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Systematic theology will ask questions like “What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the cross achieve?” Biblical theology tends to ask questions such as “What is the theology of the prophecy of Isaiah? What do we learn from John’s Gospel?

D. A. Carson

Christian worship is new covenant worship; it is gospel-inspired worship; it is Christ-centered worship; it is cross-focused worship.
D. A. CARSON

Christian Inspired Worship
Make a mistake in the interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s plays, falsely scan a piece of Spenserian verse, and there is unlikely to be an entailment of eternal consequence; but we cannot lightly accept a similar laxity in the interpretation of Scripture.
D. A. CARSON

Mistake Pain Play
If you want to see what judgment looks like, go to the cross. If you want to see what love looks like, go to the cross.
D. A. CARSON

Judgment Looks Want
It’s not as if the New Testament writers came along and said, “The culmination of Old Testament books is more books, New Testament books.”
D. A. CARSON

Book Father Son
Love the church because Jesus loves it.
D. A. CARSON

Church Jesus Love
Some forms of absolutism are not bad; they may even be heroic.
D. A. CARSON

Absolutism Heroic May
We want to fan the flames of Christians for whom inerrancy and the authority of Scripture are not mere shibboleths, but part of her life beat, part of the beating heart of what makes them tick.
D. A. CARSON

Beaten Christian Heart Son
God in his infinite wisdom chose to give us his Word in the 66 canonical books, with all of their variations in theme, emphasis, vocabulary, literary form, and distinctive contributions across time.
D. A. CARSON

Contribution Distinctive God Vocabulary
The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.
D. A. CARSON

Cost Heaven Lying
That God normally operates the universe consistently makes science possible; that he does not always do so ought to keep science humble.
D. A. CARSON

Doe Humble Ought
God’s wrath is not an implacable, blind rage. However emotional it may be, it is an entirely reasonable and willed response to offenses against his holiness. But his love . . . wells up amidst his perfections and is not generated by the loveliness of the loved.
D. A. CARSON

Emotional Love Wrath
The more clearly we see sins horror, the more we shall treasure the cross.
D. A. CARSON

Horror Sin Treasure
What the Bible says is what God has disclosed and we want to approach this sacred text with cognitive reverence.
D. A. CARSON

Reverence Sacred Want
The person who prays more in public than in private reveals that he is less interested in God’s approval than in human praise. Not piety but a reputation for piety is his concern.
D. A. CARSON

Approval Prayer Reputation
We treat the Bible, not as if it’s a magic book that has to be handled like a piece of abracadabra, make sure it’s dusted, never put it on the floor, and things like that.
D. A. CARSON

Book Magic Pieces
We are dealing with God’s thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly.
D. A. CARSON

Effective Greatest Pain Teaching

Systematic theology will ask questions like “What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the cross achieve?” Biblical theology tends to ask questions such as “What is the theology of the prophecy of Isaiah? What do we learn from John’s Gospel?

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Popular Authors

Systematic theology will ask questions like “What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the cross achieve?” Biblical theology tends to ask questions such as “What is the theology of the prophecy of Isaiah? What do we learn from John’s Gospel?

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More D. A. Carson Quotes