Monthly Archives: March 2015

Baker Academic Blog “Beyond the Book”

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Baker Academic Press, the publisher of my eschatology book, A New Heaven and a New Earth, is starting a new blog series called “Beyond the Book,” where authors are asked to reflect (in short blog posts) on aspects of the topic of their book. I’ve been asked to contribute the first set of blogs, one per week during the month of March, starting Monday.

My four posts will address interesting things I learned about biblical eschatology during the writing of the book, things that I had not previously known (these will be topics I have not previously blogged about). Each of the four topics I will write about illumine an important aspect of the biblical worldview, which turns out to be quite different from what many modern Christians assume.

The publisher is giving away free copies of A New Heaven and a New Earth in connection with this blog series; you can sign up to win a free copy here.

I’ll make sure to link my posts from that website to this one once they appear.

No Dualisms! Byron Borger of Hearts and Minds Bookstore

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The book display at the Jubilee 2015 conference that I recently spoke at was organized and staffed (as it is every year) by bookseller extraordinaire, Byron Borger of Hearts and Minds Books.

When I say “book display” I should put that in the plural; there were multiple tables with an amazing array of works in theology, biblical studies, ethics, and topics on how faith relates to every aspect of culture and society.

Byron has an encyclopedic knowledge of good books, both classical and contemporary, and he has done a phenomenal job over the years introducing many Christians to a depth of life-transforming knowledge that they otherwise would not have known about.

The book displays also featured works written by speakers at this year’s Jubilee conference, including my own recent eschatology book, A New Heaven and a New Earth (plus all my other books!).

In fact, Byron has written two reviews of my eschatology book, one extended, the other briefer—to accompany his naming it as biblical studies “book of the year” (given the number of books Byron reads, that’s quite an honor).

Byron recently posted a comment on his Facebook page about one of my blogs (from about a year ago) that addressed the relationship of my own eschatological vision to that of New Testament scholar Tom Wright (via Brian Walsh).

Here is Byron’s post:

I have often noted how N.T. Wright dedicated his first big “Origins” book (“The New Testament and the People of God”) to Brian Walsh. Brian tells a bit about his studying Colossians with Wright in his and Sylvia Keesmaat’s “Colossians Remixed” and how he pressed Tom to more fully proclaim the full-orbed redemption the text insists upon. (And what a joy to have a back cover endorsement blurb right next to Tom on that extraordinary book!)

Here, the co-author of Brian’s “Transforming Vision” (one of my all time favorite books) J Richard Middleton shows the connection between TV, which they were writing even while Brian was engaging Tom Wright with a more comprehensive view of God redeeming all things. Now that Richard has written the definitive book on wholistic eschatology (“A New Heaven and a New Earth”) — and spoken about it at Jubilee last week — I thought I’d share his rumination on this little story.

Three cheers for their phrase “no dualisms” which CCO used to have printed up on staff tee-shirts! Three cheers for Tom, Brian, Sylvia, and Richard. I am thankful to know about such significant authors, and to praise God for these generative friendships.

Well, I couldn’t find a picture of the T-shirt that Byron mentions, but I did find this:

Byron, thanks for all your work for the kingdom!

Redeeming Reason with John Mullholland

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I met John Mulholland, who works at the University of Chicago Law Library, back in 2007. Over the years John has been a consistent proponent of a holistic Christian worldview, including its relevance for the university, and has organized many conferences on the subject, helping many to reflect on what it means to serve Christ in academia.

At John’s invitation I came to speak at an event called “The Redemption of Reason” at the University of Chicago in October 2007; I gave two talks, one on God’s validation of Job’s lament in the speech from the whirlwind, a second on the meaning of the imago Dei as God’s call for whole-life service.

Recently I became aware of a Facebook page that John has been involved with, that is grounded in the heritage of Charles Malik, the Lebanese Christian intellectual and diplomat who was president of the UN General Assembly.

Malik, who was Eastern Orthodox, studied with Alfred North Whitehead and Martin Heidegger and earned a PhD in philosophy from Harvard, and later taught in both the US and Lebanon. He entered the civil service in Lebanon and besides service to that country he was instrumental in developing the UN charter of rights and served as president of the UN General Assembly from 1958-59. Malik also wrote in the area of theology and I have heard his name dropped and seen his works cited especially when I was a campus minister with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, back in the 1980s.

One of my M.A. students (Cord Sullivan), who is coming on staff with IVCF at the University of Buffalo, has a Malik quote as the byline for his email: “more potently than by any other means, change the University and you change the world.” Now you can see why this Facebook page is called the “Charles Malik Society for Redeeming Reason.” I’m glad I discovered it.

Recently, John posted some comments there about the talk on “Restoration” I gave at Jubilee 2015.

A gift of Shalom from Professor J. Richard Middleton for this little venture, where we seek to engage the university and culture as Christians with the Good News of Jesus. Middleton, NT Wright and others now see an holistic message of salvation, which empowers us to do both deeds of mercy, but also deeds of creation in science, art, medicine, et al.

Nicholas Wolterstorff echoes this work by Middleton and others with remarks about God’s call to us all to be messengers of Shalom in this world, agents of God’s mission – see esp. p.72

Then John quotes some of my blog post on the Jubilee conference, and concludes by saying:

Click around Middleton’s blog to find more resources. Here is the table of contents for his new book, A New Heaven and a New Earth.

I recommend the postings on the Malik/Redeeming Reason Facebook page for inspiration and enlightenment on seeking God’s kingdom in the academic realm.

Thanks, John, for your service in the cause of Christ that goes back a long way!