Soteriological Thesis Work

A new friend of mine, Nolan, posted something here that struck a nerv with me recently. He noted that a lot of my blog is polemic against various ideas that float around in Christendom. He noted that this was perfectly valid, and in my mind I noted that the topic of the discussion we were having was based on a most polemic document; the Second Synod of Dort.

Chasing bad, or thought to be bad, theology around isn't always helpful. In fact I think it is often anything but helpful. That was a large point I made in my book Fail-Safe for Fallacy.  The first time I looked at, and argued against, the "Doctrines of Grace" popularly called by the acrostic TULIP I made it clear that it is easy to argue against something but much harder to develop something that is true.

Over the last couple of years I've been feeling I should develop a Soteriological Thesis. The late Dr. Robb Lawson and I worked on a project together that we were calling The Grace Reformation. I believe it was a noble idea, but the perspective was too broad and so it was beyond my abilities and beyond Robb's ability to keep me motivated. :)

Over Christmas I have decided to limit the thesis to the methodology by which a person who is unsaved becomes eternally saved. I have a well-known dislike for systems that give answers to people who haven't (and so won't) read their bibles but I think the time has come to truly test what I believe.

This year I will be writing a book that introduces the thesis which is reasonably well developed in my mind, but has not been committed to writing as of yet.

Looking for a Christian publisher in Canada

My last book was published in the USA and that has proven to make receiving payments problematic. Xulon has lived up to their agreement fully, and I recommend them to anyone, but I definitely want to skip the whole cross border publication deal this time.

So I'm looking for a Christian publisher in Canada. My next book is officially in production, albeit just.

I'm going to start looking myself, but if anyone out there has a recommendation I sure would appreciate it!

Upcoming Book Review

Update: Here's Part 1 of the review

On Monday I will begin a multi-part review of the revised and expanded edition of Rev Lou Martuneac's In Defense of the Gospel: Biblical Answers to Lordship Salvation. I read the first edition back in June of 2008. Right about the same time as the latest revision of John MacArthur's The Gospel According to Jesus came out.

In the span of at least three articles I will examine and introduce the book to you. Does Martuneac present a valid defense? Does he do violence to the character of Lordship Salvation proponents in ad hominem style attacks? Does he distort the Lordship Salvation view of the Gospel in order to make it easier to argue against? Does Martuneac water down the Gospel to the point that it's not even worth defending?

There is no other doctrine of higher importance to the World than that of the Gospel. I personally don't care about the Gospel according to John MacArthur or Lou Martuneac. What I care about is the Gospel according to Scripture. At this blog I've explored MacArthur's offering at length, and over the next three weeks I'll explore Martuneac's. Together we're going to see if Martuneac's offering is a help or a hinderance to those seeking truth.

James 2 Without The Tension

Update: To see how I've applied what I learned in Back To Faith please read James 2 From The Text.

I've just finished reading an exegetical work on the second chapter of James that resolves the tension that most everyone finds in that chapter between James and Paul. In my book, Fail-Safe For Fallacy, I bring up the fact that the problems people have with understanding this chapter of the Bible are due to our presuppositions that the words "justification" and "save" only have one meaning or usage. However, Fail-Safe does not exist to teach doctrine but to teach Christians how to learn so explaining James 2 was beyond the scope of the book.

Truly, my grasp on James 2 has been tenuous, which is true of almost everyone I've ever discussed the chapter with, and who's work I've read.

Yesterday I started reading Dr. Fred R Lybrand's book Back To Faith. Right from the start, by reading his dedication to both John MacArthur and Zane Hodges I realized this book was going to be different from anything I've read before. His examination of the very familiar cliché "Salvation is by faith alone, but the faith that saves is not alone" is done from every angle I could imagine and more. Dr. Lybrand details the history of the various views of Faith & Works, and spends much effort to expose the history of the cliché itself. The next two chapters discuss how the cliché is both logically, and theologically invalid. I found reading these chapters to be very challenging, they exposed presupposition in my own study!! Not only that but I found myself truly thinking the Doctor had bitten off more than he could chew time and time again. Yet each time he closes another loop-hole in understanding and returns the reader safely again to the Text. These two chapters are a thrill ride for the student of the Word who TRULY wants to get beyond all the ideas of man to what the Text actually says.

I was up very late with this book last night, and awake very early with it this morning. In fact, I went into work and put in a vacation day because I could not bring myself to wait to read the very next chapter.

Dr Lybrand's fourth chapter is entitled "The Cliché is Exegetically invalid" and I knew what he would have to tackle in this chapter. James 2. (cue dramatic music) James 2 (with all assumptions included) is the Magna Carta for both the Reformed, and the Roman Catholic view on Faith & Works.

I have just now finished reading this chapter. It does not disappoint. I would dearly love to type the whole chapter out here for all to read. I can't though.. though I am tempted to risk the legal implications for the good of your personal walk with the Lord. Because I've been shown that if one effectively refutes the assumptions, and divorces them from the Text, then James can be the Magna Carta of pure unadulterated free Grace!

Brethren, if you are at all like me you will be amazed at how easy it is to let presupposition define what the Text says before we read it. Even if we claim it does not. I have been approaching this chapter with the Reformed & Catholic views in my mind. I've allowed that to color my view and so miss what the Text says.

What if we put the responsibility on James to explain what he's saying instead of on the Theologian? What if we obey the rules of logic and language? What if we let these things inform our theology instead of having our theology (or the theology we "want" to refute) inform them?

I was shocked. I am edified. I am excited. I'm longing for you to have the very same experience!!! I'm telling you I'm at 109 pages into this book and I can whole heartedly recommend it to you.

Three Books On The Way To My House

Well it seems like almost everyone's got a book out this Fall! Here's some books that I've ordered and that Amazon tells me are finally being shipped.

Tom Stegall's "The Gospel Of The Christ" Fred Lybrand's "Back To Faith" and Kevin Lane's (who?) "Fail-Safe For Fallacy."

Obviously the last one there has my full endorsement, but I'm going to be giving my thoughts on the others in the coming weeks. I'm really excited about Tom's book, and I'm expecting to be challenged by Fred's.

Lou's been doing a series of introduction articles on The Gospel Of The Christ.

Fail-Safe For Fallacy at Amazon

Wow. This is one of those moments in my life that I won't forget. I just searched Amazon for my book and found it.

You can find it at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

A sure faith and a clear understanding of the Bible is available to every Believer, not just Pastors and theologians. There is no need for any of us to be led astray and have our hopes dashed because they have been built on fallacy. God who cannot lie has breathed out truth in His Word to us in such a way that we each really can understand it. We live in an age of unprecedented access to knowledge yet the popular media thrives by selling us news bites we seldom verify. Most church goers today get all their theology in 40 minute purpose filled messages on Sunday mornings. Many have almost no ability to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" and so leave the deeper things of God and the sure faith they build to be experienced by only those who have been to seminary. This makes us easy prey for false teachers, and prophets. Shockingly, it mostly goes unnoticed that the lost are being inoculated against Eternal Salvation by false conversion experiences. We need a fail-safe against all this error and God has given it to us in His Word. Fallacy lays in wait for every unprepared believer but the Bible was written to reveal truth to us. Fail-Safe For Fallacy can help anyone confidently learn this truth directly from the Scriptures. Every Believer really can cut straight through to the truth God has given us in His Word instead of being tossed to and fro by the various doctrines of men. You can know truth, and be sure of it!

Fail-Safe For Sale!

Fail-Safe For Fallacy - EVERY BELIEVER CAN CUT STRAIGHT TO THE TRUTH

A sure faith and a clear understanding of the Bible is available to every Believer, not just Pastors and theologians. There is no need for any of us to be led astray and have our hopes dashed because they have been built on fallacy. God who cannot lie has breathed out truth in His Word to us in such a way that we each really can understand it. We live in an age of unprecedented access to knowledge yet the popular media thrives by selling us news bites we seldom verify. Most church goers today get all their theology in 40 minute purpose filled messages on Sunday mornings. Many have almost no ability to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” and so leave the deeper things of God and the sure faith they build to be experienced by only those who have been to seminary. This makes us easy prey for false teachers, and prophets. Shockingly, it mostly goes unnoticed that the lost are being inoculated against Eternal Salvation by false conversion experiences. We need a fail-safe against all this error and God has given it to us in His Word. Fallacy lays in wait for every unprepared believer but the Bible was written to reveal truth to us. Fail-Safe For Fallacy can help anyone confidently learn this truth directly from the Scriptures. Every Believer really can cut straight through to the truth God has given us in His Word instead of being tossed to and fro by the various doctrines of men. You can know truth, and be sure of it!

Check it out at the Xulon Press Bookstore.

Publishing

I've been working on my first book for about the last 5 months. In these last few weeks my focus, and the amount of time to work on it have both increased. That's not a bad combination is it? :)

Well, I'm at the point now where I have to seriously consider which publisher to go with. Being a first time author I do not have great expectations of being published in the more traditional ways. So I will be self-publishing, and using a company that will print-on-demand and drop-ship my book.

Brother Lou uses Xulon Press, to print his book In Defense Of The Gospel and they are currently my first choice. However I'm going to leave my options open for a bit longer. Do you know of a better option?

UPDATE: I've decided to go with Xulon Press. I hope to have the book completed over Christmas and submitted by January. So it should be available in the March time-frame. If all goes as expected. ;)