Deus Misereatur

As a Christian in the classic Protestant stream, I don’t hold to the book “The Wisdom of Solomon” as being part of the canon of Holy Scripture (see the 39 “Articles of Religion”, Art. VI, and “The Westminster Confession of Faith”, chapter 1, para.2). Nevertheless I have found some value in reading it along with the other Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books (these are books that were included in the Septuagint but were not part of the Hebrew Scripture). For me, the largest merit of reading these books on occasion is that most of them were written within a few years of the time of Jesus (likely 3rd and 2nd Century B.C.). Therefore, they help to show the development of some theological themes during the time between Malachi and Matthew. This leads me, then, to point out something I read recently in “The Wisdom of Solomon”. The later half of “Wisdom” recounts various episodes in Israel’s redemption history. In chapter 18 the writer(s) is addressing Israel’s exodus from Egypt. It gets down ...

I am recommending 2 books that should be read together. These are probably more for the scholastically minded pastors and academically placed professors. The first is written by a professor at Erskine Theological Seminary, Dr. Donald Fairbairn: "Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology With the Help of the Church Fathers", published by IVP. This 240 page book is a Gospel-Driven, Gospel-Defined work that guides the reader through some important themes in the early Church pastors/theologians. Fairbairn primarily focuses on four big players; Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria. He does reference a few others, but primarily works with these four. The central theme has to do with the ancient notion of theosis or participation. Fairbairn has done a nice job weaving classic Protestant teaching (justification, sanctification etc) into and flowing from participation in Christ. This leads me to the next book, published by Oxford Press. It's a rather ...