Sometimes the blogosphere reminds me of one of those little Datsun trucks from the 80’s. They look like trucks (perhaps debatable) but don’t really act like trucks. They can’t haul much in the back and definitely can’t pull much of a trailer. Surely, they have their place for the city dweller that wants good MPG but overall they are very inefficient for getting the heavy lifting done.
Similarly, blogging can be an effective place for debate but it tends to be deficient when it comes to the heavy lifting in theological argument. I believe blogging has a place and hence my participation here, but I also believe it isn’t a replacement for long treatises on theology and doctrinal issues. There are just some things that are hard to communicate in 500-1500 words.
People tend to skim blogs or check them quickly on their lunch break. Consequently, blogs tend not to be great places to stop for a swim in the deep end of the theological pool. There have been some excellent posts this week, including the ones on this blog, but I believe they need to be viewed as a supplement to other good reading.
So I would like to suggest that all pastors dust off their theological journals and for those unfamiliar to get familiar with them. They are an amazing mass of wealth and are the most up-to-date scholarly arguments on any debate.
One huge advantage they have is that the writers have had months or years to study and explore the issue they are writing on. Unlike blogging, where things can be undercooked, journal articles are fully cooked and documented so that you can go and track down the major sources that are being cited and get a good grasp of the issue.
My advice is that you track down any major issue you are working on through a reputable journal article. It isn’t always going to represent your “view,” but it is a great place to start to examine each issue and points you back to the author’s own personal rabbit trail of research in the footnotes.
So before you make a major theological decision (i.e. cessationist/continuationist or dispensational/covenantal), make sure you not only study Scripture for yourself but look at what others have said through the ages and what modern scholars have written in recent history in journals. You might be surprised by what you find.
Here are some of the major journals that I tend to look at:
The Westminster Theological Journal
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Grace Theological Journal
The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
I know there are more but these are the ones I tend to search for subjects in or try to stay up to date with. I definitely would not endorse everything written in them or agree with every article but these journals have served me well, and I hope that some readers will take advantage of them as they can be easily purchased on most bible software programs or are available free online.
