Categorizing Four Different Reformed Approaches to Gospel and Culture

Continuing our discussion of the relationship between the gospel and culture, here is an interesting article that divides present day Reformed approaches to the question into four camps: (1) neo-calvinism, which focuses on the comprehensive claims of the gospel; (2) two kingdom approach, which stresses the distinctiveness of the church from the culture; (3) neo-puritans, who emphasize the sovereignty of God and the role of the individual in seeking the good of the city; (4) old-calvinism, which contends that cultural engagement inevitably leads to worldliness.

While not the final word on the subject, the article is definitely a helpful (albeit brief!) overview of how different folks in the Reformed family approach a challenging issue.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

The "Evangelical Drudge Report" Changes Address

Most readers of this blog may already know this, but the popular "Between Two Worlds" blog run by Justin Taylor has now moved under the umbrella of the Gospel Coalition. The new address is:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/

Also worth noting is a new blog run by the Gospel Coalition:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/

N.T. Wright Headlines the Wheaton Theology Conference 2010

The topic for The 19th Annual Wheaton Theology Conference has been announced, and it is sure to be an interesting one--Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright. In addition to Wright, other noteworthy speakers include Markus Bockmuehl, Richard Hays, Kevin Vanhoozer and Nicholas Perrin. You can see the full lineup here.

The conference is not until April 16-17, but given the heavy hitters it may be wise to register early.

Friday Morning Resources

Here are two resources worth your attention:

1. Jim Hamilton, Associate Professor of Biblical Theology, Southern Seminary, recently lectured on “The Orthodoxy of the Text of the New Testament: Reasserting the Obvious.” Here is the abstract:

"The first chapter of Bart Ehrman’s book The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture suggests that our understanding of early Christianity needs to be radically revised, but Ehrman himself acknowledges that the rest of the volume does not provide the kind of evidence that would warrant such a revision. This presentation argues against the revisionist view that the traditional story of early Christianity distorts what really happened because “the victors rewrote the history.” Instead, the geographically widespread, early, abundant, and orthodox manuscript evidence points to an original mainstream of orthodox Christianity from which the heretics deviated. The orthodoxy of the manuscripts can be seen in what can be deduced from the use of the codex form, in the nomina sacra abbreviations used to refer to both God and Christ, in the staurogram, and in the concern of the scribes themselves to make exact copies of their texts."

2. Yesterday At Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Al Mohler hosted a panel discussion on N.T. Wright's view on justification with Dr. Denny Burk, Dr. Tom Schreiner, Dr. Mark Seifrid, Dr. Brian Vickers. You can find the audio here and the video here.

D.A. Carson on "The Good Samaritan"

This past Sunday D.A. Carson preached at Fox Valley Bible Church in South Elgin, Illinois. His text was the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Carson does a nice job of preaching this text in a Christ-centered way. You can listen to it online here or download the MP3 file here.