Counterpoints Bible and Theology (17 vols.)

by Walter C. Kaiser Jr.; Darrell L. Bock; Peter Enns; John H. Armstrong

and

71 more

Publisher:

Zondervan

, 1987–2011

Overview

Apologetics, worship, church growth, communion, divorce, the end times—these are some key areas of concern for many in the church. With dozens of contributing authors from varying theological backgrounds, the Counterpoints Series is an invaluable set of resources for Christians today, focusing on these topics and more. Many of the volumes in this unique collection lay out four or five separate views on a theological matter, giving the reader the chance to weigh the many sides that can arise on a particular issue. All views presented come from extensive research completed by respected biblical scholars and theologians.

The advantage of this collection is huge: the thought-provoking and varying points of view presented offer great soil with which one can cultivate a sound biblical foundation. Whether you are a student, pastor, teacher, youth worker, or layperson, these volumes are a fantastic tool for understanding contemporary Christian issues you may face today in the light of solid scriptural truth.

Key Features

• Analysis of the Church Growth movement
• Differing points of view on communion, remarriage after divorce, the book of Revelation, and more
• Nearly 4,000 pages of relevant information regarding the church and theology today
• Varying perspectives on divine providence, evangelicalism, and the relation of Old and New Testament texts
• Contributions from an assortment of scholars and theologians

Product Details

• Title: Counterpoints Series
• Series: Counterpoints
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Volumes: 17
• Pages: 4,720

Evaluating the Church Growth Movement

• Editor: Gary L. McIntosh
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 304

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What exactly is church growth? In what ways has the movement actually brought growth to the church, and how effective has it been in doing so? What are its strengths and weaknesses? This timely book addresses such questions. After providing a richly informative history and overview, it explores—in a first-ever roundtable of their leading voices—five main perspectives, both pro and con, on the classic Church Growth movement.

Contributors:

• “Effective Evangelism View” by Elmer Towns
• “Gospel in Our Culture View” by Craig Van Gelder
• “Centrist View” by Charles Van Engen
• “Reformist View” by Gailyn Van Rheenan
• “Renewal View” by Howard Snyder

Gary L. McIntosh teaches at Talbot School of Theology, is a professor of Christian ministry and leadership, leads 20–25 national seminars a year, serves as a church consultant, was president of the American Society of Church Growth in 1995–1996, and has written over 95 articles and 10 books, including Finding Them, The Issachar Factor, Three Generations, One Size Doesn’t Fit All, Overcoming the Dark Side, and Staffing Your Church for Growth.

Exploring the Worship Spectrum

• Editor: Paul Basden
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 272

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This volume outlines a clear, engaging description of the six most prevalent models of worship in North American churches, presented by advocates for each position. The contributors evaluate each position in order to broaden people’s understanding of diverse models and shed light on an emotive issue.

Contents and contributors:

• “Formal-Liturgical” by Paul Zahl
• “Traditional Hymn-Based” by Harold Best
• “Contemporary Music-Driven” by Joe Horness
• “Charismatic” by Don Williams
• “Blended” by Robert Webber
• “Emerging” by Sally Morgenthaler

Six different writers each present a chapter on their particular worship—running the gamut from formal liturgical, to charismatic, to emerging worship. Each chapter is followed by short commentaries by the other writers providing a variety of perspectives on each worship style. What emerges is a fascinating conversation that doesn’t try to convert you to one particular style of worship, but broadens your mind to the inherent worth of different types of worship. A good read.

—YouthWorker Journal

Paul Basden is one of the senior pastors at Preston Trail Community Church in Frisco, Texas. He has also served as pastor of other churches in Alabama and Texas and as an adjunct professor at Beeson Divinity School. He is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the author of The Worship Maze.

Five Views on Apologetics

• Editor: Steven B. Cowan
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2000
• Pages: 400

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Five Views on Apologetics examines the “how-to” of apologetics, putting five prominent views under the microscope: classical, evidential, presuppositional, reformed epistemology, and cumulative case. Offering a forum for presentation, critique, and defense, this book allows the contributors for the different viewpoints to interact. Like no other book, Five Views on Apologetics lets you compare and contrast different ways of “doing” apologetics. Your own informed conclusions can then guide you as you meet the questions of a needy world with the claims of the gospel.

Contents and contributors:

• “Classical Aplogetics” by William Lane Craig
• “Evidential Apologetics” by Gary R. Habermas
• “Cumulative Case Apologetics” by Paul D. Feinberg
• “Presuppositional Apologetics” by John M. Frame
• “Reformed Epistemology Apologetics” by Kelly James Clark

Steven B. Cowan is an associate professor of philosophy and apologetics at Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham, AL.

Five Views on Law and Gospel

• Editor: Stanley N. Gundry
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 1996
• Pages: 416

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Do the Law and the Gospel belong to two separate dispensations? Has the Gospel replaced the Law? What is the relevance of the Old Testament Law to our lives as Christians? Is there continuity between it and what Christ expects of us in the Gospel? It is no secret that Christians have differed widely on these questions. This book explores five major approaches to this important biblical topic that have developed in Protestant circles. Each of the five authors presents his particular perspective on the issue and responds to the other four.

Contents and contributors:

• “The Law is the Perfection of Righteousness in Jesus Christ: A Reformed Perspective” by Willem A. Vangemeron
• “The Theonomic Reformed Approach to Law and Gospel” by Greg L. Bahnsen
• “The Law as God’s Gracious Guidance for the Promotion of Holiness” by Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
• “The Inauguration of the Law of Christ with the Gospel of Christ: A Dispensational View” by Wayne G. Strickland
• “The Law of Christ as the Fulfillment of the Law of Moses: A Modified Lutheran View” by Douglas Moo

Five Views on Sanctification

• Editor: Stanley N. Gundry
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 1996
• Pages: 256

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Christians generally recognize the need to live a holy, or sanctified, life. But they differ on what sanctification is and how it is achieved. Five Views on Sanctification brings together in one easy-to-understand volume five major Protestant views on sanctification. Writing from a solid evangelical stance, each author describes and defends his own understanding of the doctrine, and responds as well to the views of the other authors.

This book addresses such practical questions as: How does one achieve sanctification in this life? How much success in sanctification is possible? Is a crisis experience following one’s conversion normal—or necessary? If so, what kind of experience, and how is it verified?

Contents and contributors:

• “The Wesleyan Perspective” by Melvin E. Dieter
• “The Reformed Perspective” by Anthony A Hoekema
• “The Pentecostal Perspective” by Stanley M. Horton
• “The Keswick Perspective” by J. Robertson McQuilkin
• “The Augustinian-Dispensational Perspective” by John F. Walvoord

Four Views on Eternal Security

• Editor: J. Matthew Pinson
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2002
• Pages: 304

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Does the Bible support the concept of “once saved, always saved,” or can a person lose his or her salvation? How do the Scriptures portray the complex interplay between grace and free will? These and related questions are explored from different angles in this thought-provoking volume.

The contributors each state their case for one of four prominent views on eternal security: classical Calvinist, moderate Calvinist, reformed Arminian, and Wesleyan Arminian. In keeping with the forum approach of the Counterpoints series, each view is first presented by its proponent, then critiqued and defended. This fair and respectful approach allows you to weigh for yourself the strengths and weaknesses of the different doctrinal stances. By furnishing you with scholarly and thoughtful perspectives on the topic of eternal security, this book helps you sift through opposing views to arrive at your own informed conclusions.

Contents and contributors:

• “A Classical Calvinist View” by Michael S. Horton
• “A Moderate Calvinist View” by Norman L. Geisler
• “A Reformed Arminian View” by Stephen M. Ashby
• “A Wesleyan Arminian View” by J. Steven Harper

J. Matthew Pinson is the president of Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville, Tennessee.

Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible

• Editor: Gary T. Meadors
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 384

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The Bible has long served as the standard for Christian practice, yet believers still disagree on how biblical passages should be interpreted and applied. Only when readers fully understand the constructs that inform their process of moving from Scripture to theology—and those of others—can Christians fully evaluate teachings that claim to be “biblical.” Here, scholars who affirm an inspired Bible, relevant and authoritative for every era, present models they consider most faithful to Scripture.

Contents and contributors:

• “A Principlizing Model” by Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
• “A Redemptive-Historical Model” by Daniel M. Doriani
• “A Drama-of-Redemption Model” by Kevin J. Vanhoozer
• “A Redemptive-Movement Model” by William J. Webb

Moreover, due to the far-reaching implications this topic holds for biblical studies, theology, and church teaching, this book includes three additional reflections by Christopher J. H. Wright, Mark L. Strauss, and Al Wolters on the theological and practical interpretation of biblical texts.

Gary T. Meadors is a professor of Greek and New Testament at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He is author of Decision Making God’s Way and a contributor to the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology.

Four Views on the Book of Revelation

• Editor: C. Marvin Pate
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 1998
• Pages: 256

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Is the book of Revelation a blueprint for the future that needs decoding if we want to understand current events? Is it a book of powerful imagery, with warnings and promises for the church throughout the ages? Or is it essentially an imaginative depiction of historical events in the first century? Four Views on the Book of Revelation explores the four main views in which Revelation is understood: preterist, idealist, classical dispensationalist futurist, and progressive dispensationalist.

Contents and contributors:

• “A Preterist View of Revelation” by Kenneth L Gentry Jr.
• “An Idealist View of Revelation” by Sam Hamstra Jr.
• “A Progressive Dispensationalist View of Revelation” by C. Marvin Pate
• “A Classical Dispensationalist View of Revelation” by Robert L. Thomas

C. Marvin Pate taught for 13 years at Moody Bible Institute. Now he is chair of the Department of Christian Theology and a professor of theology at Ouachita Baptist University.

Show Them No Mercy

• Editor: Stanley N. Gundry
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 224

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Christians are often shocked to read that Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, commanded the total destruction—all men, women, and children—of the ethnic group known as the Canaanites. This seems to contradict Jesus’ command in the New Testament to love your enemies and do good to all people. How can Yahweh be the same God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? What does genocide in the Bible have to do with the politics of the twenty-first century? This book explores, in typical Counterpoints format, the Old Testament command of God to exterminate the Canaanite population and what that implies about continuity between the Old and New Testaments.

Contents and contributors:

• “Strong Discontinuity” by C. S. Cowles
• “Moderate Discontinuity” by Eugene H. Merrill
• “Spiritual Continuity” by Daniel L. Gard
• “Eschatological Continuity” by Tremper Longman III

How Jewish Is Christianity?: Two Views on the Messianic Movement

• Editor: Louis Goldberg
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 208

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Are Messianic congregations necessary or should Jewish believers be incorporated into the Gentile church? The question of how Christian Jews relate their Jewish practices and customs to the church has been an issue within Christianity since the first century. Contemporary contributors who have lived and wrestled with this issue present informed arguments and counter-arguments. The book concludes with a chapter on the future for Messianic Jews and a directory of messianic movement organizations.

Contents and contributors:

• “Messianic Congregations are not Necessary” by William Varner
• “Messianic Congregations May Exist within the Body of Messiah, as Long as They Don’t Function Contrary to the New Testament” by Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum
• “The Future of Messianic Judaism” by David Stern

Remarriage After Divorce in Today’s Church

• Editor: Mark L. Strauss
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 176

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Among born-again Christians, twenty-seven percent have experienced divorce as compared to twenty-four percent in the general population. Yet no consensus exists among evangelicals on their views of remarriage, leaving many Christians confused. This single volume summarizes and explores three main evangelical views: no remarriage, remarriage after adultery or desertion, and remarriage for a variety of reasons. Each of the three contributors offers his point of view succinctly with biblical support, and each interacts with the others to help readers come to their own conclusions.

Contributors and contents:

• “No Remarriage After Divorce” by Gordon J. Wenham
• “Remarriage (two grounds)” by William A. Heth
• “Remarriage (variety of reasons)” by Craig S. Keener

Mark Strauss is a professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary in San Diego. He has written The Davidic Messiah in Luke-Acts, Distorting Scripture?, The Challenge of Bible Translation and Gender Accuracy, and Luke in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary series.

Who Runs the Church?

• Editor: Steven B. Cowan
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 320

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Churches have split and denominations have formed over the issue of church government. Yet while many Christians can explain their particular church’s form of rule and may staunchly uphold it, few have a truly biblical understanding of it. What model for governing the church does the Bible provide? Is there room for different methods? Or is just one way the right way? In Who Runs the Church? Four predominant approaches to church government are presented by respected proponents.

Contents and contributors:

• “Episcopalianism” by Peter Toon
• “Presbyterianism” by L. Roy Taylor
• “Single-Elder Congregationalism” by Paige Patterson
• “Plural-Elder Congregationalism” by Samuel E. Waldron

Understanding Four Views on Baptism

• Editor: John H. Armstrong
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 224

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What is the significance of water baptism? Who should be baptized? Is infant baptism scriptural? Which is the proper baptismal mode: sprinkling, pouring, or immersion? Should people be rebaptized if they join a church that teaches a different form of baptism? Should baptism be required for church membership? These and other questions are explored in this thought-provoking book.

Contents and contributors:

• “Baptist View: Baptism as a Symbol of Christ’s Saving Work” by Thomas J. Nettles
• “Reformed View: Baptism as a Sacrement of the Covenant” by Richard L. Pratt Jr.
• “Lutheran View: God’s Baptismal Act as Regenerative” by Robert Kolb
• “Christian Churches/Churches of Christ View: Believers’ Baptism as the Biblical Occasion of Salvation” by John D. Castelein

John H. Armstrong is the president of ACT 3 in Carol Stream, Illinois and served as a pastor for more than 20 years. He is an adjunct professor of evangelism at Wheaton College Graduate School. He holds degrees from Wheaton College, Wheaton Graduate School, and Luther Rice Seminary. He is the author and editor of a number of books including The Catholic Mystery, Five Great Evangelists, and Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper.

Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper

• Editor: John H. Armstrong
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 224

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Who should participate in the Lord’s Supper? How frequently should we observe it? What does this meal mean? What happens when we eat the bread and drink from the cup? What do Christians disagree about and what do they hold in common? This volume in the Counterpoints series allows four contributors to make a case for the following views: Baptist, Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic.

Contents and contributors:

• “Baptist View: Christ’s Presence as a Memorial” by Russell D. Moore
• “Reformed View: The Real Presence of Christ” by I. John Hesslink
• “Lutheran View: Finding the Right Word” by David P. Scaer
• “Roman Catholic View: Christ’s True, Real, and Substantial Presence” by Thomas A. Baima

Four Views on Divine Providence

• Authors: Dennis Jowers, William Lane Craig, Ron Highfield, Gregory A. Boyd, and Paul Kjoss Helseth
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 272

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Questions about divine providence have preoccupied Christians for generations. Are people elected to salvation? For whom did Jesus die? This book introduces readers to four prevailing views on divine providence, with particular attention to the question of who Jesus died to save (the extent of the atonement) and if or how God determines who will be saved (predestination). But this book does not merely answer readers’ questions.

Four Views on Divine Providence helps readers think theologically about all the issues involved in exploring this doctrine. The point-counterpoint format reveals the assumptions and considerations that drive equally learned and sincere theologians to sharp disagreement. It unearths the genuinely decisive issues beneath an often superficial debate.

Each author explains his position, which is critiqued by the other three authors. The interactive and fair-minded nature of the counterpoints format allows the reader to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed, personal conclusions. Introductory and closing essays by Dennis Jowers give relevant background and guide readers toward their own informed beliefs about divine providence.

Contents and contributors:

• “God Causes All Things” by Paul Helseth
• “God Directs All Things” by William Lane Craig
• “God Controls by Liberating” by Ron Highfield
• “God Limits His Control” by Gregory Boyd

Paul Kjoss Helseth (PhD, Marquette University) is a professor of Christian thought at Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN. He is the author of “Right Reason” and the Princeton Mind: An Unorthodox Proposal, and has coedited and contributed to Beyond the Bounds and Reclaiming the Center.

William Lane Craig (PhD, University of Birmingham, England) is a research professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University and lives in Marietta, GA.

Ron Highfield (BA, MTh, Harding University; MA, PhD, Rice University), professor of religion at Pepperdine University, is the author of Great is the Lord: Theology for the Praise of God.

Gregory A. Boyd is the founder and senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN, and is the founder and president of Christus Victor Ministries. He was a professor of theology at Bethel College in Minnesota for 16 years. He is a national and international speaker at churches, colleges, conferences, and retreats, and has appeared on numerous radio and television shows.

Dennis Jowers is an associate professor of theology and apologetics at Faith Evangelical Seminary in Tacoma, Washington.

Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

• Authors: Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Darrell L. Bock, and Peter Enns
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 256

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To read the New Testament is to meet the Old Testament at every turn. But exactly how do Old Testament texts relate to their New Testament references and allusions? Moreover, what fruitful interpretive methods do New Testament texts demonstrate? Leading biblical scholars Walter Kaiser, Darrel Bock, and Peter Enns each present their answers to questions surrounding the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

This volume introduces three approaches presently employed in the study of the uses of the Old Testament in the New Testament, especially in those instances where the New Testament authors discern the fulfillment of a prophetic element in the Old Testament text. The foundational issue concerns the relationship between an Old Testament author’s meaning and the meaning of that same passage when it is used by a New Testament author. Contributors address elements such as divine and human authorial intent, the context of Old Testament references, and theological grounds for an interpretive method. Each author applies his framework to specific texts so that readers can see how their methods work out in practice. Each contributor also receives a thorough critique from the other two authors. A one-stop reference for setting the scene and presenting approaches to the topic that respect the biblical text, Three Views on the New Testament Use of Old Testament gives readers the tools they need to develop their own views on this important subject.

Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (PhD, Brandeis University) is a distinguished professor emeritus of Old Testament and president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. Dr. Kaiser has written over 40 books, including Toward an Exegetical Theology: Biblical Exegesis for Preaching and Teaching, The Messiah in the Old Testament, and The Promise-Plan of God, and coauthored An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning.

Darrell L. Bock (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is a professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Peter Enns is a Reformed Evangelical Christian and a biblical scholar. He is a frequent contributor to journals and encyclopedias, and the author of several books, including Exodus in the NIV Application Commentary and Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament.

Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism

• Authors: Collin Hansen, Andrew David Naselli, Kevin Bauder, R. Albert Mohler Jr., John G. Stackhouse Jr., and Roger E. Olson
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 224

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Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism compares and contrasts four distinct positions on the current fundamentalist-evangelical spectrum in light of the history of American fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

Each contributor defines evangelicalism, locates his view in historical context, and discusses how he understands Scripture and its authority. To illustrate the differences, each addresses the three issues recently contested within evangelicalism:

• The question of Christian cooperation illustrated by Evangelicals and Catholics Together and the Manhattan Declaration
• The question of doctrinal boundaries raised by open theism, a debate that has shaken denominations, schools, and the Evangelical Theological Society in the 1990s and 2000s
• Penal substitutionary atonement—a key doctrinal issue related to the gospel

Each author explains his position, which is critiqued by the other three authors. The interactive and fair-minded nature of this format allows the reader to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed, personal conclusions.

Collin Hansen (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the editorial director for the Gospel Coalition. Formerly an associate editor for Christianity Today, he is the author of Young, Restless, Reformed and coauthor with John Woodbridge of A God-Sized Vision. He has written for Books & Culture, Tabletalk, Leadership, and Christian History & Biography. He has appeared as a commentator on Fox News, and his work has been featured in Time magazine.

Andrew David Naselli (PhD, Bob Jones University; PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is a research manager for D. A. Carson and administrator of the journal Themelios. He has taught New Testament Greek at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and he currently teaches exegesis and theology as adjunct faculty at several seminaries. He is the author of Let Go and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology.

Kevin Bauder (DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a research professor of systematic and historical theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Minneapolis. He is a general editor of One Bible Only? Examining Exclusive Claims for the King James Bible.

R. Albert Mohler Jr. (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the president and Joseph Emerson Brown Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Words from the Fire: Hearing the Voice of God in the 10 Commandments, and is a contributor to Is Hell for Real: Or Does Everyone Go to Heaven?

John G. Stackhouse Jr. (PhD, University of Chicago) is Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College. He is the author or editor of 11 books, including Making the Best of It: Following Christ in the Real World. He is a former president of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association.

Roger E. Olson (PhD, Rice University) is a professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. He is the author of many books, including Questions to All Your Answers: The Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith, Reformed and Always Reforming: The Postconservative Approach to Evangelical Theology, and How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative.