Mature Manhood and Women

Mark Coppenger

There is a crisis of biblical manhood in our day. Everywhere you look, there seems to be a gutting of mature manhood and the way men have been called to live as followers of Christ. John Piper says “The essence of Biblical Manhood is the benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways that are appropriate to a man’s differing relationships.” Our prayer is that the talks from this conference would be used to strengthen men, help men thrive spiritually, help men kill sin, reform broken men by the power of Jesus Christ, train husbands, train fathers, and raise young men up to be godly, gentle, strong, and holy, having 1 Timothy 3 character whether an elder or not.

This presentation was given by Dr. Mark Coppenger on June 10, 2019 at the “Mature Manhood in an Immature Age” 2019 Founders SBC event in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr. Mark Coppenger, retired professor of philosophy at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a former professor at Wheaton has given us an excellent study of how God’s lordship in creation lays the groundwork for aesthetics. Mark is an effective writer and author, an engaging teacher, has served in numerous positions of service among Southern Baptists at the national and state levels and also been pastor of churches. He is the author of a new book entitled If Christianity is So Good, Why are Christians so Bad? Also, he is an author/editor of a book highly pertinent to the topic of this Journal, Apologetical Aesthetics. Since the triune God is Creator and Sustainer and Owner of the earth, it is impossible that every aspect of it not reflect some element of his glory. The existence of everything is dependent on him and his power, intelligence, beauty, purpose, and glory. The study of aesthetics is the investigation of principles underlying our perception of beauty and awe. This could be applied to art, music, poetry, physics, chemistry, or the mere pleasure of standing in awe of natural things. Mark has given a narrative of how aesthetics has its foundation in the realty that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” He has shown the confluence of nature and art in how the beauty, symmetry, threatening danger, and power of the one inspires the other. His article itself is an engagement with aesthetics of language.