Bloesch’s “Essentials of Evangelical Theology”

I’ve been reading Donald G. Bloesch’s Essentials of Evangelical Theology to help me fall asleep at night.  First published in 1979, it is a good introduction/overview of Chistian scholarship up to that time.

Bloesch’s strength and weakness is that he seeks to create a scholarly synthesis around his broadly (neo-?)Reformed presentation of the Christian faith.  That is not easy.  Sometimes he succeeds admirably, as in this synopsis of various views of atonement: “For Calvin it might be said that all is of grace, but grace is not for all.  Wesley and Luther on the other hand held that all is of grace and grace is for all, but not all are for grace.  Karl Barth, who unites Calvinist emphasis on the universality of the atonment, maintains that grace encompasses all but that every person is set against grace; at the same time every one is caught up in the movement of grace even where there is continued oposition to it”.  

Sometimes his attempt to include multiple strands makes no sense, as when trying NOT to have to embrace particular redemtion: ”Only those who believe have been effectively redeemed by Christ, and only those who are effectivley redeemed come to believe.  This is not necessarily a commitment to limited atonement, however, since the ultimate number of those who believe is hidden with God. It must also be affirmed that even those who do not believe are benefited by the cross and resurrection of Christ since the devil and his hosts were objectively overthrown and defeated irrepective of man’s response to the cross.”   The latter point, as he admits himself, is a “rationally insurmountable mystery”.  Also, those who believe in limited atonement don’t deny that the ultimate number of those saved is hidden with God.    Surely the uniquivocal embrace of particular redemtion would cut through this mish-mash. 

Even if nuanced in places, Bloesch is very partial to Barth.  For those who find the wordy German tough sledding, Bloesh might be a good stepping stone.  In any case, if you are looking for a good read to help you fall asleep, try Bloesch.

Pictures for use in language learning

I uploaded loads of pictures for language learning purposes on my website (www.pikkert.com).  Click on the “downloads” link, then on “Stuff Pertaining to Language Learning”.  Then click on whatever “simple sketches” you want.

If you wonder how to use these sketches click on the “LACE Manual”.  It contains loads of language learning ideas.

Albanian Proverb

He who eats alone dies alone.

Sad Statistics on Turkish Young Adults

On May 17, 2008, ANGIAD, The Ankara Young Businessmens Association, released some sad statistics on Turkish young adults.  Their survey polled 1694 young adults aged 18-30.  Here a few highlights.

• a mere 14.02 % considered their father good role models.
• 20.21 % have nationalist-conservatve sympathies
• only 18.11 % consider themselves secularist
• 74.15 % don’t follow political developments
• 43.62 % don’t want Turkey to join the European Union
• but a whopping 78.14 % want to leave Turkey
• 46.21 % have little hope for Turkey’s future
• 83.07 % don’t engage in any sports activities
• 53.17 % don’t read a newspaper; 35.87 % only read the sports pages
• 84.19 % have been subjected to violence
• 56.89 % have been subjected to violence by one or more family member.

(from Radikal, 18 May 208)