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 click for details | | THE INFINITE MERIT OF CHRIST The Glory of Christ's Obedience in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards Craig Biehl From the Abstract: "Historically, the tendency of scholars to modernize and distance Edwards from his biblicist, exclusivist, evangelical and Reformed tradition has resulted in relatively little attention being given to the importance of the person and redemptive work of Christ in Edwards' Trinitarian thought. The contention of this study is that the foundation, center, and unifying thread of Edwards' thought is the person and work of Christ in accomplishing God's ultimate purpose to display and communicate His glory to unworthy sinners by perfect obedience to God's unchanging rule of righteousness. Edwards' theology cannot be properly understood in abstraction from the person and redemptive work of Christ as revealing and communicating the glorious perfections of the Trinity, nor can revisionist interpretations of Edwards' soteriology as inclusivistic or Catholic be tenable without an overthrow and re-write of the entirety of Edwards' theology. Salvation of a single soul apart from perfect conformity to God's rule of righteousness would render God unrighteous and prohibit the fulfillment of His ultimate purpose to display and communicate His glory. Indeed, God could not be God." "Among its other strengths this book is helpful in questioning the view that Edwards has compromised the Reformation doctrine of justification with legalistic accents and by basing it in part on the change that takes place within the believer. Biehl's love is as evident as Edwards' for the subject matter he considers in Edwards. A welcome read for anyone wanting to grow in understanding and appreciation of this remarkable thinker." - Dr. Richard Gaffin "Craig Biehl provides a thorough, detailed, and well written treatment of Edwards' view of divine merit. He places Edwards convincingly within the theocentric metaphysical tradition, emphasizing his trinitarianism and christocentrism, as well as his biblically based exclusivism, weighing in on the current interpretive struggle against those who wish to portray Edwards as inclusivistic, philosophical, and proto-transcendental. His reading of the role of Christ in Edwards's thought as the typological, experiential, and salvific hinge on which telos depends presents an important counterbalance." - Dr. Ken Minkema "While setting the record straight on Edwards's theology through leaning heavily on his own writings (800 quotes from Edwards!), Biehl's work is also a tour de force for the confirmation of Reformed orthodoxy in the midst of ongoing debates about justification today." - Dr. Joel R. Beeke "Craig Biehl's work offers just what is needed today - a comprehensive treatment of Edwards' understanding of Christ and His saving work of redemption. Few of the leading Edwards scholars know Reformed theology well, or understand the significance of Edwards' soteriology." - Dr. Doug Sweeney "Biehl's careful hand skillfully guides us through these writings, even leading us to offer words of praise for what Christ has done for us - a rare and admirable feat for a piece of scholarship." - Dr. Stephen J. Nichols BIEHL TRILOGY BRAND NEW EDITION OF THIS GREAT WORK  SGCB Price: $18.75 (list price $25.00)Order THE BIEHL TRILOGY with "The Box" and "On Reading Religious Affections" SGCB Price: $35.00 (list price $55.00)THIS PRICE INCLUDES ALL THREE TITLES |
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 click for details | | READING "RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS" A Study Guide to Jonathan Edwards' Classic on the Nature of True Christianity Craig Biehl "Have you ever put abook down and thought, 'Wow, that's deep. I wish I had a friend who could walk me through this book and explain it point by point'? Craig Biehl has done precisely that. Furthermore, he has done it for one of the most important books ever written: 'Religious Affections'. No one since the apostles had more insight into authentic godliness than Jonathan Edwards. But his books can be difficult to read. Biehl's study guide helps you to understand the historical situation of Edwards's day. It walks you through Edwards's teachings in easy-to-follow outlines mingled with choice quotes from Edwards. After each section he presents several questions for personal meditation or small group discussion. I regularly assign 'Religious Affections' to my students and heartily recommend Biehl's book as a companion to all who would read,understand, and apply Edwards's masterpiece." --Dr. Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan "This is a very helpful study guide to one of the most important spiritual texts inall of history. If you read 'ReligiousAffections' with patience, care, and fervent prayer, using this simple textual aid, you will find yourself reflecting on the state of your heart, mind, and soul like never before in your life. I guarantee that you will never be the same." - Douglas A. Sweeney, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School "With exacting rigor and care, Jonathan Edwards' Treatise Concerning Religious Affections provides both a diagnosis of the Great Awakening and good medicine for what ails Christian piety. In this unique study guide, Craig Biehl here dispenses twenty manageable and carefully referenced doses drawn from the Treatise for the health of true religion in the church of the Great Physician. " - R. Daniel Knox, Pastor, Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Sewickley, PA "Few books have the profound depth and insight as Jonathan Edwards's 'The Religious Affections'--which is both good news and bad. The good news is that the book well repays reading and study. The bad news is the book can be rather daunting. Craig Biehl's study guide comes to the rescue. This deft guide by a capable scholar will lead you by the hand (and head and heart) to a clear understanding and deep appreciation for this classic text by Jonathan Edwards." - Stephen J. Nichols, Research Professor of Christianity and Culture, Lancaster Bible College, Author, 'Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought' Table of Contents Analytical Outline SECTION ONE: Introduction, Background, and Central Issues Session One: Introduction to Jonathan and Sarah Edwards Session Two: The Context and Occasion of The Religious Affections: The Great Awakening SECTION TWO: The Religious Affections Part One: The Nature and Importance of Religious Affections Session Three: Definition, Nature, Importance, and Scripture Support of Religious Affections Part Two: Uncertain Signs that Religious Affections are the Work of God in a True Believer Session Four - Introduction Sign I: Religious Fervor or Zeal Sign II: Great Physical Affects on the Body Sign III: Fluent, Fervent, and Abundant Religious Talk Session Five Sign IV: That Affections Seem To Be from an External Supernatural Source Sign V: That Religious Affections Come with Texts of Scripture in the Mind Sign VI: The Presence of Love Sign VII: The Presence of Many Kinds of Religious Affections Accompanying Each Other Session Six Sign VIII: That Joy and Comfort Follow Conviction and Mourning for Sin. Sign IX: Great Time and Energy Spent in Religious Activity and Worship Sign X: Abundant Praise to God Session Seven - Sign XI: Great Assurance of One's Own Salvation Session Eight - Sign XII: That One's Religious Affections and Testimonies Move the Hearts of Saints PART THREE: Signs that Religious Affections are the Work of God in a True Believer Session Nine: Qualifications and the Fruit of the Permanent Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Introduction and Necessary Qualifications Sign I: Gracious Affections (Religious Affections that Are a Work of God in a True Believer) Are the Fruit of the Holy Spirit that Dwells Permanently in the Believer Session Ten - Sign II: Gracious Affections Are Founded Primarily upon the Greatness of God and His Works, Apart from Self-Interest Session Eleven - Sign III: Gracious Affections Are Founded upon the 'Loveliness' of the Holiness of God and His Works Session Twelve - Sign IV: Gracious Affections Arise from Divine Illumination. Session Thirteen - Sign V: Gracious Affections Are Accompanied by the Conviction that the Gospel Is True Session Fourteen - Sign VI: Gracious Affections Are Accompanied by True Humility. Session Fifteen Sign VII: Gracious Affections Accompany a Change of Nature Sign VIII: Gracious Affections Promote and Are Attended with a Christ-Like Demeanor Session Sixteen Sign IX: Gracious Affections 'Soften the Heart' Sign X: Gracious Affections Have a Beautiful Symmetry and Balance. Sign XI: The Higher Gracious Affections Are Raised, the Greater the Desire for Spiritual Growth, Whereas False Affections Rest Satisfied in Themselves Session Seventeen - Sign XII: Gracious Affections Generate Christian Practice and Fruit (Part 1) Session Eighteen - Sign XII: Gracious Affections Generate Christian Practice and Fruit (Part 2) Session Nineteen - Sign XII: Gracious Affections Generate Christian Practice and Fruit (Part 3) Session Twenty - Sign XII: Gracious Affections Generate Christian Practice and Fruit (Part 4) IMPORTANT NOTICE: The pagination of the entire Study Guide is based upon BOTH the Yale University edition and the Banner of Truth edition. BIEHL TRILOGY NOW AVAILABLE SGCB Price: $10.95 (list price $18.00)Order with Yale Paperback Edition of RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS SGCB Price: $27.90 (list price $38.00)THIS IS THE PRICE FOR BOTH BOOKS TOGETHER Order with the Hardcover Volume of RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS by Yale University Press SGCB Price: $75.00 (list price $110.00)This Price Valid Only if Ordering with "READING RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS" by Biehl |
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 | | THE BOXAnswering the Faith of Unbelief Craig Biehl A BRAND NEW BOOK ON DEALING WITH THOSE WHO Mr. A's nightmare was small potatoes compared to Mr. C's little antique box. Why did Mr. A convert from being a confident atheist to a rather non-committal agnostic? That Mr. C didn't fit the stereotype of an ignorant hypocrite bothered Mr. A, but why does he now doubt his once unflinching ability to make reasonable claims about the existence of God? He is even nervous about a possible afterlife. The little brown box had shaken him to the core. Was he really a man of faith, and blind unjustified faith at that? Intending to pull weeds, Mr. A sat on a pile of dirt contemplating the meaning of his life. Leaving Mr. A for a moment, imagine happy young Christians prancing off to college to find everything they hold dear mocked and dismissed as nonsense. - Jonah in a whale? Humanity saved in an ark?- And with a raising of an eyebrow and peering over the eye glasses, "you donĘt reeeally take the Bible literally, do you?" It can be a bit intimidating. Imagine four concentrated years of this from professors and classmates. Can the joy, assurance and faith of believers survive and even thrive in such an environment? Can our own joy, assurance, and faith survive and thrive in the sea of unbelief that surrounds us? Atheists and agnostics pride themselves on being reasonable and scientific while viewing Christian faith as blind and unreasonable. But could the opposite be true? Could Christian faith be neither blind nor unreasonable while the best arguments of atheism and agnosticism rest on unsupportable assumptions of faith? Moreover, could the toughest arguments against faith in Christ become the catalyst for stronger joy, assurance, and faith in Christ as we recognize the blind and unreasonable faith of unbelief in the best of its proponents? Indeed they can. Arguments rest on basic assumptions, and arguments built on false assumptions produce faulty conclusions, regardless of the sophistication of the argument. For instance, what must someone know to legitimately claim that God does not exist? Answer: everything about everything in the universe and beyond. Unjustified faith in one's ability to make 'authoritative' assertions about things that cannot be known without infinite knowledge or direct revelation from God underlies all atheistic arguments. What about arguments against the possibility of biblical miracles? Given that God has infinite power to create, order, and sustain all things, and given that He cannot be limited by the laws He created and upholds, one must presume that He does not exist to deny biblical miracles. But again, what must someone know to legitimately claim that God does not exist? Answer, everything about everything in the universe and beyond. Every denial of the possibility of biblical miracles rests on an unreasonable, unjustified, and easily refutable assumption of faith. Indeed, anyone who cannot know the contents of Mr. C's rosewood box without looking inside it cannot possibly know that God does not exist or that He is limited by the universe He created. All arguments against the existence and nature of God, whether the 'problem of evil' or the impossibility of the Trinity, can easily be exposed as resting on same unreasonable assumptions of blind faith. When Christians learn to identify these assumptions, they are not only equipped to refute the most difficult arguments of unbelief, they will be encouraged in their faith in Christ and Scripture, and inoculated against intimidating arguments that would steal their joy and assurance. ENDORSEMENTS "This is a great book to share with a non-Christian inquirer. Written as a dialogue between a Christian and an atheist, it is enjoyable to read, and its presuppositional argument for the truth of Christianity is cogent. I hope it gets a broad circulation." --John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary "This is a wonderful help. Its reasoning is tight, but it is 'popular' enough to be helpful for virtually anyone. Really a nice work." --Fred Zaspel, Author of The Theology of B. B. Warfield "Biehl's book is impressive. The dialogue is a helpful and interesting approach that makes apologetics more accessible. There is so much to which I could point that I consider to be good and even striking that I think it would be pedantic to list them all." --David McWilliams, Senior Minister, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, FL "A solid defense of biblical Christianity against the claims of atheism and a practical and orthodox response to the challenges of the vocal advocates of unbelief in our times." --William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia "Craig Biehl is a scholar, but one who speaks in plain language in defense of the authority and reliability of the Bible and its teachings. The Box debunks denials of biblical truth by exposing the flawed assumptions which underlie them, boosting our trust of Scripture and providing us with useful tools to defend our faith against scholarly attacks." --Bob Deffinbaugh, Ministry Coordinator, Bible.org. "A marvelous book. I am delighted by the thought of college students reading this as they tread through the deep waters of unbelief on the college campus. Craig does a wonderful job of boiling down unbelief and of demonstrating the commonality between atheism and agnosticism and the fact that all believers can and should interact well with unbelief. I am grateful for this labor of love for Christ's church." --Dustyn Eudaly, Associate Minister, Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church, Orlando, FL "Atheists and their less dogmatic cousins, agnostics, are making a comeback today, at least in Europe and North America. In some places, moreover, they are given the moral high ground and assumed to be chic. But as Craig Biehl has shown, they are undermining any and all standards of morality, and even rationality. Now more than ever, Christians need to understand this and encourage one another to stay fixed upon Christ. Read this book and rest assured that, in the words of the old hymn, all other ground is sinking sand." --Douglas A. Sweeney, Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School BIEHL TRILOGY BRAND NEW TITLE FROM AN ACCOMPLISHED AUTHOR SGCB Price: $8.95 (list price $12.00) |
