Monergism.com snubs two Southern seminary professors' book by Peter Lumpkins

Drs. Peter J. Gentry (PhD, University of Toronto), professor of Old Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and director of the Hexapla Institute, and Stephen J. Wellum (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and editor of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, just released their latest volume, Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants, to high-five accolades from a broad swath of pleased supporters within the Reformed community   >>>

  According to the cover, Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner, a fellow professor at Southern, said, "Certainly we cannot understand the scriptures without comprehending ‘the whole counsel of God,’ and here we find incisive exegesis and biblical theology at its best. This book is a must read and will be part of the conversation for many years to come.” Similarly, Dr. Michael G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Director, The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, noted "Because of the importance of this subject and the exegetical and theological skill of the authors, their answers deserve a wide hearing. Highly recommended!” These are but two of many Reformed Christians inside and outside Baptist Calvinism who praised Gentry and Wellum's work.¹

Even so, perhaps the largest online distributor of exclusively Reformed resources, Monergism.com, has apparently refused to carry Gentry and Wellum's book, citing the volume as teaching "significant theological error."² Some Reformed Baptists are raising questions concerning the consistency of Monergism. While it refuses to carry this latest volume by Gentry and Wellum, critics suggest Monergism nevertheless carries plenty of other works promoting New Covenant Theology, including prior publications written by both Drs. Gentry and Wellum.  Says one former student of Professors Gentry and Wellum:

"...I would like to call John Hendryx and Monergism to consistency. Of course, they are free to distribute whatever literature they choose, and if they believe that Kingdom Through Covenant is not up to their standards of orthodoxy, so be it. But to boycott this book yet leave other like books and links on their site is an error that needs to be remedied. If NCT is indeed “significantly erroneous,” (the email never explains why) then it would behoove Hendryx and Monergism to remove any semblance of this error from their distribution" (//link)

The former student goes on to list several authors who apparently promote New Covenant Theology including D.A. Carson, John MacArthur, Fred Zaspel, Stephen Dempster, Tom Schreiner, and Douglas Moo among others. 

Nor is the former student alone in calling the exclusively Reformed distributor into account. Others Reformed believers appear to protest Monergism's decision to "boycott" Gentry and Wellum's book as well (Blake White, a Southwestern Baptist Theological; Jamin Hubner, affiliated with Alpha & Omega Ministries).

Who knows? New Covenant Theology vs. Covenant Theology among Reformed Baptists may just replace the Calvinism vs. non-Calvinism debate in the Southern Baptist Convention.³ 

¹ for example, see positive promotions for the book: Credo Magazine for interview with Wellum and Gentry here and here respectively; Jim Hamilton; Justin Taylor;     

²source courtesy of Blake White

³obviously I was commenting in jest

Comments

[Casey]

Correction:

http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/8452/nm/Kingdom+Through+Covenant%3A+A+Biblical-Theological+Understanding+of+the+Covenants+%28Hardcover%29

[Casey]

Correction corrected:

[*crickets***crickets*]

:)

[Mary]

Peter, forgive me for going OT, but I wanted the readers here to catch what is one of the stupidest comments ever in the history fo the SBC blogosphere made by our current 2nd VP

"The entities of the SBC are governed by their boards of trustees, and the SBC does not rule over them."

There you have it. The Trustees of the the SBC entities are a law unto themselves and are accountable to no one. If the Trustees at Southern, Southeastern, Lifeway, NAMB have decided that they want to Calvinize the SBC there is nothing anythone in the SBC can do about it.

Maybe the sainted 2nd VP would have the coutersy to stand in front of the SBC Convention and explain that the Trustees are rulers/elders and the little peasants need to shut their mouths.

[Mike]

Some of you may be aware that Diane Schreiner, wife of Tom Schreiner, was in a serious bicycle accident yesterday. She has suffered a severe head injury and several broken bones. We received this email from Tom a few minutes ago: "Diane is doing pretty well physically for which we are very thankful. The main concern is bruising in the brain which affects speech and comprehension. It is possible that it will be quite severe. They just don't know yet, and hence your prayers would be appreciated. We believe our God reigns and are very appreciative of the outpouring of love we have received. Gratefully, Tom."

[peter lumpkins]

Thanks for the info, Mike. May our Lord grant His healing touch must be our prayer...

[Jim G.]

Indeed. I will pray for Mrs. Schreiner also.

Jim G.

[Tim G]

Mary,
Miller is actually speaking the truth on this subject. The only influence that the SBC has over the entities according to the SBC Bylaws is that of electing Board Members. That is it - no avenue nor Convention structure to direct influence beyond that.

[Mary]

Tim, I' thankful the people who fought the Conservative Resurgence didn't just throw up their hands and say "well, what a we gonna do? The trustees think it's ok to teach Mary wasn't really a virgin and the Bible has mistakes. Oh well."

The elite want us to quit questioning our betters. Claiming there's nothing that can be done because of super elders is a way to silence dissent.

[Clark Dunlap]

"Miller is actually speaking the truth on this subject. The only influence that the SBC has over the entities according to the SBC Bylaws is that of electing Board Members."

And the sainted 2nd VP, is in fact that, a saint. And so are you Mary and Tim etc. etc. If you have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. So if calling Miller "sainted" was a slap it was an ironic one.

So, bottom line, you want everybody accountable to everybody or what? How about we use the structure in place.
Now apologize to Bro Miller.