February 2020 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. If the way of worship forms God’s Word in the lives of his people, then ensuring that that way is according to God’s Word is critical. Part 2 of Glen Clary’s “Image of God and Images of God: The Second Commandment and Semi-realized Eschatology” completes his excellent defense of the regulative principle and its proper interpretation.

David Noe presents the first of five parts of a new translation of “Chrysostom’s Commentary on Galatians.” The vivid language of this ancient church father is refreshingly colloquial, exhibiting the intense pastoral concern of Chrysostom.

I rarely publish negative reviews because I see the mission of OS as one of edifying church officers. On occasion, however, edification requires a warning against a dangerous error. David Bentley Hart’s That All Shall Be Saved is just such a book. David VanDrunen gives us a thorough analysis of the many unbiblical ideas in this book in his review article: “Divine Justice, Sinful Humanity, and Eschatological Judgment: Considering David Bentley Hart’s Argument against Hell.”

Andy Wilson reviews Jonathan Landry Cruse, The Christian’s True Identity: What It Means to Be in Christ. This excellent little book is a good companion to Wilson’s March OS article which answers the question: Is homosexual orientation a legitimate category of identity? Cruse offers the positive biblical alternative to the humanity-distorting tendency of identity politics.

Judith Dinsmore reviews Janice Brown, The Lion in the Waste Land: Fearsome Redemption in the Work of C. S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, and T. S. Eliot. This book presents a fascinating study of the Christian imaginations of three well-known twentieth century Christian authors, Dorothy L. Sayers, T. S. Eliot, and C. S. Lewis.

Our poem in this issue is by John Milton (1608–1674), “Sonnet 9: Lady That in the Prime of Earliest Youth.” This sonnet was written to a young woman to commend and encourage her to continue pursuing a serious Christian life. It is laced with biblical allusions. See if you can identify them. Then pass it on to a female teenager.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE OF WORSHIP”

Subject Index

• “J. Gresham Machen and the Regulative Principle.” (D. G. Hart & John R. Muether) 6:1 (Jan. 1997): 2–3. [reprinted 15 (2006): 52–53]
• “The Regulative Principle of Worship: A Paper Presented at the 2001 International Conference of Reformed Churches” (G. I. Williamson) 10:4 (Oct. 2001): 67–78.

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.