William G. T. Shedd, Calvinism: Pure and Mixed

The Banner of Truth Trust, 1989, 161 pgs.

Summary: Shedd’s response to the latitudinarian, liberal, and synergistic revisions suggested to the Westminster Confession among Presbyterians in the United States in the late 1800s.

A brilliant description, definition, and defense of some of the thorny points of Calvinism: preterition, the decrees of God, infant salvation, common and special grace, and the like.

From the section on Preterition and the Divine Decrees: “It is an objection of the sceptics, and sometimes of those who are not sceptics, that this perpetual assertion in the Scriptures that God is the chief end of creation, and this perpetual demand that the creature glorify him, is only a species of infinite egotism. . .But this objection overlooks the fact that God is an infinitely greater and higher being than any or all of his creatures; and that from the very nature of the case the less must be subordinated to the greater. Is it egotism, when man employs in his service his ox or his ass? Is it selfishness, when the rose or the lily takes up into its own fabric and tissue the inanimate qualities of matter, and converts the dull and colorless elements of the clod into hues and odors, into beauty and bloom” (82-83).

From “Inerrancy of the Scriptures”:  [The inspiration] extended not on one subject only, but to all the subjects of which the sacred writers treat, and on which they profess to teach the truth. The history, chronology, topography, and physics, as well as the theology and ethics, that were composed under ‘immediate inspiration’ of God, must from the nature of the case have been free from error” (132).

Benefits: An incredibly helpful book in defending the importance of confessions and doctrinal statements and conformity to them.  His arguments on the inerrancy of Scripture are especially worthwhile. It is a good source for developing an understanding of the Arminian and Calvinistic understanding of infant salvation. Interesting discussion and rejection of universalism and postmortem salvation and sanctification.

Detriments: This is not a book to introduce someone to the Westminster Confession. It is a defense of Augustinianism as attacked by liberals and theological latitudinarianism. Shedd’s allowance for regeneration among unevangelized responsible adults is not well defended and seems untenable.

John Howe, The Living Temple: Part II

reprint: Gale Ecco, 2011; London, Thomas Parkhurst, 1702.

Summary: Howe was a brilliant Puritan non-conformist, much admired by Shedd. The first volume of the Living Temple closely argues the ontological argument in its Anselmic form, likely in response to Descartes’ flawed reformulation. In the second book, he then takes Spinoza to task for his pantheism. Essentially, the issue is that if God is not a person than Spinoza should not be a person or as Howe summarizes:

Pg. 87, “You must also know, that whatever Being is not of it self, hath no Excellency in it, but what was in that Being that was of it self before. And therefore, it had in it, all the Excellency that is in such things as proceeded from it (unabated because in it necessarily) together with the proper Excellency of its own Being, whereas the other sort of Beings, have but their own deriv’d Excellency only. Wherefore this, also, is most evident, that , this World had a Maker distinct from, and more excellent than it self, that changes not, and whereto that Name most properly agrees, I AM THAT I AM.”

We can put this in to more contemporary terms: Dawkins is a contingent being. Contingent beings draw their qualities and capacities from the beings that came prior to them. Dawkins is an intelligent, living being, therefore his ultimate cause is also a intelligent living person. Since God is not a contingent being (witnessed by the I AM statement), God must be intelligent, etc.

Dawkins and Spinoza might try to work around this with a non-caused material cause, requiring that from nothing came something, but this is essentially irrational.

After having washed his hands of materialism, Howe then argues for Anselm’s view of the atonement and lays out a brilliant argument that God created man to be his physical temple. When Adam rebelled against God, the Spirit of God was withdrawn from man as an element of his creation. The Spirit has been progressively restored among those who have faith. The Old Testament saints claim to the Spirit was tentative (cf. Ps. 51: 11), because the legal transaction between God the Father and the God the Son had not yet occurred.  While those under the Mosaic covenant who believed had the Spirit, it was only when “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’-so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” Having paid the penalty for man, the Spirit of God was then let loose upon the believing community as the legal seal of their final perfection (cf. 2 Cor. 2:21-22; Ephesians 2:19-22).

Benefits: An incredibly thought provoking book. I am still processing the theological arguments on the Holy Spirit, but I am inclined to accept the general outline as to the role of the Holy Spirit in salvation history.

As a taste of his more pastoral rather than philosophical work:

Pg. 467: “Look to EMMANUEL; consider Him in the several Capacities, and in all the Accomplishments, Performances, Acquisitions, by which He is so admirably fitted to bring it about, that God may have his Temple in your Breast. Will you defeat so kind, and so glorious a Design? Behold, or listen, Doth he not stand at the Door, and knock?”

Detriments: My copy was essentially a photocopy of the 1702 original. Orthography is not only archaic, but often blurred. I couldn’t read most of the Greek. The book is not accessible on many fronts.

William G. T. Shedd, Theological Essays

Solid Ground Christian Books; reprint, Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1877.

Summary: Seven articles developing an Augustinian response to modernity (note the publishing date).

• The Method, and Influence of Theological Studies:

“He who would obtain correct views in political or natural science, as well as he who would be a mind of power and depth in the sphere of literature; in short, the student generally; has a vital interest in the truths of supernatural science” (48).

• The Nature, and Influence of the Historic Spirit:

“It begins to be seen that the harmony between philosophy and Christianity is not to be brought about, by first assuming that the infallibility is on the side of the human reason; and that, too, as it appears in a single and particular philosophical system; and then insisting that all the adjustments, conformity, and coalescence, shall be on the side of the Divine revelation” (101).

• The Idea of Evolution Defined, and Applied to History:

“The definition of Evolution by Herbert Spencer, as ‘the development of the homogeneous into the heterogeneous,’ is exactly wrong” (158).

• The Doctrine of Original Sin:

“The characteristic of the Will proper, as distinguished from the volitionary faculty, is determination of the whole being to an ultimate end, rather than selection of means for attaining that end in a particular case” (234). Ft. “This distinction between Will proper, and the faculty of choices, is marked in Latin by two words, Voluntas and Abritrium. . .”

• The Atonement a Satisfaction for the Ethical Nature of Both God and Man:

“Even if he should be renewed and sanctified by the Spirit of God, this sanctification has in it nothing expiatory, or correlative to guilt, and therefore could not remove [the sinner’s] remorse. Food is good and necessary, but it cannot slake thirst. Personal holiness is excellent and indispensable, but it cannot perform the function of atonement” (301).

• Symbols and Congregationalism:

“It is not enough, in the present condition of Christendom, for an individual to point to the word of God, as it lies upon the table, saying: ‘My doctrinal belief is between those covers. . .’” (338).

• Clerical Education:

“Modern infidelity assumes a greater variety of forms than the ancient, although its essential character remains the same. . . It involves the relation of Ethics to Christianity. In our country, in particular, this form of infidelity associates itself, parasitically, with the reformation of society, and thereby becomes doubly dangerous to the Christian church, which ever takes a deep interest in the removal of social evils” (373).

Benefits/Detriments: A refreshing and historic consideration of the above listed topics. Because Shedd grasps the marrow of infidelity and the source of truth, his writings are incredibly relevant to today.

Hebrews commentaries

• Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews

• Martin Luther, Lectures on Hebrews

• John Calvin

• John Owen

• John Brown of Edinburgh, Hebrews in The Geneva Series of Commentaries

• Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews

• F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews: Revised

• Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews

• William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13

Thessalonians Commentaries

• John Calvin

• John Stott, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

• Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians

• Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistle to the Thessalonians

• D. Michael Martin, 1, 2 Thessalonians

Luke Commentaries

• Augustine, Harmony of Luke -- Somewhat helpful. Recommended if interested in Augustine.

• John Calvin, Harmony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke -- Calvin is too prone to assume a single theological referent for a historical event in all three of the gospels instead of allowing for multiple referents using the same event. Otherwise very helpful. Recommended.

• John Gill, Mathew to John -- Very helpful development of Jewish background from primary sources. See above on Calvin. Recommended.

• Walter L. Liefeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Luke -- Some very helpful insights. Recommended.

• I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke (NIGTC) -- Basically orthodox but too prone to assume higher criticism. Some good work in the Greek.

• J. C. Ryle, Luke -- Highly recommended for all.

Deuteronomy commentaries

• Raymond Brown, The Message Deuteronomy (BST) -- Edifying.

• Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy (NICOT) -- Served as the grammatical-historical backbone of my Deuteronomy series.

• Martin Luther, Lectures on Deuteronomy -- Offers some interesting insights; Luther is always refreshing.
  

• J. Gary Millar, Now Choose Life: Theology and Ethics Deuteronomy (NSBT) -- Very academic in outlook, but with some helpful insights as to how to bridge the text to a modern audience.

• Edward J. Woods, Deuteronomy (TOTC) -- Useful, but badly organized for reference.

• Telford Work, Deuteronomy-Brazo Theological Commentary -- Mildly bizarre and experimental, perhaps neo-orthodox in outlook; it was sent to me by accident by Baker books. Some edifying comments.

• Christopher Wright, Deuteronomy (NIBC) -- Edifying.

First Corinthians Commentaries

• D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 -- Generally very helpful. Very odd defense of speaking in tongues in the current church.

• John Calvin, 1 Corinthians -- Very helpful.

• Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT) -- Acceptable.

• Roy E. Ciampa, Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians (PNTC) -- Very helpful.

• Charles Hodge, 1 & 2 Corinthians (Geneva Series) -- Very helpful, especially for preachers.

• Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians (TNTC) -- Acceptable.

• David Prior, The Message of 1 Corinthians (The Bible Speaks Today) -- Didn't really use.

• Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC) -- Brilliant, a bit quirky, and to be handled with care.

Numbers Commentaries

• Philip J. Budd, Numbers (WBC)--a compilation of Dr. Budd’s speculation.

• Raymond Brown, The Message of Numbers (The Bible Speaks Today)--orthodox but not terribly helpful

• John Calvin, Harmony of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

• Gorden J. Wenham, Numbers (TOTC)--a solid, thought provoking, but modern commentary.

Leviticus Commentaries

• Derek Tidball, The Message of Leviticus

• Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus (NICOT)

• John E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC)