When John R. Sampey was named president of Southern Seminary in 1929, he inherited a brand new Lexington Road campus with $992,000 in related debt (about $13 million in today’s money).1 Only a few months later, a stock market crash initiated the Great Depression. Fortunately for the seminary and the denomination, Sampey was a capable…
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary sits nestled in the Crescent Hill neighborhood of Louisville. The large trees and beautiful homes gives the area surrounding Southern a warmth beyond its property lines. “If someone handed you a map of the city of Louisville and said to pick a great location to place Southern Seminary, you couldn’t…
EDITOR’S NOTE: In what follows, Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, and Heath Lambert, assistant professor of biblical counseling, discuss their new book, Transforming Homosexuality, with Towers writer Annie Corser. AC: Why did you pursue writing this book together? DB: My initial concern was driven by things I was seeing in evangelical Christianity, in which we…
Transforming Homosexuality: What the Bible Says About Sexual Orientation and Change Denny Burk and Heath Lambert (P & R Publishing 2015, $9.99) The gospel ultimately demands a heart change from homosexuals, Boyce College professors Denny Burk and Heath Lambert write in their new book Transforming Homosexuality. Burk, a professor of biblical studies at Boyce, and Lambert, executive director…
The Owlings: Book Two, Daniel A. DeWitt (Theolatte Press 2015, $10.99) Review by Annie Corser The Owlings is a series of worldview novellas written for younger readers to introduce them to big worldview truths. Boyce College Dean Dan DeWitt wrote this series to explain deep worldview topics in an accessible format. The first book in the series…
Every year we devote one issue of SBJT to a study Lifeway’s January Bible study book. For 2016, our focus is on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church. In focusing our attention on this specific book of Scripture, I am reminded about the story told by Kent Hughes regarding one of the world’s most…
Paul does not write abstract theological disquisitions. His word is always a “word on target,” intended to address the needs of his readers at times in which he himself cannot be present with them. ((J. C. Beker, The Triumph of God: The Essence of Paul’s Thought (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), 12.)) All of Paul’s letters…
The Glory of God in 2 Corinthians ((Matt wrote the bulk of the exegetical section, and Chris wrote most of the theological section.)) I cannot expect to understand the mysteries of God … If I understood God, He could not be the true God. A doctrine which I cannot fully grasp is a Truth of…
Καταργέω and the People of the Shining Face (2 Corinthians 3:7-18) ((This article is adapted from a presentation by the same title at the 2014 national meeting of The Evangelical Theological Society and the fuller commentary treatment of the passage in George H. Guthrie, 2 Corinthians (BECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 203-232.)) In…
Second Corinthians 3 is a hotly debated and difficult text. For example, Thomas Schreiner says 2 Corinthians 3 is “one of the most controverted texts in the Pauline corpus,” ((Thomas Schreiner, book review of Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel: The Letter/Spirit Contrast and the Argument from Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3, by Scott…
Introduction Evangelical Christians from various perspectives have wrestled with how the New Testament (NT) relates to the Old, and, more specifically, how the new covenant relates to the prior biblical covenants. Should the relationship primarily be cast in terms of continuity, such that the nature and structure of the new covenant are in essential continuity…
Living by faith means longing for more than this world.
Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul.By Simon Gathercole. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2015. 128 pp., $19.99 Paperback. Simon Gathercole is senior lecturer in New Testament studies in the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Cambridge and Fellow and director of studies in theology at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He has published several books, such…
Sir Winston Churchill is widely regarded as the greatest leader of the 20th century. Born in the splendor of Blenheim Palace on Nov. 30, 1874, Churchill’s life would span the most decisive years of the transition into the modern world. Though faced with great adversity — and driven by a titanic self-confidence — he would…
Fifty years after his death, Winston Churchill remains the epitome of a bold and successful leader. Co-author of the recent God & Churchill, the British Prime Minister’s great-grandson Jonathan Sandys discusses the marks of Churchill’s leadership and why he provides hope for leaders today, especially those who fail. CS: What defined Churchill’s leadership? JS: When…
Winston Churchill is one of the most quoted leaders of all time, yet many modern citations put words in the lion’s mouth. You’ve probably heard this one: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen” (looking at you, RG3). As Churchill himself…
