February 2015 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. Occasionally I come across a different take on a subject we have already looked at in the pages of Ordained Servant. As a New Testament scholar, T. David Gordon looks at what the New Testament has to say about youth ministry with some surprising discoveries. One need not agree with his conclusions to appreciate and benefit from the nuances of his careful exegesis.

On a similar theme, next month I hope to review Thomas Bergler’s latest book From Here to Maturity: Overcoming the Juvenilization of American Christianity. This is a practical sequel to his The Juvenilization of American Christianity (2012). After this eye-opening critique of American youth ministry, it is helpful to have him offer a positive alternative, which he only briefly summarizes at the end of the 2012 book.

William Edgar, professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary, offers a graciously critical review of David Skeel’s True Paradox, demonstrating how a presuppositional or transcendental, Van Tilian approach, could make a good thing better.

John Fesko’s review of Franciscus Junius, A Treatise on True Theology, exposes us to a forgotten great among post-Reformation theologians. Our own David Noe translated this little gem. It reminds us that we have neglected a treasure in the oft-maligned Scholastic Reformed thought. Richard Muller, who has done more than anyone in recent history to reveal these riches, writes the foreword.

Stephen Baugh reviews the second edition of the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, now edited by Moisés Silva. He compares this new, extensive, and useful revision to the other tools already available to students of the New Testament.

Martin Emmrich reviews the festschrift for Professor James A. DeJong, former president of Calvin Seminary. Festschrifts are always interesting for the variety of contributions they offer. Emmrich notes the best of those in this volume.

Finally, a little known poem by diplomat, poet, and author Giles Fletcher the Elder (1548–1611), “Crucify Him!” It is a good example of the concise, condensed focus of good poetry, not seeking to tell all, but rather giving new perspective on something well-known. On another note, the reason I do not publish contemporary poetry has nothing to do with its contemporaneity, but rather with the difficulty of procuring permissions.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “YOUTH MINISTRY”

Subject Index

• “Soul Searching: Religion among the Teens.” (Gregory E. Reynolds) 16 (2007): 136–39.
• “John Bunyan as a Youth Pastor.” (Robert J. McKelvey) 20 (2011): 56–60.
• “A Portrait of Youth Ministry.” (Nathan D. Lambert) 22 (2013): 64–68.
• “The Apotheosis of Adolescence: A Review Article.” (Gregory E. Reynolds) 22 (2013): 151–56.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews we endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.