Themelios 49.2

The new August 2024 issue of Themelios has 263 pages of editorials, articles, and book reviews. It is freely available in three formats: (1) PDF, (2) web version, and (3) Logos Bible Software.

1. Brian J. Tabb | Editorial: What Makes a “Good” Theological Article?

Drawing on his years of experience as Themelios’s editor, Tabb explains in detail what a quality theological essay involves. An article must be aligned with the journal’s aims and marked by fidelity, freshness, fitness, focus, rigor, readability, and relevance.

2. Daniel Strange | Strange Times: The Tightrope of Teaching Typology

Strange reflects on the nature of two typologies—Alan Race’s threefold typology of religion and H. Richard Niebuhr’s fivefold typology of culture—and how they relate to theological education. By classifying and organizing religions and cultures, believers function in the image of God.

3. Kevin DeYoung | A Tale of Two Texts: How the Westminster Confession of Faith Was Changed by American Presbyterians to Reflect a New Understanding of the Civil Magistrate

DeYoung juxtaposes the American Presbyterians’ revision of the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1788 with the original 1646 version. He highlights how the American Presbyterians rejected the European model of the relationship between church and state, preferring to keep the two generally separate.

4. Nathan Cantu | “Do Not Think It Is Impossible for Anyone to Please God While Engaged in Active Military Service”: An Augustinian Critique of the Narrative of the American Military

Cantu applies Augustine’s insights in Confessions and The City of God. According to Augustine, Christians don’t participate in military service for the glory and expansion of the state but to preserve peace, restrain evil, and facilitate the church’s work.

5. Joshua Bremerman | Wisdom Is Vindicated by Her Deeds: Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 in Matthew 11:16–19

This article proposes an Old Testament allusion to Ecclesiastes 3 in Matthew 11:16–19. Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 is the “wisdom” that Jesus has in mind, and Bremerman argues that the context of Ecclesiastes 3 sheds light on Jesus’s biting critique of his audience.

6. Mark Makowiecki | Irenaeus and the Adam-Christ Typology in the Gospel of John

Some scholars propose that Adam Christology is only found in Pauline literature. Makowiecki, however, argues it can be discerned in Irenaeus’s reading of John’s Gospel. The Fourth Gospel is a treasure trove of insights into the relationship between Adam and Christ.

7. Timothy E. Miller | Unbelieving Child and Qualified Elder: A Case for “Faithful” Children in Titus 1:6

Commentators and English translations have leaned toward the “believing” position on Titus 1:6: elders must have Christian children to remain qualified for ministry. Miller argues, though, that the Greek word πιστά is best rendered “faithful” in accordance with lexical, contextual, theological, and practical considerations.

8. Jacob Boyd | John Owen’s Theology of Public Worship

Boyd presents the case that John Owen pushed back against imposed liturgies, such as the Book of Common Prayer, because their enforcement crippled a congregation’s ability to worship God freely. Owen’s theology of public worship is established on the triune God and beholding him by faith now. A church’s worship should be characterized by actively being in communion with Christ and by looking at him through the prescribed ordinances of worship found in God’s Word.

9. Leland Brown | An All-Out Ministry: Strain and Suffering in Spurgeon’s Pastoral Theology

While C. H. Spurgeon’s sufferings and pastoral ministry have often been explored separately, Brown recognizes that Spurgeon viewed his suffering and ministry as going hand-in-hand. Pastors must suffer because they’re Christ’s servants, conduits of his grace to others. Spurgeon’s outlook is also a model for pastors today.

10. J. Brittain Brewer | Atonement by Union: Probing Crisp’s Union Account with John Owen

Oliver Crisp has recently suggested a novel “union account” that takes into consideration many of the classic atonement views while arguing for a basic coherence in terms of realistic solidarity with Christ. Brewer’s article appraises the strengths and weaknesses of Crisp’s account, suggesting the Reformed tradition, especially John Owen, provides a stronger atonement model that incorporates union and doesn’t fall prey to the problems of a realist solidarity.

11. Dennis M. Sullivan | Contraception and the Church: Making Sense of the Debate and Some Pastoral Advice

Sullivan reviews the ethical and theological issues surrounding birth control, with an emphasis on hormonal methods. He evaluates emergency contraception, intrauterine devices, natural family planning, and sterilization. The article concludes with practical implications for local-church ministry.

12. Robert P. Menzies | Simultaneous Prayer: A Pentecostal Perspective

Menzies responds to Scott D. MacDonald’s Themelios article that questions the practice of simultaneous prayer in Acts 4:23–31. Menzies argues that this passage describes the corporate practice of praying different prayers at the same time. The Acts 4 prayer, when viewed against the backdrop of Luke’s literary style and his emphasis on prayer, is neither preplanned nor liturgical.

13. J. David Willoughby | The Spirit of God and the Religions of the World: A Response to Amos Yong’s Claims

Amos Yong, an acclaimed Pentecostal scholar, argues for what he calls a pneumatological theology of religions. Such a viewpoint allows him to “bracket the soteriological question” and bypass the constraints of a narrow Christology, opening the possibility of salvation to those outside the Christian faith. Yong goes on to suggest the Holy Spirit sustains non-Christian religions and that they are, in fact, his instruments in the world today. Willoughby surveys Yong’s view on the Spirit and world religions, evaluates it in light of biblical data, and then proposes a more biblical way of speaking of the Spirit’s interaction among those of other faiths.

14. Cody Wilbanks | “We Do Not Lose Heart”: Theological Encouragement for Endurance and Opportunities for Reflection from 2 Corinthians 4:1–16

Pastors often experience great hardship in ministry and are prone to burnout and discouragement. Wilbanks explores Paul’s theological encouragement for endurance in 2 Corinthians 4:1–16 and offers opportunities for personal reflection for those in the throes of gospel ministry.

Featured Book Reviews:

Carmen Joy Imes, Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters. Reviewed by Steven W. Guest.

Peter J. Leithart, Creator: A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1. Reviewed by Thomas Haviland-Pabst.

Ellen Vaughn, Being Elisabeth Elliot. Reviewed by Karin Spiecker Stetina.

Jonathan Leeman, Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing. Reviewed by Blake Johnson..

Andrew J. Spencer, Hope for God’s Creation: Stewardship in an Age of Futility. Reviewed by Lionel J. Windsor.

Vance Christie, David Livingstone: Missionary, Explorer, Abolitionist. Reviewed by Kevin Rodgers.

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