This won't seem like a big deal to many of you, but it struck me as a thing of beauty.
Recently, a fellow named Keith Mathison posted a list of what he feels are the "
Top 5 Commentaries on Ephesians" on the blog of Ligonier Ministries.
In particular, I was very pleasantly surprised by how Mathison handled the work of Harold Hoehner, a scholar whose views are different from his own. To be specific, Mathison is a covenant theology guy, and Hoehner is, like me, a dispensationalist (I actually took a course or two from Hoehner while I was at Dallas Seminary).
Now behold:
Mathison writes with maturity and magnanimity. I understand that he is addressing a Reformed/covenantal audience, so I am not offended that he feels compelled to warn them about Hoehner's 'dispensationalism shining through.' I would do the same if I were presenting a covenantal text to a group of laity at my own church.
And I find it very big of Mathison that he can still recommend Hoehner's work, as something that contains material that will benefit his audience
, even though he knows they will have to be discerning in their use of it.
Instead of hardening me in my own hermeneutical stance, I am drawn by Mathison's charity to
open up to the claims of his tradition, and to dialogue. This is the way forward.
Thank you, Keith Mathison, for showing us how to agree to disagree. We need much more of this kind of thing in the evangelical 'discussion' that takes place on- and offline.
