John Lathrop interviews Finny Philip about the new South Asia Bible Commentary.

John Lathrop: Please give us a brief history of the development of this commentary.

Finny Philip: The South Asia Bible Commentary (SABC) is a project of Langham Partnership International and partners. Langham is the organization founded by the late evangelical scholar, author and leader John Stott.

John R. W. Stott (1921–2011), “started Langham in 1969 with the vision that every pastor in every church is equipped to preach the Bible.”
Image: Langham Partnership International / Wikimedia Commons.

The project started in 2008 when a few Langham scholars in India came together for fellowship in Kolkata. The project is led by Brian Wintle (New Testament scholar), three Old Testament theological editors (Drs. Paul Swarup, J.B. Jeyraj, Havilah Dharmraj) and two New Testament theological editors, Dr. Jacob Cherian and myself.

Who are the contributors to this volume and what countries are they from?

Finny Philip: The writers are all South Asian—scholars from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka contributed to the volume. The commentaries have been written by over ninety scholars. This resource represents the first effort of its kind written by South Asians.

What denominations do the commentators come from?

Finny Philip: Pentecostals, Baptist, Methodist, Brethren, Church of North India, Church of South India, and the rest are evangelicals and charismatics. Of the 92 scholars who contributed to SABC, 18 are Pentecostals including the two New Testament editors.

What are some of the main theological concerns facing the church in South Asia at this time?

Finny Philip: There a lot of issues that the commentary deals with.

To speak to South Asians powerfully and with relevance, the commentary uses local metaphors and imagery and helps its users apply the Bible to the challenges in their culture. In addition to the commentary, more than 100 topics are explored from a biblical perspective, including:

Bribery & Corruption

Caste

Children At Risk

Christian Bhakti (devotion) in South Asia

Death and Life after Death

Human Trafficking

Jesus in South Asia/ South Asian responses to Christ

Karma and Fatalism

Living as the People of God in South Asia

Mission of God in South Asia

The Finality of Christ

The Holy Spirit in South Asian Spirituality

Violence against Women

Witchcraft and Demons

Yoga, Gurus and God men

Philip F. Esler, New Testament Theology: Communion and Community (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005).

The title of Philip Esler’s New Testament Theology is ill-chosen. Although the book provides a good introduction to a number of aspects that qualify the task of writing a New Testament theology, the book itself is not a New Testament theology by any stretch. At most, it is a highly selective prolegomenon to the task of “doing” New Testament theology. That is not to say, however, that the book is not worthwhile to read—it is simply to say that readers will have to look elsewhere if they really want a New Testament theology.

One of the better features of this book is its discussion of the New Testament’s indebtedness to a dualistic anthropology, which is especially welcome in light of the current trend to argue that the New Testament’s anthropology is really fundamentally monistic. Esler exposes the shortcomings of the numerous attempts to sell readers on a monistic anthropology through a highly selective and tendentious reading of certain passages. (In the process, he also shows that Rene Descartes is not the extreme dualist he is often painted to be by today’s Enlightenment-bashers.)

Esler also steers clear of another trendy but misguided conceit when he affirms the intentionalist hermeneutic basic to the New Testament. But his chief argument in support of authorial intention, I think, is an unnecessary complication of what should be a much more straightforward task: he invokes the idea of the “communion of the saints” in order to say that we owe the “saints” enough respect to listen to what they intend (present tense), and not just what their texted artifacts can be made to say on the basis of a strong misreading. This is an intriguing argument, but it is rather circuitous and perhaps even costly in terms of commitments. Why not just say that we should look for what the author intended because the purpose of their writing in the first place was to convey an intention?

Reviewed by John C. Poirier

Introducing Philip Mantofa: Pastor Philip Mantofa graduated from Columbia Bible College, in British Columbia, Canada, with a degree in theology. Since 1998, he has been serving Mawar Sharon Church, a growing church of 30,000 in Indonesia. Currently, he is one of the leaders of the Mawar Sharon denomination, which has a network of 70 local churches. He has brought more than 100,000 souls to Christ. His passion is to see nations encounter and experience the love of Jesus Christ and ignite fire in the younger generation to become pastors and spiritual leaders all over Asia. He and his wife have three children.

Pneuma: Please tell our readers how you came to know Jesus.

At one time I harbored a lot of hatred toward the Lord and toward myself. I was disappointed in my family, friends, and church. My days seemed dark. On one occasion I cursed the Lord, I challenged Him, and blasphemed Him. When I did this my heart began to beat fast and I collapsed. My heart was racing and I thought that I would die. My breathing became tight and I felt the presence of the Lord. He spoke to me and said “I love you.” When He said that my heartbeat became stable again and I stood up. Then I blasphemed Him again. This time I was thrown to the floor and my heart again began to beat frantically. Once again I felt the Lord’s presence and I cried like a baby because I heard Him again say that He loved me. I was on the floor screaming, “Why do you love me? I do not love You! Kill me now! Do it now while I hate You! Punish me now!” I rejected God’s love. I blasphemed a third time, again my breath was constricted and I was thrown to the floor. Once again His presence came to me and I heard a voice in my heart say as though crying “I love you.” After this my heartbeat once again became normal.

After these experiences I decided that if the Lord would not kill me then I would kill myself. No one knew of my plans to kill myself. Twice I planned to take my life but I could not do it because I thought of my family and how they would handle it. The third time I planned to kill myself I was interrupted by a phone call from my pastor’s wife and so I did not go through with it.

Two weeks later I went to church. I had a sense that there was going to be an altar call to receive Christ and I prepared to leave the service. I stood and started moving toward the exit. As I was reaching for the door knob I heard a man’s voice in my ear, it was very firm and loud. It was an audible voice. The voice said, “Philip, if you are not saved today, you will be lost forever.” There was no one standing near me, I then realized that it was the voice of God. I immediately ran to the front of the church and lifted my hands. I cried and cried. I also saw a very bright light. At this time I heard an audible voice speaking to me in English. The voice said, “I am Jesus and I love you.” I asked the Lord to let me die for Him. He told me to live for Him. That day He touched me and I was changed.

Jonathan Phillips, Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades (London: The Bodley Head, Random House, 2009), 424 pages, ISBN 9780224079372.

Philip Jenkins. The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia—and How It Died (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 315 pages, ISBN 9780061472800.

If you would read back-to-back, as I did recently, the two books reviewed here, one by a historian of the Crusades and another by a Church historian on the Eastern Church, you will surely broaden your knowledge of world history and gain a surprising perspective on both ecumenism and the prospects of peace with religious extremism.

Both of these books are a good overview of the battlefield called “jihad” by Muslims and “Crusade” by Christians and contain insights into the mistakes made as well as ways people have been successful in working together, though the mistakes far outweigh what went right. Jonathan Phillips is the expert on Crusades history and European medieval secular and religious politics, while Philip Jenkins addresses religious matters in-depth.

If we might borrow from Socrates’ saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” we ought to grasp that no movement in the history of humanity was either simple or pure. Phillips does a good job of sustaining the point that both the call to Crusade by popes and the response from the nobles and people was a mixture of sincerely held religious beliefs and the desire for success, power and wealth. Moderns like to say that the Crusades show what is wrong with religion and the Church, but leave out (probably from ignorance) that the Crusades began with a request from Christians in the Middle East, not a European desire for a blood frenzy. However, what Pope Urban II in 1095 decided to do with the appeal from Emperor Alexius of Constantinople and each and every occasion for “taking the cross’ until the reconquest of Granada in 1492 was a mixture of piety and pride resulting in the waste of human lives as well as multiple failures in the goals they hoped to achieve. For example, what the Emperor had in mind was a special forces team of perhaps 300 knights but what happened was one of history’s first carefully orchestrated international public relations campaigns, resulting in an army of tens of thousands of princes and peasants on a long march to Jerusalem. The misdeeds and missteps along the way are well known, but Phillips’ research is highly informative and I learned a great deal. As he points out, it is amazing that those in the First Crusade were successful at all, yet they were the most successful of all.

Editor Introduction: Postmodernism, The Church, and The Future

Note from the Editors: Pastor Ryken has graciously taken time to answer questions that readers of this discussion have raised about how the church should respond to postmodernism.

Postmodernism, The Church, and The Future
A Pneuma Review discussion about how the church should respond to postmodernism

Question from reader: Why does it seem that some of the great themes of the past are fading from emphasis? What happened to Hell, lostness of sinners, and the Rapture? 

Philip Graham Ryken: I believe it is true that many important doctrines receive much less attention in the church today than they did in past eras when the church was more vital spiritually. The doctrines of Hell and the lost condition of fallen sinners would certainly fall into this category. These doctrines in particular are essential to an orthodox understanding of the Christian faith, and just as importantly, to a true saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The doctrine of sin is important because it shows our need for a Savior; the doctrine of Hell is important because it shows us the true and final consequence of our sin.

I see two main reasons why these doctrines may be less frequently taught in the church today. One is that they are both “hard teachings,” and our culture shies away from anything that is difficult or confrontational. However unwittingly, many teachers and preachers avoid saying anything that might be offensive to non-Christians, for fear of driving them away from the church (and of course teaching on sin will always be offensive to sinners). This fear is misplaced, however. However offensive it may be to some, the preaching of sin and judgment has always been one of the Holy Spirit’s primary means for showing people their need of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

Philip Jenkins, “Companions of Life: A Supple Faith” Christian Vision Project, Books & Culture 13:2 (March/April 2007), pages 9-18.

Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, is one of the most invigorating voices currently investigating the present state and future fate of global Christianity. Having read his work (e.g., The Next Christendom) and heard him speak (at a Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting) I have come to appreciate both his wit and wisdom, humor and insight. Hopefully, he would appreciate my ideological identification of him as the “Mr. Fantastic” of contemporary Christian studies! Mr. Fantastic, the leader of Marvel Comics’ superhero team “Fantastic Four” (since 1961) and in two major motion pictures to date (2005, 2007), is a scientific genius and incredibly flexible, able to stretch his body into great lengths and shapes. In an exciting scene from the 2005 film he contains his unruly friend, “The Thing,” who is huge, hard, and amazingly strong, by wrapping himself around him until he cannot move. Thus he proves that flexibility and mobility can overcome brute strength and sheer size. And here we have Philip Jenkins’ “supple faith.” But lest we allow my comic book illustration to mislead, let it now be known that Jenkins is most serious and should be taken so by readers. Recognizing his expertise in the area of Christian mission, Books & Culture printed his “provocative answer,” as they called it, to their question, “What must we learn, and unlearn, to be agents of God’s mission in the world?” And indeed, his answer is must reading for those most interested in contemporary Christian mission.

Philip Jenkins

Jenkins begins by noting European and American Christian missions have been astonishingly successful around the world; so much so, in fact, that the demographics and dynamics of global Christian identity have been significantly transformed. The majority of Christianity now resides outside the global North inside the global South. Consequently, Jenkins recommends rethinking mission. First, “we Northerners” need to better appreciate our place in the wider Christian context. We do not represent the norm within Christianity and may over time become more marginalized. The average or ordinary Christian today lives in poverty in a non-stable nation-state probably without a real priority on human rights. This profile calls for a reorientation of priorities. According to Jenkins, although we don’t need to completely give up on gospel proclamation quite yet, we’ve done a good basic job of reaching the world and now need to consider our “primary obligation” (original italics) that of helping the many who are already Christians improve their dire and dreadful living circumstances. Also, rather than thinking exclusively in terms of foreign missions, we need to take account of opportunities provided by globalization and immigration bringing former missionary prospects to our own shores instead. Finally, we might also begin to think in terms of “reconversion.” Countries and even continents once prominently considered Christian are experiencing a “dechristianization” process. So then, for example, how to “rekindle the ancient flames” in the faith of Europe could be an extremely important project.

Philip Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 221 pages. 

Philip Yancey has written The Bible Jesus Read to help answer the question posed by his first chapter: is the Old Testament worth the effort? Drawing heavily on his own struggles reading these ancient books, he lights a way through the very sections that have sent us running for the familiar sights and sounds of the New Testament. He states in chapter one, “Eventually I found myself wanting to read those thirty-nine books, which were satisfying in me some hunger that nothing else had—not even, I must say, the New Testament. They taught me about life with God: not how it is supposed to work, but how it actually does work” (pp. 21, emphasis his).

Yancey jumps in head first, wrestling with Job in chapter two. Then, one by one, he tackles the books that have crossed all of our eyes at one time or another. Deftly, he shows us how he himself began to not only make sense of them, but truly enjoy the reading. Each will find, as I did in his chapter on Psalms, that we shared a struggle, or misunderstanding with him. The obstacles were cleared for me to enjoy and profit from the Psalms by the time the chapter was finished. No doubt most who read this book will share my experience.

I recommend this book to those who avoid the Old Testament as well as those who love it. As one who has always loved it, I can say this book was a tremendous help, though I confess I didn’t think I needed any. Those who have avoided it, for the small price of this book, need avoid it no longer.

Reviewed by Mike Dies