For our second author interview, we will be hearing from Guy Waters, author of the following books: Justification & the New Perspectives on Paul; Federal Vision and Covenant Theology; How Jesus Runs the Church; and What Is the Bible?.

• Question #1 – Which writers inspire you?

“Different writers have helped me in different ways. Theologians like Francis Turretin, Robert L. Dabney, A. A. Hodge, B. B. Warfield, and Jonathan Edwards have helped me think clearly and precisely about biblical truth. Geerhardus Vos, Herman Ridderbos, and Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. have helped me understand the progress and unity of God’s plan of redemption in history. Writers like C. S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards have modeled for me what might be called the “sanctified imagination.”  The writings of John H. Gerstner are a stellar example of pungency, clarity, simplicity, and penetration. Writers like P. G. Wodehouse, William F. Buckley, Jr., and David Bentley Hart are masterful in their handling of the English language, not least in their vocabulary.”

• Question #2 – What inspired you to write this book, about this topic? If you choose this question and have published more than 1 book with us, please specify which book you are referring to.

“I wrote How Jesus Runs the Church because I wanted to fill what I perceived to be a gap. I want to provide people in the church with an introduction and survey of the biblical foundations of church government. I want people to appreciate church government as part of the whole counsel of God, as an integral part of the way we think of Christ’s reign over his church. I also want to help people in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition get reacquainted with some fine but often forgotten writings from the past on this subject.”

• Question #3 – What book are you reading now?

“Beyond the books that I read for publishing projects, lecture preparation, and professional development, I try to read a variety of books from a number of different disciplines and perspectives. I am reading books by two of my theological “heroes,” a collection of sermons by B.B. Warfield (The Power of God Unto Salvation), and a collection of essays by Geerhardus Vos (Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos). I am also reading Dante’s Purgatorio, Blanchard and Johnson’s The One Minute Manager, and am about to begin the most recent edition of Gilbert Meilaender’s Bioethics.”

• Question #4 – Other than the Bible, do you have a favorite book?

“Yes. I would have to say, Pilgrim’s Progress. I have read it a number of times and glean rich biblical truths from it at every sitting. It is a wonderful, balanced, and Scriptural account of the Christian life.”

• Question #5 – How can readers discover more about you and your work?

“Readers can learn more about me and my work by visiting www.rts.edu (see especially the Jackson Campus page). There they find updates on recent publications, travels, and speaking engagements. They can also find out what courses I am teaching that semester, and find links to chapel messages that I have delivered. Or read my professor page:  https://www.rts.edu/seminary/faculty/bio.aspx?id=491.”

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Guy Prentiss Waters (BA, University of Pennsylvania; MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary; PhD, Duke University) is Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. At Duke, he studied under Richard B. Hays and E. P. Sanders, two leading expositors of the New Perspectives on Paul. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in America. He is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Institute of Biblical Research.

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