Daniel R. Hyde. 1-2 Thessalonians: From the Pen of Pastor Paul. Grand Rapids: EP books, 2015. See here to buy the book.
From the Pen of Pastor Paul is a collection of Daniel Hyde’s
sermons about passages in 1-2 Thessalonians. Hyde attempts to provide
some historical context for 1-2 Thessalonians by relaying the story in
Acts 17, which concerns Paul’s visit to Thessalonica. Hyde sometimes
wrestles with scholarly debates about the text itself, as when he
discusses the debate over whether Paul in II Thessalonians 2:13 is
saying that God chose the Thessalonian Christians from the beginning, or
as firstfruits. Hyde also refers to themes in the text itself: the
Thessalonian Christians’ fear that Christ had already come back and the
problems that was breeding, Paul’s commendation of the Thessalonian
Christians for their good works, etc.
Overall, this book is not a scholarly, verse-by-verse commentary of
I-II Thessalonians, one that wrestles with the text in light of its
literary and historical contexts. It is a homiletical book, and it uses
verses and themes in I-II Thessalonians as a launchpad to teach
Christians how to live, particularly in relation to their local church.
In the sermons, Hyde quotes passages of Scripture outside of I-II
Thessalonians, particularly Paul’s writings. Hyde shares anecdotes,
often about Christian figures such as Martin Luther and Charles
Spurgeon. Hyde also draws from Christian thinkers such as John
Chrysostom, John Calvin, and John Owen, and Hyde quotes from the
Westminster and Heidelberg Confessions.
Hyde’s perspective is Reformed Christianity: he defends
predestination, attended a Reformed seminary, teaches at Reformed
seminaries, and pastors a Reformed church. He may have a Pentecostal
background, for he is somewhat critical of Pentecostalism and compares
his understanding of Pentecostalism with Reformed Christianity. While
Hyde is a Reformed Christian, he does not obsess over predestination in
this book, but he does believe that God’s unilateral transformation of a
person is a vital aspect of the Christian life. Hyde’s approach seems
to be that God needs to spiritually resurrect a person for that person
to have faith. After that person is born again, she participates in
becoming more and more like Christ, meaning that she plays some role in
the sanctification process. And yet, she depends on Christ throughout
this process.
I found the book to be edifying. Hyde sympathizes and empathizes
with those who struggle with sin and the feelings of alienation from God
that sin can produce. Hyde talks about how sin can encourage a person
to long for righteousness, and he longs for the day when believers will
see Christ face-to-face, without feelings of alienation. I appreciated
Hyde’s point about how prayer can be a sign that a person is truly
seeking God: as Hyde notes, Ananias was apprehensive about approaching
Saul, who had persecuted the church, but God told Ananias that Saul was
praying (Acts 9:11). Hyde also talked about the importance of doing
good works rather than being reluctant to do so out of a fear of
displeasing God; Hyde quotes Martin Luther’s statement that God does not
need our good works, but our neighbor does.
There were times when I thought that Hyde manifested a rather
authoritarian attitude towards the church, even if that was
unintentional on his part. For example, he said that believers should
treat their pastor’s sermon as the word of God to them. On some level, I
can appreciate his point. It is good to go to church with an attitude
of expecting a word from God that can impart strength, as opposed to
going to church with a nitpicky attitude. Hyde also admits that
preachers (and their sermons) are fallible, and he does not support
authoritarian pastors but pastors setting an example of love and
service. Yet, certain attitudes can be abused by authoritarian pastors,
and Hyde should have addressed that more. In my opinion, Hyde also
should have talked about the extent to which believers are autonomous,
and the rights that they have as church attenders.
I would have preferred for Hyde to have gone into more detail about
the Antichrist. He seems to flirt, somewhat, with the classic
Protestant view that the Roman Catholic church is the Antichrist. Yet,
he does not seem overly dogmatic about that. He does believe that the
man of sin sitting in the Temple of God (II Thessalonians 2:3) indicates
that the Antichrist will come from the church, which Paul likens to a
Temple (I Corinthians 3:16), but Hyde did not offer a clear picture of
what he envisioned taking place. Perhaps Hyde felt that he did not know
enough about that topic to be dogmatic.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the
publisher through Cross Focused Reviews, in exchange for an honest
review.