By Rob Moll

In his monumental book covering the history of death in Western culture, French historian Philippe Aries paints a picture of how a strong community responded to the death of one of its members. It is a picture of a wound that is treated and healed. It is an example of a culture that understood death and knew what to do in response to this “last evil,” as the apostle Paul called it.

Throughout the Western world, and for nearly a thousand years, Aries writes, “the death of a man still solemnly altered the space and time of … the entire community.” The family of the deceased prepared the bedroom and as the community was altered with the sound of the church bell tolling, “the house filled with grave and whispering neighbors, relatives, and friends.”

Those closest to the deceased visited the home, but the whole community filed into the church for the funeral services. “After the long line of people had expressed their sympathy to the family, a slow procession, saluted by passersby, accompanied the coffin to the cemetery.” Following another service at the grave, intended to lay the deceased at a final resting place, there to await resurrection upon Christ’s return, the grieving family was still not finished with the mourning ritual. “The period of mourning was filled with visits: visits of the family to the cemetery and visits of relatives and friends to the family.”

This was an intentional process, one that typically led to a specific, intentional end—the reintegration of the grieving back into a healthy, meaningful life as part of a community. “The danger with grief at bereavement,” writes J.I. Packer, “is that, having surrendered to it, as willy-nilly at first we must, we
should never get beyond it.

This process of visitation, public mourning, followed by more visitation had its intended effect. “Little by little, life returned to normal,” Aries writes. The community, stricken by death, “reacted collectively, starting with the immediate family and extending to a wider circle of relatives and acquaintances.” This process worked well because death was a public event. Kings and queens died publicly, as celebrities do still today. But for all people, death “was a public event that moved, literally and figuratively, society as a whole. It was not only an individual who was disappearing, but society itself that had been wounded and that had to be healed.”

It was a response to death that was common to the Western world, based upon the Christian faith, and that was effective in helping the bereaved move from the initial shock and devastation of a loss and toward a healing posture of strength amid suffering. Unfortunately, our culture has lost this common response to death. Today, we want to hurry along the period of mourning, and we expect life to return to normal. We’re quick to provide a meal following the funeral, but our kind thoughts lapse too quickly, while the bereaved are forced into a solitary grief. They must find their own way out.

Recovering Tradition
The traditional Christian funeral can provide a structure for how Christians can think about responding to a death in the community. The traditional services involved a wake or
visitation at the home, a procession to the church for a service, and a graveside service laying the deceased to rest. This can provide a structure for the church community’s long-term response to a member’s death.

Visitation. The wake or visitation allows the community to tangibly respond, consoling and offering food or assistance in the days ahead. This can be essential for both the bereaved and for the rest of the community. It forces the grieving to remain part of the community at a time when the greatest temptation is to withdraw. It can be a challenge to overcome awkwardness, to know what to say to the grieving, but it is essential for families in mourning to know that they are not alone.

In this initial gathering, a grieving community is rejoined together and begins to heal. All grieving communities need to simply be together in the initial days following a death. The community has been injured, and this stitching back together is an important beginning to the healing process. The church has rallied together, and this is the most important first step in responding to a death.

Funeral. The funeral service provides a different sort of healing. While the visitation brought the church community together, the funeral directs the expression of grief toward common remembrance and worship. The swirling emotions of grief and heartbreak are given shape as the community ties its sorrow into the larger gospel story. The church’s response is that, yes, this life is full of sorrow, sometimes incredibly painful. But we do have hope in the redemption of our suffering through Jesus Christ whose death on the cross defeated death. Again, this can be difficult. While suffering, who wants to spout out explanations that may not feel very meaningful?

Who wants to say that God will make it all alright when we feel nothing more than the loss of a loved one? Of course, it is exactly this time at which it is most important to express our core beliefs. Over time, as the community continues to heal, it is this conviction that the church relies on and that is reconfirmed as its deepest belief: Christ has overcome death and through him God will make all things right.

Graveside: The graveside service is often left off the list of mourning events following a death. But traditionally, this service has been an essential part of the community’s journey with the deceased to the final resting place. In some of the oldest cemeteries in the US, gravestones typically have an inscription reading something like, “Here I lie, awaiting the resurrection.”

Of course, the “sleeping” Christian is not waiting but in the present experience of life with God. As Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43, NIV). But while the deceased Christian enters into eternal life, the grieving community can express its experience of waiting. The grieving community has the opportunity to reflect the many ways in which we yearn for resurrection, for God to put all things right.

And this hope in resurrection is what makes Christian mourning unique. Christians ought to mourn. When a love one dies, a part of us does too. We will continue to miss the presence of a good friend or beloved family member. And yet we Christians have hope.

Death is the last evil, according to the apostle Paul. However he also says in Romans chapter six, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5, NIV). As churches and wider Christian communities respond to the death of a beloved member, we have been given the tools to recover: faith in what Christ has done, hope in the promise of resurrection, and love as experienced by those around us who offer comfort and assistance.

Rob Moll is director of publications and author of The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come (InterVarsity Press, 2010).

By John Dunlop (MA ’03)

When I started medical school in the late sixties, sudden death was the rule of the day. Chicago would have a heavy snowstorm. The stalwart would go out to shovel snow and keel over, the heart unable to handle the strain. If someone were nearby, they would run to the nearest phone, call the fire department. Firefighters would arrive to take the sufferer to the hospital, performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the way. But little could actually be done to preserve the person’s life until he or she was inside the emergency room. Most commonly, the victim was DOA (dead on arrival). Sudden death having claimed yet another victim. Thankfully, this course of events doesn’t occur as often today because of a well-known telephone number: 911.

Whether you look at the statistics for heart attack, stroke, gun shot wounds, or car accidents, sudden death is less common. More and more of us will need to adjust to our deaths coming slowly and gradually. This will not be easy, since modern people prefer their lives to end quickly; we tend to fear the process of dying more than we do death. A century and a half ago, people feared the opposite, preferring a slow rather than quick death. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer includes the line “Lord prevent us from sudden death.” Apparently, people of the past believed that dying slowly had rewards that a sudden death did not, advantages that those of us today would do well to reclaim.

If we are to have a good death, we must have a clear understanding of the things that need to be done before we die. To make this point when I am speaking to groups about aging and dying, I often ask them to list four of the most important events that have occurred between the time they were born and the present. Most can do that rather easily. Then I ask them to list four of the most important things that must take place between the present and when they will die. That is more challenging. Certainly it can be tragic to receive a terminal diagnosis and know you are near life’s end. But despite the dreadfulness, this time can be quite meaningful if you know
what you need to accomplish during it.

I realize I am being somewhat idealistic in making these suggestions. Our individual circumstances may be different, and what each of us needs to do may be unique. Still, I urge my patients to think through their personal agendas and to use their final days and hours to do what is most crucial for them.

Though gradual death is on the increase, it is far from universal. Deaths tend to come in three different ways. First, death can approach gradually, pursuing a steady and relentless course. The time of death can be at least somewhat predictable. Many cancers and Lou Gehrig’s disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), for example, cause this kind of death. It is important to understand that even these gradual deaths tend to occur more quickly than doctors and patients first expect. The fact is that most doctors predict that patients will have three to five times as many days till death than they actually experience. Second, deaths can come suddenly, without warning.

Third, deaths can come as the result of diseases that we can control for a long time with today’s medicine but that will eventually be fatal. Albert was told eight years before his death that he had a very weak heart and that this condition would eventually take his life. He was an ideal patient and cooperated fully with his cardiologist. His deterioration was slow, and in spite of knowing how weak his heart was, everyone expected him to keep on going like the Energizer Bunny—until the day his wife found him collapsed in the bathroom.
Dead! Albert knew death was coming but had no idea when. In that sense, even a gradual death can be sudden.

The possibility of sudden death makes it imperative that all of us work on completing the agenda now, so that if death were to overtake us unexpectedly, we would be prepared. The third scenario is equally difficult. I have learned that when the initial diagnosis is made, some careful thought should be given to the agenda we are about to discuss. Go ahead and have the serious talks about death and dying. But then it is okay to leave it there. Get out and live; enjoy each day knowing that whenever the end comes, you will be prepared.

John Dunlop is an adjunct professor at Trinity. He practices geriatric medicine in Zion. This article is excerpted from his book, Finishing Well to the Glory of God: Strategies from a Christian Physician (Crossway, 2011).

By Paul Hughes

Simon Greenleaf’s hands are creased in the portrait of him that hangs in the stairwell at the Trinity Law School campus in Santa Ana, California. Expansive, huge, and growing as you gaze, his hands reach as if to lay hold of an enormous challenge. He was, the plaque says, an exemplar of faith and a Harvard professor of law. His goal—combining faith and law— is the daily justice-seeking vision of Trinity Law School. It is a mission that has found a unique appeal to the diverse nearby community in southern California.

“Trinity Law School was founded on apologetics, law, and human rights,” says Interim Dean Myron Steeves. “We were way ahead of the curve.” Evangelicals largely avoided the public square roughly 30 years ago when the institution was founded as Simon Greenleaf School of Law, he says. But over the last three decades, the social justice seeds planted earlier by evangelical leaders such as Carl Henry and Billy Graham have borne fruit. Now, the integration of faith, social action, and biblical diversity is a prime focus of Trinity Law School.

“Our 200 students spread the spectrum of color and experi- ence,” Steeves says. In a 2009 U.S. Department of Education survey of 30 law programs, Trinity showed greater diversity than the average school in every category measured. In many cases, the law school has two or three times the average per- centage of minority students.

EveryTribe
Reflecting both the diversity of the Santa Ana community as well as the diversity of God’s creation is a part of the law school’s attempt to integrate faith with its instruction. “Chris- tians shouldn’t discriminate because we’re equal from the start—made in God’s image,” says Doug Eaton, admissions director. While some students are not Christian, Trinity Law School is able to find ways to connect them to its faith commitments. “Other religions relate to human rights even if they don’t believe in Jesus.” Often, the law and human rights can provide a foundation for learning more about Jesus Christ.

It may seem counterintuitive to some, but Trinity Law School finds that amid an ethnically and religiously diverse student body, Christianity provides a basis for understanding. Many students who have come from outside the United States know about human rights violations from firsthand experience. Among law schools, Trinity uniquely provides a common ground from which to understand equality and human rights.

Diversity that is grounded in the school’s faith commitments provides a framework to understand the law, human rights, and justice. “Our students see that laws aren’t human con- structs,” Eaton says. Rather, God has created humans as moral beings able to know God’s moral laws. As Paul wrote, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world.” (Rom. 1:20) The school’s diversity emphasizes this. With students from all corners of the world, certain truths are, indeed, self evident.

Robert Nguyen was born into a Buddhist family in Vietnam in 1981, and came to America 10 years later. He isn’t Christian, but he came to Trinity because it is. “That’s laid a foundation for all of their thought,” says Nguyen, who began studies in the summer of 2010. Nguyen has a bachelor’s in political sci- ence. He plans to stay in California, using his law degree to help troubled juveniles.

Eaton says students are attracted by more than just the school’s faith-based curriculum. They come to Trinity Law School because of its academic reputation, location, affordability, and flexible schedules. These serve diverse students concerned about cost and proximity to work and family. “We give a lot of people an opportunity to go to law school,” Eaton says.

From its beginning, Trinity Law School has existed for others. That’s what human rights and religious freedom may mean, in practice—including a law practice: working on behalf of others. Trinity’s attorneys pursue both goals, in all places.

Pursuing Justice
Another painting at Trinity Law School is of a Bible open on a desk, with a row of law books nearby. Below the picture, Romans 12:12 is quoted, counseling joy, hope, patience—and constant prayer. The brace of chairs below are upholstered with images of the hunt: horses, hounds, and forest. It creates an image of a space for perseverance and learning.

“Two things we offer are a socially conservative atmosphere and a faculty committed to absolute truth,” Steeves says. These are not popular offerings in many parts of Southern California, but it has attracted a number of immigrants to the school and is one of several reasons why enrollment has surged in the last year. Immigrants and minorities, even if non-Christians, want a place to pursue absolute truth in a conservative environment.

“We’re a mini L’Abri,” says Steeves, citing Francis Schaef- fer’s work with spiritually seeking young people in the 1960s.
Anyone, including a nominal Christian, can come to Trinity to “think through the implications of faith,” Steeves pauses a moment and then says — “slowly.” Those who are new to thinking about the Christian faith or who have not fully embraced it need time to explore.
It often happens in class. “I can begin with a prayer without someone asking, ‘Why are you talking about God?’” says Professor Sara Hakami, an Iranian Christian. “I’m also able to incorporate discussions of morality and ethics.”

Such discussions continue for years, says Steeves, as students go through school, and even after they graduate. “If students are struggling, I pray for them,” says Hakami. “Students feel it when professors implement Christ’s teaching. Everyone appreciates faculty who care.”

“The one thing I most wanted was the emphasis on faith in law,” says Nduka Ibekwe. “It’s not something you usually hear about lawyers.” Ibekwe, a Roman Catholic student with a bachelor’s from Rutgers and work experience in mechanical engineering, is a first-generation American, born in Pennsyl- vania. His parents are from Nigeria.

He sought Trinity’s Christian commitment. “It does the right thing, and it promotes justice,” he says. He quickly also discovered the school’s attempt to create a biblically diverse community. “I definitely noticed when I got here,” Ibekwe says. “Cultures were crossing.”

“It’s nice to see all of us here for the same purpose. No matter where you come from, you’re striving to be better,” Ibwkwe says. He worked on detainee’s rights this summer at the Inter- national Human Rights Institute in Strasbourg. He graduates in May and plans to work in intellectual property law.

Hakami says much of her classes in legal writing are pre- defined: students must learn how to brief cases. It is a straightforward process and an essential skill. But she can still teach—and show her students—how practicing law dovetails with how we live. “You don’t want to separate these; our loy- alty lies with Christ.”

Most law schools train lawyers, producing professionals for a profession. Trinity creates lawyers who are pursuing a higher commitment. “People sometimes think faith is incompatible with the life of the mind,” says Dean Steeves. “They come here and learn that’s not the case.”

Seek Justice
The third framed expression you see, after Simon Greenleaf and the Bible, is a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. He is pensive, looking forward into the distance while internally immersed in thought.

In his best-known speech, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King cites justice or injustice 11 times in 16 minutes, quoting the prophet Amos that “justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” In the passage, God says he wants nothing of sacrifice or music or feasts or offer- ings — nothing to do with worship — but rather justice.

“Justice” is how human rights and religious freedom converge. “We care passionately about the philosophy of law,” says Steeves. “Thirteen out of 90 units cover it. “We want them to come away with a great appreciation for God and the human mind and heart. Then we want them to go out and do it.”

Trinity grads often stay in their communities and build a practice. Many Korean or Hispanic attorneys, the first from their family to attend college let alone law school, can return home as licensed lawyers to build a decent practice helping other people in the community.

Many grads are increasingly going into direct service for others. Trinity asks alumni to give 20 percent of their time to pro bono work: law as service. “We want large percentages of grads do this,” says Steeves.

Many even do it as full-time work. Chris Neiswonger, a Trin- ity grad, is a legal specialist with World Vision International in Monrovia, Calif. He says Trinity’s human rights emphasis is essential. “Many people from Trinity are better prepared because they know international issues better,” he says. His education, Neiswonger says, is “more real world. It’s organic to Trinity.”

Neiswonger, now earning his MBA in international develop- ment, met his wife at Trinity. Denada heard of Trinity Law School in her native Albania. She was attending a conference where Trinity professors were speaking. “They were passion- ate about defending human rights,” she says. Denada then came to the U.S. for a bachelor’s degree, and she earned her J.D. at Trinity in 2003.

Proclamation
Simon Greenleaf lived 70 years, from our Republic’s founding to just before it would be nearly shredded by one of the most terrible wars ever, and one that deeply involved human rights. Late in their lives, when Greenleaf was in middle age, John
Adams wrote Thomas Jefferson: “My friend, we have lived in serious times.”

It’s hard for young people, such as the students in Santa Ana, to remember that all times are the serious ones. Americans today aren’t writing a Constitution, but we have constitutional struggles. Neither do we war against one another at Gettys- burg, but Americans today are no less involved in war.

We live in serious times. What can a tiny law school founded on and upholding its Christian values, increasingly dimin- ished elsewhere, do about such things?

Dean Steeves says it keeps doing what it’s always done, pursu- ing the gospel and meeting the needs of people. Born amid 1970s social and political unrest and an increasing Christian concern for liberty and law, Trinity Law School teaches future lawyers that the gospel speaks to both.

“All Christians can bring the gospel and meet immediate material needs,” he says. But only attorneys, with time and intention can do what needs to be done when the law is involved. “If people commit and sacrifice to making the gospel a living reality in the legal profession, it can be done,” Steeves says. “But it has to be by Christians getting law degrees.”

Paul Hughes is a writer in Southern California, the “Faith Based” columnist for Patch.com there, and editor of the book Think and Live for apologetics.com.

Renovation of the Church: What Happens When a Seeker Church Discovers Spiritual Formation By Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken; Forward by Dallas Willard

Believing that “the church in North America is in serious trouble,” authors Kent Carlson (BA ’79, MA ’82, MAR ’84) and Mike Lueken (MDiv ’93) issue a humble, but prophetic call for its reformation. Recounting the transformational journey of the church they co-pastor – Oak Hills Community Church in Folsom, CA – the Trinity graduates challenge church leaders to reconsider the purpose of the church and how successful ministry is measured.

Founded in 1984 and oriented toward spiritual seekers, Oak Hills had seen substantial numerical growth under Carlson’s leadership, peaking at an average weekend attendance of 1700. It wasn’t until the completion of a multi-million dollar building project in 1999 that several converging factors led to a period of reflection for him and his staff. While attendance increased at a slower than expected rate, the tension grew between what they read on the inner life and the frenetic pace necessary to produce relevant weekly seeker services.

After Lueken – who had arrived in 1997 as spiritual formation pastor – took a course on spiritual formation from Dallas Willard, he knew it would be “difficult to do church in the same way.” At their annual staff leadership retreat, they experienced a collective awakening. Their attractional church model, based as it was on the ethos of consumerism, ran counter to the deep life transformation they wanted to see in their church. Rather than accept consumerism as a fact of life to be exploited for church growth, they began to see it as an “insidious monster” to be resisted. Calling people to deny self in following Jesus was a tough ask after appealing to self-interest to get them through the door. Says Carlson, “How we attract people is how we form them.” Peddling quality religious goods led to spiritual consumers, not disciples of Jesus.

Spurred forward, they began taking personal inventory, even to the point of reviewing their conception of the Gospel itself. Far more than “crossing a line” of faith that offered forgiveness of sins and eternity in heaven, they came to see it as “the enthralling vision of life in God’s kingdom.” That this new, transformed life is available in the here and now ran counter to the truncated “non-discipleship Christianity” toward which they had oriented their church.

Introducing changes fueled by this paradigm shift proved difficult, however. Reorienting the weekend services away from attracting seekers toward forming disciples and canceling the midweek service for believers was met with resistance. But, the authors say, the reaction was rooted in the truncated gospel they themselves had promoted. Lueken writes, “Our greatest challenge through the years of our transition was dislodging the sin gospel from the hearts and minds of our people, and from the culture of our church.” Between 2001 and 2010, attendance dropped by nearly 1000. Among those to leave were many long-time members and even staff. Referring to “the unspoken contract” in providing a church focused on the spiritual wants of attendees, Carlson says that in making the shift, “we broke that contract.” Though they acknowledge the painfulness of the process and that mistakes were made during the transition, they speak joyfully and passionately about the current state and focus of Oak Hills.

Once focused on drawing as many people to the weekend services as possible, Lueken says they now emphasize “living an eternal kind of life now” as the primary means of evangelism at Oak Hills, as they collectively and individually participate in the life of the broader Folsom community. Carlson points to Lueken’s own commitment to coaching football at the community high school as an example. Though “living Christianly,” participating in prayer walks, and hosting arts events are important, they maintain that “effective evangelism is both demonstration and proclamation.” (142)

Evangelism isn’t the only element at Oak Hills that has changed. Worship too has been re-envisioned. The consumer-driven concern over style gave way to prioritizing content, which they came to believe is, at its most basic, the “celebration and retelling of the story of God.” (149) Worship services were then structured to best facilitate this, following the historical four-fold pattern suggested by Robert Webber. “We discovered that when we nailed down the issues of content and structure, style became less divisive….[W]hen we knew we were developing content-rich and structurally sound worship services, we felt free to use the style most natural to us.” (160)

One of the most unique elements to the story is the commitment to co-pastoring, an arrangement in place for the past 10 years. In speaking with them, it is clear that Carlson and Lueken are brothers together on a mission. With their respect and love for each other, they exhibit the kind of community they are working to create at Oak Hills. Though they admit co-pastoring is less efficient organizationally, it has created “a laboratory for spiritual formation,” says Lueken. “It forces us to ask the hard questions about motivations and ambitions,” adds Carlson. Though they don’t necessarily recommend it as a model to be widely emulated, they see it as a vital component in the work God is doing at the church.

Having graduated some years ago, they speak with fondness of their time at Trinity. Lueken says he was “supremely formed” and learned to “ask the ‘why’ questions,” as he sat under well-trained, authentic professors such Scot McKnight. Mentioning the late Kenneth Kantzer and John Woodbridge, Carlson agreed that being “taught how to think” was most important to him. Their message to current seminarians? “The call is to faithfulness, not to success.” Perhaps true success is just that: faithfulness to God and to one’s calling, combined with a life of discipleship.

Greg Leeper (MA ’04) is Associate Dean of Students at Trinity College.

My mom in the Botanical Garden with many yet-to-blossom tulips.

Those feelings of anticipation returned a week ago when my parents called to let me know that, after 13 hours of driving, they had finally made it to Half Day Road. It was the very first time they would be west of Pennsylvania, nevermind to be visiting Trinity! I got the house tidied up, the weekend’s dinner menu ready, and the activities planned (I am now an adult and a wife after all, and dang it, I was going to show it!). They arrived with loads of snacks (my parents are really good at giving me snacks), kind words of praise regarding the arrangement of our apartment, wristwatches still set to Eastern time, and the Chicago skyline forever stamped in their mind from being stuck in traffic for an hour on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

Thankfully the sun had finally broken through the rainy day streak we had been experiencing throughout April, which allowed me and Aaron to give my parents a very amateurish tour of Chicagoland. The Botanic Garden had a great share of blooming flowers considering it’s still early in the gardening season, and the Windy City stayed a subdued sixty degrees and sunny. And as far as the local food goes, my parents (and I, for that matter) had their first slice of stuffed Chicago-style pizza Saturday evening, and for Sunday brunch we took them to the very delicious Egg Harbor Cafe.

Our reflection in the giant silver bean in Millenium Park

My parents are wonderfully laid back, so we also enjoyed our on-campus hang-out time. We went on a brief self-guided tour of campus, Aaron and my dad discussed theology, I played Wii Rock Band with my mom (now I know where I get my video-game drum skills from!), and together we watched silly old-school Marx Brothers movies. I was sad to see them leave Tuesday morning, taking their refreshing stories of familiar people and places from my old life in New Jersey with them. I’m not sure when Aaron and I will get to see them again, but thanks to mom and dad, I at least have a huge stash of Swedish Fish and pistachios to last us up until the next visit!

By Collin Hansen (MDiv ’10)

I met John Woodbridge as a prospective student trying to figure out whether I should leave my job as associate editor for Christianity Today (CT) magazine and enroll full-time at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. We shared a connection through CT, which he once served as senior editor. But we didn’t know each other until Timothy George, himself a member of CT’s editorial council, recommended I sit down and speak with Woodbridge. As the long-tenured research professor of church history and the history of Christian thought at TEDS, Woodbridge personally knows just about everyone in the evangelical world. You won’t convince me otherwise. I’ve seen him in action.

George told me Woodbridge would offer wise counsel as I considered this decision. But I had no idea what to really expect. I wandered into his office, where the door is often open to prospective students, students, and former students, known and unknown. Three hours later, I had a strong sense that pursuing studies at TEDS would be a good decision. You read that right: Woodbridge, who has taught at Trinity since 1970, spent three hours with me, a prospective student he didn’t know. We talked about life, work, and hobbies. We swapped stories about Northwestern University, where he had once taught and I earned my undergraduate degree. I chose to enroll at TEDS in no small part because I wanted to study with distinguished, caring faculty such as Woodbridge.

But Woodbridge didn’t sell me on TEDS by selling himself. Rather, he spoke in glowing terms about his faculty colleagues, especially in the church history department. He advised me to take classes with Douglas Sweeney (MA ’89), a renowned expert on Jonathan Edwards and his theological successors. Woodbridge encouraged me to get to know Scott Manetsch, who chairs the department and teaches a highly regarded class on John Calvin’s theology. Entering TEDS with a love for history, I was especially excited to study with these three professors, and they did not disappoint.

Little did I know, however, that my education in church his- tory would extend beyond the classroom. Indeed, Woodbridge invited me to co-author a book with him about the historical importance and contemporary relevance of revivals. Lest I regard myself as the exception, both Sweeney and Manetsch have worked with students to write books, too. The humility displayed by these scholars to publish with students has given us a memorable educational experience we couldn’t possibly have expected when we enrolled.

Almost Too Good to Be True

Owen Strachan worked under Sweeney as managing director of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding. Sweeney also serves as Strachan’s adviser in the PhD program.

As he writes his thesis, Strachan teaches Christian theol- ogy and church history at Boyce College, the undergraduate school of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teamed up with Sweeney to write a five-volume set, The Essential Edwards Collection, published by Moody Publishers in early 2010.

“It almost sounded too good to be true to write about America’s greatest—and my favorite—theologian with an Edwards specialist who marries his knowledge with warm-hearted appreciation,” Strachan said.

Strachan and Sweeney sought to make Edwards’s theol- ogy accessible to a popular audience. This is no small task when dealing with Edwards, regarded by many scholars to be America’s greatest theologian. But Strachan and Sweeney singled out five aspects of Edwards’s teaching—on the good life, beauty, true Christianity, love for God, and heaven and hell—for attention.

“The process of working with Doug was seamless,” Strachan remembered. “He provided over- sight, intuition, and the kind of critical assessment that inevita- bly improves writing. He always had answers at the ready, though I had a wealth of information from his seminar on Edwards that I and seemingly every other TEDS student took (and take). Having been taught by his lectures and his many books, I knew how he approached and understood Edwards and could thus work more efficiently with him than with other pairings. Foremost in our shared perspective was a gratitude to God for the life and thought of a fallen man like the colonial pastor.”

Powerful and Probing

Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends was one of the first to be co-authored by students and professors. It was published by Baker Academic in 2007. Former TEDS students Charles Anderson (MDiv ’04) and Michael Sleasman (MDiv ’02, PhD ’08), who is now managing director of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, worked with professor Kevin Vanhoozer to edit essays submitted for his popular class, Cultural Hermeneutics.

Memorable classes continue to provoke students and professors to collaborate. Tim Baylor studied with Manetsch in his course on John Calvin. But Baylor began the class with serious reservations. Calvin doesn’t have the best reputation, even among seminary students. And like many great theologians, he’s more often referenced than actually read.

“Though I had called myself a ‘Calvinist’ for years prior to reading the Institutes, I anticipated Calvin’s writings to be dry and cerebral, like that of many of his name-sake’s,” Baylor said. “But when I actually began to acquaint myself with his writings first-hand, I found myself warmed by his rever- ence. His theology was thoughtful and probing, as Christian theology should be, but it was also unrelentingly pastoral, and I felt that he was speaking to my soul more than once.”

Drawing on what he learned about Calvin’s theology of “union with Christ,” he wrote a thesis under Manetsch and gradu- ated with a Master of Divinity from TEDS in 2009. He now serves as a campus pastor for The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Baylor has continued to use what he learned from Calvin to design a study for The Orchard. Church members read Calvin’s writings and discussed them together. The response was tremendous as people read the Genevan reformer for the first time and enjoyed rich, God-exalting theology.

In fact, Baylor was so encouraged by the response that he approached Manetsch about a book project. They drew up plans for a book tentatively called Calvin Comes to Small Group, which would spread the spiritual warmth of Cal- vin’s writings. The book would introduce unfamiliar read- ers to Calvin and walk them through primary readings. It would also provide aids for using the book in small groups. Manetsch and Baylor are currently circulating a book pro- posal in hopes of finding a publisher.

‘A God-Sized Vision’

I was talking with Woodbridge about a different book pro- posal when he suggested instead that we write about revival. He had been testing this book idea in classes for many years.

Woodbridge uses church history to encourage students to consider what God can do. Is it possible that we don’t see God working in dramatic ways today in the West because we don’t ask him to do these mighty works? Woodbridge asks students, whether first-year MDivs or experienced pastors pursuing their Doctor of Minis- try degree.

The question stuck with me. I realized that my theology didn’t match my prayer and practice. I believed God can and does do great things. But I rarely sought him in prayer to ask for him to do these works. I loved reading about revivals, when God endows the church’s ordinary min

istry with extraordinary power. I drew great encouragement from reading about the travels of George Whitefield through- out colonial America. The great evangelist befriended Benjamin Franklin and preached to common farmers. But I didn’t pray for such outpourings of grace in our own day. That is, until Wood- bridge helped me to understand the God of yesterday is also the God of today and tomorrow. We can and should pray that God would glorify his only Son, Jesus Christ, by pouring out the Holy Spirit in such a way that our churches would be revived and many unbelievers would be gathered to God by grace.

I devoted the summer between my second and third years at TEDS to learning about the men and women used by God to bring revivals. The result was A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories That Stretch and Stir, published in fall 2010 by Zonder- van. While researching and writing, I grew to know Pandita Ramabai, a gifted Indian woman so touched by reports of the Welsh revival in 1904 and 1905 that she prayed to see the same

among the widows and orphans rejected by Hindu society. I came to admire Marie Monsen, a Norwegian missionary who survived capture by Chinese pirates to see God send revival to Shangtung Province in the 1920s and 1930s.

These and many other remarkable Christians became my friends by faith during seminary. But I never would have been encouraged by their devotion to God unless John Woodbridge introduced them to me. He’s just one of several professors who make Trinity a unique place to study. They don’t just tell us students which books to read. Sometimes they even ask us to write the books with them.

Collin Hansen (MDiv ’10) is editorial director for The Gospel Coalition.

Promise’s search for freedom has immediate consequences as he is a member of the largest unregistered church in Beijing, Shouwang, which has come under intense government pressure to prevent it from gathering.

In an article for Christianity Today, Promise explains his church’s situation:

During the past three Sundays, numerous uniformed and plainclothes police officers were sent to a public square at Zhongguancun, known as “China’s Silicon Valley,” where Shouwang worshipers were supposed to gather. Hundreds of Shouwang members were detained, from a few hours to 48 hours. They worshiped—reading the Bible, singing hymns, and praying—after being loaded onto buses or held in police stations. Many others have been under house arrest. The church’s leaders, including four pastors and three elders, have been under house arrest for most of the past two weeks. Some church members have lost their jobs or rented homes—or both.
On Easter Sunday, more than 30 people were rounded up at Zhongguancun, while many Shouwang members were confined to their homes.

Many commentators have noted the recent crackdown on freedom in China. Christians, as Hsu writes, are concerned to see the loosening of state control that has been seen in the economy  also applied to religion.

In the case of Shouwang, the issue of worship venue is a reflection of a deeper struggle over the legality of the non-state-owned church in China. More than 30 years after reforms were started, it looks impossible for the government to control everything. It has considerably shifted its ground on the economy, having allowed non-state-owned companies to exist and expand. Now it is increasingly faced with the continued rise of non-state-owned churches: something it has long considered the product of “Western culture.”

This confrontation with authorities is an opportunity to witness, says Hsu. They simply seek the freedom to worship. As they interact with police and government officials, Shouwang church is able to demonstrate its faith.

In a pastoral letter sent the night before Easter, Pastor Jin Tianming, who has been under house arrest, reaffirmed the stand on outdoor worship: “The ‘outdoor’ in the outdoor worship is not a means to an end but a stand we are making before our Lord of glory and the authorities. It is a kind of worship before the only true God who is the only head of the church. And in this particular period of time, it is a worship that is even more precious than any hymn or sermon and would much more please God.”

…

The police might find it strange when they read the following on a Shouwang Q&A fact sheet: “‘What if the police arrest me because of my participation in outdoor worship?’ Do not resist; let them take us away, just like a lamb to the slaughter. In our hearts, we know that we gather here to worship; and for the sake of worship, we will pay the price. We believe in what the Lord has said: ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” Once they detain or arrest those Christians, the police would see and hear how these people behave and speak.

Much of the fascination Protestants have with other Christian traditions is often directed toward Catholicism, as a former president of the Evangelical Theological Society left for Rome, a Protestant college invited a Catholic to be its president, Protestant groups try to assert their identity, and Catholic groups worry that their best and brightest are becoming Protestant.

But Catholicism isn’t the only draw among Protestants. Many, like Frank Schaeffer (son of Francis), Scott Cairns, Frederica Mathews Green, and others have been writing on Orthodoxy for wider audiences than the ethnic groups who are the typical adherents to Orthodoxy. One of the draws of that tradition is its rich appeal to the senses and its deep history set in the early church and strengthened by the long bond to the Byzantine empire. Much of that is hard to fully grasp, as it requires a full immersion, but new attempts, like the movie Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer, are bringing the Orthodox traditions to wider audiences.

Last week, 60 Minutes visited the site considered to be holiest in the Orthodox tradition, giving a rare glimpse of the monasteries of Mount Athos. It’s a rich picture of a devout and impressive Christian site of prayer and contemplation. Watch it below:

Dr. Woodbridge offered these words after a panel discussion on preaching Christ in the Old Testament. On the occasion of his 65th birthday, Lane Dennis, John Piper, John Woodbridge, and Tim Keller presented to Don Carson the book, Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century, edited by Andreas Köstenberger and Robert Yarbrough (Crossway), which honors Carson’s contribution to the academic community and to the body of Christ for the sake of the gospel.

This reflection was originally posted at The Gospel Coalition website.

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If you ask evangelical leaders around the world to name today’s five most influential evangelical biblical scholars and theologians, you will invariably hear one name mentioned in nearly every list: Dr. Donald A. Carson. It is he whom we honor now as a servant of the Lord. But let it be clearly understood that we are honoring Don for only one stage of his career. We trust that the Lord will grant him many more years of fruitful ministry in decades ahead.

Don Carson is a genuine gift to evangelical churches worldwide. The quality of his scholarship is breathtaking and unsurpassed; his practical wisdom is astonishing; and his visionary leadership is stunning. The breadth of his knowledge runs deeply through 50 books and counting. He receives emails from all over the world in which friends and strangers alike ask his counsel on technical biblical matters as well as advice on potentially strategic advances for the gospel. Whenever I enter his office, he is inevitably dictating a letter.

How Don has written so many Bible commentaries and other books—some of which are absolutely massive—I have more than once pondered. When I first met him more than 30 years ago, I thought the answer was due to the fact that he was often still full stride at work at 1:00 a.m. in the morning.  He would mention speaking with other people throughout the world when the rest of us mortals in the United States were sound asleep. After a time, I abandoned the no-sleep hypothesis.  Then another hypothesis came to mind. Put simply, it is this: Don is an enormously gifted intellect with an admirable sense of discipline. Thirty years plus of interaction with Don have amply confirmed this hypothesis.

Renaissance Man

Don Carson is truly a Renaissance man. He does things so effortlessly and with such nonchalance that he may feel embarrassed to tell you of all of his other accomplishments. But I do not feel so constrained by his modesty. Not only is Don a world-class biblical scholar, linguist, and theologian, but he is also a very gifted musician. He plays the piano, sings beautifully, and has composed theologically rich hymns to adorn our churches. He can preach and lecture in French and German. He is a gifted poet. At the same time he sometimes sports a James Dean black leather jacket and rides a handsome motorcycle. He is an amateur pilot who once lost his way flying over England and out of tower contact.

He is a jack of all trades: an electrician, plumber, woodworker, and possibly a locksmith. One evening, he drove me home from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I discovered I had lost my keys and was locked out of the house. Don told me not to worry and to wait in the driveway. I anxiously paced back and forth. Within literally a minute or two, lights began to be turned on in the house. Then the garage door opened and there stood Don grinning and welcoming me to my own home. He never told me how he got into our fully locked home in one or two minutes. Thus he may be a locksmith. In any case, he certainly is a modern day Renaissance man.

You couldn’t have a more caring colleague than Don. When someone is in the hospital Don inevitably visits and offers comfort. When Dr. Kenneth Kantzer and Dr. Carl F. H. Henry were in the last years of their lives, Don did everything possible he could for them. He loved and respected them immensely. When as a colleague you have written a paper or a book, Don will read your manuscript and offer penetrating suggestions.

Over the years, Don’s contributions to the ongoing community life of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School have been immense. In a letter of warm congratulations to Don, Dr. Craig Williford, the president of Trinity International University, writes:

Your brilliant intellect, wise insight, outstanding communication skills, scholarship, and personal commitment to Christ and Trinity reminds us all of what God accomplishes through his dedicated followers when they take the gospel seriously and commit their lives to advance the kingdom of God.

Unashamed

For me, one of the most outstanding traits Don possesses is that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16). It is a temptation for talented Christian scholars who crave acceptance in the larger world of Academia to duck, weave, and bob and seek to avoid the opprobrium that sometimes comes when one writes or speaks from an overtly Christian perspective. But not D. A. Carson. Years ago, I asked him how it was that he decided to publicly profess his faith in his academic writing. He reminded me of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 10:33: “But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”

I am personally grateful to Don for the opportunity of working with him on a number of writing projects and other initiatives. One project in particular comes to mind because during the book’s creation Don’s commitment to the gospel and love of the Lord Jesus became especially clear. Don and I decided to write a novel that became the book Letters Along the Way. It contained counsel in epistolary form from Paul Woodson, a seasoned, godly professor teaching at Trinity, to Timothy Journeyman, a recent convert who was preparing for the ministry. Don and I bequeathed to Professor Paul Woodson a name that combined parts of our last names.

Don and I met at a Denny’s in early morning planning sessions during which we exchanged the various letters we had penned on our mutually assigned topics. After a number of weeks, we suddenly realized that we had not figured out how the book was going to end. Not to worry. Don told me he would write the final chapters and conclude the book. Finally, the moment came when I entered Don’s office with some trepidation to find out how our novel ended. Don appeared a little somber, and I noticed that his eyes were somewhat moist. He gave me the final chapters and I read. And my eyes became moist as well.

At the conclusion of the novel Woodson, a very godly man, became ill and died. Both of us knew that Woodson was modeled after Dr. Kenneth Kantzer. Kantzer was a gospel man and like a Paul not only for Don and myself but also for hundreds of men and women around the world. We were both touched by the sad but triumphant ending of the book, because we so much identified Dr. Woodson with Dr. Kantzer.

Don, in God’s grace you yourself have now become like a Paul for many Timothy’s around the world. May I express to you from them and from your many academic colleagues worldwide our profound appreciation for your unashamed and clarion proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for your winsome defense of the inerrancy of Holy Scripture, for your unsurpassed skills as a biblical scholar and theologian, for your warmth as a writer of devotional meditations and of your father’s biography, and for your caring concern for so many people whatever their station in life. Hearty congratulations to you Don and to your lovely and gracious wife, Joy, on this very happy occasion.

John Woodbridge is research professor of church history and the history of Christian thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Michael David Lukas, writing in Slate, does just that. We all know how Pharaoh hardened his heart, refusing to allow the Hebrews to leave Egypt. But eventually, Pharaoh seems to loosen up, and God steps in by hardening Pharaoh’s heart for him until all 10 plagues are unleashed upon the Egyptians and God’s power is in full display. Lukas writes, “Ultimately, Pharaoh appears to be little more than a puppet, his refusals not his own, his obstinacy nothing but a foil for God’s awesome power. The story ends after 10 plagues with Moses leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt and Pharaoh drowning in the Red Sea along with his army. If Pharaoh’s heart was in God’s control, was it fair to drown him?”

Lukas admits to not being the first to wonder about this. “”We should consider,” St. Augustine wrote. “Whether the phrase can be understood … as if [God] were saying, ‘I shall show how hard his heart is.’ ” Others, such as St. Paul, chalked the whole thing up to the inscrutability of divine will. “God has mercy on whomever he wishes,” the apostle wrote. “And hardens the heart of whomever he wishes.”

The article continues by comparing the story to other ancient texts in which deities act similarly. And by investigating the calcium deposits in the hearts of mummies. They were indeed hard. Many have ignored the implications of whether God might be seen to be culpable for Pharaoh’s hard heart. Lukas himself concludes vaguely, “we can see [ancient and modern Pharaohs] as evil people, corrupt and vicious tyrants, or we can seek to consider the larger forces behind them, hardening their hearts, propping them up, and multiplying suffering for everyone involved.”

Of course, things are complicated. Pharaoh was a wicked person in a wicked world. So are we. Pharaoh was also judged harshly for wickedness that Exodus seems to suggest God encouraged.

Divine will is inscrutable, but we can’t help at least attempting some scrutiny. When we don’t explore these issues, trying–if always failing–to answer them, we open ourselves up to answering these questions in ways that make us feel good without helping us know God.

Because we all ask, as Rob Bell does, “Is Gandhi in hell?” What about those who never heard of Jesus? Will God judge them for their ignorance? Will God judge an average screw-up like me–when despite my efforts I can’t really help myself?

I’ve made some of my own conclusions on these issues. They’re personal, because the questions are hard to answer theoretically, without a deep communion with God. But they’re questions our culture is asking, and we need to offer some answers.