John Piper’s response to N. T. Wright is due for release on November 1, 2007 ($5.00 + shipping if you pre-order here by Oct. 31). If you have no idea what N. T. Wright has said about justification and what all of this is about, then there are some resources available for you. First, Desiring God Ministries has a seven part Q&A with John Piper that they have been releasing on their blog . Here, Piper gives the background necessary to understand the controversy. The whole interview can be found here . However, you may want to select only those parts that you haven't heard. Interview with Piper on Wright, Pt.1 : Who is this book for? Interview with Piper on Wright, Pt.2 : Who is N. T. Wright? Interview with Piper on Wright, Pt.3 : What do you believe about justification? Interview with Piper on Wright, Pt.4 : How is Wright’s view of justification different than yours? Interview with Piper on Wright, Pt.5 : What’s the problem with Wright’s view of imputation? Interview with
The Diagnosis: Blindness Take a look around your group of friends. I think we can agree that most of us do not know what pains exist in each individual. Not only do we not know what pains exist, but we also do not know at what depths they reside. A clear illustration is the dim-sighted Eli’s encounter with Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:9b-16. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord . She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” As she continued praying before the Lord , Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
Recently, Time’s David Van Biema wrote an article highlighting the things we should be watching for in 2009. Many have already noted that it is quite interesting that the third item on this list is The New Calvinism . I am not sure why the author decided to dub this resurgence as “the new Calvinism.” I do not believe it to be anything different than has been taught before. Rather than critique the article’s portrayal of this resurgence, it would be of greater importance to highlight one sentence: It will be interesting to see whether Calvin's latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country's infancy. It is astonishing that there are some in the secular world watching us. What will they see? It is of paramount importance to heed the words of Christ: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just a
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