Themelios: Issue 35-1, April 2010

by The Gospel Coalition

Publisher:

Gospel Coalition

, 2010

Contents

• "Editorial: Perfectionism" by D. A. Carson
• "Minority Report: The Importance of Not Studying Theology" by Carl Trueman
• "New Commentaries on Colossians: Survey of Approaches, Analysis of Trends, and the State of Research" Nijay Gupta
• "Does Baptism Replace Circumcision? An Examination of the Relationship between Circumcision and Baptism in Colossians 2:11–12" by Martin Salter
• "Pastoral Pensées: (1 Timothy 3:14–16)" by Bill Kynes

Top Highlights

“What does it mean to be circumcised with a circumcision made without hands? The use of the aorist passive περιετμήθητε demonstrates that the Colossians were the object of the circumcision with God as implied agent and that in context Paul views the action as a single past constative action at the time of conversion.” (Page 21)

“Thus, Paul links the sign and the thing signified closely together. The NT connects faith, repentance, the gift of the Spirit, and baptism closely together, implying the presence of all of them in each instance.⁹⁴ Such is the functional unity in Paul between these things that it is difficult to see how one could occur without the presence of the others.” (Pages 27–28)

“It is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that there was some sort of Jewish element present within the ‘philosophy.’ Thus the inclusion of rites-language within the ‘polemical core’ may well have been a direct response to opponents, or at least a preemptive strike against false teachers imposing certain rites as essential. Paul’s purpose is not to discuss baptism or circumcision per se, but rather to include them within the section highlighting the fullness already possessed in Christ through all he has accomplished.” (Page 17)

“Therefore the relative pronoun (ἐν ᾧ) in v. 12 refers to baptism, and thus baptism signifies both a ‘burial’ and a ‘resurrection.’ The use of the aorist tense for συνηγέρθητε, as with the previous verbs in vv. 11–12, highlights the present reality of the Colossians’ new life in Christ.” (Page 25)

“There are three main possibilities. First, it could be an objective genitive, speaking of Christ’s death under the metaphor of circumcision.’” (Page 24)

Product Details

• Title: Issue 35-1
• Editor: D. A. Carson
• Series: Themelios
• Publisher: The Gospel Coalition
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 194

About The Gospel Coalition

Brian J. Tabb (PhD, London Theological Seminary) is academic dean at Bethlehem College & Seminary and an elder of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He also serves as managing editor for Themelios, published by the Gospel Coalition, and is the author of Suffering in Ancient Worldview.

D.A. Carson is a research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1978. Carson came to Trinity from the faculty of Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he also served for two years as academic dean. He has served as an assistant pastor and pastor and has done itinerant ministry in Canada and the United Kingdom. Carson received a bachelor of science in chemistry from McGill University, the master of divinity from Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto, and the doctor of philosophy in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Carson is an active guest lecturer in academic and church settings around the world. He holds membership on the Council for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Carson has also written many books that have garnered international acclaim, including his award-winning title The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism.

Daniel Strange is academic vice president and lecturer in culture, religion, and public theology at Oak Hill College, London. He is the author or coauthor of several other books, including The Possibility of Salvation Among the Unevangelised: An Analysis of Inclusivism in Recent Evangelical Theology.