John Frame's Selected Shorter Writings, 3 Volumes

 

Volume 1

 

Short, pointed essays summarize some of John Frame’s central (and a few peripheral) ideas on theological method, apologetics, and ethics, beginning with Frame’s shortest and clearest presentation of his signature concept of triperspectivalism—the need to read Scripture from various perspectives, especially threefold perspectives that reflect the nature of the Trinity.

 

Table of Contents:

 

Part 1: Theology and Theological Method

 

1. A Primer on Perspectivalism

 

2. What the Bible Is About: One Thing and Three Things

 

3. The Gospel and the Scriptures

 

4. The Main Thing

 

5. What the Bible Does Not Say: Contrast in Preaching, with Thoughts about Communication, Marketing, and Prosperity Theology

 

6. Contrast, Exegesis, and Preaching, with Reflections on Marketing, Prosperity, Human Responsibility, and Historical Disjunctions

 

7. Contexts

 

8. The Picture Theory of Theology

 

9. Narrative and the Picture Theory of Theology

 

10. Focus

 

Part 2: Theological Topics

 

11. Introduction to the Reformed Faith

 

12. Reformed and Evangelicals Together

 

13. Is Justification by Faith Alone the Article on Which the Church Stands or Falls?

 

14. The Regulative Principle: Levels of Specificity

 

15. Dualities within Divine Covenants

 

16. N.T. Wright and the Authority of Scripture

 

17. Propositional Revelation

 

18. Meditation on Romans 11:33-36

 

Part 3: Apologetics

 

19. Intellectual Repentance

 

20. Intellectual Discipleship

 

21. Review of Greg Bahnsen, Presuppositional Apologetics: Stated and Defended

 

Part 4: Ethics and Worship

 

22. Simple Obedience

 

23. Sonship

 

24. Cultural Transformation and the Local Church

 

25. Family, Church, and State: A Triperspectival Approach

 

26. Might and Right

 

27. Why I Vote Conservative

 

28. The Bible and Joe the Plumber

 

29. Is America a Christian Country?

 

30. Is Plagiarism a Sin?

 

31. Prosperity

 

32. Response to Doug Moo’s Review of Doctrine of the Christian Life

 

33. Response to Russell Moore’s Review of Doctrine of the Christian Life

 

Part 5: Personal

 

34. A Testimony

 

35. Bible-Thumper

 

36. Remarks at Justin’s Wedding

 

37. 1 Corinthians 1:9: Remarks at Beverly Heights

 

38. Twenty-five Random Things That Nobody Knows about Me

 

Appendix: 100 Books That Have Most Influenced John Frame’s Thought 

 

 

Volume 2

 

Short, pointed essays summarize some of John Frame’s central (and a few peripheral) ideas on theological method, apologetics, and ethics, beginning with Frame’s shortest and clearest presentation of his signature concept of triperspectivalism—the need to read Scripture from various perspectives, especially threefold perspectives that reflect the nature of the Trinity.

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents:

Part One: Theological Topics

1. Inerrancy: A Place to Live

2. Let God Be True: Scripture and Certainty

3. No Scripture, No Christ

4. The Mystery of Creaturely Otherness

5. Why Theology Needs Philosophy 

Part Two: Theological Education

6. The Academic Captivity of Theology

7. Seminaries and Academic Accreditation

8. The Demise of Systematic Theology

9. A Few Things I Have Learned from My Years In Ministry

10. Pratt’s Boot Camp

Part Three: Theological Method

11. Arguments and Conclusions in Theology

12. Bandwagons: On the Pace of Intellectual Change

13. Clarity, Cogency, and Profundity

14. Review of Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion

15. The Heart of the Atonement 

Part Four: Apologetics

16. Believing in God in the Twenty-first Century

17. Epistemological Perspectives and Evangelical Apologetics

18. The Bible on the Problem of Evil

19. Van Til: His Simplicity and Profundity

20. Cornelius Van Til

21. Van Til: The Theologian

22. Van Til on Antithesis

Part Five: Ethics

23. The Failure of Non-Christian Ethics

24. Tolerance

25. Transformationalism

26. Two Levels of Divine Blessing, and a Few Words about Joel Osteen

27. “But God Made Me This Way” 

Part Six: The Church

28. What Denomination Should I Join

29. Guidelines for Church Union

30. Church Discipline

31. Worship That Pleases God

32. Different Kinds of Reformed Outreach

33. Maxims for Pastors

Part Seven: Personal

34. My Exceptions to the Westminster Standards

35. Triperspectival Dieting 

 

Volume 3

 

John Frame’s Selected Shorter Writings, Volume 3 includes more than thirty short, pointed essays, sermons, and addresses that summarize some of John Frame’s central (and sometimes peripheral!) ideas about the nature and method of theology, theological issues, epistemology, apologetics, the church, and ethics. Part 1 includes “Machen’s Warrior Children,” Frame’s insightful treatment of twenty-one intramural battles within the Reformed camp from 1935 to the present. Other essays introduce clarifications of theological concepts, intended to resolve or alleviate conflicts in the church, on topics such as biblical inerrancy, Open Theism, law and gospel, and the roles of grace and law in sanctification. There are also essays about Biblicism, presuppositionalism, apologetics, the regulative principle, and contemporary worship music.

 

 

Table of Contents:

PART 1: NATURE AND METHOD OF THEOLOGY

1. Muller on Theology

2. In Defense of Something Close to Biblicism: Reflections on Sola Scriptura and History in Theological Method

3. Is Biblicism Impossible?

4. Machen’s Warrior Children

5. Christocentric and Christotelic

6. Questions about Theological Creativity

7. Soldiers and Pilgrims

8. Matters of Salvation

9. What Seminaries Can Do Without

10. Theological Education: 2 Timothy 2:1–2

PART 2: THEOLOGICAL ISSUES

11. Foundations of Biblical Inerrancy

12. Does the Bible Affirm Open Theism?

13. Law and Gospel

14. Grace and Law in Sanctification

PART 3: EPISTEMOLOGY AND APOLOGETICS

15. A Primer on Presuppositionalism

16. Apologetics

17. Review of Paul Helm’s Belief Policies

18. Review of Barnabas Piper’s Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt Is Not the Enemy of Faith

19. Seven Convulsions in the History of Philosophy

PART 4: THE CHURCH

20. Walking Together

21. A Fresh Look at the Regulative Principle

22. Contemporary Worship Music, 2015

23. Thoughts on the Sinner’s Prayer

PART 5: ETHICS

24. The Already, the Not Yet, and the Now

25. Moral Heroism

26. Hurting People’s Feelings

27. Review of Christian Faith, Health, and Medical Practice

28. A Left-Wing Complementarian

29. Statism, Secularism, Islam, and Christ

PART 6: SERMONS AND ADDRESSES

30. Lessons on Ministry from the Pharisees

31. Marriage as Unjust Suffering: 1 Peter 3:1–7

32. Keeping Your Elders Happy

33. Speed Them on Their Way

34. Lead the New Song

 

 

Author

John M. Frame (AB, Princeton University; BD, Westminster Theological Seminary; MA and MPhil, Yale University; DD, Belhaven College) holds the J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and is the author of many books, including the four-volume Theology of Lordship series.

 

Endorsements

“Before this book was published, most of these rare theological, philosophical, and practical gems had been hidden away in Frame’s electronic files or posted on websites and blogs not widely known to the public. Do yourself a favor and mine the rich truths in these winsome and provocative essays (written in Frame’s inimitable style of robust charity) on a wide array of important topics.” — Steven L. Childers, President and CEO, Global Church Advancement

“John wrote this book so that the average person could understand it, which is a concept introduced by the apostle Paul but little employed ever since. It’s like the nine-hundred-pound gorilla wrestling with a newborn and restraining himself: John could do a number on us intellectually, but he prefers to communicate for the sake of the kingdom of God.” — Andrée Seu Peterson, Senior Writer, WORLD magazine

“A veritable cornucopia of Frame’s theology. . . . Frame is not afraid to slay sacred cows . . . if he believes they don’t pass biblical muster. Whether you have never read Frame before or have read all that he’s written to date, this book will inform, intrigue, encourage, edify, rouse, and convict you.” — P. Andrew Sandlin, President, Center for Cultural Leadership