March 2018 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. Confronted daily with the growing presence of Islam in the Western world, it is incumbent upon Christians to understand Islam in all its complexity through serious study of accurate sources. As John Muether reminds us in the lead article this month, “The Reformed Faith and the Challenge of Islam,” unless we read more widely our view of Islam will be formed by the militant Muslims constantly in the news. Muether’s goal is to “supplement Dr. Estelle’s helpful article [“How Should the Reformed Church Respond to Islam?” published in Ordained Servant in 2008] by pointing out some strategies that are popular but may be counterproductive and even a hindrance to faithful Christian witness to the Muslim world.” Muether demonstrates the importance of the Reformed faith in missions to Islam by quoting missionary and Princeton Theological Seminary professor Samuel Zwemer (1867–1952), “only the Reformed faith can witness effectively to Islam.”

Bryan Estelle reviews two important new books on Islam: Mindy Belz, They Say We Are Infidels and Darío Fernández-Morera, The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise. Belz presents a heart-rending, first-hand picture of the situation of Christians in Iraq and Syria. Fernández-Morera’s primary goal is to

debunk the myth that has arisen in the modern world that the Muslim world in Medieval Spain,  . . . was a space where Jews (mostly Sephardic), Christians, and Muslims lived in mutual tolerance and peaceful multiculturalism under Islamic rule.

Danny Olinger presents the final chapter of his biography of Geerhardus Vos, “Appreciation, Legacy, and Posthumous Publications.” This work should bring a new appreciation for the breadth and depth of Vos’s biblical theology, as he rescued the discipline from the hands of those who did not respect the inspiration of Scripture, and transformed it into a distinctly Reformed enterprise. A print edition is planned.

Jeffrey Waddington reviews a long-awaited volume, The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia, edited by Harry S. Stout. It contains over 400 entrees written by over 175 contributors.

Finally, our poem this month is by one of the founders and first governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Harvard College. Thomas Dudley (1576–1653) was a Puritan, and his daughter was the first American poet of note, Anne Bradstreet.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “ISLAM”

Subject Index

• “How Should the Reformed Church Respond to Islam? (Bryan D. Estelle) 17 (2008): 48–54.
• “Paul in Mecca.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 17 (2008): 6–9.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.