhard, Vincent Frank Bedogne aims to unite matter with consciousness, science with spirituality. He looks beyond Darwin and the big bang; beyond traditional ideas of God, religion, and the human role in existence. As he does, we realize that the universe is crossing the most profound threshold in its evolution since the dawn of reflective thought a thousand lifetimes ago; and, like the threshold to reflection, this blossom of transcendence is unfolding within us. The book philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin would have written had he lived another fifty years.

The Christian axis has shifted dramatically southward to Africa, Asia, and Latin America, so much so that today there are more Christians living in these southern regions than among their northern counterparts. In the case of Africa, the African Initiated Churches-founded by Africans and primarily for Africans-has largely contributed to the exponential growth and proliferation of the Christian faith in the continent. Yet, even more profoundly, these churches espouse a brand of Christianity that is indigenized and thoroughly contextual. Further, the power and popularity of the AICs, beyond the unprecedented numbers joining these churches, are attributed to their relevance to the existential everyday needs and concerns of their adherents in the context of a postcolonial Africa. At the heart of Christian theology is Christology-the confessed uniqueness of Christ in history and among world religions. Yet this key feature of Christianity, as with other important elements of the Christian faith, may be variously understood and re-interpreted in these indigenous churches.The focus of this study is the amaNazaretha Church, an influential religious group founded by the African charismatic prophet Isaiah Shembe in 1911 in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The movement today claims a following of some two million adherents and has proliferated beyond the borders of South Africa to neighboring countries in Southern Africa. The book addresses the complex and at times ambivalent understanding of the person and work of Christ in the amaNazaretha Church, presenting the genesis, history, beliefs, and practices of this significant religious movement in South Africa, with broader implications for similar movements across the continent of Africa and beyond.

Hans Joachim Iwand's 1941 monograph, The Righteousness of Faith According to Luther, is an important contribution to contemporary appreciation of Luther's theological significance for today. Although Iwand wrote his study three decades after the beginning of the Luther Renaissance, it nevertheless developed some of the central insights of Luther scholarship during that period. Two concepts--in particular, promise and simultaneity--are crucial to an appreciative understanding of Luther's doctrine of justification. The language of promise presents justification to the believer as a reality that has yet to arrive or is hidden under present reality. And the language of simultaneity attests that humans remain throughout their lives one in the same, sinner and saint. This beautiful translation by Randi H. Lundell makes Iwand's down-to-earth presentation of the doctrine at the heart of Luther's theology, at long last, available to English-language readers.

Christians, the Care of Creation, and Global Climate Change is a wake-up call for Christians and others. It is a cogent and persuasive call to love God and our neighbors by caring for creation--especially in light of the dramatic climate changes occurring before our eyes. This book is not the final word on the subject, but it is a sincere invitation to examine the scientific evidence for global warming and to respond with individual and collective faithful actions.CONTRIBUTORS: Douglas Allen, Jeffrey K. Greenberg, P. J. Hill, Sir John T. Houghton, A. Duane Litfin, Ben Lowe, Vincent E. Morris, L. Kristen Page, Lindy Scott, Noah J. Toly

Is abortion ethical? The answer to this question is often obscured by rhetoric, slogans, and politics. And the media message on abortion is often of little help. When the typical American opens up her morning newspaper, she sees the topic debated between pro-lifers and pro-choicers but receives little information that could help her make an informed moral decision. And as she reads further about the subject, it seems that the Christian church, often an ethical guide in many of her decisions, is of no use to her. Sadly, she is told that the church is just as divided as the rest of society on the topic. So our average American is left to fend for herself. She must somehow decide the right answer with little guidance from society, from the church, or even from God himself.But is our average American really without guidance? Has she gotten all the information she needs about abortion, or has she received only the five-second sound bite that leaves her as confused as she was before she heard about the abortion debate? And has God been silent on the abortion question? Has the church really shown a diversity of opinion on the sanctity of life?A Love for Life will provide Christians with the biblical and historical information that they need to make an informed decision on the abortion question. It will also take a critical and biblically-based look at the arguments and theologies of today's most prominent pro-choice clergy. And it will determine if abortion really fulfills the will of God, as many pro-choice Christians believe, or whether abortion is a clearly sinful act. In short, readers of A Love for Life will discover the real message of the church on abortion.

Life contains a rhythm when we see it from beginning to end. Our personal existence is not a series of individual episodes taking place as 'points in time.' Rather, life itself bears us along in a common pilgrimage. At any given time, we are part of a community where birth and death, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, as well as sowing and harvesting are taking place. This communal sharing of life replicates all the 'seasons of life.' For each time in our lives there is a corresponding season in the life of the human family. We empower faith by practicing hope every day of our lives.

Immigration has in recent years become a hotly contested subject in public political and social discussions. Both in Europe and America, there is increased polarization, confusion, and anxiety about how to handle this challenging phenomenon. What has not been adequately discussed during these debates, however, is the influence of immigration on religion in the host countries. The increase in the number of Moslem immigrants in the West has been raised in some publications. However, this book is among the first to examine the impact of immigration on the Christian faith from a biblical perspective. The fact is, in many Western countries today, the future of Christianity is progressively becoming dependent on immigration. Is there any biblical perspective to the phenomenon? What should be the response of Christians to the debate? And how should Christian immigrants themselves interpret their experiences in the light of the Word of God? Asumang examines the lives and experiences of the giants of the Bible to answer these questions. And his conclusions are insightful and challenging both to immigrant and non-immigrant Christians alike.

Various thinkers have attempted to explain the Earth-altering (even ecocidal) features in modern life. Jacques Ellul, for instance, a French intellectual, became famous for his exposition of ""technique."" But ""technique"" does not adequately address the institutional incubation out of which ""technique"" itself arises. In these essays, Paul Gilk stands on the shoulders of two American scholars in particular. One is world historian Lewis Mumford, whose career spanned fifty years. The other is classics professor Norman O. Brown, who brought his erudition into a systematic study of Freud. From these intellectuals especially, Gilk concludes that the accelerating ecocidal characteristics of ""globalization"" are inherent manifestations of perfectionist, utopian, predatory institutions endemic to civilization. Our great difficulty in arriving at or accepting this conclusion is that ""civilization"" contains no negatives. It is strictly a positive construct. We are therefore incapable of thinking critically about it. A corrective is slowly emerging from Green intellectuals. Green politics, says Gilk, is not utopian but ""eutopian."" It is not aimed at perfectionist immortality but rather at earthly wholeness. Yet the ethical message of Green politics confronts a society saturated with utopian mythology. The question is to what extent and at what speed ecological and cultural breakdown will dissolve civilized, utopian certitudes and provide the requisite openings for the growth of Green, eutopian culture.

When Lesslie Newbigin returned to Britain in 1974 after years of missionary service, he observed that his homeland was as much a mission field as India, where he had spent the majority of his missionary career. He concluded that the Western world needed a missionary confrontation. Instead of the traditional approach to missions, however, Newbigin realized that the Western world needed to be confronted theologically. From his earliest days at Cambridge University, Newbigin developed certain theological convictions that shaped his understanding of the Christian faith. Newbigin utilizes these theological convictions as criteria for evaluating the belief system of Western culture and for providing an answer to Western culture's dilemma. It is Newbigin's contention that the West is suffering from a loss of purpose because at the time of the Enlightenment, it rejected a belief system that gave it purpose. This was also a belief system that made it uniquely different from the rest of the world, particularly Asia. The Enlightenment reintroduced humanism and dualism into Western culture, which resulted in the loss of purpose and the rise of skepticism. Modern science and the scientific method, in the form of scientism, added to the problem, making human reason the measure of truth, and limiting facts to only that which could be verified through controlled experiment.Newbigin's solution is to reintroduce the Christian belief system into Western culture in order to restore purpose and truth to Westerners and to put them into contact with true reality through Jesus Christ. He desires to do this in the context of both modernism and post-modernism. This book will discuss Newbigin's theological convictions and how they factored into both his critique of and his solution for Western culture's spiritual and worldview problems.

What does it take for a young minister in his first pastorate to thrive (not simply survive) in the local church? What personal, emotional, psychological, and spiritual issues must young ministers attend to in order to be successful in ministry? What role do character issues play in a successful ministry? These are just a few of the questions raised by Letters for Micah. Drawing on his ministry experience and study in the area of spiritual formation, Les Hardin blends practical, field-tested wisdom with sound, biblical advice to help ministry novices navigate the turbulent waters they often face in their first ministries.Letters for Micah allows the reader to enter into the conversation between a seasoned pastoral veteran and an apprentice who leans on him for guidance in the difficulties of his first days in ministry. Compiling letters written specifically for this project and actual correspondence with ministry novices, Hardin bridges the worlds of practical ministry training and spiritual formation to help novices grasp the responsibilities pastoral ministry entails. Rather than peddling contemporary, pop-leadership techniques to get the work done, this book encourages young ministers to form lifelong character habits and spiritual formation practices as the biblically ordained foundation for ministry.

The Clarity of God's Existence examines the need for theistic proofs within historic Christianity, and the challenges to these since the Enlightenment. Historically (and scripturally), Christianity has maintained that unbelief is inexcusable. If failing to know God is a sin, the implication is that humans can and should know God. Humans should know God because his eternal power and divine nature are clearly revealed in the things that are made. And yet, Anderson argues, more time is spent on avoiding the need for clarity to establish inexcusability than on actually providing an argument or proof. Proofs that rely on Aristotle or Plato and that establish a Prime Mover or designer are thought to be sufficient. But the adequacy of these, not only to prove the God of theism, but also to prove anything at all, has been called into question by Enlightenment thinkers like David Hume. After considering the traditional proofs, and tracing the history of challenges to theistic proofs (from Hume to Kant and down to the twentieth century), Anderson argues that the standard methods of apologetics have failed to sufficiently respond. Classical Apologetics, Evidentialism, Presuppositionalism, Reformed Epistemology, and others fail to adequately answer the challenges of the Enlightenment. If this is the case, what is the outcome for Christianity?Anderson offers an explanation as to why traditional proofs have failed, and for what is necessary to offer a proof that not only responds to Hume and Kant but also establishes the clarity of God's existence. The traditional proofs failed precisely in not aiming at the clarity of God's existence, and they failed in this because of a faulty view of the goal of Christian life. If the blessed life is to be attained in a direct vision of God in heaven, then there is little to no reason to ask for more than the bare minimum required to get into heaven (justification). Furthermore, if the highest blessing is this direct vision, then the glory of God revealed in his work is considered as less important and even set aside. By way of contrast, if God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly revealed in his works, and the blessing comes in knowing God, then it is of the utmost importance for Christianity to demonstrate the clarity of God's existence.

This is a volume of practical, scriptural, and contemporary essays exploring the idea of strength in weakness in the context of Christian life and ministry.Biblical scholars, theologians, and Christian ministry practitioners have thought about the biblical paradigm of strength in weakness within their own areas of expertise and interest. Biblical scholars encounter the idea of strength in weakness in both Old and New Testament passages that suggest human weakness and divine strength. The people of Israel, a community reliant on grace, exemplify this theme. Mark's portrayal of Jesus Christ indicates that it is in weakness that Christ saves. Paul's paradigm for ministry suggests the same. Theological chapters engage this teaching of strength in weakness as it surfaces in Luther's life, in Calvin's view of prayer, in Barth's theology, and ultimately in the divine dealing with the world. Pastoral theology demonstrates this theme's foundational significance for a suffering church in its mission to the world as well as the theme's importance for preaching the leading of God's people today. Drawing together scholars from fields of biblical studies, systematic theology, and pastoral theology, On Eagles' Wings questions an overemphasis on power in today's church. The authors propose various ways that ministry and mission may be best engaged with a biblical humility and with reliance on God's grace.

How did a petite redhead from the slums of Dundee become a role model for a hundred years? How did she come to wield influence in the land known to her compatriots as ""the white man's grave""? Why are there statues of her holding twins in Nigeria? How did she develop her missionary fervor combined with down-to-earth common sense? How did she overcome difficult situations throughout her life in ways that set her apart from many Victorians?Her ""eccentricities"" are often cited: She climbed trees, marched barefoot and bareheaded through the forest, declined to filter her water, and shed her Victorian petticoats. On the other hand, because of her understanding of and rapport with the Africans among whom she lived, the British government appointed her their first woman magistrate anywhere in the world and later awarded her the highest honor then bestowed on a woman commoner.Mary Slessor--Everybody's Mother examines the era and influence of this extraordinary woman, who spent thirty-eight years serving as a Presbyterian missionary in Calabar. The work answers questions about the public Mary Slessor. It also looks at her private life. The author makes use of materials not found elsewhere, including Slessor's own writings and those of others of her era, reminiscences of her adopted Nigerian son, and assessments from contemporary sources.Slessor's audacity in remote areas of Nigeria contrasted with her timidity in public meetings in Scotland. She shunned the limelight and wondered why anyone would want to know about her. Her fame continues, especially in Nigeria and Scotland. She was certain God called her to serve in Calabar, the home she claimed as her own, where she became eka kpukpru owo--everybody's mother.

A Pastoral Letter to Theo addresses some of the fundamental concerns of recent research into biblical interpretation by Adele Berlin and Kenneth Archer. It also takes into account the communicative literary and rhetorical techniques that were prominent in the Greco-Roman world when the New Testament documents were composed. Elbert suggests that attention to levels of context, plot, repetition, and characterization or personification comprise a proper method for understanding a New Testament writer's original meaning and intent. Generally, the potentially groundbreaking thesis in much of Elbert's work is for a literary link between the ""Spirit"" language in Paul's letters and the later narrative of Luke-Acts. Specifically, A Pastoral Letter to Theo reflects heartfelt, pastoral concerns based on detailed contextual study of early Christianity and Christian experience. The book contextually examines in detail several passages pertaining to the ministry of women in missionary-minded early Christianity and concludes that this ministry was thought to be vital for the evangelistic enterprise.

Social issues shape the news. Yet pulpit and pews maintain an awkward silence about them. One layperson said, ""I have been a member here for twenty-five years, but I have no idea what any member thinks about any social issue."" Op-ed pages and sound bites cause people to wonder if friends are ""red"" or ""blue"" on social issues, but in this book, content dips below the surface where the water is a bipartisan calm. Here is one example: for genuine competition to occur, the sides have to be fairly even. We do this in sports. Another example question is, why is health care so high when the healing is free? Hope is implicit in ""Thy kingdom come . . . on earth,"" recited by many churchgoers on a weekly basis as part of the Lord's Prayer. Hope becomes explicit when practical theology and applied sociology are joined, because they point to the same Source: ""the hidden pressure for justice and peace at work in the world."" This Source allows grace and truth to be discovered in social issues. Indeed, the grace of God generates compassion, a prerequisite for multifaceted social justice. Wrath has no capacity to foster anything but fear of being left behind. There are single-issue books of three-hundred-plus pages, but there are no books that speak to a variety of social issues. This one does speak to a variety of social issues with clarity, readability, and economy.

This study examines the use of the term ""sinner"" in Luke-Acts. There is at present no scholarly consensus on the identity of the ""sinner"" in the Synoptic Gospels. Although the term is important in the Gospel of Luke, few works target the role of the sinner in it. Even fewer address the curious absence of ""sinner"" in Acts. Luke's narrative of Jesus' mission to ""sinners,"" together with the comments about Gentiles in the gospel, prepare readers for the mission to Gentiles in Acts. Luke provides a link for readers by demonstrating how a Jewish religious sect made up of fishermen, toll-collectors, and ""sinners,"" who claimed to have found the Messiah, became a religion with a wide Gentile following. In his use of the term ""sinner,"" Luke suggests that ""repentant Jewish sinners"" and ""repentant Gentile"" followers of Jesus represent a fulfillment of God's promise of universal salvation.

When Paul pens his letter to the Roman believers, he writes as a missionary to strengthen a church at the center of imperial power, choosing language that is familiar to his recipients. Paul responds not only to the influence of Judaism but also to the wider culture by contrasting prominent Roman values. David Wallace argues that Paul's gospel in Romans rejects and countervails the significant themes of Virgil's Aeneid, the most well-known prophetic source that both proclaimed Roman ideology and assured Roman salvation. After demonstrating that a close but nonauthoritarian relationship existed between Augustus and Virgil, Wallace examines relevant literary aspects, symbolism, and key imagery of Virgil's epic. A discussion of Paul's contraliterary approach follows, drawing out possible parallels and echoes in Romans against the universal message of the Aeneid.

Two and a half years after the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, New Orleans and south Louisiana continue to struggle in an unsettled gumbo of environmental, social, and rebuilding chaos. Citizens await the fruition of four successive recovery and reconstruction planning processes and the realization of essential infrastructure repairs. Repopulation in Orleans Parish has slowed considerably; the parish remains at best two-thirds of its former size; thousands of former residents who wish to return face barriers of many kinds. Heroic efforts at rebuilding have occurred through the efforts of individual neighborhood associations and voluntary associations who have attempted to address serious losses in affordable housing and health care services. Walking to New Orleans traces how a dominant but paradoxical model of the relation between the human and natural worlds in Western culture has informed many environmental and engineering dilemmas and has contributed to the history of social inequities and injustice that anteceded the disasters of the hurricanes and subsequent flooding. It proposes a model for collaborative recovery that links principles of ethics and engineering, in which citizens become active, ongoing participants in the process of the reconstruction and redesign of their unique locus of habitation. Equally important, it gives voice to the citizens and associations who are desperately working to rebuild their homes and lives both in urban New Orleans and in the villages of coastal Louisiana.