Protestant Reformed Theological Journal April 2011

Die April 2011 uitgawe van die PRTJ is aanlyn beskikbaar en vol heelwat lesenswaardige artikels en veral boekresensies.

Ek wil die lesers veral verwys na die artikel “Bound to Join: A Review and Defense”, wat baie relevant is vandag, aangesien baie gelowiges worstel of hul nog deel moet wees van die huidige gemeentes en kerkverbande.

Inhoudopgawe

– A Critique of the Covenant of Works in Contemporary Controversy

– Herman Bavinck on Covenant and Election

– On the Way to Calvary: Isaac Does Not Need to Be Sacrificed

– Bound to Join: A Review and Defense

Book Reviews:
– denBoer, William.  God’s Twofold Love: The Theology of Jacob Arminius

– Goodman, Martin.  Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations

– Kostenberger, Andreas J. and Kruger, Michael J.  The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity

– Kuyper, Abraham.  Our Worship

– Metaxas, Eric.  Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

– Prime, Derek and Begg, Alistair.  On Being a Pastor: Understanding our Calling and Work

– Sandlin, P. Andrew.  A Faith That Is Never Alone: A Response to Westminster Seminary California

– VanDrunen.  Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought.

Hierdie joernaal is ook gratis in harde kopie beskikbaar:

“The Protestant Reformed Theological Journal is published by the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary twice each year, in April and November, and mailed to subscribers free of charge.  Those who wish to receive the Journal should write the editor, at the seminary address.  Those who wish to reprint an article appearing in the Journal should secure the permission of the editor.  Books for review should be sent to the book review editor, also at the address of the school.”

Hier is die redakteur se inleiding en oorsig oor die artikels:

Editor’s Notes
Welcome once again to the pages of the Protestant Reformed Theological Journal.  We, the faculty of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, are grateful for the privilege of presenting another issue of our journal to our readership.  We trust that you will find the articles included in this issue informative, soundly Reformed, and edifying.  A word about the contents of this issue.
The Reverend Nathan Langerak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Crete, Illinois.  In his article, entitled “A Critique  of the Covenant of Works in Contemporary Controversy,” Rev. Langerak analyzes the teaching of the covenant of works as it developed in Reformed and Presbyterian churches, as well as the role that the doctrine is playing in the current controversy over the theology of the Federal Vision.  We trust that you will find that Rev. Langerak presents a penetrating analysis of a false teaching that is wreaking havoc in Reformed and Presbyterian churches in our day.
Professor David Engelsma contributes an article on Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck’s doctrine of the covenant as it relates to election.  This contribution will be part of a book that he is completing and that will be published in the near future entitled Covenant and Election in the Reformed Tradition.  Not only does Prof. Engelsma summarize Bavinck’s doctrine of the covenant, but he demonstrates clearly that Bavinck’s doctrine of the covenant was governed by election.  Bavinck did not teach, as many are teaching today, that while the covenant is established unilaterally, it is maintained bilaterally.  He did not teach that the maintenance and perfection of the covenant was due to a cooperative effort of God and man. Bavinck was not at all unclear as to the relationship between election and the covenant.  God is sovereign both in the establishment and in the maintenance of the covenant.
Included in this issue is an article entitled “On the Way to Calvary: Isaac Does Not Need to Be Sacrificed.”  This is an article that first appeared in the theological journal entitled Bekennende Kirche.  The author of the article is Dr. Jürgen-Burkhard Klautke, who is also the editor of Bekennende Kirche.  Dr. Klautke is Dean and Professor of Christian Ethics and Systematic Theology in the Akademie Für Reformatorische Theologie in Marburg, Germany.  Dr. Klautke has been a friend of the Protestant Reformed Churches since the mid-2000s, and member of the Bekennende Evangelisch-Reformierte Gemeinde (BERG), a Reformed church in Giessen, which has informal contact with the PRC (for more information on the contact, see the Standard Bearer, October 1, 2007).  Mr. Peter VanDerSchaaf has translated this article.  The article is a fine exposition of Genesis 17 and God’s command to His covenant friend, Abraham, to offer up his only son, the son of the promise, Isaac.  You will be edified by this fine exposition of Holy Scripture and the unique insights that Dr. Klautke has.  We are indebted to him for his contribution.
Bound to Join:  Letters on Church Membership is a recent publication by the Reformed Free Publishing Association.  The book consists of a series of e-mail letters that Prof. David Engelsma wrote on the matter of the necessity of membership in the instituted church at the request of a number of attendees at the 2004 British Reformed Fellowship Conference.  Rev. Angus Stewart contributes a review article of this book, giving a detailed account of its contents and defending its conclusions on the basis of Scripture and the Reformed standards.
This issue of PRTJ also contains a number of book reviews.  Interesting, well-written, helpful book reviews.  You will want to read them.  The books reviewed are undoubtedly books that our readers will want to read themselves and add to their libraries.   Soli Deo Gloria! – RLC