SBJT 19/2 (Summer 2015)

Table of Contents (Summer 2015)

Stephen J. Wellum                                                                                   5 Editorial: Living All of Life to God’s Glory R. Albert Mohler, Jr.                                                                                9 Economics and the Christian Worldview: 12 Theses David Kotter                                                                                             17 Greed vs. Self-Interest: A Case Study of How Economists Can Help Theologians Serve the Church Mark Coppenger                                                                                     49 Stewardship of the Wetlands below…

Editorial: Living All of Life to God’s Glory

At Southern Seminary, over the last couple of years, we have been enjoying the work and ministry of the Commonweal Project as it has been hosting conferences, bringing in various guest speakers from all over the country, and offering a number of lectures from Southern Seminary’s own faculty. If you are not familiar with the…

Economics and the Christian Worldview: 12 Theses

Once called “a dismal science” by historian Thomas Carlyle, economics is often sidelined, even in the academic world. But economics is, in fact, one of most important social sciences.  With that in mind, my aim in this brief article is to look at economics, labor, business, money, industry, and work from a theological perspective. Further,…

Greed vs. Self-Interest: A Case Study of How Economists Can Help Theologians Serve the Church

Preparing a sermon from the New Testament to serve a local congregation has always been a challenging spiritual labor. Exegesis and application require a pastor to bridge a language gap from Greek to English, a cultural gap from the first century to the contemporary ethos, and a geographical gap from the Levant to the Western…

Stewardship of the Wetlands below the Golan Heights: A Study in Judeo-Christian and Muslim Contrasts

I ask the reader’s indulgence as I weave personal narrative into my essay, for my thinking has emerged in these past years through a range of travels, events, and assignments, from which I’ll draw in making my case. On my first visit to Mount Hermon on Israel’s northern border, our tour guide pointed out the…

Why Are You Here? Heavenly Work vs. Earthly Work

Overview This brief article examines the nature of human work from a biblical and theological perspective. Creation frames human work because God created humans as his image bearers, giving them the task of building civilization through procreation and vocation. But humanity’s purposeful work became cursed work through sin. Now the gospel transforms and restores our work…

Not Always Right: Critiquing Christopher Wright’s Paradigmatic Application of the Old Testament to the Socio-economic Realm

Christopher J. H. Wright is one of the leading evangelical voices today addressing the theology of the church’s mission. Wright, an Anglican pastor and Old Testament (OT) scholar, is a key figure in the Lausanne Movement, including his role as the Chair of the Cape Town 2010 Statement Working Group, which drafted the Cape Town…

The Gospel, Human Flourishing, and the Foundation of Social Order

Introduction The headlines over the past few months attest our society is experiencing rapid transformation culminating from decades of moral mutiny. Events in Ferguson, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Dallas, Charleston and Supreme Court decisions is a predictable course of America’s trajectory because the moral revolutionaries have secularized the public conscience. The myriad of competing voices through the…

Living in Truth: Unmasking the Lies of our Postmodern Culture

Introduction Our society is one typified as postmodern: it is a society that has left modernism behind it, at least in part. Modernism had its roots in the Renaissance and attained its full flowering in the Enlightenment. The philosopher Immanuel Kant described the Enlightenment as man’s liberation from the dependency in which he had been…

Book Reviews (Summer 2015)

Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation. By Matthew Levering. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014. 363+xi pages. $44.99. Hardback. One of the biggest divides between Roman Catholics and Protestants continues to be the authority of the Church and Scripture. Roman Catholics tend to have a high view of both sources of authority, allowing for each to construct doctrine.…