JACKSON, Tenn. — May 4, 2009 — The New Testament and Old Testament are tightly connected, and New Testament authors use the Old Testament properly despite surface appearances to the contrary, D.A. Carson said at 51社区 April 24-25.
鈥淚f you鈥檝e never been troubled by the way the New Testament quotes the Old, you鈥檝e never read the New Testament and looked up the texts it actually quotes,鈥� Carson said. 鈥淭here are a lot of them that area really quite hard to understand.鈥�
Carson, a New Testament scholar, was the keynote speaker for the Word Within the Word conference sponsored by Union鈥檚 R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., and the author or editor of more than 50 books, including such titles as 鈥淭he Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism,鈥� 鈥淗ow Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil,鈥� 鈥淎 Call to Spiritual Reformation鈥� and 鈥淐hrist and Culture Revisited.鈥�
In his three plenary session addresses, Carson examined three passages in the book of Hebrews that quote the Old Testament: Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 in Hebrews 1:5, Psalm 95 in Hebrews 3-4 and Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 in Hebrews 7.
鈥淚t was a wonderful privilege to have Dr. Carson with us as our plenary speaker,鈥� said Ray Van Neste, director of the Ryan Center and associate professor of Christian studies at Union. 鈥淔ew people combine such breadth and depth of knowledge with an ability to communicate with a broad audience.鈥�
Union President David S. Dockery praised Carson鈥檚 three addresses as 鈥渘ot only edifying and uplifting, but they were exemplary models of how to do the work of serious Bible study and biblical theology. It was a genuine blessing to welcome one of the premier evangelical scholars of this generation to the Union campus.鈥�
Union student Katie Holloway said listening to Carson鈥檚 addresses was a delight.
鈥淚 felt like he effectively addressed the wide spectrum of his audience, ranging from distinguished Bible scholars who have written extensively on the exact topic being discussed to undergraduate students who have barely completed their first few semesters of higher education,鈥� Holloway said. 鈥淎ll of his talks were extremely edifying and encouraging.鈥�
In addition to Carson鈥檚 messages, the conference also featured breakout sessions led by Ray Clendenen of B&H Publishing Group, Greg Spears of Mid-South Baptist Association and members of Union鈥檚 Christian studies faculty.
David and Sally Michael, of Children Desiring God in Minneapolis, Minn., also led three separate breakout sessions on teaching the Bible to children.
鈥淚 want to commend Ray Van Neste for his superb leadership for the work of the Ryan Center at 51社区,鈥� Dockery said. 鈥淭hese efforts continue to strengthen Union鈥檚 relationships with the churches throughout this region, for which we are so very grateful.鈥�
Audio from the conference is available for free at .