Preface

Readers of this series may be pardoned for thinking that with volume 3 of my Selected Shorter Writings I may be digging into the dregs. Actually, however, this volume contains some of my favorite essays. The first two, in particular, established the direction I would take in discussions of theological method, and they set me sharply against the academic-historical type of systematic theology that is most prevalent today. Why I chose not to include those essays in earlier volumes is anybody’s guess. There are other essays here of which I am particularly fond, and I will indicate some of the reasons for this fondness in the explanatory notes. All in all, I think that this is the best of the three SSW volumes.

Nevertheless, at seventy-five I am winding down my work as a theologian, slouching toward retirement. But before I take leave of this platform, let me express my thanks for the many readers who not only have bought my books, but have said kind things about them. Nothing pleases me more than to hear that my work has been helpful to other Christians—both shepherds and sheep. My thanks also to those who have criticized my ideas. I haven’t always responded to you with enthusiasm, but many of you have been gracious and kind in the way you have sought to teach me more excellent ways. Certainly you have influenced me, often in ways below my threshold of consciousness.

Excerpt taken from page xxi of John Frame’s Selected Shorter Writings, Volume 3 by John M. Frame, copyright 2016, P&R Publishing