Publisher's Synopsis
There are important issues that can't be explored adequately in a blog post or 140 characters. They take time.
Many of those issues are also hard to get a handle on. On some issues there is so much written about them it is hard to know where to start. For others there are so few resources it is hard to find them. Either way, they take time.
Hence Primer. We want to encourage you to take time over important issues and we want to save you time getting a handle on them. So, in each issue we take one pressing topic and over the course of 80 pages or so we offer a kind of theological digest; summarising contemporary debate, drawing on at least one classic historical text, and always keeping the realities of ministry in view.
As a publication, Primer shares a lot of DNA with a theological journal, yet the layout encourages interaction and note taking. In contrast to skim-reading articles on the internet (or adding them to your ever-growing "read later" pile), our hope is that you will slow down to engage with Primer; grab a pen and a drink, pull up a chair, read, make notes, ponder, pray.
And then discuss Primer with others. Study it with your elders or church leadership team, your ministers' fraternal or homegroup leaders. Invite a group of potential leaders in your church to get together and read an article at a time.
Primer is published twice a year and issue 01 is on the doctrine of scripture. In it we map the current debate and outline the contemporary challenges to the Bible's authority coming from inside and outside the church. We look at the inerrancy of scripture with FIEC National Director John Stevens while Fred Zaspel annotates a classic text on the inspiration of scripture from B.B. Warfield.
The Canaanite genocide is often cited in these debates as an argument against the moral authority of the Bible, so Dave Puttick explores this for us in detail. The last couple of articles by Dan Strange and Ralph Cunnington explore how we can better communicate the doctrine of Scripture in our evangelism and our teaching. Why not pick up a copy and join the conversation at Primer HQ as we discuss the doctrine of scripture.
