Monday, May 23, 2011

A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers, by D.A. Carson

****

Carson wins again. This is an excellent treatment of Paul's prayers. I sometimes felt like Carson argued a little too strongly and made some unsupported logical leaps (Paul's canonical prayers do not constitute the sum total of the prayers he uttered, so it's a little dangerous to assume that he didn't pray for certain things or in certain ways just because he didn't mention those prayers in the New Testament epistles.) Still, he's right in that overall our prayers are far too selfish and too focused on temporal and materialistic concerns. He also faces head on the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, especially as involves prayer. His conclusion is unremarkable (though dead on, in my opinion), but his application of that conclusion is extremely helpful and more than a little challenging. Carson is a clear thinker and a solid writer, which is sadly rare today. Many modern theologians can preach up a storm, but their writing is sadly lackluster. Carson appears to be a notable exception to that rule. I look forward to reading more of him.

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