Free Will Sex

Alright, that was a really racy title.  Two plugs.  Hat Tip: Justin Taylor

Interesting four page interview with Bruce Ware, theologian at SBTS, on the issue of free will.  It's PDF, and it starts on page 4.

You can get a free copy of the forthcoming Sex and the Supremacy of Christ book if you will read the advanced copy in PDF, review it on your blog, and send Justin Taylor the link.  My wife and I attended the conference in Minneapolis that is being transformed into this book.  It was excellent.  Go to JT's blog for more info.

Comments

[kaleobill]

Thanks for the link. Bruce Ware is a guy I respect a lot - loved most of what I've read from him.

I'm new to your blog - only been reading the past week or so, and I really am loving it. I'm a church planter in Houston that got some support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas... good to know there's others thinking through this stuff as well!

[Terry McCann]

Steve,

You do a great job of pointing people toward great material. Many thanks! It was an excellent article!

[Marty Duren]

It is curious that of all those authors, 90% are male who think sex has something to do with the supremacy of Christ. Hmmm...

[Big Chris]

Steve,
Will you be reviewing the book or are you just pointing people toward it?

MrCLM

[Steve McCoy]

Big Chris, yes.

[Bob Robinson]

I've taken a few classes from Bruce Ware when he was a prog at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He was a very popular professor, in that he taught clearly and concisely. At first, I really liked that. Then I realized that theology is a bit rougher around the edges than he made it out to be. He is a very black-and-white thinker, and is not very open to other frameworks of theology.
I recently saw a short debate between Bruce Ware and Greg Boyd on the "Open Theology" controversy on Lee Strobel's "Faith Under Fire" TV program. While I lean toward Ware's view on this issue, Boyd's insightful stand was very will presented, while Ware's stand seemed to be less accurate to the Bible than to Southern Baptist doctrine.
I found that to be interesting.
Here in this article you cite, we have Ware giving a very insightful article on divine soveriegnty and our free will. I liked it.
But I'd like to see the debate continue...

[Steve McCoy]

Bob,

I have too often found some in the EC afraid to listen to any "modern" sort of theologian. Ware would fit in that category. I just don't think it should be like that.

Everyone seems to want and "ancient-future faith" as long as the ancient is really old and the future is everyone under 35. I just don't buy it. I want to encourage all of us to continue to wrestle with theology from various sources, and Ware is one I generally like.

I have been happy to read and learn from McLaren and others though I disagree (often strongly) with some things I read and hear. I like the Puritans, the Reformers, some living theologians and pastors, and lots of dead ones. They are all influencing me, though I'm also critiquing them. As you said, let's have the debate continue. That's what I'm trying to do. Thanks for your input.

[Big Chris]

-Bob-
Boyd is probably the most articulate person you will hear on open theism. He is very good at making it sound attractive (though I too settle more on the side of Ware). I don't know if you can compare him and Ware, as Boyd is so charismatic it's hard to distance the men from their message (reading their thoughts may help level the playing field). My finacee has attended Boyd's church for the better part of 7 years, and over the past couple of years I have attended Woodland Hills with her a number of times. You would be amazed at how pervasive his views on open theism are in all his messages, even ones you would suspect have nothing to do with it. He doesn't come out and say that he's preaching on it, but to an outsider who doesn't listen to him weekly (though he is on the radio daily in our area) you can catch bits and pieces of it. After having pointed this fact out to her, she's been a lot more aware of what he preaches on, and picks up on it pretty quickly.

[Bob Robinson]

Big Chris,
Thanks for the insights into Boyd. I've enjoyed what I've read by him in the sphere of apologetics. The Strobel show was the first time I'd ever seen or heard him speak.

Steve,
I am a lot like you on what you said--as to who I read and how I interact with them. And, as I said, I like Ware as a person and as a modernistic theologian (and I agree, there's nothing wrong with that). But it seems to make sense that he's now at an SBC school, since his views are more of that ilk (American Southern Baptist) than the more internationally-influenced and more broadly-defined TEDS.
(I say this not as a slam on SBCers like yourself--but as a general observation. I was very close at one time to be on staff of an SBC church myself).

Fair? What do you think?