December 2018 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. Harold Dorman was a kind of Shamgar among ministers—easy to overlook, not well known outside of his presbytery and local church. He was a quiet and unassuming man who served his Lord and his Lord’s church as a pastor for fifty-six years since his ordination in 1958. He is, thus, a sterling example to us all.

“A Place among the Stars” is a presentation I prepared for New Hampshire Public Radio for Christmas in 1996. It is an example of a kind of Christian witness we may offer to a secular audience in our cynical age. Please play the Scarlatti music at the point designated in the article. It is a stunning cantata, worthy of the astonishing good news it heralds.

David Noe translates the second in our series of Servant Classics with “Beza on the Trinity.” His translations are sui generis, and this uniqueness is a real treat for Ordained Servant readers. There is nothing more important than the doctrine of the Trinity.

It may seem a strange thing to review a book about Mary Shelley’s famous horror story, or perhaps the first science fiction novel, in a journal for church officers; but if we are to minister in a world of extraordinary technological inventions we must be aware of the dangers, the unintended consequences, of our creations. The difference between friend and fiend is slight in print, but dramatic in reality. This year marked the two-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s publication of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. James Gidley offers an important theological perspective on Frankenstein with his article, “The Theology of Frankenstein: Deism and Biblical Theism,” in which he demonstrates that Frankenstein is based on a deistic concept of creation. In “Frankenstein 200, Our Creations: A Cautionary Tale,” I review Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, annotated for scientists, engineers, and creators of all kinds. As Gidley concludes, it tells “the horror of unbridled human reason let loose in the world.”

Ryan McGraw reviews Albert Martin’s magnum opus, Pastoral Theology: The Man of God, His Calling and Godly Life, vol. 1. Martin’s work is borne of decades of faithful Reformed ministry and interaction with numerous ministerial candidates.

Gordon Cook reviews Douglas Taylor, I Shall Not Die, But Live: Facing Death with Gospel Hope. This is a poignant devotional to help Christians face death, written by one facing death, determined to die well in Christ.

Don’t miss our poem for the season, reminding us of the seemingly insignificant Shamgar, “Unlikely Savior.”

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “FRANKENSTEIN, SCIENCE”

Subject Index

• “The Education of a Monster” (James S. Gidley) 21 (2012): 85–90.
• “The Soul of Frankenstein.” (James S. Gidley) 16 (2007): 62–65.
• “The Two Cultures: A Lifetime Later.” (James S. Gidley) 23 (2014): 103–9.

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.