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Section: Reading and quotations
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Wise Words
'Quotes
piquantes'
from my recent reading
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Author |
Title |
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| Mark R. McMinn |
Why Sin Matters |
 |
| Gustaf Aulén |
Christus Victor |
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| Christopher Jamison |
Finding Sanctuary |
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| John Piper |
The Future of Justification |
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| A.T.B. McGowan |
The Divine Spiration of Scripture |
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| John Macquarrie |
Mary For All Chritians |
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| Stephen Sizer |
Zion's Christian Soldiers? |
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| Johnson & Feinberg, eds. |
Continuity And Discontinuity |
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| I. Howard Marshall |
Beyond the Bible |
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| Gilbert Bilezikian |
Beyond Sex Roles |
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| David P. Parris |
Reading The Bible With Giants |
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| Stephen Sizer |
Christian Zionism |
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| William K. Kay |
Apostolic Networks In Britain |
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| Pierce & Groothuis, eds. |
Discovering Biblical
Equality |
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| Tony Wastall |
From Home To The Throne |
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| Greg Haslam, ed. |
Preach The Word! |
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| Philip Greenslade |
A Passion For God's
Story |
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| Brother Andrew |
Light Force |
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| Robin Parry |
Worshipping Trinity |
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| Tom Smail |
Like Father Like Son |
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| David F. Wright |
What Has Infant Baptism Done To Baptism? |
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| D.H. Williams |
Evangelicals and Tradition |
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| Ian Stackhouse |
The Gospel-Driven Church |
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| Jim Packer |
Serving The People Of God |
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| Nigel G. Wright |
A Theology of the Dark Side |
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| Amos Yong |
Beyond the Impasse |
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| David Peterson, ed. |
Holiness and Sexuality |
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| Nick Page |
And Now Let's Move Into A Time Of
Nonsense |
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| D.B. Clendenin, ed. |
Eastern Orthodox Theology |
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| R.Parry & C.Partridge, eds |
Universal Salvation? The Current Debate |
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| A.Walker & K.Aune, ed |
On Revival: A Critical Examination |
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| David Pawson |
Jesus Baptises in One Holy Spirit |
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| Tony Lane |
The Lion Book of Christian Thought |
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| Roland Bainton |
Here I Stand: Martin Luther |
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| Andrew Perriman, ed. |
Faith, Health and Prosperity |
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| Paul Theroux |
Dark Star Safari |
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| Robert C. Doyle |
Eschatology and the Shape of Christian
Belief |
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| Timothy Larsen, ed. |
Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals |
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| David Instone-Brewer |
Divorce & Remarriage in the Church |
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| Bill Scheidler |
Apostles: The Fathering Servant |
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| D.A. Carson |
The Difficult Doctrine of the
Love of God |
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| Arnold Dallimore |
Spurgeon: A New Biography |
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| Colin Chapman |
Whose Promised Land? |
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|
 Don't
Sweep Sin Under The CarpetIt's
good to read Christian books from working psychologists, and this is one
of them. It is Why Sin Matters: the surprising relationship between
our sin and God's grace by Mark R. McMinn (Tyndale House, 2004, ISBN
0-8423-8365-4).
Sin can be cured only by grace, and if we avoid
admitting our sin by cloaking our predicament in other vocabulary we shut
the door to God's grace. This is a ruthlessly honest book that leaves the
reader humbled and more God-oriented.
People in the grips of sin used to visit a priest to confess and seek
reconciliation. Today we go to the psychotherapist, from whom we learn
that our behaviour is understandable, the product of our parents' conduct
or our spouse's need for control. Or perhaps our behaviour is a symptom of
a chemical imbalance. We exchange the language of sin for the language of
self-help books or pop psychology. (p20)
Sadly, psychology sometimes undermines healthy guilt, assuming that
good mental health means always thinking positive thoughts about oneself.
(p43)
The Christian story is ultimately a comedy and not a tragedy. (p53)
One of the clearest conclusions from social science research is that we
are proud. We think we are better than we really are, we see our faults in
faint black and white rather than in vivid colour, and we assume the worst
in others while assuming the best in ourselves. (p68)
What a beautiful discipline it is to strain to find value in others'
perspectives and to strain to find fault in our own. (p80)
The frightening thing is that we cannot know our areas of incompetence
because if we lack the skills required to be competent, we also lack the
skills to know we are incompetent. The only way we can see ourselves
clearly is through the eyes of another. We need the wisdom to listen.
(p93)
We would not cry out for help if there were not some inherent awareness
that we are worth saving. So let's cry out boldly – in the harmony of
human community, naming our sin and grieving our pain – and look
expectantly for the dawn of grace. (p109)
In our postmodern era we have many spiritualities swirling around us.
Christian spirituality is distinct from the others at many points, but the
differences in this first step are utterly profound. Christian
spirituality is not so much about finding ourselves as it is admitting our
inability to find ourselves. It is not so much about searching inwardly
for truth as it is admitting our inner weakness and looking outwardly for
a transcendent God who is Truth. (p134)
We were built for a place without sin: where justice flows freely,
divine kindness prevails, bodies no longer decay, goodness is a way of
life, love is never selfish, truth overflows, and beauty requires no
implants. As familiar as our current surroundings may seem, however
acculturated we may have become, this broken world is not our home. (p143)
----------------------------------------
|
 Got
The Atonement Sussed?I've been
re-reading this stimulating book, which first appeared as long ago as
1931. It is Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main
Types of the Idea of the Atonement by Gustaf Aulén (Collier Books,
1986, ISBN 0-02-083400-4). This is the English translation of the
original work in Swedish.
The author favours the 'classic' view of the
atonement as taught in the NT and
held by the church at large for the first 1000 years. It then gave way to
the 'Latin' or 'objective' view (which most of us were taught is the
'normal' view) before being recovered by Martin Luther, only to be lost
again by Lutheran orthodoxy. Then came the 'subjective' view associated
with liberalism.
The classic view sees God as the prime mover
throughout in securing the atonement and has little regard for the idea
that Christ, as a man, made a 'payment' on man's behalf to satisfy God's
justice. Not that it plays down Christ's role at all; in fact it exalts
it, in the end, more than the Latin view does. Anyway, if you think you've
got the atonement all neatly sewn up in your thinking, read this book to
renew your sense of the greater wonder of it.
[Irenaeus] does not think of the Atonement as an offering made to God
by Christ from man’s side, or as it were from below; for God remains
throughout the effective agent in the work of redemption… The redemptive
work is accomplished by the Logos through the Manhood as His instrument;
for it could be accomplished by no power but that of God Himself.
(p33)
The typically Latin view of the Atonement always regards the sacrifice
as offered by man to God, and works this out in a logical theory; but the
classic idea of the Atonement, whether in the East or in the West, is
always marked by a double-sidedness. The Sacrifice is the means whereby
the tyrants are overcome; yet there is a close connection between the
tyrants and God’s own judgment on sin. (p57)
The Latin doctrine…is in its very structure a rational theory; and from
the point of view of this doctrine the classic idea must always seem to be
lacking in clearness. It may be doubted, however, whether this demand for
rational clearness represents the highest theological wisdom. (p59)
The Latin doctrine of the Atonement is closely related to the legalism
characteristic of the mediaeval outlook. Therefore, it ought to appear as
a really amazing fact, that the post-Reformation theologians accepted the
Anselmian doctrine of the Atonement without suspicion, altogether missing
the close relation between this doctrine and the theological tradition
which the Reformation had challenged with its watchword of sola gratia.
(p92)
Luther stands out in the history of Christian doctrine as the man who
expressed the classic idea of the Atonement with greater power than any
before him. From the side-line of the Latin theory he bends right back to
the main line, making a direct connection with the teaching of the New
Testament and the Fathers. This is his claim to be regarded as in the true
sense of the word, catholic. But he is a solitary figure. The doctrine of
Lutheranism became a very different thing from that of Luther. (p121)
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|
 Being
a MonkThis book came out of the TV
series The Monastery, which documented the 40-day stay in an
English monastery of five 'secular' men. It is Finding Sanctuary:
Monastic Steps for Everyday Life by Abbott Christopher Jamison
(Phoenix, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7538-2149-7).
I found it to be more a manual of the 'self-help,
healthy living' type than a truly Christian book. It offers sound advice
on opting out of the rat-race, for example, and learning to appreciate
quietness and solitude, but while the author himself writes from within
the Roman Catholic tradition, the best closing advice he can offer is to
'freely choose to place yourself in the context of the Church or of
some other classic religion' (my italics).
You are a free person and you can choose how busy you want to be.
Freely choosing to resist the urge to busyness is the frame of mind you
need before you can take any steps towards finding sanctuary. (p17)
Monastic life aims to remind us constantly that God is in our midst and
sets up a virtuous circle of awareness to help us do this: pray
constantly, in order to have a pure heart, in order to see God everywhere,
in order to pray constantly. (p55) When people claim to be obeying rules
but break them, we call this hypocrisy, a charge frequency levelled at
religious people. When people claim to be free but are in fact obeying
unstated rules, we don't have a word for it. (p74) In so far as our
lives are dedicated to pleasing ourselves, then they are doomed to frustration.
People who contrive constantly to get their own way are neither popular
nor happy. (p101) In the modern view, true spirituality is psychological
well-being combined with the moral golden rule. Doctrine, ritual and
community life are optional extras. (p143)
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|
 The
'Justification' Debate
I have a lot of time for N.T. Wright, the Bishop of
Durham, and share many of his convictions. But on the nature of
justification he is, in my view, off-track.
John Piper tackles the issue from every
conceivable angle, subjecting Wright's teaching to kindly yet rigorous
scrutiny. He concludes that he is indeed off-track and that the orthodox
understanding of justification as summarised by Paul in 2 Cor 5:21 is to
be upheld.
If you find yourself caught up in this
controversial issue you will find all the answers here. The book is
The Future of Justification: A response to N.T. Wright by John Piper (IVP,
2008, ISBN 978-1-84474-250-9).
My conviction concerning N. T. Wright is not that he is under the curse
of Galatians 1:8-9, but that his portrayal of the gospel—and of the
doctrine of justification in particular—is so disfigured that it becomes
difficult to recognise as biblically faithful. (p15)
My own assessment of the need of the church at this moment in history
is different from Wright's: I think we need a new generation of preachers
who are not only open to new light that God may shed upon his word, but
are also suspicious of their own love of novelty and are eager to test all
their interpretations of the Bible by the wisdom of the centuries. (p37)
God defines 'right' in terms of himself. There is no other standard to
consult than his own infinitely worthy being. Thus, what is right, most
ultimately, is what upholds the value and honour of God—what esteems and
honours God's glory. (p64)
In Wright's passion to liberate the gospel from mere individualism and
to make it historical and global, he leaves it vague for individual
sinners. (p86)
Does Wright succeed in portraying first-century Judaism, and Paul's
pre-Christian life as a Pharisee, and the experience of the Jewish
agitators in Galatia as a life of 'gratitude, as the proper response to
grace'? I don't think so. (p145)
In view of Jesus' penetrating and devastating indictment of the
Pharisees, and in view of Paul's testimony that he was one from that group
(Gal. 1:13; Phil. 3:6; Eph. 2:2-3; 1 Tim. 1:13-14; Titus 3:3), it seems to
be a historical fantasy to portray the pre-Christian Saul or his later
opponents in Galatia as true lovers of God who had drunk from the fountain
of divine grace and who therefore genuinely followed the Torah out of
heartfelt gratitude to God. (p155)
In Adam's case, it only took one sin to completely fail. In Christ's
case, it took an entire life to completely succeed. That is how their
disobedience and obedience correspond to each other. Thus when Paul
compares the 'one trespass' of Adam to Christ's 'one act of righteousness'
(Rom. 5:18), there is no single act in Christ's life that corresponds to
the eating of the forbidden fruit. Rather, his whole life of obedience was
necessary so that he would not be a second failing Adam. (p214)
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|
 The
Bible is God's Word
This evangelical author politely questions the
doctrine of biblical 'inerrancy'—a term popular in the USA but not so much
in Europe.
He argues instead for 'infallibility', the view
that the original documents, being at least partly human documents, may
include some minor errors, but that this does not prevent Scripture being
God's Word. His arguments are persuasive. The book is The Divine
Spiration Of Scripture: Challenging evangelical perspectives by
A.T.B. McGowan (Apollos, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84474-220-2).
McGowan notes that the doctrine of
inerrancy, as crystallised by the likes of B.B. Warfield, was forged in
the heat of the battle against liberalism. It thus ended up taking a
position that Scripture itself does not support. If you are at all
interested in such matters, this is a 'must read'.
In the Reformation confessions and catechisms…there was a gradual move
towards putting the doctrine of Scripture at the beginning, with
everything thereafter being deduced from that first premise. Logically,
this makes perfect sense… however, this positioning of the doctrine of
Scripture creates many problems when viewed 'theologically'. In fact this
positioning of Scripture at the beginning of the theological system takes
the primary focus away from God. (p27)
The doctrine of divine spiration (inspiration) is the affirmation that
at certain times and in certain places, God the Holy Spirit caused men to
write books and his supervisory action was such that although these books
are truly the work of human beings, they are also the Word of God. The
church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, ultimately came to
recognise that there are sixty-six books that God caused to be written in
this way over a long period of time. (p43)
There are evangelicals who are unhappy with the term 'inerrancy' but
who nevertheless also reject the notion of 'errancy', believing that they
are being presented with a false dichotomy. (p106)
What was the point of God acting supernaturally to provide an inerrant
text providentially if it ceased to be inerrant as soon as the first or
second copy was made? If God could act with such sovereign overruling
providence to ensure that the text was absolutely perfect when it left the
hand of the author, why did he not preserve it for us, if an inerrant text
is so vital to the life of the church? (p109)
God the Holy Spirit breathed out the Scriptures. The instruments of
this divine spiration were certain human beings. The resulting Scriptures
are as God intended them to be. Having chosen, however, to use human
beings rather than a more direct approach (e.g. writing the words
supernaturally on stone without human involvement, as with the Ten
Commandments), God did not overrule their humanity. This explains, for
example, the discrepancies between the Gospels. Nevertheless, this is not
a problem because God, by his Holy Spirit, has ensured that the Scriptures
in their final canonical form are as he intended them to be and hence is
able to use them to achieve his purpose. (p118)
One consequence of the nature of Scripture's dual authorship is that
the theologian must be confident that God has spoken and therefore
Scripture is infallible, not in the sense of inerrant autographa
but in the sense that God has given us the Scriptures and they will
infallibly achieve God's purpose in giving them. Among other things, this
means that if we find passages that are in apparent contradiction, we must
not try to force them into some artificial agreement. (p149)
In Bavinck we find someone who shared Calvin's high view of Scripture
but who, because of his similar understanding of the nature of the human
authorship of Scripture, has no problems with the apparent discrepancies,
contradictions and other difficulties that so trouble inerrantists. (p163)
If one name in one genealogy in 2 Chronicles is demonstrably mistaken,
the entire inerrantist doctrine of Scripture collapses, despite protests
to the contrary, skilful footwork and unpersuasive arguments! (p209)
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|
 Mary
the Mother of Jesus
We associate an emphasis on Mary with Roman
Catholicism. This book aims to introduce Catholic ideas on Mary to a wider
audience: Mary For All Christians by John Macquarrie (2nd
edition, T. & T. Clark, 2001, ISBN 978-0-56708-751-5). It is available
also in
Logos/Libronix software format.
It failed completely to win my sympathy. I once
preached on Mary to a 'new church' in Poland, drawing from the NT data
alone to show how Protestantism has neglected Mary as much as RCism has
exaggerated her importance. Macquarrrie, however, relegates the NT to a
low rank in his scale of values for establishing doctrine and elevates
'the tradition' to the No.1 position.
The Immaculate Conception (the dogma that Mary
was born free from the taint of original sin) is either true or it isn't.
On NT grounds it isn't. The same applies to the Assumption of Mary (that
at the end of her life she was taken up to heaven, body and soul, like
Enoch and Elijah): it either happened or it didn't. Biblically, it didn't,
and waffle about it being a 'theological event' rather than a factual one
remains, in my view, nonsense. The section on Mary as 'Co-redemptrix' is
equally unconvincing.
The best parts of this book are those where the
author addresses peripheral topics. He has a good section, for instance,
on the questionable side of some Reformed doctrines like 'irresistible
grace'.
Mary can be rightly called ‘Mother of God’ only in the strictly
Christian sense that she is the mother of Jesus Christ, whom the Church
confesses as Son of God and an equal person of the divine Trinity. (p25)
How does one distinguish between the genuine development of a doctrine,
the drawing out of truths concealed in the original, from illegitimate
accretions which get added by later generations but may be quite at
variance with the intention of the original affirmations from which they
claim to be derived? (p48)
If one believes, as [Paul] did, that Jesus was sent by God, then there
must have lived a woman through whom he was born into the world, and if
one believes further that all this happened in the providence of God, then
that woman must have been conceived and elected by God in the beginning as
the indispensable handmaid needed to co-operate in his work. (p63)
As we approach the dogma of the Assumption, it is obvious that we face
problems very similar to those we met when considering the Immaculate
Conception. There is no clear scriptural foundation… (p81)
There have been times in the history of Christianity when Christ
himself has become such a divine, exalted, numinous figure that the
worshippers found him so distant that they needed a new mediator or
mediatrix closer to their own humanity to fill the space that had opened
between themselves and the original mediator. (p100)
...our picture of Mary is based not just on the few scraps of
information we have about her in the gospels but even more on the
construction of her personality by generations of devout Christians who
have concentrated upon her the most essential qualities of the Christian
life. (p120)
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|
 The
State of Israel Is Not Prophecy Fulfilled
This is a shorter version of Stephen Sizer's
earlier book, reviewed below, and aimed at a more
popular readership. It is Zion's Christian Soldiers? The Bible,
Israel and the Church by S. Sizer (IVP, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84474-214-1).
It concludes with an essay by John Stott: The Place of Israel.
Sizer includes some useful diagrams and debunks
both the unscriptural notion of the 'secret rapture' and the currently
popular notion that the State of Israel is a fulfilment of prophecy. His biblical reasoning is, to my mind, utterly
compelling—but that's no surprise since I ditched my dispensational,
premillennial views on Israel and the church around the age of 20.
Read my article on
changing views
The fundamental error these ultra-literalists make is that they fail to
recognise how Jesus and the apostles reinterpreted the OT. Instead, texts
are made to speak about present and future events almost as if the NT had
never been written. (p36)
When Jesus died he broke down the wall of separation between Jew and
Gentile… It is tragic that some appear to want to rebuild it. (p55)
In the NT, the land, like an old wineskin, had served its purpose. It
was, and remains, irrelevant to God's ongoing redemptive purposes for the
world. (p96)
Nothing in 1 Thessalonians, or in any other NT passage, teaches that
Jesus will return secretly to take believers to heaven for seven years and
then return with them to earth for another thousand years. (p135)
In its worst forms, Christian Zionism uses the Bible to justify racial
superiority, land expropriation, home demolitions, population transfer,
colonial settlements, the denial of international law and the
dehumanisation of Arabs. It fuels not only Islamophobia but also
anti-Semitism and Islamist retaliation against Christians. (p162)
Who, according to the NT perspective, is Israel today?... It is that
true Israel is neither Jews nor Israelis, but believers in the Messiah.
(p167 - John Stott)
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|
 Relationship Between the
Testaments
Evangelical Christians tend to be broadly either covenantal or
dispensational in their theological scheme. (For myself, I'm covenantal to
the hilt.) The difference lies chiefly in what degree of continuity they
see between the two testaments.
This book explores the two approaches, with essays by various adherents of
each scheme. It is Continuity And Discontinuity: Perspectives on the
relationship between the Old and New Testaments by S.L. Johnson & J.S.
Feinberg, eds. (Crossway, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8910-7468-7). The various
contributors apply their scheme to such issues as the Law, the kingdom of
God, the nature of Israel and the interpretation of prophecy. In fact the
whole volume is a study of the two main hermeneutical schemes.
This book is available both in print and
in the
Logos/Libronix software format.
Philip's question to the Ethiopian eunuch [was]: 'Do you
understand what you are reading?'...Philip’s answer was to point the
Ethiopian to Christ. Here is where the enigma of the OT might be
understood. In the end that has been the church’s answer to the relation
between the Testaments. (p16)
Ladd argues that reinterpreting the OT in the light of
the Christ event merely follows the habit of NT writers who do the same.
(p73)
Nondispensationalists begin with NT teaching as having
priority, and then go back to the OT. Dispensationalists often begin with
the OT, but wherever they begin they demand that the OT be taken on its
own terms rather than reinterpreted in the light of the NT. (p74)
That the law as given through Moses contained so many
detailed instructions reflects the fact that God’s people were then in
their infancy. The students have now advanced to a stage where they are
ready to convert rules into principles, or rather to discover the
principles that underlay the rules from the very beginning. (p189)
While it is granted that the prophecies concerning
Israel’s future are largely couched in language that suggests an earthly
realization of salvation, it should be remembered that the prophets, in
order to be understood by the people of their own time, would naturally
embody their thoughts and revelations in such language. (p232)
All Christians, be they Jewish or not, are the Israel of
God. (p234)
Lewis Johnson, Jr. wrote: 'The use of the Old Testament
in the New is the key to the solution of the problem of hermeneutics.
Unfortunately that has been overlooked, but surely, if the apostles are
reliable teachers of biblical doctrine, then they are reliable instructors
in the science of hermeneutics.' (p264)
After Pentecost, when the Spirit was given to “guide you
[the apostles] into all truth … and … tell you what is yet to come” (John
16:13), and to “bring glory to me [Christ] by taking from what is mine and
making it known to you” (v. 14), not one clear NT passage mentions the
restoration of Israel as a political nation or predicts an earthly reign
of Christ before his final appearing. None depicts the consummate glory of
Christ as an earthly king ruling over the restored nation of Israel. The
Spirit’s silence is deafening. (p272)
Retrogression from the surpassing antitype to the
shadows at the end of history would have God walk backward and would draw
an abhorrent veil over the glory of Christ and his church now revealed.
(p278)
------------------------------------------
|
 Development
in Doctrine and Practice
This book provides a rationale for the idea that, as John Robinson said to
the departing Pilgrims, 'God has yet more truth and light to break forth
from his holy Word.' It is Beyond The Bible: Moving From Scripture
To Theology by I. Howard Marshall (Paternoster, 2004. ISBN
1-84227-278-0), with responding essays by Vanhoozer and Porter.
It shows how truth is adapted and
developed from OT to NT, from the Gospels to the Epistles—and suggests
that, without in any way downgrading the fixed text of Scripture, that
process needs to continue as we in later generations apply God's Word to
new situations. Marshall looks for what he calls 'a principled way' of
developing doctrine and practice, finding guidelines in Scripture itself
to steer us on a right course. This book is a key one in the current
lively evangelical debate on hermeneutics and how we should apply the
Bible today.
1 Peter 1:10-12 suggests that writers may have written
texts that contained more than they themselves could understand because
the reference of prophecy was not always clear to them. (p30)
The church believes that its faith and practice rest
upon that collection of books and that no others can have that function.
Yet the closing of the canon did not bring the process of doctrinal
development to an end. (p54)
The teaching of Jesus belongs to the liminal period; it
is given before the new covenant has been fully inaugurated and uses the
imagery of the time. It is legitimate to recognise this and to go beyond
it in the directions indicated by the post-Easter revelation. (p68)
What we have at work in the NT…is a combination of the
apostolic deposit and Spirit-given insight. These two factors work
together to detect error and to promote true development in Christian
doctrine and practice. (p71)
We affirm the ongoing supreme authority of Scripture,
but we recognise that Scripture needs interpretation and fresh
application, both in our doctrine and in our practice. (p77)
[By KJ Vanhoozer] Doctrine directs the church to speak
and act in new situations (e.g. 'beyond the Bible') biblically by
cultivating what I will call 'the mind of the canon.' That to which
theologians must attend in Scripture is not the words and concepts so much
at the patterns of judgment. (p93)
[By SE Porter] A model that has not been as widely used
or influential in hermeneutical circles as I think it should be is the
process of Bible translation known as dynamic equivalence (or functional
equivalence)… My contention is that this is the task not only of
translation, but also of theology itself. (p125)
-------------------------------------------
|
 Woman
in Church and Family—again
Here's another book (see Discovering
Biblical Equality below) arguing for an egalitarian viewpoint on the
role of women, and it's a persuasive one. It is Beyond Sex Roles:
what the Bible says about a woman's place in church and family by
Gilbert Bilezikian (Baker Academic, 3rd Edition, 2006. ISBN
978-0-8010-3153-3).
The author faces up boldly to every
relevant Bible text and every common argument for women's subordination
and, with both scholarship and passion, puts forward an alternative
viewpoint. I read this book straight after Wayne Grudem's Countering
the Claims of Evangelical Feminism, which I found pedantic and
unconvincing, whereas Bilezikian's treatment of the subject has (to quote
J.B. Phillips) the 'ring of truth' about it. Ultimately, the whole issue
is one of hermeneutics and you must decide for yourself where you stand.
As for me, I've changed sides decisively on this one—see my
Shifting Ground article.
Conspicuously absent in Genesis 1-2 is any reference to
divine prescriptions for man to exercise authority over woman. Because of
the importance of its implications, had such an authority structure been
part of the creation design, it would have received clear definition along
with the two other authority mandates [God over humanity; humanity over
nature]. The total absence of such a commission indicates that it was not
part of God's intent. (p30)
[Eve] was led into error by none other than God's
archenemy, a powerful supernatural opponent. Adam was led into error by
his wife. (p35)
This text [Prov 31:10-31]…accomplishes a verse-by-verse
demolition of the male-dominated hierarchical structure that issued from
the fall, by showing God's ideal for women—to share fully in the
responsibilities of governing community life in the family and beyond.
(p58)
'And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy'… In
the age of the Spirit, the highest levels of ministry will be open to
believers without regard for gender. (p97)
Consistently placing the responsibility for the final
word on the husband…puts an unrealistic burden on the husband always to
make the right decision. It also promotes a cop-out mentality for the
wife, who then resigns herself to the status of permanent loser or of
devious manipulator of the power-wielding male. (p99)
[Re 1 Cor 14:35] The appeal to the practice of the
'churches of the saints', the unwarranted adducting of 'the law', and the
unyielding comprehensiveness of the injuction to silence indicate that
Paul is quoting derisively the words of his Judeo-Christian opponents, who
often troubled the churches he had established in Gentile territory. In
this prohibition statement, Paul is giving them back one of their own
slogans. He is citing their own teaching in order to oppose it. (p114)
--------------------------------------------
|
 The
Giants of YesteryearWe
tend to think, being the clever modern folk that we are, that we know
better than any previous generation what the Bible means. This book sets
out to introduce 'Reception Theory', that is, the idea that the way
previous generations have read and interpreted Scripture remains of value
to us today.
The book is Reading The Bible With
Giants by David Paul Parris (Paternoster, 2006. ISBN
978-1-84227-273-2). Its explanatory subtitle is How 2000 Years of
Biblical Interpretation Can Shed New Light on Old Texts. It has more
typological errors than any book I have read for years but, that aside,
its message is sound and challenging.
The way a text is received and read down through history
not only allows us to understand what the biblical text may mean, but
allows us to do so in a fuller and more historically embodied sort of way
than the historical-grammatical method makes possible. (p57)
If we accept that the Holy Spirit is living and active,
leading and guiding the church today in its interpretation and teaching of
the Bible, then we must also grant that the Spirit worked in the same
manner with every previous generation. (p80)
How we understand the Scriptures is part and parcel of
this broader historical trajectory into which we have been grafted by
grace. We are on a journey to a full and appropriate understanding of the
Scriptures; however, until we cross over from this age into the next we
should view all of our interpretations as partial and provisional, open to
correction and revision by those who will come after us. (p99)
Towards the end of his life Augustine wrote his
Retractions (1.23.1), in which he reviewed his writings and recounted
how he had changed his stance on numerous biblical and theological
questions. (p195) I'm obviously in good
company here; see my article
Shifting Ground, about my own modified views on a variety of topics.
Reading the Bible in conjunction with tradition serves
as a preventative and remedial medicine against the attitude of claiming
that we possess the definitive meaning of the Bible, or a passage within
it. This is a cure that is sorely needed in many circles today. (p201)
----------------------------------------------
|
 Eccentric
Theology and the Middle East
It is encouraging to see a steady flow of
books arriving to counter the tide of 'Christian Zionism' that carries so
many Christians along today.
This one is Christian Zionism
by Stephen Sizer (IVP, 2004. ISBN 978-1-84474-050-5). It's subtitle,
Road-map to Armageddon? hints at its conviction that Christians who
support Zionism are actually both wanting and provoking major conflict in
the Middle East, rather than wishing to see peace and justice there.
It is a well-researched book, with all
the historical background you will ever need, an analysis of the current
main Christian movements under the Zionist umbrella, and a careful
theological assessment of their viewpoint.
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), drawing
together the historic as well as evangelical churches of the Holy Land,
rejects Christian Zionism 'as representing a heretical interpretation of
Holy Scripture', while John Stott has described it as 'biblically
anathema'. (p22)
The question is not whether the promises of the covenant
are to be understood literally or spiritually, it is instead a question of
whether they should be understood in terms of old covenant shadow or new
covenant reality. The failure to recognise this principle is the basic
hermeneutical error which Christian Zionists make and from which flow the
other distinctive doctrines that characterise the movement. (p135)
If, to use Peter's words, 'God does not show
favouritism' from a Christian perspective, it cannot logically be presumed
that Jews continue to enjoy a favoured or exclusive status. It is
therefore no longer appropriate for Christians to designate the Jewish
people as God's 'chosen people' since the term has now been universalised
to embrace all who trust in Jesus Christ, irrespective of race. (p150)
There is no evidence that the apostles believed that the
Jewish people still had a divine right to the land, or that they Jewish
possession of the land would be important, let alone that Jerusalem would
remain a central aspect of God's purposes for the world. On the contrary,
in the Christological logic of Paul, Jerusalem as much as the land, has
now been superseded. They have been made irrelevant in God's redemptive
purposes. (p170)
Christians favouring the rebuilding of the temple
consistently ignore the way in which the temple is invested with new
meaning in the NT as a 'type' for Jesus Christ and his church as did many
of the Early Church Fathers. Instead, they advocate a return to the very
practices made redundant by the once-and-for-all atoning work of the Son
of God. (p179)
According to Kamal Farah of the Anglican Pilgrimage
Office, it is the policy of the Israeli government to ensure all tourists
and pilgrims visit the three key sites of Yad Vashem, the Wailing Wall and
Masada in order to perpetuate a favourable image of Israel, stifle
criticism and reinforce their claim to the land. (p217)
The biblical literalism of Christian Zionism leads many
to demonise Arabs and Palestinians as Satanic enemies of the Jewish
people; their futurist reading of prophecy demands that much of the Middle
East belongs to the Jewish people; and their eschatology predicts a
pessimistic and apocalyptic end to the world. Peace talks are, therefore,
not only a waste of time, they demonstrate at best a lack of faith and at
worst a rebellious defiance towards God's plans. (p250)
Ultimately, the choice is between two theologies: one
based primarily on the shadows of the old covenant; the other on the
reality of the new covenant. In identifying with the former, Christian
Zionism is an exclusive theology that focuses on the Jews in the land
rather than an inclusive theology that centres on Jesus Christ, the
Saviour of the world. It consequently provides a theological endorsement
for racial segregation, apartheid and war. This is diametrically opposed
to the inclusive theology of justice, peace and reconciliation which lie
at the heart of the new covenant. (p260)
-------------------------------------------
|
 Covenant Ministries, New Frontiers etc.
This is history book. It is the fruit of
several years' research aiming to bring together the facts about the
'apostolic networks' that emerged in the UK in the 1970s and which have
led directly to most of the nation's 'new churches' today.
The book is Apostolic Networks In
Britain by Prof. William K. Kay (Paternoster, 2007. ISBN
978-1-84227-409-5). It covers details of the best-known networks led
by Bryn Jones, Terry Virgo, Barney Coombs, Roger Forster and others and is
based on extensive research and interviews of involved personnel—including
myself. As this will be chiefly a
reference book for most people, I am refraining from extracting any quotations but can
recommend it as a treasure trove of factual material for all who are
interested in this aspect of church life in the UK.
------------------------------------------------
|
 Gender
EqualityThis is one of
those 'milestone' books that can't be ignored—not by me, anyway. It is
Discovering Biblical Equality by RW Pierce and RM Groothuis,
eds., (IVP/Apollos, 2005, UK ISBN 978-1-84474-107-6; USA
ISBN 0-8308-2834-6).
My views on the role of women in
marriage and the church were formed by Hurley's Man & Woman in Biblical
Perspective and Grudem and Piper's Recovering Biblical Manhood &
Womanhood. Their arguments, I reckoned, were incontrovertible,
particularly the analogy with the ontological and economic
aspects of the Trinity. This new book, however, has challenged all that.
It tackles head-on all the key scriptures and, more importantly, looks at
the assumptions that traditionally lie behind the so-called
'complementarian' view. I have found its arguments to be honest, serious
and biblically convincing.
Subtitled Complementarity Without
Hierarchy, it brings together contributions from some twenty
evangelical scholars, including Gordon Fee, who between them tackle every
possible aspect of the topic. It's a big book—over 500 pages—and is not
for the casual reader, but it will repay careful study. It is also
available in the
Logos/Libronix software format. Because of the immensity of this work
I have permitted myself a larger selection of quotations than usual.
The view that the man's creation before the woman's
implies his authority over her cannot be sustained by study of the text of
Genesis 2, the context of Genesis 1-3,, the comparative literature of the
ancient Near East or the invocation of putative customs of primogeniture
in ancient Israel. (p86)
Jesus does not treat women primarily as homemakers. A
woman called out in Jesus' hearing: 'Blessed is the woman who gave you
birth and nursed you!' Here we see this principle of woman primarily as
mother voiced before Jesus. And what is his reply? 'Blessed rather are
those who hear the word of God and obey it!' (Luke 11:27-28). What Jesus
states here explicitly, he models earlier in his actions. Thus when Mary
sits as a pupil in rabbinic fashion before Jesus (Luke 10:38-42) while
Martha follows the cultural mandate to serve as homemaker, Jesus declares
that Mary is the one who has selected the good share—to sit at a rabbi's
feet in learning. (p132)
It is reasonable to assume that the patron of a
household gave leadership to the church that functioned in the context of
that household; indeed, it is impossible to imagine that it could have
been otherwise in Greco-Roman culture. So when the householder was a woman
(e.g. Lydia, Nympha), we may rightly assume that, as in all other matter
in her own household, she gave some measure of leadership to her house
church. To think otherwise is to impose modern ideas on the Greco-Roman
household, on the basis of a prior commitment to her (unprovable)
subservient 'role' in the church. (p184)
I suspect that in fact many husbands who are
hierarchicalists in theory are virtually egalitarians in practice. (p194)
That there is a general trajectory in Scripture toward a
recognition of the equality of men and women in salvation is
incontestable. (p202)
Paul...worked within the structures of his time and gave
direction for Christian behaviour within them. The danger is to think that
this validates the setup for all time. (p204)
How is it, one wonders, that the later church can
exercise so much energy in 'getting it right' with regard to leadership,
when the New Testament itself shows so little interest in this? (p254)
The Bible in fact sets forth no doctrine of universally
and transculturally prescribed male and female roles that permit certain
activities and behaviours for one gender and prohibit those behaviours for
another gender... The idea of 'roles' is a modern sociological notion and
the Bible never mentions it. (p299)
If a blind person's lack of sight cannot rightly be
described as a role that has no bearing on his state of being or personal
ability, then (a fortiori) neither can woman's creationally based
lack of authority in key areas be accurately spoken of as a role that has
no ontological entailment... Thus the theoretical distinction between
woman's being and woman's subordinate role evaporates under scrutiny...
When one's 'role' is grounded in one's essential being and obtains in all
things and at all times, one's 'role' defines one's personhood. (p321)
Prior to the 1980s no theologian had ever spoken of the
Son's subordination in 'role' only... This new doctrine of the Trinity,
formulated by evangelicals opposed to the full emancipation of women,
undermines the complete unity of person and work in the Godhead so clearly
taught in Scripture. (p338)
Related to the difficulties with establishing patriarchy
as a divine order for all cultures is the necessity in an egalitarian
culture to set boundaries as to what women may or may not do in the home
and church. The net result is that patriarchy thus turns the gospel of
grace and Spirit gifting into a set of laws to be adhered to. (p378)
I hope to show, by the use of a redemptive-movement
hermeneutic, that an abolition of patriarchy is consistent with the
abolition of slavery and is in keeping with the redemptive movement that
pervades all of Scripture. (p382)
The dilemma of unequal partnership is that husbands
carry the burden of having to know everything and always be right, while
wives pretent not to know or suppress what they know is right. (p459)
[View/save a much longer
PDF
document of my notes on this book, with
many more quotations. It is 29 pages, so give it a few moments to load.]
-------------------------------------------------
|
 Good
old JosephJoseph has
always been one of my favourite Bible characters and
my own book
Dead Dreams Can Live! is based on one aspect of his adventures.
Now From Home To The Throne by
Tony Wastall (LifeSpring Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9555386-0-5)
opens up broader perspectives on Joseph's story, with lots of valuable
insights into how we can exercise in everyday life the rule God intends.
There are practical question at the end of each chapter to prod you into
action. This is a good read, well-written and down-to-earth.
You can't gauge the presence of God by the favourability
of your circumstances. (p53)
What opportunities have you passed over because they
came disguised as delays or inconveniences? (p61)
Prison is the house of disappointment, setback and loss.
It is the place where you are tempted to ask, 'What were the last ten
years all about?' (p81)
We must be prepared for our appointment with destiny
when it arrives for it is a moment that knocks without warning. (p102)
People do not come to Christ simply because they have a
need but when they feel their need. It wasn't until they were
hungry that the people began to turn to Pharaoh, and through him, to
Joseph for help. So too, men and women turn to God when all their other
options have failed. (p113)
----------------------------------------------------
|
 Preach
it, brother!
They say today's folk can't cope with
preaching—to stay interested they need a stream of sound-bytes, stories
and multimedia. I don't believe it. If the preaching is warm, meaty, crisp
and relevant they can comfortably listen for an hour and be blessed.
Preach The Word! by Greg Haslam,
ed. (Sovereign World, 2006, ISBN 1-85240-443-4) is a hefty hardback
subtitled The Call and Challenge of Preaching Today. Its twenty or
so contributors are all experienced preachers and here contribute their
insights and wisdom on the subject. It's first-class stuff. If you preach
at all, read this book.
No exposition without an appeal, no appeal without an
exposition. [John Stott] (p37)
The modern heresy is the idea that God's supreme task is to
make life comfortable for us. [M.Eaton] (p108)
People are not changed by moral exhortation, but by having
a transformed imagination. [P.Greenslade] (p120)
Preachers are often told that they should make a
distinction between preparing their sermons and their own personal Bible
reading. I disagree. [M.Eaton] (p134)
As preachers of the whole counsel of God we have to learn
to live with paradox and unresolved mystery. [G.Haslam] (p152)
...the way I seek guidance from the Lord. He is the Boss.
It is not my job to try and read his mind: it is his job to tell me. [D.Pawson]
(p179)
As preachers we are just the catering corps. Our task is
the feed the church to enable them to live in a hostile world, and we must
make sure we feed our people well. [S.Reid] (p324
Much preaching today, in an attempt to be relevant, is
little more than a chat or talk-show babble, reminiscent of the light and
ephemeral entertainment that is provided for the most part on daytime
television to amuse those who are confined to the home. [C.Wright] (p384)
Although pluralism prides itself on being tolerant we can
be sure it is only tolerant of pluralists! [D.Williams] (p469)
One man pleaded with the leader of his church for
opportunities to preach. But he was not a good communicator. He said to
his pastor, 'Woe is me, if I do not preach the gospel.' The pastor
replied, 'And woe is the people if you do.' [J.John] (p479)
We have lost a sense of the otherness of God. We like to
see God as our friend, as our therapist and in other ways which are true.
But if he isn't totally other, then he isn't the Lord God Almighty. This,
I believe, is the reason why some Christians are turning back to High
Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, because they are looking
for that otherness, that transcendence, that glory, that majesty of God,
which is so little found among us. [S.Brady] (p547)
------------------------------------------------------
|
 The
Bigger Picture
I've always maintained that most
Christians, in reading the Bible, focus too much on the odd word, phrase
or verse and fail to grasp the overall sweep of God's great purpose
revealed there. In A Passion For God's Story by Philip
Greenslade (Paternoster, 2002, ISBN 1-84227-094-X) the author outlines
that purpose and shows some of Scripture's marvellous interconnections.
I found this one of the most inspiring
books I have read for a long time—hence the larger number of quotes than
usual. It is rich in content, warm in its approach and full of hope. Read
it!
The story of Jesus can only be properly understood as
the re-running of the story of Israel. (p22)
We affirm what postmodernism denies: there
is a master-story—an overarching
metanarrative that makes sense of all reality. It is the strategic plan of
God revealed in the Bible. (p25)
The biblical story…can be seen in the broadest way as
the implementing of God's kingdom rule in history through a series
of covenantal arrangements—all in pursuit of a coherent goal.
(p39)
In support of its theory of the 'rapture', one brand of
pop-prophecy among evangelicals harks back to those verses (Mt 24:40-41),
which speak of those 'taken' and those 'left behind'. This point of view,
well represented by a best-selling Christian work of fiction, assumes that
those 'taken' are believers and those 'left behind' are unbelievers. In
fact, in context, the exact opposite is likely to be the case! Those
'taken' are those who, as in the flood (Mt 24:39), are 'taken away' by
judgment, while those 'left behind' are God's vindicated people!
(p64)
The apostle Paul strove to convince his fellow
countrymen, inside and outside the church, that Gentile acceptance of
God's salvation in Christ was exactly what God had envisaged in the
promise plan announced to Abram (Gal 3:8). (p72)
God did not give the Law so that by keeping it Israel
might be saved and qualify to be accepted as his people. The Law was given
to a people already saved—Israel was already the recipient of God's
grace and mercy and saving love. So, why did God give Israel the Law? The
Law is essentially a description of how a covenant people are expected to
live. (p99)
God so loved the world that he chose Israel. God so
loved Israel—and through Israel the world, that he finally sent his only
Son to act out the story of Israel and her God by embodying the one and
incarnating the other. (p107)
Led not by a pillar of fire and cloud, but by the
immediate light of God's Spirit, God's covenant family marches towards its
God-given inheritance; except that, in this scenario, its promised land is
no partial Canaan, but nothing less than a redeemed earth. (p141)
The thrust of the temptations is clear: 'If you are the
true Israel, God's "son", if you are her representative king, God's "son",
then go the way of Israel and her kings before you', but—savingly—Jesus
refuses. (p150)
Salvation is not the abolition of our status as
creatures in favour of some higher spiritual existence; it is the
redemption and not the dilution of our humanness. (p179)
We are not going to heaven; heaven is coming here!
(p194)
The God whose story this is…emerges as a God keen on
entering into dialogue rather than authoritarian decree; a God who does
not hastily opt for closure but keeps debate alive and his options open.
This God appears curiously persuadable. He wants people to share the
emotional turmoil of decision-making as if inviting persuasion, prayer and
appeal. (p217)
------------------------------------------------------
|
 Among
Jews and ArabsBest known
for smuggling Bibles into Communist countries in the last generation,
Dutchman Brother Andrew, now in his seventies, has for the last 20 years
been in and out of the Middle East bringing the love of Christ to Jews and
Arabs alike.
This book—Light Force by
Brother Andrew (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, ISBN 0-340-86272-6)—outlines
his many missions, which have often taken him into dangerous situations.
He doggedly refuses to adopt either a pro-Israel or a pro-Arab position.
Instead, he reaches out with the gospel in an unbiased way to those of
both peoples who don't know Christ, and treats as brothers and sisters in
Christ the believers among both peoples.
When you offer a Bible to a Muslim, he will never refuse
it. (p152)
People think that Muslims aren't open to Christ, but
frankly I think they are closer to Christ than secular Europeans or
Americans. [Quoting his friend Labib] (p187)
Of the seven hundred thousand Arabs who fled or were
driven out of Palestine, at least fifty thousand were Christians… Many
Christians seemed far more eager to rejoice in the birth of Israel than to
understand the suffering of their fellow believers. (p207-8)
For students in Bethlehem to study and to live the Bible
is more dangerous than in any other country in the world, because you are
right up against and under the very people that most of the Bible is
about. You are very much oppressed by a certain interpretation of the
Bible that allegedly delegitimises your right to your land, your God-given
identity, and your future. [Quoting Father Du Brul] (p241)
-----------------------------------------------------
|
 Focus
of worship
The songs sung in some churches are,
frankly, at the best naff and at the worst sentimental trash. Here is a
book that rightly wants worship to refocus more substantially on the
Godhead: the Trinity. It is Worshipping Trinity, by Robin Parry
(Paternoster, 2005, ISBN 1-84227-347-7).
It's a fairly easy read, thanks to its
chirpy style (sometimes unnecessarily slangy), but it has some sound
theological truth to convey in the overall context of the worship we
offer.
God is 'being in communion'. (p80)
Spirit-led worship may be found where incense rises and
liturgy is sung just as much as it may be found where flags are waved and
the singing is in tongues. And the converse is true—all that glitters is
not gold, all that shouts and shakes or glows and rises before the Lord is
not worship. (p98)
The Trinitarian view of worship presented by the
Bible…does not call people to whip themselves up into a worship frenzy but
simply points people to the worship that Christ is currently offering and
invites them to join him in it. (p101)
In contemporary Christian worship one can detect clear
trends in certain sections of the church in which the Father is
increasingly neglected… Jesus comes to us and invites us to join him in
his worship of the Father—so to bypass the Father is to dishonour Jesus.
(p105)
We need to grasp hold of the mystery of the Spirit as an
inspiration to worship. People are fed up with the neat 'God in a box'
that churches have sometimes served up, and the recovery of the
transcendent and mysterious in worship is a positive imperative. So,
rather than seeing the mysteriousness of the Spirit as a hindrance to
worship, let's use it as an opportunity to refresh worship. (p118)
---------------------------------------------------------
|
 The
image of God
The doctrine of the Trinity is not marginal
but central to the faith. Like Father Like Son, by Tom Smail
(Paternoster, 2005, ISBN 1-84227-342-6) shows the vital relevance of
that truth to the human condition and human relationships.
It shows how, in order to be truly human,
we must reflect the initiating love of the
Father, the responsive love of the Son and the creative love of the Holy
Spirit, and how this is possible through what God has done in the act of
redemption. The book challenges, on this basis, the sinful individualism
of the Western world. It is deep stuff, but deeply warming and
challenging. Read it!
Love is the abolition of solitariness, and, at the same
time, the creator and the manifestation of unity. Thus the Father and Son
in the dynamic of their love eternally give themselves the one to the
other in a way that expresses their indivisible oneness and their
intrinsic two-ness. It takes two to love but, in loving, these two show
that they are one. (p75)
God's will in Christ is for the right relationships of
distinct persons with him and with others because he himself is
constituted by right relationships between the distinct persons of Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. (p85)
Even when we are most aware of the faceless forces that
determine us, we never entirely lose the awareness that we are not passive
objects at their mercy but active subjects with minds to comprehend what
is happening to us and to determine our responses to it and with wills to
intervene at some point in the causal chain of events and take action to
move them in the direction we intend. (p128)
Body, soul and spirit are not separable components of a
complex individual self, but are descriptions of the one self in the
different sets of relationships in which it stands to the world (body), to
itself (soul), and to God (spirit). (p151)
When the Father gives the Spirit to us through the Son,
it is not that he should do a new work that somehow supersedes or
complements that of the Son, but rather that he should explore, expose,
and apply all that is latent in what the Son has already done.
(p184)
The mission of the church, executed in the power of the
love of God, is to baptise people into the relationships with Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit that constitute the new humanity so that they become as
initiating as the Father, as responsive as the Son, and as creative as the
Spirit and so bring to fulfilment what has been implicit in creation,
marred in sin, and restored, renewed, and completed in Christ.
(p293)
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
 Baptism:
encouraging trends
At long last, it seems, infant baptism is
being recognised as a major source of problems in the professing church,
and the trend is towards baptising those old enough to consciously
believe. May the trend continue!
The title of What Has Infant Baptism
Done To Baptism? by David F. Wright (Paternoster, 2005, ISBN
1-84227-357-4) is self-explanatory. The writer's arguments carry
greater weight in that he comes from a paedobaptist background. But we
credo-baptists don't get an easy ride here; he brings some strong
challenges to the way we have let baptism loose from its NT moorings.
…the stubborn hauteur displayed towards Baptists and
believers' baptism by paedobaptist churches and theologians. (p4)
The timescale of infant baptism's long reign extends from
the early medieval period, from about the sixth century, that is to say,
after Augustine of Hippo, who died in 430. It was he who provided the
theology that led to infant baptism becoming general practice for the
first time in the history of the church, perhaps in the later fifth
century, more likely in the 500s or even later. (p12)
Several of the continental Reformers entertained early
doubts about the propriety of baptising babies, and some, including Luther
and Calvin, in their first writings on baptism, directed against erroneous
Catholic teaching, stressed the necessity of faith for profitable
reception, in terms that might even have suggested they were believers-baptists.
But the emergence of the Anabaptists' protests posed a much graver
challenge, and turned them all into the most uncompromising apologists for
paedobaptism. (p19)
Early Christianity, and here we move beyond the NT into the
next four centuries, knew nothing of an unbaptised believer. (p36)
The Anglican Common Worship (2000) perpetuates the
incongruity of questioning babies and extracting answers from them through
their sponsors. The RC Church has at last decisively broken with this
ventriloquist charade. (p62)
…the markedly direct terms in which the NT documents
attribute the multifaceted reception of God's salvation to the
instrumentality of baptism. (p91)
----------------------------------------------------------
|
 We're
against tradition...aren't we?
Many evangelicals and charismatics are
returning to the Catholic and Orthodox churches because
they sense they have lost contact with their historical roots as
Christians. Far better, this book argues, to recognise the value of the
'tradition' established in the Patristic period—the first six centuries of
the Christian era—without giving up the insights that the Holy Spirit has
revealed in more recent centuries.
It will make you think, and perhaps make
you look more charitably at, for example, the ancient creeds. It is
Evangelicals And Tradition by D.H. Williams (Paternoster, 2005, ISBN
1-84227-386-8). Subtitle: The formative influences of the early
church.
Before Christians had a Bible of Old and New Testaments,
they had the apostolic tradition. (p5)
The tradition is the various incarnations of the
Christian faith articulated during the first five or six centuries… The
apostolic and patristic tradition is foundational to the Christian faith
in normative ways that no other period of the church's history can
claim. (p22)
Nothing about the patristic process of canonisation
should be perceived as a threat to the unique place of Scripture's
authority… Evangelicals need to hear that not only Scripture but also the
tradition was superintended by the work of God's Spirit. (p29)
The Scripture-only principle is no guarantee for
establishing Christian truth, nor is it immune to pious and
well-intentioned believers whose use and presentation of the Bible hold
little connection to historic Christianity, for the Scripture-only
principle could and did backfire on its adherents in the form of heretical
doctrine. (p66)
In their quest to reach culture, evangelical
congregations have come to reflect the cultural preferences of their
audiences: anti-institutional, informal, nondogmatic, therapeutic, and
unaware of the difference between tolerance and moral confusion.
(p138)
The anti-Catholic polemics and revisionist histories
that have marked Protestant apologetic lieterature for the last three
centuries have not been successful either in discrediting the RC Church or
in unifying Protestants. The appeal to the Bible as the only infallible
rule, stripped of its historical packaging of church and tradition, has
not established a more certain or harmonious interpretation. (p139)
The canons of faith and text erected in the patristic
period provide a kind of doctrinal, liturgical, and practical hallway into
which the 'rooms' of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and
Protestantism open. In this hallway, we may meet and discover some common
ground. (p140)
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|
 Recipe
for a better churchThis
is the best book for years on what 'church' really means and how the
fad-weary charismatic constituency can regroup for the next advance. It is
The Gospel-Driven Church by Ian Stackhouse (Paternoster, 2004, ISBN
1-84227-290-X).
Written by a charismatic pastor, it
looks with a critical yet kindly eye at worship, preaching, the
sacraments, prayer and leadership and how radical adjustments are needed
in them all. You won't agree with everything, but you will find this book
deeply challenging in the best sense of the word.
Buy it and read it now! Click the
following link to go directly to the relevant Amazon UK page:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/184227290X/qid%3D1120061159/202-7000684-0959013
'Powerful rhythms are not new in church worship,' notes
Brian Wren, 'yet when intense rhythms are amplified, relentlessly pursued,
or both, they become compulsive.' Such an intentional use of rhythm, he
asserts, for the purpose of compelling a desired response, must be
renounced, if worship is to retain its integrity. (p47)
In a culture where Sunday has been completely
secularised, and where even Christians pay scant devotion to the weekly
pattern of Lord's Day worship, going to church on a Sunday could actually
be a radical statement of one's commitment to the gospel. (p62)
…a belief that as we faithfully expound the scriptures,
the combination of good theology and the presence of the Holy Spirit will
cause churches to grow. (p88)
The church has too often mimicked rather than acted as
an alternative to the culture, thereby creating the possibility of being a
church that is relevant, but without theological and spiritual weight.
(p134)
The success of a movement is not to be assessed in the
light of its numerical size; to do so is to submit to the domination of
the very idols that Christian faith is seeking to subvert. (p164)
We insist that being baptised in the Spirit, as a
distinct phase in the process of conversion-initiation, is vital for
ensuring that whatever other growth experiences one might have, they are
predicated upon the initial experience of grace and empowering in Spirit
baptism. (p168)
Praying the psalms routinely—which is the way commended
to us by those traditions most familiar with psalmody—challenges a
fundamental weakness of charismatic theology, namely, its inability to
embrace suffering and pain. (p206)
This absence of a theology of ministry is precisely why
the evangelical-charismatic church has been prey to the various techniques
and strategies emanating from the world of management. Without a common
philosophy of ministry, church leadership is tantamount to nothing more
than the running of a successful and efficient organisation. (p225)
The church is not simply a counter-culture, nor, most
definitely, anti-culture, but a new society acting as the eschatological
vanguard of the kingdom of God, wherein God will be all in all.
(p269)
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 Gems
from Jam PickerWhen I was
a student in Bristol (1959-62), Jim Packer used to come and speak at the
Christian Union meetings. We always called him 'Jam Picker' then, and the
name has stuck with me. He went on to become a much-respected teacher and
writer from the Reformed perspective.
This hardback—Volume 2 of his collected
shorter writings—is Serving The People Of God (Paternoster, 1998,
ISBN 0-85364-904-9). It is a collection of essays on miscellaneous topics.
Its plus points, as with all his writing, are his warmth and lucidity; its
minuses are his slavery to the Reformed scheme and his scepticism about
most things charismatic. But there are some wonderful insights here for
the discriminating reader.
To separate for truth's sake, at the summons of a
biblically enlightened conscience, is not sin. When, without failure of
love or respect, men dissociate themselves from their previous church
connections in order to be free to obey God, this is not, and never was,
schism. (p41)
…the antiquarian fallacy about renewal, the assumption,
that is, that any future renewal will become recognizable by conforming to
some pattern set in the past. (p71)
While one may effectively put out a fire by dousing it,
one cannot start it burning again simply by stopping pouring water; it has
to be lighted afresh. Similarly, when the Spirit has been quenched it is
beyond man's power to undo the damage he has done: he can only cry to God
in penitence to revive his work. (p90)
Glossalalic prayer may help to free up and warm up some
cerebral people, just as structured verbal prayer may help to steady up
and shape up some emotional people. (p154)
Councils and synods, like individual theologians, can go
wrong, and the church's expository heritage must constantly be assessed
and checked by the Scripture that it seeks to expound. (p190)
The presentations of the gospel in the NT itself are
culturally conditioned; but there we may believe that the Palestinian and
Hellenistic cultural settings, so far from being distorting or limiting or
obscuring factors, were providentially shaped so as to be wholly
appropriate vehicles for expressing and exhibiting God's last word to the
world. (p219)
When Christ came to set up a new and richer form of the
covenant relationship by his priestly sacrifice of himself, Israel spurned
his ministry, and he was then the true Israel, the faithful remnant, in
his own person. In him God's Israel was reconstituted out of believers as
such, and in it Jew and Gentile are together as fellow-citizens, branches
of one olive tree and brothers in one family. (p224)
James Denney…said, 'You cannot at the same time give the
impression that you are a great preacher and that Jesus Christ is a great
Saviour.' (p235)
Growth in grace is known by the way we behave under
pressure, when times of testing and temptation come, when the heat is on
and there is a crisis… Just as the high winds show whether trees have a
good root system or not—if they have not, they get blown over—so do the
times of testing show whether we have a good, strong, spiritual root
system anchored firmly in our Lord Jesus Christ. (p286)
[Re Paul and Barnabas disputing over John Mark] We can
be sure that, God being who he is, no Christian forfeits blessing for
parting company with his brother when both want the best, and only
calculation of consequences divides them. (p342)
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 Down
with the devil!Too many
Christians are obsessed with the devil, demons and exorcism, and it's time
for the church to review its understanding of evil.
Nigel Wright's A Theology of the Dark
Side (Paternoster, 2003, ISBN 1-84227-189-X) is an attempt to help
that process along. It looks closely at the origin of evil, its
expression, its interaction with human situations and its conquest, and is
aptly subtitled Putting the power of evil in its place. Thoroughly
biblical and commendably balanced, if you want to read just one book on
the subject, this is it.
In giving greater focus to the reality of the power of
darkness renewal movements run the danger of seeing the devil where he is
not or of so exaggerating or heightening incidents or situations that the
power of darkness is blown out of all proportion to its actual presence.
(p26)
The devil is only as strong as human beings allow him to
be. In referring to James 4:7—'Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil and he will flee from you'—[W.Wink] makes the point that, far
from being omnipotent, the devil knows his place and can be resisted. The
power of darkness grows in strength and energy as human beings invest
their lives, their time and their attention in it. (p46)
It is surely mistaken to conceive of the demonic realm
as well organised and highly structured. Its essence is not reason but
unreason, not organisation but chaos. (p112)
It suits the power of darkness very well if the
attention of Christians is fully observed in occult and demonic concerns,
while the wider stage of devilish activity in the political, cultural,
national and international spheres is all but ignored. (p131)
The fact that evil is very active is not a sign that its
power has not been conquered but that having been vanquished it knows that
its time is short and therefore is engaged in intense struggle.
(p163)
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 Revelation
in other religions?Are
people who have never even heard of Jesus thereby condemned to hell, when
their failure to hear is no fault of their own? Could there possibly be
avenues of divine revelation in other religions to reach such people?
Amos Yong's Beyond the Impasse
(Paternoster, 2003, ISBN 1-84227-208-4) tackles this issue head on. It is
subtitled Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Religions. A
Pentecostal theologian, Yong examines the idea that the Holy Spirit is
active even where Christ has not been proclaimed, and he may use aspects
of culture and religion to draw people to God and salvation.
The word 'toward' in the title hints
that the author is not going to come up with any dogmatic conclusion. But
there's a lot of food for thought here.
It must be possible for those who have either never
heard or never understood the gospel to be saved since God desires that
none should perish and has made salvation available to all persons in his
own mysterious ways (e.g. 1 Tim 2:3-4; John 3:16; 1 John 2:2). As such,
the Christology of John's Gospel that emphasises the Logos as the true
light 'which enlightens everyone' (John 1:9) is central to theological
inclusivism. (p23)
I do not see any scriptural justification for connecting
evangelism and missions with the fear of eternal damnation. (p26)
I am close to the inclusivist position that affirms the
ontological normativity of Christ for salvation without insisting that
persons who have never heard the gospel or verbally confess Christ have
absolutely no hope of this great salvation. (p27)
[Re the 1990 Baar theological consultation] Whereas
traditional formulations had subjected the economy of the Spirit to that
of the Son, perhaps in order to preserve the availability of salvation
only under and through the name, person and work of Jesus, a
pneumatological approach that affirmed the related but distinct economy of
the Spirit seemed to make more readily accessible the saving grace of God
to all persons, and especially those who had never had an opportunity to
receive the gospel. As such, starting with pneumatology rather than with
christology invited theological reflection on and exploration of the
possibility of the Spirit's 'saving presence' and 'saving power' in the
non-Christian faiths. (p83)
[Re Jacques Dupuis] While he straightforwardly
asserts…that 'Christocentrism and Pneumatology are two inseparable aspects
of the Christian mystery,' he is also careful to say that 'the influence
of the Spirit reveals the action of Christ, not vice versa.' The central
question for theology of religions is how the action of the Spirit is
mediated to those of other faiths through their own traditions.
(p98)
It seems that inclusivism will remain less than
convincing as long as it cannot be more specific about how truth is to be
argued or how the Spirit is to be discerned in the concrete world of the
religions…. This questions about discernment has come up repeatedly and
emerged as the potential Achilles' heel of any pneumatological theology of
religions. (p128)
The question of the relationship of the Spirit to Christ
and to his church has been replayed down through the ages in the
Filioque debate. In terms of the historical formulas, is the Spirit
solely 'from the Father,' 'from the Father and the Son,' 'from the Father
of the Son,' or even 'from the Father through the Son'? The result of this
debate may be pertinent to the question of whether or not a pneumatology
of religions is possible. If indeed the Filioque is reasserted,
pneumatology may remain subordinated to christology, thereby minimally
securing the fulfilment theory—the notion that other faiths, including
Judaism, are valid only as anticipations of the Christian revelation and
therefore are fulfilled by Christ—and perhaps reinforcing the Catholic
doctrine of extra ecclesiam nulla salus. However, there is growing
agreement in the West regarding the dogmatic illegitimacy of the
Filioque particularly in light of its intrusion into the creed outside
the recognised conciliar processes. (p186)
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