Light & Heat
“My academic discipline is called “historical theology,” which is something of a neologism. Up until the last hundred and fifty years or so all theology was basically “historical theology,” that is, theology was always conducted in conversation with the past. As theologians became more and more dislodged from history in the modern period, however, there was a need to add the qualifier “historical” to stress the importance of history. So much theology today is abstract and seems to have no clear grounding.”
We can’t help but agree with C.S. Lewis, who said, “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” All of us at Tennent are book lovers, and it is largely by reading that we have been shaped to know and love Christ, to engage the world’s great thinkers, to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. From time to time we would like to share a few favorite titles from our own bookshelves for your reading pleasure. Here’s a small sample of books that are fascinating, encouraging, challenging, and lively. Enjoy!
Pastor Mark Hallock of Calvary Englewood Church just wrapped up a sermon series on the book of Ecclesiastes, a rarely-preached and often misunderstood corner of the Bible. We asked him to share a little about his experience. As he says, “If you’re gospel-centered, all of it's a springboard to our joy in the Lord: Jesus is better, Jesus transcends all this, Jesus is our King and he reigns over all these things.”
The idea circulates that theological study is futile. Why study the ineffable God? Many a modern Christian seems to gravitate towards chucking doctrine, perceiving the pride and folly of claiming to know with our small brains what can only be understood by our omniscient Father. Rather than advocating a heaping helping of humility, some are seduced by a false dichotomy: doctrine or mercy, doctrine or mystery, doctrine or mission.
The story of Training Leaders International is an incredibly hopeful story for the church worldwide. As President Darren Carlson points out, “Even if all the seminaries in the world operated at 100% capacity, we wouldn’t make a dent in the number of leaders that need training…. Seminaries are outposts of gospel light. Planting and working in pastoral training schools are some of the most fruitful things missionaries can do.”
To fail to worship is to undercut the truth we claim to understand…. But all too often in our day and age, and in many, many seminary classrooms, the study of theology, which should kindle all of our affections for Jesus, is instead nothing more than a regurgitation of some collection of well-reasoned arguments concerning God. But theology is for doxology… Let us come to the subject at hand with the proper respect and awe and whole-hearted devotion that it deserves.
What does Zechariah mean when he admonishes us not to “despise the day of small things”? Catherine Morgan considers the significance of small people, small places, and small beginnings. “A key part of Christian formation is cultivating an appreciation for the spiritual treasure house of small things, learning to see behind appearances and look, as Jesus did, a little deeper.”
We are delighted to welcome Dr. Garth Rosell of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary to the blog! Dr. Rosell reflects on his many decades of teaching church history and his development of a cohort-model D.Min. program for Gordon-Conwell. “The credit for these remarkable communities of learning, friendship, and faith, of course, belongs solely, absolutely and completely to God. Such developments, if they are genuine, are always the work of the Holy Spirit and ‘they are marvelous in our eyes.’”
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