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Wednesday, October 17, 2007 

Links & Notices

Reading: Dunahoo Making Kingdom Disciples
Enjoying: York mints
Listening: Muse Black Holes and Revelations

In this edition (/pretentious):
Politics | Technology | Books | Theology | Financial | Links

Iraq and Ideology
The number one reason for the way things are going in Iraq is a difference of mettle: Islam has it, and materialistic narcissists don't. This is especially demonstrated in the united front Islam shows in its contempt for Western ideology. Cranach's Dr. Veith notes Mr. Steyn on the lack of resolve from Uncle Sam.

Financial
Two blogs I sometimes swing buy are The Simple Dollar and Get Rich Slowly. There is often a variety of ideas, from budget suggestions, coupons and saving ploys, and financial organization in the big picture. One tool that may help on the small scale is Xpen$er, a Web 2.0-ish app to help record every purchase. I'm going to be looking into putting this one into practice in the near future.

Links
Philosophos
For students, teachers, and lovers of philosophy.

Vicipaedia
Wikipedia for the Latin inclined.

Top 10 Needs of a Theological Institution
I think WSC is a grand slam on all of these, except with a little more clarification on how they do #2. (Hint: church planting with ordained ministers)

Books
Speaking of making purchases, a few new titles have been on my horizon. Bavinck's anticipated fourth and final installment of his Dogmatics is up for pre-order, and I've seen similar offers for the upcoming ETS & AAR/SBL catalogs. (The conferences are in San Diego this year; come hang out!) Also, John Piper's newest title on N.T. Wright and justification is available for $5. Meanwhile, WSC Bookstore recently made Vos' Grace & Glory available... and I've got gift certificates. Watch out.

I was recently opining with Ben that Carl Trueman's latest temptation John Owen: Reformed Catholic, Renaissance Man is exorbitantly priced. This just in - What the Thunder Said... will now be published by Paternoster, Ashgate, and Wipf & Stock. You've just been charged $9.99 for reading this. Your ISP will be billed accordingly. (Even though the Owen book figures at about $.15 a page, I'm still tempted. I need help.)

Technology
For those of you rocking the pocket pc/smarthphone devices, check Handango, which is offering a Free App every Friday. (This is especially nice if you had your wild hopes set on the HTC Kaiser being given away for free from Gear Diary. Clearly, only a hypothetical.) The Nokia 810 came out, and received a positive review from Oliver Starr.

I'm into my second month on our HP Pavilion dv9600t laptop, and overall, I'm pleased. I'm still not completely sold on Vista. The beautiful Altec Lansing speakers sit below the screen and above the keyboard, so they are muffled if you play music with the screen closed. I'm pleased with responsiveness. Its working out well.

Bucer on Marks of Unity
Those who call upon our Lord Jesus Christ in truth, whatever their outward customs and identity may be, we wish to acknowledge and love as our members in Christ the Lord. And they will also treat us in the same way, irrespective of the fact that we may not share the same ceremonies and church practices. For the fellowship of the Christian church consists not in ceremonies and outward practices, but in true faith, in obedience to the pure gospel, and in the right use of the sacraments as the Lord has ordained them. Everything else each church has to arrange as it finds best for itself. In any case this is something which the old holy fathers recognized and maintained.
Concerning the True Care of Souls and Genuine Pastoral Ministry
(HT: Jonathan)


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[links]

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Monday, October 15, 2007 

Congrats to Thate

Having noted his previous work before, we here at What the Thunder Said... would be remiss not to point out what slid across our desk this morning.
Thate, Michael J. "Conditionality in John's Gospel: A Critique and Examination of Time and Reality as Classically Conceived in Conditional Constructions" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Vol. 50, No. 3 (September 2007) 561 - 72.
Michael Thate is a Ph.D. student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Kudos, Mike.

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Saturday, October 13, 2007 

Christology Bibliography

Reading: Wall Street Journal
Enjoying: chips & salsa
Listening: The Stereophonics "Dakota"

I've had the privilege of spending the past couple of weeks looking at a few of the lines of the Apostle's Creed with our Sunday School class - "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary..." Here's a few of the works I've found useful in studying on the subject.

On the creed in general:

Heidelberg Catechism

Ursinus, Zacharius Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans. Williard (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1852).

Witsius, Herman Dissertations on the Apostle's Creed (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1993).

On Christology in particular:

Athanasius De Incarnatione Verbi Dei (New York, NY: Macmillan Company, 1946).
(With an Intro by C. S. Lewis!!)

Daniels, Richard The Christology of John Owen (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2004).

Dunn, James D.G. Christology in the Making: A NT Inquiry into The Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1980).

Evans, C. Stephen "The Self-Emptying of Love: Some Thoughts on Kenotic Christology" ed. Davis, Kendall & Collins The Incarnation (Oxford University Press, 2002).

Horton, Michael S. Lord and Servant: A Covenant Christology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005).

Macleod, Donald The Person of Christ ed. G. Bray Contours of Christian Theology Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998).

Peterson, David The Word Became Flesh: Evangelicals and the Incarnation (Paternoster Press, 2003).

Spencer, Stephen Roberts Reformed Scholasticism in Medieval Perspective: Thomas Aquinas and Francois Turretini on the Incarnation (Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan State University, 1988).

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon Good Tidings of Great Joy: Christ's Incarnation (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1901).

Wright, N. T. "Jesus' Self-Understanding" ed. Davis, Kendall & Collins The Incarnation (Oxford University Press, 2002).

Vos, Geerhardus The Self-Disclosure of Jesus (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publications, 1953).


Tags
[books] | [Christology]

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1:45 PM | |

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Friday, October 12, 2007 

The Danger of Theology

Who says studying theology isn't dangerous? This thing had like 30 legs and jaws/fangs the size of Oregon. The pictures totally don't do it justice. I was in a fight for my life.


For the PETA friendly and animal conscious, I can assure you that no spiders were harmed in the making of this documentary. However, one spider was significantly killed in opening my textbook. My bad.

Ben, you can't use this as an excuse to go East.

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[spiders] | [books]

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4:15 PM | |

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007 

An Annotated Bibliography on Jeremiah Commentaries

I wanted to apologize for the lack of content lately, as I was preparing for a sermon I recently preached this past Lord's Day. I preached from Jeremiah 23:1 - 8, and I thought it might be helpful to give some comments on some of the works I found helpful.

The following comments are practically meant to only regard the above eight verses, and commentaries may be weaker or stronger elsewhere. Also, I say some things below that make me sound like I'm an expert passing judgment. That is false; I am not the expert, the following are. I'm just trying to call 'em like I see 'em.

Dearman, J. Andrew. Jeremiah and Lamentations ed. T. Muck The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2002).
Dearman's commentary is straightforward and helpful for drawing out explicit applicatory ideas. Due to the nature of the series, he cannot devote too much space to any given pericope. Dearman properly located Jeremiah's prophecy of chapter 23 to the judgment of Judah's leaders, and for the most part gets the broad sweep of Jeremiah. One curious note was how Dearman personalized Jeremiah's prophecies - thus, Jeremiah's tirade against the false prophets isn't so much that the prophets are false ones but that they stood against Jeremiah. Hence, some of the applications seem more individualistic and contemporary. Not a big weakness, but noteworthy. A general, straightforward commentary.

Achtemeier, Elizabeth. Jeremiah ed. J.H. Hayes Knox Preaching Guides (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1973).
This delightful little monograph was my dark horse. Achtemeier proved a delight with an amazingly succinct, yet complete discussion of the pericope. Dealing with the text in a loose manner by organizing only broadly by sequence and giving weight to topical content, Jeremiah 23 is discussed directly after ch. 12 and preceding ch. 27. She, more than most, properly exegeted the relationship between kings, prophets, and exile. She also had some good application. Kudos. (I sort of hate it when the liberals get it sooooo right...)

Caulvin, Jean Sermons on Jeremiah tr. B. Reynolds (Dyfed, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990).
These are translated sermons by John Calvin on his preaching from Jeremiah. However, the sermons only cover Jeremiah 14:19 - 18:23. So, not exactly germane, but still helpful. Calvin's sermons are succint, immensely applicable and hortatory. Next time, check the table of contents before you check the book out of the library.

Brueggemann, Walter. A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile & Homecoming (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmanns Publishing, 1998).
This is actually Brueggemann's second and more recent contribution to Jeremiah. I'm not sure how it stacks up to his previous work, but I assumed that it portrayed any progression he has made himself on the subject. Brueggemann correctly grasps, but is less confident, of the flow of the text. He above all the other commentaries most adequately addresses various scholarly aspects of the text, including various forms of critical reading. His exegesis gives the strongest punch to the narrative thrust. He also interacts critically with Holladay's acclaimed monograph on the same subject. He is not overly cowed by academia, and pushes the text to give solid answers. In my view, Brueggemann is a necessary, but not sufficient, resource to address.

Fretheim, Terence E. Jeremiah "Smith & Helwys Bible Commentary" (Macon, GA: Smith & Helwys Publishing, 2002).
I've already noted one caveat I had with Fretheim. Other than this, however, I think this commentary was my favorite. He was solid historically, linguistically, and exegetically. I really appreciated his skill at biblical theology and working within redemptive history. Fretheim knew the arguments well, and tipped his hand often enough to give the readers time to keep up. Though on the face of it Fretheim is not trying to produce a homiletical commentary, his own insights, rabbit trails, and "Connections" sections give several insights. I was very thankful for this commentary.

In conclusion, I would be remiss not to note that it was Tremper Longman's analysis of OT commentaries that led me to the above monographs. I hope this can be helpful to anyone else studying these passages.


Tags
[Jeremiah] | [commentaries]

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Tuesday, September 04, 2007 

Thate on Christian Reading

Nice work on the reading list, Mr. Michael Thate.

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10:27 PM | |

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Friday, August 17, 2007 

Book Meme

We here at What the Thunder Said... have been tagged by Mr. Wireman (who is either at blogger but sorta moved kinda to wordpress - you're tough to keep track of!) on a book list meme. If that interests you, click through.then you have a book fetish. If you have a book fetish, get help!then click through. (I'll try to keep the answers mildly interesting...)

Without further ado*:
1. One book that changed your life:
Silence, by Shusaku Endo. This was the book that forced me to challenge all preconceived notions and deal with overwhelming evil. This book is still the closest I have ever come to giving up the Reformed faith. I still love this book and refer to it occasionally.

2. One book you've read more than once:
"Batman: Year One", by Frank Miller. No lie. I am the Dark Knight.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
"How to Get Off A Desert Island." Zing!!
Um... probably The Christian's Reasonable Service, by Wilhelmus A' Brakel, I think. Head's up in left field, huh?! To be honest, I haven't even finished it yet, which is even one more reason to have it with when marooned. Who wants to die half way through a book?

4. One book that made you laugh:
The Stranger, by A. Camus. I'm like: Really? Is this really what you base a life system on? Summary of plot: "I cannot feel. The sun is hot, glaring on me. I will shoot the Arab. I am Meursault. I am upset with the priest. I hope I die." As an author, this is not the inspiring prose I want to build my life and work around. He makes Hemingway seem like Seuss. Really, Camus? Is this how you wanna go out. Laughing at absurdity...

5. One book that made you cry:
Going with the comic theme: "The Death of Superman." Ok, in sincerity, The Nature of Indwelling Sin by John Owen. In the words of Rabbi Duncan, "Prepare for the knife..."

6. One book you wish had been written:
The Sons of Elendil: Of the Fall of Numenor and the Rise of Men by J. R. R. Tolkien. This would round out the Second Age, and fill in Aragorn's lineage. Also, a history of the dwarves. Please take your "geek" and "nerd" responses elsewhere, thank you...

7. One book you wish had never been written:
This one is a tie. Systematic Theology, Charles G. Finney. Hello. Also, probably some of the Late, Great Planet Earth and Left Behind ilk.

8. One book you're currently reading:
I've listed some of them on my sidebar to the right. I haven't, however, listed any books that I'm reading for class. One title I'm excited for is by Sidney Greidanus.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. I've heard he is really good, and has a terrific lens on modern Jewish culture.

10. Tag 5 other readers:
Let's see:
Ben - Deus Dixit
Carney - Carn-Dog Comments
Morrow - Morrow's Words
Kyle - Synod of Saints
Recio (which, Recio, you have to keep this to ten questions and not the billions of books you read per day.)


* Let's be real. This is blund. If I were to be completely honest, all of the above answers would be answered with one of two Calvins ("Calvin & Hobbes" or John Calvin), Tolkien and Owen. I had to make it somewhat interesting.


Update:
A few guys have already posted. Check out Ben, Kyle.
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[meme] | [books]

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Saturday, May 12, 2007 

Manton's Works for Free

The complete works of Thomas Manton (1620 - 1677) have been digitized and made available for free online. Manton was one of the Oxford trained Puritans who, with John Owen, served Cromwell during the Lord Protectorate. His works were published in 22 volumes in 1870, and the digitized version for download reflects the age. His "Treatise for the Afflicted" is one of his better known pastoral works that has been a cure for many distraught souls.

Don't be alarmed if the text looks faint; often you are seeing the next page through the paper. This is one of the better facsimiles I've seen. You have several options for reading (including .PDF, .RTF, and .txt), and may I recommend Foxit Reader? Its just like Adobe, except healthier for your computer (and free!). (9 out of 10 moms recommend fox it...)

As with all internet resources, I never know how long things like this will be up. I'd recommend downloading all 22 volumes and keeping them on your computer. They are roughly ~70 MB each, so it won't take a toll on your machine. Enjoy the reading.

Download The Works of Thomas Manton, D.D. (22 Volumes)
(HT: Green Baggins)

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[manton] | [books]

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Tuesday, May 08, 2007 

Master of Doom, and by Doom Mastered


O! That I may not covet thee!

I always liked Tuor, but not how I loved Turin son of Hurin. I'm thrilled to finally get the chance to dig all the way into the Narn i Hin Hurin as it was meant to be read, rather than gather gleanings from The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. Just when I thought I already had too much to read for the summer!

What is your favorite Tolkien tale? It can be The Hobbit, any parts of The Lord of the Rings, or any other section you highly enjoyed. Leave your vote in the comments!

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[tolkien] | [hurin]

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007 

A Spoonful of Sugar

For those of you who don't keep your fingers on the pulse beat of contemporary short fiction, here is Nate "Son of Doug from Moscow" Wilson's The Rise and Fall of Circumcision. Apparently, Esquire sent out calls for a short story that could be fit on to a napkin, and the above story is Mr. Wilson's harvest.

The story is suggestively well done, and it reminds us of the dark grace to be found in Flannery O'Connor's works (which is, of course, a compliment). We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Best Lines
"I'm Jewish," he says... "Right," I say. "So am I." I'm not.

"Three most dangerous jobs on this continent," he says, holding up fingers. "NY cop, bounty hunter, graveyard in a c-store." He nods like I don't believe him. "Not necessarily in that order."

"Huh," I say. I want to say less.
There are a few other zingers, but we don't want to give any of it away. What do you think? What were your favorite lines? What is other good literature out there on the internets? Write your thoughts in a napkin the comments below!

(HT: Wilson Sr.)

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[Wilson] | [fiction]

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Monday, January 29, 2007 

Book Alert: Hyde's The Good Confession
Topic: Blogging

Rev. Danny Hyde, pastor of Oceanside United Reformed Church (URC) and prolific blogger over at Pilgrims & Parish has published another book:
The Good Confession: An Exploration of the Christian Faith.

Begun out of his own membership courses, this latest effort is a workbook set to help introduce and establish new members into the beauty of biblical Christianity through the historic creeds and confessions of Reformed Christianity.
Reformed pastors are always looking for a good curriculum to use with new Christians and inquirers that is solidly Reformed, yet which does not major on the minors. The Good Confession is a well-balanced book that will help us instruct all those inquiring about our doctrine.

Dr. Kim Riddlebarger, Christ Reformed Church, Anaheim, CA
For more info on the book, including further reviews and comments, take a look at it on Rev. Hyde's blog. For purchasing information, see the book at Wipf & Stock publishers.

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[books] | [Hyde]

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Friday, October 13, 2006 

New Book
Topic: Events

Rev. Mr. Daniel R. Hyde, pastor of Oceanside United Reformed Church has recently published a new book dealing with paedobaptism. Jesus Loves the Little Children: Why We Baptize Children (Reformed Fellowship, 2006), has just recently been put out on stands and can be purchased at Amazon here.
"Well-informed and immensely practical, this is the book that I will
recommend first when parents ask, 'Why should I baptize my child?"
-- Michael Horton

You can visit Rev. Hyde's blog "Pilgrims & Parish" for excellent work on historic liturgy, church life, sermons and biblical meditations, and info on the URC.

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[Hyde] | [book] | [baptism]

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Thursday, September 28, 2006 

For Sale
Topic: WtTS Stuff

Not because I don't want it anymore, but because I am in the enviable position of having extra copies, I am getting rid of Give Praise to God. This is a terrific volume from a host of important thinkers in the Church to spur on biblical worship. This will help you think through several of the pertinent issues. Let's call it a nominal fee for shipping and handling and the time for hassle. Very cheap. If interested, email or comments, please.



Update: Sorry, it went like hot cakes. The book is already taken. Thank you to all for your interest.
Tags
[sale]
[Give Praise to God]

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Transplanted from the artic blight of Minnesota to the sunny paradise of SoCal, I am attending school and learning to say "dude." I like to think of myself as equal parts surf rash, Batman, heavy metal, Levinas, poetic license, and reformational. Other than creating blund blogs, I enjoy reading, sporting, and socializing with serious and funny people.
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