TSS at DG

TSS will be noticeably quiet for the rest of this week as I travel for work and attend my first ever Desiring God conference. Unlike other conferences this Spring I have no intention of blogging the conference and this will help my own heart soak thoroughly in the encouragements and exhortations. You can pray for me to this end.

So, if you are attending the DG conference this weekend, look for me. I would love to meet you! And I’ll see the rest of you next week.

Thanks for reading,

Tony Reinke

PS – Jerry Bridges will be preaching Sunday morning at Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Minneapolis if you are around. More info here.

ESV Literary Study Bible links

ESV Literary Study Bible

For those taking note at home, we have a chronology of links for readers interested in the new ESV Literary Study Bible edited by Leland and Philip Graham Ryken.

1. TSS reviewed the ESV LSB and you can read it here.

2. TSS traveled to Wheaton to interview editor Leland Ryken (listen to audio here).

3. The ESV released their official ESV LSB website here.

4. Now on the official ESV LSB website readers can browse the full text for free! Click here.

5. Finally, our friends over at Crossway transcribed the Ryken interview. Be watching for the text later this week at the official ESV LSB website.

PS – I’m told further production delays are slowing the release of the ESV LSB. They should ship in another week (first week in October).

Christ Crucified by James Durham

Book review
Christ Crucified by James Durham

Inside the cover of his personal copy of Christ Crucified, 19th century preacher C.H. Spurgeon wrote two words: “Much prized.”

Without question, author James Durham (1622-1658) left the Church with a precious treatise on the Cross of Christ. But, sadly, this “much prized” Puritan work never found itself printed in the 19th century, and the last printed edition appeared in 1792! The work may be prized for its content, but we lament that it’s so far outside the reach of contemporary readers.

This absence temporarily ended in 2001 when Chris Coldwell and publisher Naphtali Press (Dallas, TX) released a retypset, edited, and beautiful edition of Durham’s classic. But the 500 copies – even selling at $75 each to cover high expenses of a short print run – sold out by the Fall of 2003. The classic, while back for a flash, returned quickly to the status of “rare” and again outside the reach of most readers.

Just in the past few weeks (August of 2007), Naphtali finished their second (and much larger) printing. The 2001 Naphtali edition is back, fully stocked, and now available for $30!

So why is Durham’s classic so treasured?

“Much Prized”

Admittedly, Durham is a lesser-known of the Puritan divines and probably because the Scottish preacher died in 1658 at the age of 36. His productive ministry lasted a mere decade and the 11 books that bear his name were all printed posthumously. The 72 sermons in Christ Crucified were transcribed by Durham’s ministry partner John Carstairs. Carstairs edited and first published the sermons 25 years after Durham’s death. The full title is Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53 and was originally published in Edinburgh in 1683.

Christ Crucified is traditionally classified and used as a commentary on Isaiah 53:1-12. And it certainly contains an encyclopedia of biblical exegesis and deep doctrine you would expect from a Puritan commentary. But Durham’s sermons go further, being filled with rich application, exhortation, encouragement and fuel for the Cross-centered life. It’s a Puritan work that, when carefully digested, molds Gospel-centered preachers like Spurgeon.

In these 72 sermons, Durham patiently and carefully walks verse-by-verse through the great OT prophecy of Christ. His aim is not merely exegesis or theology, but rich application. He wants us to experience the Cross, and he moves the reader frequently from doctrine to application.

For example, in sermon 22 Durham traverses the mystery of Christ’s substitution, of His absorbing the wrath of God and being “wounded for our transgressions” (v. 5). The sermon ends with a plea for us to feel our dire condition as sinners. Our sin deserves the wounding of judgment. The suffering of Christ should lead us to despair in our empty self-righteousness. The sermon concludes with these words:

“O let these things sink in your hearts, that you are sinners, great sinners, under wrath, and at feud with God; that Jesus Christ is the savior of lost sinners, and that there is no way to pardon and peace, but by closing with him, and laying hold on his satisfaction, that you may be drawn to cast yourselves over on this everlasting covenant, for obtaining the benefits that Christ has purchased” (p. 252).

From beginning to end, Durham’s work is rich and applicable but the book is perhaps best remembered for the final six sermons on Isaiah 53:12, covering the intercessory work of Christ. Here Durham is at his best, reminding us our salvation, sanctification, and all other spiritual victories are a direct result of the Melchizedek-like eternal priesthood of Christ.

Christ intercedes for the elect, that they be justified, pardoned, and receive “favor, friendship, and fellowship” with God and kept from temptation. He intercedes so our service will being acceptable before God, our prayers be heard, that we be armed against the fear of death, always advancing in sanctification towards our ultimate salvation and glorification. “In a word, he intercedes for everything needful, and for everything promised to them, his intercession being as broad as his purchase” (p. 626).

Durham contends that we fail to comprehend the far-reaching influence of Christ’s intercession. He seeks to comfort his readers by opening our mind beyond Calvary and into the eternal holy of holies where Christ is now interceding for the saints.

Throughout the volume Durham presses his readers into Scripture, presses them into the Cross, and then applies the Cross for their salvation, sanctification, joy and comfort.

The enduring value of Christ Crucified is quite evident.

Naphtali edition

The Naphtali edition is more than 700-pages long and noticeably tall and wide. You can see how it stands alongside Meet the Puritans.

The retypeset text is clean and easy to read. Archaic words are underlined with a brief definition in brackets. The text includes sidebar headings for each subheading, and these headings are all listed in the extensive table of contents (download a PDF copy of the full table of contents here). The outside columns provide great room for notes.

Publishers of Puritan works should take careful note of Chris Coldwell’s work. Here is a retypeset Puritan classic, with the following admirable features:

• Uses original sources for careful edits and corrections.
• Notes variants and archaic words in the footnotes with a glossary in the back.
• Provides an excellent introduction and author biography.
• Supplies extensive table of contents in the front.
• Adds a Scriptural index and topical index in the back.
• Brought together with durable Smyth-sewn binding and housed in a cloth cover.

It’s doubtful the Naphtali edition could be improved.

Recommendations

I first learned of Durham four years ago when reading Spurgeon. In an early sermon Spurgeon said, “If I had lived in his [Durham’s] time, I should never, I think, have wanted to hear any other preacher; I would have sat, both by night and day, to receive the sweet droppings of his honeyed lips” (sermon 172). Obviously, Durham played a significant role in Spurgeon’s early ministry development.

As I mentioned earlier, in his personal copy of Christ Crucified, Spurgeon simply wrote “Much prized” (Autobiography, vol. 4). In Commenting and Commentaries – a book where Spurgeon freely assaults poor commentaries and their authors – he writes Christ Crucified is “marrow indeed” and “We need say no more: Durham is a prince among spiritual expositors.”

From contemporary reviewers Joel Beeke and Randall Peterson in Meet the Puritans (RHB: 2006) Christ Crucified is said to be “an excellent book for believers who yearn for a more intimate fellowship with Christ in His sufferings” (p. 678). Later they make the amazing claim that Christ Crucified is “one of the best commentaries ever written on Christ’s person and work in redemption” (p. 679). On this Naphtali edition they write, “The present reprint is carefully and beautifully done” (p. 678).

We agree with all of the above.

Take the advice of Beeke and Spurgeon. Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53 is a classic Puritan work that has been beautifully reproduced. Your soul will be drawn to fellowship with Christ and stirred to deeper discoveries of the Cross. Since 1792, Durham’s classic has never been more available and never more affordable.

Title: Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53
Author: James Durham (1622-1658)
Editor: Chris Coldwell
Reading level: 3.0/5.0 > Easier thanks to excellent editing and glossary
Boards: cloth spine, embossed
Pages: 704
Volumes: 1
Dust jacket: no
Binding: Smyth-sewn
Paper: white and clean
Topical index: yes
Scriptural index: yes
Text: perfect type, re-typeset
Publisher: Naphtali Press
Year: 2001 ed., 2007 printing
Price USD: $45 retail; $30 pub.; $29 RHB
ISBN: 094107546x

Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

Book review
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

The title of Jerry Bridge’s new book – Respectable Sins — pops with sarcasm. While confronting many obvious and blatant sins in culture – abortion, corporate corruption, homosexuality, bullying and physical abuse – the Church frequently misses the sins running rampant within its walls.

“The motivation for this book stems from a growing conviction that those of us whom I call conservative evangelicals may have become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own more ‘refined’ or subtle sins” (p. 9).

Later in Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate (NavPress: 2007) Bridges makes this shocking statement: “In our human values of civil laws, we draw a huge distinction between an otherwise ‘law-abiding citizen’ who gets an occasional traffic ticket and a person who lives a ‘lawless’ life in contempt and utter disregard for all laws. But the Bible does not seem to make that distinction. Rather, it simply says sin – that is, all sin without distinction – is lawlessness” (p. 20).

Bridges begins the book with an excellent chapter on defining sainthood in light of the messed-up Corinthians being considered “saints” (see 2 Cor. 1:1). We are called to live as the “saints” we have been declared in Christ. The second chapter — “The Disappearance of Sin” — paints a strong argument that the Church is having a hard time defining and seeing her own sins. The third chapter – “The Malignancy of Sin” – sets out to reveal that sin is not merely what we do but who we are. Our sinful actions spring from our sinful heart. Sin is a “principle or moral force in our heart, our inner being” (p. 24). Bridges then gets into the Gospel as our hope. We can face and overcome sin because of the Cross and the powerful working of the Holy Spirit.

Bridges has dressed the reader for warfare.

The “Respectable Sins”

So what sins are “respectable sins”? Bridges’ chapters include the following topics:

• general ungodliness defined as a sinful attitude towards God
• anxieties and frustrations
• discontentment
• unthankfulness
• pridefulness revealed specifically in self-righteousness, even in a pursuit of theological accuracy, in prideful motives behind our achievements and revealed in a spirit of independence
• selfishness with our interests, time, money and inconsiderableness
• lack of self-control in eating, drinking and temperament, finances, entertainment and shopping
• impatience and irritability
• anger, even anger towards God, and the underlying roots of anger in resentment, bitterness, enmity, hostility and holding grudges
• judgmentalism and a critical spirit over differing convictions and doctrinal disagreements
• envy, jealousy, competitiveness and being controlling
• the sins of the tongue like gossip, slander, lying, harsh words, sarcasm, insults and ridicule
• worldliness shown financially, by our idolatry and in “vicarious immorality,” that is, the enjoyment of watching or reading the sinfulness of others.

And Bridges says his list was whittled down for print!

Conclusion

Bridges’ new work fills an important gap. There are excellent theoretical and architectural works to help church leaders conceive the mission of pastoral ministry and fellowship groups (Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp is one great one). But Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate (NavPress: 2007) may be the best yet in giving churches an easy-to-read book that has great potential in small group settings as believers help one another identify — and then mortify — the “respectable” sins of the heart. And only one who has proven himself faithful to the message of the Cross, like Bridges, is suited to lead us deep into the caves and caverns where sin lives in our hearts. A useful and excellent book worthy of consideration in the 2007 TSS Book of the Year contest.

Title: Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
Author: Jerry Bridges
Reading level: 1.75/5.0 > easy
Boards: hardcover, embossed
Pages: 187
Volumes: 1
Dust jacket: yes
Binding: glue
Paper: white and clean
Topical index: no (unnecessary)
Scriptural index: no (would have been very useful)
Text: perfect type
Publisher: NavPress
Year: 2007
Price USD: $18.99 retail; $13.99 MonergismBooks
ISBNs: 9781600061400, 1600061400

Interview: Leland Ryken on the ESV LSB

Interview with Dr. Leland Ryken

WHEATON, IL — Last Thursday afternoon I walked across the campus of Wheaton College and up the stairs of Blanchard Hall for a rare opportunity to sit down with a favorite contemporary author, Dr. Leland Ryken.

Ryken serves as the Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English at Wheaton College. He has written many excellent books, but especially The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation (Crossway: 2002), which carefully critiques contemporary translation philosophies and builds a strong case for literal translations like the ESV. It’s an excellent, pointed book that remains on a short list of my personal favorites. Ryken also served as Literary Stylist on the ESV translation committee (more on this later).

Ryken’s son, Dr. Philip Graham Ryken, is a prolific author, pastor, and preacher. Together with his son, Dr. Ryken edited the soon-to-be-released ESV Literary Study Bible (read our full review here). The LSB was the focus of our interview.

1. Thank you for your time, Dr. Ryken! … Where did the idea for The Literary Study Bible originate? Has this been a long-awaited project?

2. Explain for us the essential features that distinguish a literary study Bible?

3. There are a number of contemporary translations seeking to paraphrase the Bible and make it easier to read. You have confronted the dangers of this methodology in The Word of God in English. Is the LSB, in any way, a response to these contemporary translations in showing that a literal translation can be effectively used by general readers without a paraphrased text?

4. How will the LSB benefit the preacher, especially in expositional preparations?

5. You state in the LSB, “The goal of literature is to prompt a reader to share or relive an experience. The truth that literature imparts is not simply ideas that are true but truthfulness to human experience.” Explain further how the literature of Scripture invites us to experience Scripture.

6. Can you give us some specific, concrete examples of this?

7. What differentiates the LSB from other available study Bibles? And how will general readers benefit?

8. Quite obviously, the Psalmists, prophets, and other authors of Scripture did not write using a literary guide to genres. Much of the literary discussion in the LSB draws from a host of modern literary terms to interpret the ancient literature of Scripture. How do you defend this approach?

9. In the past, Bibles have been effectively used in home schooling education. Can the LSB be used as a textbook of sorts to learn literary genres, styles, and forms?

10. Some readers, I’m sure, are unaware of your role in the translation of the English Standard Version itself. Explain this role for us.

11. Now the ESV LSB is complete, and serves as a culmination of your translation efforts and literary commentary efforts. It must be quite fulfilling to see this Bible together and completed.

Thank you, Dr. Ryken, for your time. Congratulations to you and your son on the completion of such an incredible project. The ESV Literary Study Bible will greatly bless the Church by helping us read Scripture more competently for ourselves. Is there a more precious gift from the career of a literary scholar?

Blessings to you and your future ministry!

———–

Related: Read our full review of the ESV Literary Study Bible here. Also, from our day-long trip to Wheaton, Illinois (Sept. 13, 2007) we photographed our way through Crossway Books and Justin Taylor’s office (see here) and visited two local museums (see here).

Don Whitney conference in Omaha

Attention friends and readers in the beautiful city of Omaha, NE. Coming up on Saturday, October 20th, Omaha Bible Church will be hosting author and professor Dr. Don Whitney. The one-day conference is titled Sharpening Your Spiritual Focus and the cost is $15 per individual and $25 per family. For more details click here.

Pastors are invited to Whitney’s evening session, Disaster Proofing Your Ministry. Click here for more.

I spent the first seven years of my Christian life at OBC and benefited greatly from the excellent speakers that were brought through. Past speakers include Don Carson, John MacArthur and Kris Lundgaard. If you’re in the area, be sure to check out the Whitney conference. It will be a good one. And bring your friends, too!

Blank Bible pictures

Marcia over at the Ruminations and Ramifications blog just completed a Blank ESV Reformation Study Bible in 11-volumes. Wow! And it looks great, too. Check out her post here for pictures. Marcia recently wrote to thank us for the Blank Bible Series we posted last year. Like Jonathan Edwards, you can make a custom note-taking Bible. Begin by reading the TSS Blank Bible series index.

Thank you, Marcia, for the kind comments!

Tony

Mark Dever pic

Thankfully pastor and author Mark Dever doesn’t read blogs so he will be spared from seeing this.

Photo tour through Crossway Books

WHEATON, IL — Behind the books on our shelves are dozens of visionaries, writers, editors, graphic artists, printers, and marketers hard at work. One goal of The Shepherd’s Scrapbook is to introduce the people and organizations behind the books.

This Spring we traveled to Pennsylvania to see the American office of the Banner of Truth Trust. Another favorite publisher is the Good News Publishers or Crossway Books — or simply known as the ones who publish the English Standard Version. Look on your shelves and count how many Crossway books and Bibles you own. Likely you have a bunch. These originate in Wheaton, IL.

And 2007 looks to be a monumental publishing year for Crossway. Along with the ESV The Literary Study Bible edited by Ryken and Ryken, our friends have produced The Reformation by Stephen Nichols, Sam Storm’s two excellent books Chosen for Life and Signs of the Spirit and will soon be printing the edited version of Communion with the Triune God by John Owen. Yet this Fall and Winter we look forward to John Piper’s response to N.T. Wright on justification, and the American edition of a book that sent shockwaves through the U.K. earlier this year — Pierced for Our Transgressions by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey and Andrew Sach. Each of these volumes (and several others) are grand accomplishments.

Crossway / ESV

The Crossway office and warehouse are within walking distance from the SE corner of Wheaton College, across a set of very busy train tracks. The office and warehouse are housed in one building. In many ways, the interior of the building is reminiscent of a church building with dark brick, embroidered cloth banner, tall ceilings and many windows. The main level perimeter offices are large, bright and with open ceilings.

Last Thursday morning I had the joy of joining the Crossway staff for chapel, a time to give thanks to God, reflect on His grace, and to pray for needs (both personal and professional). The various Crossway authors at work and under deadline were prayed for specifically. The chapel service brought a surprisingly personal context for all the other publishing work and revealed a community of editors caring for their writers and one another beyond the business context.

Warehouse

Crossway books are printed off-site, but warehoused on-site. I took the camera back for a few shots of the warehouse operations. You can see the line where orders are filled. As with the Banner of Truth, all noticeably damaged and defective books are pulled from circulation. Both publishers are perfectionists.

Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor is the main reason I came over to Crossway. Justin is a busy editor, writer, and blogger. His official duties center around editing the ESV Study Bible due out late next year and his blog, Between Two Worlds, is considered one of the best on the Internet (one I check daily and highly recommend).

Justin Taylor has also edited many books, including new versions of John Owen with Dr. Kelly Kapic (Overcoming Sin and Temptation and Communion with the Triune God). Communion is due out in mid-October, so Justin’s work has been especially busy. His diligent labors are amazing, considering he works 9-5 on the ESV Study Bible and his other writing projects (like Communion) are completed in his personal time in the evenings!

A proof of Communion sits on his desk with some final edits before it’s printed.

Justin’s office is on the main level and has no ceiling. He has a modest library on hand and has minimal decorating (please leave decorating ideas for Justin in the comments).

Justin blogs, edits and emails with his John Owen coffee mug handy. His monitor is lifted with two ESV Bible boxes, a copy of The Book of Great Books and a hardcover ESV. His timeliness can be attributed to a nifty Dunder-Mifflin calendar.

All Justin’s emails and calls are screened by his personal office assistant, Dwight Schrute.

Conclusion

Obviously, I captured only a few highlights. It was great meeting Lane Dennis, the man behind Crossway (sorry, no pics). But it was also great to see Crossway behind the scenes and the humble prayerfulness of editors coming together at the throne of mercy.

Time is running short and I have one final stop. Back at Wheaton College campus I walk up to Blanchard Hall to meet Dr. Leland Ryken. …

————-

Related: Photo tour of Banner of Truth warehouse in Carlisle, PA (here).

Princeton Cemetery

Hi Tony,

My name is Ryan and I am a 33-year old pastor in Hazleton, PA. I’m writing just to say thank you for putting your Princeton Cemetery photographic tour online. Last year I stumbled onto your page (I have no idea how it happened) and enjoyed it so much that I took my family there as a day-trip last month while on vacation.  Being in ministry, it was really a wonderful experience for me. I wrote three blog articles on it, the last of which I just posted today. Your pictures ’stirred’ me, and for that I say thanks!

Sincerely in Christ,
Ryan Day
http://ryanlday.blogspot.com

————–

Well, thank you, Ryan for the kind comments. I appreciate the feedback. My wife and kids will be comforted knowing there are other wives and children who have endured dad’s crazy cemetery/vacation ideas. And I’m thankful you found the Warfields! Sadly, so many visitors miss them.

Blessings to you, Ryan!

Tony