Weekend Reads: Sound doctrine and enjoyable sounds

The Foundation of Communion with God: The Trinitarian Piety of John Owen

Edited by Ryan McGraw

According to Puritan theologian John Owen (1616–1683), the “doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God.” In other words, humans could neither know nor properly worship a Unitarian God. But to know God and commune with Him in public worship was the heartbeat of Owen’s theology, and Ryan McGraw wants to see such a passion restored to the contemporary church. “A deep-seated and explicitly Trinitarian piety” in its readers’ lives is the stated goal of The Foundation of Communion with God: The Trinitarian Piety of John Owen (Reformation Heritage Books, 2014).

The book consists of 41 bite-sized excerpts from the 24 volumes of Owen’s works, arranged so that readers first get acquainted with Owen’s doctrine of communion with God, then the broader concept of heavenly minded living (plus its opposite—apostasy), and finally the culmination of communion in the church. In other words, this is a primary-source, popular-level reader for those who want to meet Owen and have their hearts enraptured with his spiritual riches.

For example, Owen commented, “He that would utterly separate the Spirit from the Word had as good burn his Bible.” Or later, describing New Covenant worship, “Its glory consists in that constant respect it has to each divine person, as to their peculiar work.” Owen discourses on the sufficiency of Christ, who gives the Spirit of holiness, the habit of holiness, and the particular actions that flow from those habits. In other words, Owen’s writing is saturated with a vision of the glory of the Triune God. This vision he combines with a precise theological formulation and profound understanding of Scripture.

Reading primary sources is both easier and more profitable than reading secondary ones. This little volume makes the heights of Owen accessible, and since he’s my favorite theologian, I cannot recommend it too highly.

Resonate: Enjoying God’s Gift of Music

By Mark Beuving

Elvis Costello compared writing about music to dancing about architecture. Mark Beuving heartily agrees, even citing Costello in the preface to Resonate: Enjoying God’s Gift of Music (Zondervan, 2014).

Resonate is determined to respect the mystery, to acknowledge that there’s something about music that can’t be captured in a laboratory or on a page, something that speaks to the whole person in a way that’s more (not less!) than intellectual. Thus, you won’t find any debunking here. Rather, Beuving surveys the mentions of music in the Bible and finds that it is mentioned in an overwhelmingly positive way. The New Testament seemingly has no reservations at all about music, simply telling us to sing and make music to the Lord.

Resonate acknowledges that in a fallen world, even the best gifts of God can be turned to evil purposes. But again, they are still God’s gifts, and no evil is evil enough to change that. Yes, some use music to scream against God, but no genre is evilper se, says Beuving—though he concedes that it’s hard to imagine a sanctified version of what he calls hardcore music.

He also deals with the vexing question of Christian music. It’s not just music by Christians or sold to Christians. Nor is it limited to music that outlines the plan of salvation and issues evangelistic appeals. Christian music is music that faithfully presents and interacts with God and His world. In other words, Christian music accurately reflects God’s world rather than lying about it. Ultimately, Beuving advocates evaluating songs “on a case-by-case basis”: “Discern and decide.” Make proximate separations between good and evil in light of the ultimate separation between good and evil that’s coming at the final judgment.

Music is one of those super-abounding gifts of God. Above all, enjoy it, and Him through it.