For Wright, the main point of Christ’s death and resurrection was a fulfillment of Israel’s exile and restoration, but not necessarily a substitutionary atonement for condemned sinners. Christ’s death and resurrection are the means whereby the promise of the covenant is extended to God’s people worldwide, but not necessarily a propitiative, expiative, and penal substitution... Continue Reading

Not all who hold to the framework hypothesis agree in all the particulars, and Bedard is careful to note that. Bedard allows them to speak in their own words, and he has carefully cited the views he presents. I would recommend this work first to all proponents of the framework hypothesis, that they might see... Continue Reading

In the end, there are ample reasons to reject the idea that Irenaeus was the inventor of the fourfold gospel canon.  Not only did his contemporaries have this same view, but this view was even shared by those before him.  Thus, we must consider the possibility that Irenaeus was actually telling the truth when he... Continue Reading

Alsup “gets it” that Christian women are, first and foremost, simply Christians. She makes it clear that Jesus—not Ruth or Esther or even the Proverbs 31 woman—is our primary identity. Why do most books for Christian women focus more on the externals of femaleness than on the heart of discipleship?   Wendy Alsup. The Gospel Centered... Continue Reading

“Practical writings have a strong tendency to only reinforce burnout,” recognizing his own helpful book will do just this if we take it as “do more get better” and not grasp his greater message of gospel application. I was glad that he added this important part, and think it may have done well for him... Continue Reading

If it is true that there is nothing qualitatively distinctive about the books we include in the New Testament, then the whole concept of a New Testament evaporates.  The whole idea of a “canon” is that some books are in, and some books are out, and that there is a reason for such distinctions.  But,... Continue Reading

It is unbelievable, but this monster literally thinks that to give men new knowledge is to gain power(!) over them. The cheap, awful, miserable, touchy, social-meta­physical mediocrity!….So Bacon is a “magician” – but Christ performing miracles is, of course, a spectacle of pure, rational knowledge!! This monstrosity is not opposed to science – oh no! – not to pure science,... Continue Reading

Lovejoy has walked some hard roads, and she knows how the story ends. On each page, she takes her readers’ eyes off of themselves and turns them to the fullness of Christ. The sweetness of our suffering does not depend so much on our ability to cling to Christ, but in his sure and certain... Continue Reading

Wilson tells us from the start that “to grasp the central issues, it is necessary to be steeped in a particular intellectual tradition” (p. 5). He has “the Southern conservative intellectual tradition” in mind. He doesn’t tell us why we must be “steeped” in that tradition. Instead, Wilson notes a deep hostility among some critics... Continue Reading

I have a whole new appreciation for Luke—doctor, historian, and linguistic master. “Both Luke and the author of Hebrews are described by most New Testament scholars as the most literary writers of the New Testament” (139). A writer would do well just studying the prologues of Luke, Acts, and Hebrews. Luke is doing so much... Continue Reading