Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 12:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: Introduction
Author: Benjamin L. Merkle

STR 12:1 (Spring 2021) p. 1

Introduction

Benjamin L. Merkle

Editor

This un-themed issue of STR is jam-packed with six essays from a wide variety of disciplines, including Old Testament, ethics, theology, ecclesiology, and missions. The first essay is by Catherine McDowell, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. Her article, “What Isaiah Knew: The Lord Is God and There Is No Other,” explains how Isaiah not only uses sarcasm and other literary devices to combat Israel’s idolatry, but he also interacts with the Mesopotamian Washing and Opening of the Mouth ritual as a rhetorical strategy to emphasize that Yahweh alone is God.

Jordan Steffaniak, currently a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Birmingham (UK), contributed the second essay titled, “Saving Masculinity and Femininity from the Morgue: A Defense of Gender Essentialism.” After first defining “gender” and then “essentialism,” he defends traditional evangelical essentialism, rejecting some of the extremes, and demonstrates that this view of gender is good for all people, especially women.

The third essay, “Inseparable Operations of the Trinity: Outdated Relic or Valuable Tool?” is by Torey Teer, a PhD candidate at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Teer defends the classic doctrine of inseparable operations of the Trinity as having historical precedent, being methodologically viable, and being theologically sound. The relevance for this doctrine comes with its ability to explain difficult concepts such as the full divinity (and thus participation in all divine activity) of both the Son and the Spirit, the incarnation (including the cry of dereliction) of the Son, and the Spirit’s activity in world religions.

The fourth essay (“The Sonship of Christ in the Contexts of Mission: Chalcedonian Retrieval as Missiological Necessity among Muslims”), coauthored by Brandon Smith and Matthew Bennett of Cedarville University, addresses the issue of contextualizing references to the Sonship of Jesus, especially among Muslims. Smith and Bennett argue that the Chalcedonian articulation of Christ’s Sonship has relevance for contemporary Christian missiology.

C. J. Moore, the author of the fifth contribution, is a PhD candidate in Biblical Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His essay,

STR 12:1 (Spring 2021) p. 2

“An Ecclesiological Mission: The Basis for William Carey’s Threefold Mission Strategy,” details how Carey’s missiology was based on a sound ecclesiology. Thus, his strategy was (1) missional or evangelistic, (2) word-centered, often focusing on Bible translation, and (3) didactic, thereby p...