Pilgrim Theology CORE DOCTRINES FOR CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES MICHAEL HORTON 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 3 12/3/12 8:25 AM ZONDERVAN Pilgrim Theology Copyright © 2011 by Michael Horton Abridged from The Christian Faith This title is also available as a Zondervan ebook. Visit www.zondervan.com/ebooks. This title is also available in a Zondervan audio edition. Visit www.zondervan.fm. Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Horton, Michael Scott. Pilgrim theology : core doctrines for christian disciples / Michael Horton. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-0-310-33064-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Theology, Doctrinal. 2. Reformed Church – Doctrines. I. Title. BT75.3.H675 2012 230'.42 — dc23 2012023993 All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Scripture quotations indicated as NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc™. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The Scripture quotations indicated as NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Chris tian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved. Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. 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Cover design: Ron Huizinga Cover photography: istockphoto Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren Printed in the United States of America 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 /DCI/ 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 4 12/3/12 8:25 AM To James, Olivia, Adam, and Matthew For challenging and encouraging me to keep on growing up into Christ even as you are, by his grace 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 5 12/3/12 8:25 AM Contents Acknowledgments .................................... 9 Abbreviations ....................................... 11 Why Study Theology? ................................. 13 1 Knowing God ...................................... 25 2 God’s Written Word ................................. 51 3 The Living God .................................... 73 4 The Holy Trinity .................................... 89 5 Creation and Human Personhood ....................... 107 6 The Fall ........................................... 131 7 Jesus Christ: the Lord Who Is Servant ................... 159 8 The Work of Christ .................................. 191 9 The Spirit and the Kingdom ........................... 229 10 Chosen and Called .................................. 245 11 Union with Christ ................................... 271 12 Justified and Adopted ................................ 279 13 Sanctification and Perseverance ......................... 303 14 The Doctrine of Glorification .......................... 325 15 Word and Sacraments ................................ 343 16 Baptism and the Supper .............................. 367 17 The Church ........................................ 387 18 The End Times ..................................... 421 19 The Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting ....... 443 Making Necessary Distinctions: The Call to Discernement ...... 459 Glossary ........................................... 463 From Drama to Discipleship: Applying the Coordinates to Key Doctrines ................................... 475 Scripture Index ...................................... 479 Subject Index ....................................... 493 Author Index ....................................... 503 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 7 12/3/12 8:25 AM Acknowledgments Once again I have had the pleasure of working with the excellent team at Zondervan and am indebted especially to the expert labors of Ryan Pazdur and Verlyn Verbrugge. Their editorial imput improved this work greatly and their keen eyes caught glaring mistakes, though I do not mean to implicate them in any remaining errors. I am grateful to my colleagues and students at Westminster Seminary California, who have taught me a great deal over the years by their lives as much as by their instruction. The same can be said of my colleagues at the White Horse Inn and Modern Ref- ormation magazine, who not only indulge but encourage me in the writing projects that distract me frequently from that gratifying work. Most of all, I am thankful to Lisa for loving patience, wise counsel, and the sense of mis- sion that we share in this calling. 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 9 12/3/12 8:25 AM Abbreviations ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers (ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1976) Church Dogmatics Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (ed. G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance; trans. G. W. Bromiley; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956 – 1975) ESV English Standard Version HCSB Holman Chris tian Standard Bible Institutes John Calvin, Institutes of the Chris tian Religion (ed. J. T. McNeill; trans. Ford Lewis Battles; Philadelphia: West- minster, 1960) KJV King James Version NIV New International Version, 2011 NPNF2 Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (ed. Philip Schaff et al.; 2nd series; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1982) NRSV New Revised Standard Version PG Patrologia graeca (ed. J.-P Migne; 162 vols.; Paris, 1857 – 1886) 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 11 12/3/12 8:25 AM Why Study Theology? Whether you realize it or not, you are a theologian. You come to a book like this with a working theology, an existing understanding of God. Whether you are an agnostic or a fundamentalist — or something in between — you have a working theology that shapes and informs the way you think and live. However, I suspect that you are reading this book because you’re interested in examining your theology more closely. You are open to having it challenged and strengthened. You know that theology — the study of God — is more than an intellectual hobby. It’s a matter of life and death, something that affects the way you think, the decisions you make each day, the way you relate to God and other p eople, and the way you see yourself and the world around you. I. Pilgrims on the Way I have written this book on the heels of another theology book entitled The Chris tian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way.1 As I explained in the introduction to that book, the old Reformed theologians would sometimes refer to their summaries of the faith as “our theology.” They referred to it this way for two reasons. First, to indicate that what they were writing was distinct from God’s own self-understanding. This is why they would sometimes use the term ectypal when talking about their theol- ogy. Though it sounds somewhat technical, an ectype is simply a copy, with the archetype as the original. Talking about theology as “ectypal,” then, is a humble admission that only God’s own self-knowledge is original (arche- typal). All that we say about God is a copy, subject to error. We will never know anything exactly as God knows it. Instead, we know things as he has revealed them to us, accommodating his knowledge to our feeble capacity to understand. Second, the older theologians referred to their summary of faith as “our theology” to make it clear that it was not just “my theology” — their own 1. Michael Horton, The Chris tian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011). 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 13 12/3/12 8:25 AM 14 (cid:115)(cid:0)Pilgrim Theology individualistic understanding of God. To study theology involves entering into a long, ongoing conversation, one that we did not begin. Others have been talking about God long before you or I entered this discussion. We do not read the Bible somewhere off by ourselves in a corner; we read it as a community of faith, together with the whole church in all times and places. Because our theological understanding is necessarily limited and finite, subject to our sinful biases, affections, and errors, I follow a venerable Chris- tian tradition by referring to this volume as a “pilgrim theology” for those on the way — Chris tians who humbly seek to understand God but who are aware of their own biases and sinful tendencies to distort the truth. Older theologians used this term to distinguish our theological understanding from that of the glorified saints. A day will yet come when we are glorified and the effects of sin fully conquered, and our understanding of God will be fuller, more complete. Even in this condition, however, we will still be finite and our theology will remain ectypal — creaturely. Yet it will no longer be a theology for pilgrims. It will no longer be subject to sinful error. Then, we shall know, even as we are fully known. So consider this book a map for pilgrims — people “on the way,” those on a journey seeking theological understanding for life in this world and the world to come. This book is more than simply an abridgment of The Chris- tian Faith. Instead, I have sought to write for an entirely new and wider audi- ence. I’ve intentionally tried to make it useful for both group and individual study, and have included key terms, distinctions, and questions at the end of each chapter that are linked to words in bold font within the text. Though this book is less detailed than my longer systematic theology, it is written to serve as something of a travel guide to help you on your own journey of theological understanding, showing you the proper coordinates and impor- tant landmarks you’ll need to recognize along the way. II. Drama to Discipleship Although it is “the study of God,” theology has a reputation for being dry, abstract, and irrelevant for daily living. Many Chris tians assume that we can just experience God in a personal relationship apart from doctrine, but that’s impossible. You cannot experience God without knowing who he is, what he has done, and who you are in relation to him. Even our most basic Chris tian experiences and commitments are theological. “I just love Jesus,” some say. But who is J esus? And why do you love him? “I just try to live for the Lord.” Is this Lord Yahweh, the Creator and Redeemer who 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 14 12/3/12 8:25 AM Why Study Theology? (cid:115)(cid:0)15 reveals himself in Scripture, or an idol? What is this Lord like, what does he approve? What are his attributes? And is there any good news to report concerning this God’s actions in our history, or are you just trying to be a “good person”? What happens when you die? What’s the future of this world? These are not abstract questions, but questions that haunt our hearts and minds from childhood to old age. We can suppress these questions, but we cannot make them go away. Reality forces us to bump into them. The burden of this book is to elaborate the claim that God has revealed answers, though we will not like all of them. In this regard, Chris tian ity is a unique religion. The starting point and endgame of the Chris tian faith are distinct from every other way people tend to approach religion and spirituality. Today, especially in the West, most people tend to associate religion with the inner realm of the individual soul (mysticism) or with principles for individual or social behavior (morality), or perhaps — though less often these days — with intellectual curiosity and speculation (philosophy). Mix elements of these three — m ysticism, morality, and philosophy — together and stir in a generous dose of Yankee pragma- tism, and the result is an eclectic soup that is easy to swallow. The goal of life is often viewed as some form of personal or collective happiness. If a person can mix in a bit of wisdom from various other perspectives to spice things up, all the better! The faith that springs from the Bible’s story of God is entirely different. We could even say that it has a different horizon. The triune God is the sun on this horizon, and we orient ourselves to this sun, not the other way around. Instead of starting with ourselves — our plans, purposes, dreams, and accom- plishments — and seeking to learn how God can serve our goals and desires, we begin with God, who is life, and who freely created, sustains, and directs history to his ends. In this strange new world of the Bible, religion is not something that I can use for my own fulfillment. I do not come to Chris tian- ity to find truths that confirm me and strengthen my resolve to live better, try harder, or make more of myself. Rather, when I encounter the God of the Bible I come to see that my very questions are skewed, badly ranked, and disordered — e ven before I try to give my answers. In other words, the Bible is not primarily concerned with me and my quest for personal meaning and ful- fillment. It’s a story about God, who is good enough to tell us about himself, about ourselves, and about this world, and to give us the true meaning of his- tory. Yes, in the process of being swept away into this story, we do indeed find personal meaning and fulfillment for ourselves in ways that we could never 9780310330646_pilgrim_theology_int_CS5.indd 15 12/3/12 8:25 AM