The Most Interesting Theologians in the World

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Different Views of the Supper

Yesterday Justin Taylor posted a quote by J.I. Packer about the Lord's Supper. He entitled it What Should You Be Thinking About During the Lord's Supper. The quote and most of the comments stem from classic Reformation ecclesiology.

I decided to leave a comment describing what we do as a church family eating the Lord's Supper. One person responded by asking about kids and unbelievers. I then responded to that. The tenor of the conversation is a positive one. I encourage you to read the post and comments, and then leave your own thoughts on the matter.

The Supper is very important to the life of the church. The better we understand God's plan for his meal, the better we can celebrate it in a manner that pleases him.

The Reformed Tendency to Create Superstars

What is it about Reformed folks and the tendency to create superstars?

I write from "inside the camp" of the Reformed, if by that we are talking strictly about God being sovereign over salvation (I reject the Reformed view of the church; no surprise there).

I've compiled a short list of some of today's Reformed superstars: John Piper, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Al Mohler, Sinclair Ferguson, Alistair Begg, C.J. Mahaney, Timothy Keller, Thabiti Anyabwile, Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll, David Platt, Matt Chandler, Kevin DeYoung, and Josh Harris.  There are several more.

Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell

In our modern age, few people give much thought to heaven and hell. Even most Christians (myself ashamedly included) do not spend significant time pondering what lies ahead after death. We are probably guilty of this because our lives are so posh in the West. My guess is that followers of Christ in places like North Korea, China, and the Arab world actually do give much time to looking forward to heaven with Christ.

Jonathan Edwards, the greatest American theologian, gave much thought to the realities of both heaven and hell. Fortunately for us, Edwards put much of this down on paper.

In Heaven and Hell, Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney have taken Edwards' writings and put them in a form that is easy to understand for us modern readers. They have not "dumbed-down" the text, but rather have added explanatory notes to assist in comprehension.

Here is a sample of what Edwards wrote about the prospect of hell, "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and Justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise of obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood." (Works 22, 411).

As for heaven, Edwards wrote, "And when Christ shall bring his church into his Father's house in heaven after the judgment, he shall bring her there as his bride, having there presented her whom he loved and gave himself for to himself, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The bridegroom and the bride shall then enter into heaven, both having on their wedding robes, attended with all the glorious angels. And there they enter on the feast and joys of their marriage before the Father; they shall then begin an everlasting wedding day. (Works 9, 508).

Heaven and Hell is a relatively short book (about 140 pages) that is also very readable. If you are new to Edwards, this is a great place to begin. He speaks with a clarity that far surpasses most theologians.

May we all spend increasing time pondering eternity with Christ in heaven. May we also be inspired by the reality of hell to more faithfully share Christ with others.

Edwards Made Easy

Jonathan Edwards is one of the great theologians who I want to read. However, I find his writing style to often fly over my head. This is no criticism of him, but rather myself.

The general consensus amongst almost everyone is that Edwards is the greatest theologian ever to come out of this country (he lived before the USA came into existence, but I suppose that is an historical technicality). In light of his excellence, I need to find a way to read at least some of his writings.

There is now a way.

Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney have written a series of five short books that focus on the life and writings of Jonathan Edwards. The series is entitled The Essential Edwards Collection.In the books, the authors both discuss Edwards and quote extensively from him. The great part is that they place his writings in the context of his life and quote him in a way that is easy to understand. Each book is only about 150 pages long. They are written in a format that is refreshing and enjoyable.

I've read the first of the five books and am about to dive into the next.

Right now you can purchase the five book set for about $30. If you haven't read Edwards before but want to learn from him, this would be a great resource for you.

Quiz: Can You Identify the Theologian?

I recently found out about a website called Reformationart.com. This site offers artwork of various theologians and happenings from the Reformation and later times. I thought it would be fun to post pictures of some of these theologians, and then put together a short quiz.

Below are pictures of 18 theologians. I've broken them up into three groups of six each. The first group is relatively easy, the second is more difficult, and the third might be tough for you. The answers to the three groups are located at the very bottom of the post. See how you do, and then comment with your results. Do you know your theologians?

EASY
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MEDIUM
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DIFFICULT
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Answers are below (scroll down.)























ANSWERS
1. John Calvin
2. Jonathan Edwards
3. Martin Luther
4. John Owen
5. William Tyndale
6. George Whitefield

7. Richard Baxter
8. John Huss
9. John Knox
10. B. B. Warfield
11. John Wycliffe
12. Ulrich Zwingli

13. Louis Berkhof
14. Theodore Beza
15. Hugh Latimer
16. J. Gresham Machen
17. Phillip Melanchthon
18. Thomas Watson