A year or two back, Al Mohler gave a talk at one of the conferences he regularly speaks at which he titled, The Tyranny of the Contemporary. He had many good points (as usual), but a couple were especially relevant to our culture today, and particularly to this part of the country. One of these points was about how we are told that the gospel is offensive to folks today, and that this is a new problem. Funny. I think the New Testament writers made clear that this problem existed two thousand years ago, and Christian leaders since that time have continually reinforced the idea that the gospel was offensive to non-regenerate folks ever since.
Another point that Dr. Mohler made was in regard to the idea of full churches and empty preaching. At least in the Southern Baptist denomination (in which I participate), this is true to some degree. We measure pastoral success by baptisms, giving levels, and above all, attendance levels. One will often hear pastors and laypersons alike asking each other at state or regional meetings how 'big' their church is. "Whatcha runnin' these days?" is a common question. I've never been asked how deep the church is. Just how big. Maybe it happens, but not when I've been listening. And on top of that we keep reading about how we are losing our youth to secularism. As Michael Horton puts it, we are not only not reaching the lost, we are losing the reached. I won't say this is completely due to poor preaching and the abandonment of the gospel in preaching, but I'd be willing to bet some lunch money a good statistician could find a fairly strong correlation between these things.
Dr. Mohler also talks about the universality of these issues. Citing John 6, he notes that 'seekers' never seek what ought to be sought and needs to be found. He reminds us that after Jesus fed the five thousand, those in attendance looked not for spiritual truth from the source of this miracle, but rather they looked for more food. Physical food. Bread. Not the bread of life.
And people say the offense of the gospel is a new problem?
So in response, we look to new ideas and programs to try and outfox the problems. We look to contemporary technologies, contemporary worship styles, contemporary dress and mannerisms, contemporary programs, contemporary advertising campaigns, contemporary church names, and on and on it goes. But where'd the gospel go? I don't recall Paul saying anywhere that contemporary ideas were the power of God unto salvation, but we certainly tend to live like he did.
Every time we are tempted to buy into a new idea about anything, we ought to run it past Romans 1:16-17 four or seven times just to make sure we are keeping the main thing, the main thing.
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Showing posts with label Al Mohler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al Mohler. Show all posts
30 November 2010
21 October 2010
What's a Good Study Bible These Days?
Since I teach a Sunday School class, I've been asked a few times which study bible one ought to buy; which one is the most accurate translation, has the best notes, etc. Those are tough questions to answer in generalities.
TRANSLATIONS
First, there are a number of good translations, starting with the good old King James Version (KJV). Most of the modern version are good as well. But before you can pick a version, you need to ask yourself what kind of philosophical foundation you want in the text. Bible translations are done on one of about three (give or take) foundations- (a) literal, word-for-word; (b) dynamic equivalent (so-called thought-for-thought); or (c) paraphrase. I have condensed these a bit, and there are many ways to make distinctions such that there are more ways to translate the bible than these three, but I've done this for the sake of brevity.
Some paraphrase versions- New Living Testament (NLT), New English Bible (NEB), Today's English Version (TEV), Phillips', Living Bible, The Message. If you want to read scripture like a story, with writing at the 9th-grade level or below, these are your target. You will gain readability, but lose accuracy and detail in translation. In addition, several are the work of single individuals, so you get their biases in the text.
Some thought-for-thought translations- New International Version (NIV), Today's NIV (TNIV), Revised Standard Version (RSV), New RSV (NRSV), Amplified Bible, updated New American Standard Bible. These try to strike the middle ground between literal, word-for-word translations and the paraphrases. On the whole, they are mostly good and useful for most people. If you want precision to the original text, they aren't as good as the next category, but they are certainly better than the first category.
Some literal word-for-word translations- KJV, New KJV (NKJV), original NASB, English Standard Version (ESV). The KJV is the historical standard, in spite of a few translation issues. However, it is written on a 16th-grade reading level, and many people find the language inaccessible. The NKJV is an excellent translation, and I recommend it. The original and updated NASB versions are good as well, though the flow of the language can be stilted in some places. The ESV is one of the newest version, and in my opinion, the best. It is as readable as the NIV, but retains much more accuracy to the original languages, and retains the genders in the original languages.
STUDY BIBLES
There seem to be almost as many study bibles available now as there are versions. This is really a bit silly, though in our consumerist culture, I can see why this is so. If your primary interest is understanding the text and the meaning of the original authors, I can narrow the list down to just a few. Here are my recommendations, in order-
(1) MacArthur Study Bible, ESV or NKJV
(2) Reformation Study Bible, ESV
(3) ESV Study Bible, ESV (obviously)
In terms of conservative, gospel focused commentary, I don't think you can do better than the MacArthur Study Bible. Since it is now available in the ESV (as of Summer 2010), it's a no-brainer. Dr. MacArthur provides more meaningful and helpful notes on the text, stays true to the original intent (as defined by historic, post-reformation orthodox Christianity), and is a bona fide biblical conservative, than any other translation out there.
The Reformation Study Bible, edited by R. C. Sproul, is also excellent. It has notes of no less value, but there are fewer of them. It has the advantage of having been compiled by a committee of men rather than a single individual (like MacArthur), which can be important (though not in the case of Dr. MacArthur's work, in my opinion).
The ESV Study Bible is the biggest in terms of the volume of helps and notes. As a result, it is BIG. I keep one of these on my desk for reference, but don't carry it to church. It has a tendency to move a bit further to the left in terms of the notes, compared the the two bibles above, but it is still a very conservative, evangelical (in the traditional sense) study bible. It has the best (most, and high-quality) maps and charts. And if you buy one, you get free access to the online version of the study bible, which I find very helpful.
These are just my recommendations...you may find another that you like better, and that's fine. But if you ask me, these are the three suggestions you'll hear.
TRANSLATIONS
First, there are a number of good translations, starting with the good old King James Version (KJV). Most of the modern version are good as well. But before you can pick a version, you need to ask yourself what kind of philosophical foundation you want in the text. Bible translations are done on one of about three (give or take) foundations- (a) literal, word-for-word; (b) dynamic equivalent (so-called thought-for-thought); or (c) paraphrase. I have condensed these a bit, and there are many ways to make distinctions such that there are more ways to translate the bible than these three, but I've done this for the sake of brevity.
Some paraphrase versions- New Living Testament (NLT), New English Bible (NEB), Today's English Version (TEV), Phillips', Living Bible, The Message. If you want to read scripture like a story, with writing at the 9th-grade level or below, these are your target. You will gain readability, but lose accuracy and detail in translation. In addition, several are the work of single individuals, so you get their biases in the text.
Some thought-for-thought translations- New International Version (NIV), Today's NIV (TNIV), Revised Standard Version (RSV), New RSV (NRSV), Amplified Bible, updated New American Standard Bible. These try to strike the middle ground between literal, word-for-word translations and the paraphrases. On the whole, they are mostly good and useful for most people. If you want precision to the original text, they aren't as good as the next category, but they are certainly better than the first category.
Some literal word-for-word translations- KJV, New KJV (NKJV), original NASB, English Standard Version (ESV). The KJV is the historical standard, in spite of a few translation issues. However, it is written on a 16th-grade reading level, and many people find the language inaccessible. The NKJV is an excellent translation, and I recommend it. The original and updated NASB versions are good as well, though the flow of the language can be stilted in some places. The ESV is one of the newest version, and in my opinion, the best. It is as readable as the NIV, but retains much more accuracy to the original languages, and retains the genders in the original languages.
STUDY BIBLES
There seem to be almost as many study bibles available now as there are versions. This is really a bit silly, though in our consumerist culture, I can see why this is so. If your primary interest is understanding the text and the meaning of the original authors, I can narrow the list down to just a few. Here are my recommendations, in order-
(1) MacArthur Study Bible, ESV or NKJV
(2) Reformation Study Bible, ESV
(3) ESV Study Bible, ESV (obviously)
In terms of conservative, gospel focused commentary, I don't think you can do better than the MacArthur Study Bible. Since it is now available in the ESV (as of Summer 2010), it's a no-brainer. Dr. MacArthur provides more meaningful and helpful notes on the text, stays true to the original intent (as defined by historic, post-reformation orthodox Christianity), and is a bona fide biblical conservative, than any other translation out there.
The Reformation Study Bible, edited by R. C. Sproul, is also excellent. It has notes of no less value, but there are fewer of them. It has the advantage of having been compiled by a committee of men rather than a single individual (like MacArthur), which can be important (though not in the case of Dr. MacArthur's work, in my opinion).
The ESV Study Bible is the biggest in terms of the volume of helps and notes. As a result, it is BIG. I keep one of these on my desk for reference, but don't carry it to church. It has a tendency to move a bit further to the left in terms of the notes, compared the the two bibles above, but it is still a very conservative, evangelical (in the traditional sense) study bible. It has the best (most, and high-quality) maps and charts. And if you buy one, you get free access to the online version of the study bible, which I find very helpful.
These are just my recommendations...you may find another that you like better, and that's fine. But if you ask me, these are the three suggestions you'll hear.
04 October 2010
The Inherent Danger of Consensus as the Arbiter of Truth
Does using Wikipedia ever bother you?
It bothers me sometimes. I use it quite a bit...because it is so convenient. But when I use it, I always take what I find there with a grain of salt. (What will we use when the FDA bans salt from out diets???)
As is the norm, no one says deep philosophical things about culture quite as understandably as Tim Challies. (Well, I guess Al Mohler does, but who's counting. And don't forget R. C. Sproul and his peeps at Ligonier Ministries.) In this article, Tim talks about the problems with wikis (he uses Wikipedia as the example of all wikis). In a previous article, Tim spoke about what Wikipedia does well, and it does do some things well. But the second article is the one of import. Read the first for balance, or to get perspective on the second, but the second is the important one.
Everybody with a kid in school, especially the younger kids in (say) fourth grade through high school, should zip off a copy of this blog and let their kids read it. Or read it to them, if they can't read (you know how our education system is). This is a tremendously important concept that reaches over from the cultural into the spiritual sphere. Please don't go wandering through life without this perspective!
It bothers me sometimes. I use it quite a bit...because it is so convenient. But when I use it, I always take what I find there with a grain of salt. (What will we use when the FDA bans salt from out diets???)
As is the norm, no one says deep philosophical things about culture quite as understandably as Tim Challies. (Well, I guess Al Mohler does, but who's counting. And don't forget R. C. Sproul and his peeps at Ligonier Ministries.) In this article, Tim talks about the problems with wikis (he uses Wikipedia as the example of all wikis). In a previous article, Tim spoke about what Wikipedia does well, and it does do some things well. But the second article is the one of import. Read the first for balance, or to get perspective on the second, but the second is the important one.
Everybody with a kid in school, especially the younger kids in (say) fourth grade through high school, should zip off a copy of this blog and let their kids read it. Or read it to them, if they can't read (you know how our education system is). This is a tremendously important concept that reaches over from the cultural into the spiritual sphere. Please don't go wandering through life without this perspective!
06 November 2009
Hypersocialization
I just read an interesting blog over on Al Mohler's site,
http://fwd4.me/3AO .
He talks about an article in the WSJ on 'hypersocialization', a disease that is infecting the younger generation, who can't seem to function without their cell phones in their hand. I guess cell phones are today's cigarettes.
One thing you won't find here...I won't feel guilty or irresponsible if I don't publish a blog entry every day. It's not a priority, and shouldn't be.
http://fwd4.me/3AO .
He talks about an article in the WSJ on 'hypersocialization', a disease that is infecting the younger generation, who can't seem to function without their cell phones in their hand. I guess cell phones are today's cigarettes.
One thing you won't find here...I won't feel guilty or irresponsible if I don't publish a blog entry every day. It's not a priority, and shouldn't be.
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