A Few Tidbits

Kudos and Criticism
I have been getting a lot of positive feedback on the blog lately, however, and I appreciate it a lot. (You all know who you are.) One nice honor is to be on Joe Carter's list of the 50 Best Blogs of 2010. Thanks Joe!

It has been a crazy last week or so with ETS and SBL sandwiched in between my classes and preparation plus other important issues taking place in my life so blogging has had to take a back seat. The debates on justification with N. T. Wright were fascinating and I came away more solidly convinced than ever that Wright has gotten the Reformation tradition and Paul both seriously wrong, despite the major contributions he has made to NT exegesis. But N. T. is not happy with me and I'll have more to say on that in days to come.

Theology Pub
I'll be joining Darryl Dash and friends at Theology Pub at the Bishop and Belcher (near Church and Bloor in downtown Toronto) for a conversation at 7 pm on January 17. They want to discuss my recent theological journey back to my conservative theological roots as displayed on my blog. I will try to convince them why it is true, as I think it is, that "The Young, Restless and Reformed will save Evangelicalism in the next few decades."

No, Pope Benedict Did Not Say Condoms Were OK
I don't have time to parse the whole sordid, on-purpose confusing mess the media has made of the remarks on condoms by Pope Benedict XVI in his new book. If you want a clear-eyed and factual perspective, go here and read George Weigel's insightful analysis. Or, if you prefer wild-eyed fanaticism and garbled messages based on a lack of knowledge of the Church, moral theology and logic, just read the New York Times. Deep sigh . . .

Heritage Theological College & Seminary
The Heritage Board, (on which I serve) made an exciting announcement today about a new strategic partnership with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists Central Region. I like schools that think outside the box and go against the conventional wisdom. By moving from being a non-denominational, independent school with strong ties to Fellowship Baptists to becoming the official school of the Fellowship, Heritage is bucking a trend. Instead of becoming more generically Evangelical it is choosing to put down deeper roots into a particular theological tradition (Conservative, Reformed, Evangelical, Baptist) which can nurture it and give it a distinctive identity and historical roots.

Paradoxically, I think this newly refined sense of identity will give it more rather than less appeal to non-Fellowship Baptists looking for a school with a high commitment to serious theology and to delivering quality preparation for pastoral ministry, evangelism, church planting and cross-cultural missions. We shall see, but I am hopeful and optimistic.

The Acton Institute
I had a nice time visiting with the good folk at the Acton Institute while at ETS last week. They are trying to help seminaries and professors to think a bit more clearly about economics, politics and faith than we often do. Christians and especially theologians are extremely vulnerable to the fallacy of endorsing the "politics of good intentions," and therefore evaluating political and economic philosophies and ideas on the basis of what they aspire to do instead of on the basis of what they actually accomplish. You might enjoy their website here and their Powerblog here.