For Christmas my mom and dad gave me some great books; in particular, some books that will be helpful for my New Testament Theology class in the Spring:
1. The Pauline Eschatology (Vos)
2. Justification and Variegated Nomism: The Paradoxes of Paul (Carson, ed.)
3. Paul: An Outline of His Theology (Ridderbos)
4. Paul: Apostle of God's Glory in Christ (Schreiner)
5. Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (Hawthorne, ed.)
My sister (who consistently surprises me with her sharp instincts) asked, 'Why so many books about Paul? Where are the books about Jesus?'
It's a fair question with a pretty easy answer. The Christian faith is a book-based religion, like Islam, but there is an important difference. Islam teaches that Muhammad was only a secretary for the archangel Michael (who was speaking for God). Muhammad had no creative input in the writing of Koran whatsoever. It was mere dictation--he heard the words and he wrote them down. Christianity is different. God the Holy Spirit caused inspired thoughts to 'rise up' in the minds of the authors of scripture. Just like many other paradoxes (not contradictions) in Christianity, these Words of the Bible are fully contrived by men and at the same time fully contrived by God. One helpful analogy is the dual nature of Christ. Christ was fully man and fully God. Scripture is the same.
Therefore, what we're looking for in discerning the meaning of Scripture is authorial intent--we want to know what Paul was thinking. He wrote those letters (half the New Testament) to other believers with the intention of those believers understanding his words. So, in the words of Tom Schreiner, our task in Pauline theology is to get inside Paul's mind, understand what he meant with those words, and explain those thoughts in our contemporary context.
To understand what God would have us understand from the text, we must understand what Paul was thinking when he wrote the text. The two are the same. And unfortunately, that task is much easier said than done. Paul was a First Century Jew. I'm a 21st C. South Carolinian. Our contexts bear little analogy. That's why the study of Paul's thought-life and worldview is so important.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
SEMINARY STUDENTS AND THE LOCAL CHURCH
One issue our elders at Sojourn have been dealing with since the beginning of the church (2000) is the role of seminary students in our membership. There have been several exceptions, but by-in-large the elders haven't been impressed by the involvement of our SBTS'ers. We've begun including a section in our membership classes that's addressed only to the seminarians called, "Shepherding Seminary Students". The following is a more filled-in outline of my comments to them--a sort of hodgepodge of ideas based almost completely on my reflections from time spent at CHBC.
To begin, the Lord in His infinite kindness has used Southern Seminary for Sojourn's good. Four of our six elders are graduates of SBTS and probably around 50-65% of our members serving actively and consistently in the church (above and beyond regular weekly attendance) are seminarians. We've had seminary professors come and speak at our Theology Breakfast (Wellum, Ware, Whitney, Seifrid, Allison) and preach on Sundays. So what we're not saying is that we dislike the seminary or think it's doing more harm than good.
However, there are some potential pitfalls when one begins a seminary education.
1. What we have seen oftentimes is the supposed idea that a Christian's time in seminary is sort of its own 'dispensation'. What would be required from a regular lay-member isn't required from the seminary student because he's working towards future ministry and can't be hampered by present ministry. This kind of thinking creates a two-tier membership, an idea which is completely foreign to the New Testament's teaching on the local church.
2. There is an implicit appeal that runs throughout the New Testament. Every letter penned by one of the Apostles was presented within the context of local churches. There is no part of the Christian life in the epistles which is detached from that overarching framework. Every command begins within one's local church. For example, 1 John 3:11-18: "Love your brother". Implicit in this command is the knowledge of how your brother needs to be loved. You must know your brother’s needs--you must have a relationship with your fellow church members! Paul assumes the same kind of close relationships for the purpose of spiritual care: In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul expects these believers to know this man is in an adulteress relationship and to work at restoring him to the Lord.
3. I can think of few things as counter-intuitive as a man training for eldership to pull back from involvement in the local church so he can prepare for eldership. The catchy slogan would be: "Seminary doesn't make pastors, the local church makes pastors. Or maybe for clarity's sake, "chapel and shepherding groups don't make pastors, but the main meeting of the church and intra-church small groups make pastors".
4. Not to mention the command in Hebrews to "not forsake the assembling of the saints" (10:25), a command that in many contexts (determined by the elders) includes more than one weekly meeting (I think I'm departing from CHBC here). At Sojourn, our elders have decided that intentional community is important enough to require participation in a weekly small group (obviously there are exceptions due to scheduling, etc.). In terms of these groups, our standard line to seminarians is, if you don't have enough time for a small group, you probably don't have enough time for this church.
5. It's also the local church that is supposed to confirm the call to ministry in any individual pursuing the pastorate. And, just like every other command in the New Testament, the qualifications Paul gives for elders are all set in the context of one's local assembly. The members of one's church must be able to see these qualifications, which (especially in regards to being apt to teach) means they should have more than just a surface involvement in the church. In these ways, those studying to be pastors should be MORE involved than others. Paul's qualifications (which are expected from all Christians) should be embodied in these men. He should be what my pastor calls a "Gospel Pace-Setter" in his church. It is these men and these men alone whom Paul tells us are called for the eldership.
6. One big task in eldering seems to be learning how to shepherd those who aren't like you. For most of us that means non suburb-raised/white/reformed/20-somethings. This opportunity is much more available in local churches than in seminary. Involvement in the church will teach you how to love those who aren't like you.
7. Finally, the local church is the hope of the world. It is the front-line work. It is the church that the gates of Hades will not overcome. It is the church that Christ promised to build. And it is the church that displays to the world the closest thing any of us can see to the coming kingdom of heaven.
To begin, the Lord in His infinite kindness has used Southern Seminary for Sojourn's good. Four of our six elders are graduates of SBTS and probably around 50-65% of our members serving actively and consistently in the church (above and beyond regular weekly attendance) are seminarians. We've had seminary professors come and speak at our Theology Breakfast (Wellum, Ware, Whitney, Seifrid, Allison) and preach on Sundays. So what we're not saying is that we dislike the seminary or think it's doing more harm than good.
However, there are some potential pitfalls when one begins a seminary education.
1. What we have seen oftentimes is the supposed idea that a Christian's time in seminary is sort of its own 'dispensation'. What would be required from a regular lay-member isn't required from the seminary student because he's working towards future ministry and can't be hampered by present ministry. This kind of thinking creates a two-tier membership, an idea which is completely foreign to the New Testament's teaching on the local church.
2. There is an implicit appeal that runs throughout the New Testament. Every letter penned by one of the Apostles was presented within the context of local churches. There is no part of the Christian life in the epistles which is detached from that overarching framework. Every command begins within one's local church. For example, 1 John 3:11-18: "Love your brother". Implicit in this command is the knowledge of how your brother needs to be loved. You must know your brother’s needs--you must have a relationship with your fellow church members! Paul assumes the same kind of close relationships for the purpose of spiritual care: In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul expects these believers to know this man is in an adulteress relationship and to work at restoring him to the Lord.
3. I can think of few things as counter-intuitive as a man training for eldership to pull back from involvement in the local church so he can prepare for eldership. The catchy slogan would be: "Seminary doesn't make pastors, the local church makes pastors. Or maybe for clarity's sake, "chapel and shepherding groups don't make pastors, but the main meeting of the church and intra-church small groups make pastors".
4. Not to mention the command in Hebrews to "not forsake the assembling of the saints" (10:25), a command that in many contexts (determined by the elders) includes more than one weekly meeting (I think I'm departing from CHBC here). At Sojourn, our elders have decided that intentional community is important enough to require participation in a weekly small group (obviously there are exceptions due to scheduling, etc.). In terms of these groups, our standard line to seminarians is, if you don't have enough time for a small group, you probably don't have enough time for this church.
5. It's also the local church that is supposed to confirm the call to ministry in any individual pursuing the pastorate. And, just like every other command in the New Testament, the qualifications Paul gives for elders are all set in the context of one's local assembly. The members of one's church must be able to see these qualifications, which (especially in regards to being apt to teach) means they should have more than just a surface involvement in the church. In these ways, those studying to be pastors should be MORE involved than others. Paul's qualifications (which are expected from all Christians) should be embodied in these men. He should be what my pastor calls a "Gospel Pace-Setter" in his church. It is these men and these men alone whom Paul tells us are called for the eldership.
6. One big task in eldering seems to be learning how to shepherd those who aren't like you. For most of us that means non suburb-raised/white/reformed/20-somethings. This opportunity is much more available in local churches than in seminary. Involvement in the church will teach you how to love those who aren't like you.
7. Finally, the local church is the hope of the world. It is the front-line work. It is the church that the gates of Hades will not overcome. It is the church that Christ promised to build. And it is the church that displays to the world the closest thing any of us can see to the coming kingdom of heaven.
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