Some of us will not be able to pin-point the date of our conversion. And by the grace of God some of us won't remember a day when we haven't trusted in Christ.
Of course we can't remember our natural birth. It is far more important to be alive than to have a birth certificate or to remember your birthday.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Friday, March 10, 2017
You must be born again
George Whitefield (1714–1770) is thought by some to have been the greatest
preacher since the day of the Apostles.
As he travelled around, he would often preach on the same text.
One of Whitfield’s
supporters once asked him:
Mr Whitfield, “Why do
you so often preach on that text, “You must be born again?”
Whitfield replied: "Its because, “You MUST
be born again!”"
Nicodemus as representative of Israel
Further to Derrick Olliff’s paper “The Eschatology of Being
“Born Again””
“Descent from Father
Abraham and membership of one of the twelve tribes of Israel Israel
verse 7 Marvel not
that I say unto thee,
‘You (plural) must be born from above’.
verse 11 ‘… you (plural) do not receive our
witness’.
In effect, Jesus is
addressing Israel Israel
is not the Kingdom
of God
In turn this bears on
the meaning of the words, ‘born of water and the Spirit’ (verse 5). Most likely Jesus is referring to God’s
promise to gather together his scattered people into their true homeland and to
wash them with water and give them his Spirit
(Ezekiel 36:26-28). In other words, God promises to forgive those sins that caused them to be scattered and to give
them his inner strength to please him
from now on.” (p42)
Paul Barnett, John: The Shepherd King Reading The
Bible Today Series (Sydney, Aquila Press, 2005)
New birth not personality transplant
From a sermon by The Revd Dr John Stott (paraphrased):
Even when you are born again, your basic personality will remain the same, though it will be reformed. If you are an extrovert before you are born again, you will be an extrovert afterwards, but you will be easier to live with! If you are an introvert before you are born again, you will be an introvert afterwards, but you will find it easier to live with yourself!
Even when you are born again, your basic personality will remain the same, though it will be reformed. If you are an extrovert before you are born again, you will be an extrovert afterwards, but you will be easier to live with! If you are an introvert before you are born again, you will be an introvert afterwards, but you will find it easier to live with yourself!
John 3 - some headings
St Ebbes - Vaughan Roberts - 09 Oct 2010 - New leaf or new life?
Are you sure you’re
right with God?
2 great truths about
being right with God:
(1)
Depend on God’s Spirit
(2)
Trust in God’s Son
All
Souls’, Langham Place - Rico Tice - He calls for new birth - 12/09/1996 – vv1-15
– L022 The Gospel According to Jesus
Can people really change?
(1) New birth is something that everybody
needs
(2) New birth is something everybody can
experience
(a) Nicodemus had to understand the power
of God’s Spirit
(b) Nicodemus had to understand the death
of God’s Son
* * *
John
Stott - At dead of night - C111 Face to Face (Interviews with Jesus in John's
Gospel) – vv1-15
(1) The nature of the new birth – what it
is
(a)
Not a second physical birth
(b)
The new birth is not a self
reformation, though it does lead to change
(c)
Not the same as Christian
baptism
(d)
The new birth is a spiritual
birth, a new person with a new heart, new life – a transformed person
(2) The
results of the new birth
(a)
We see the kingdom of God – a new
vision of spiritual realities
(b)
We enter the kingdom of God
(3) The
necessity of the new birth
(4) The conditions of the new birth – how it can
happen
(a)
From God’s side – the mysterious
work of God himself
(b)
From our side – by believing in
Jesus
* * *
For myself I am currently tempted to go with something like:
(1) Challenging news: You must be born again by the
work of the Holy Spirit (vv1-8 esp vv 3, 5)
(2) Encouraging news: You may be born again by looking
to Jesus in faith (vv9-17 esp vv14ff)
* * *
And this I think is adapted from John Piper:
The Most Famous Verse in the Bible (John 3:16)
(1) Everyone’s DANGER:
Perishing without Christ
V18 – condemned
V36 – under the wrath
of God
No automatic Christians
– a real danger
(2) God’s DESIGN:
So
loving the world that he gives His only begotten Son
God loves the whole
world
God loves the wicked
world
Giving: incarnation
& crucifixion – 1 John 4:9-10
(3) Our DUTY:
Believing in Jesus
Believing certain
objective truths
Personal trust and
dependence – vv14-15 (cf. Num 21:4-9)
For whoever – 3:36
An ongoing duty
(4) Believers’ DESTINY:
To
have eternal life
quantity & quality
10:10 – full life
17:3 – eternal life = knowing God
As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert... / Look to the Son
The Revd Dr John Stott, preaching on John 3, tells the story of The Revd William Haslam, who was apparently converted by his own preaching!
Haslam tells of "a quaint mediaeval illustration of Moses
lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, copied from a
valuable manuscript (Book of Prayers) in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford"
Haslam describes the picture:
the cross or pole on which the serpent was elevated stood in the centre, dividing
two sets of characters, and that there were serpents on one
side, and none on the other.
Behind the figure of Moses, Is a man standing with his
arms crossed on his breast, looking at the brazen serpent.
He has evidently obtained life and healing by a look. On
the other side, I observed that there were four kinds of
persons represented, who were not doing as this healed one
did to obtain deliverance.
(1) First, there is one who is kneeling in front of the cross,
but he is looking towards Moses, and not at the serpent,
and apparently confessing to him as if he were a priest.
(2) Next behind him is one lying on his back, as if he was
perfectly safe, though he is evidently in the midst of danger ;
for a serpent may be seen at his ear, possibly whispering
" Peace, peace, when there is no peace."
(3) Still further back from the cross there is a man with a
sad face doing a work of mercy, binding up the wounds of
a fellow-sufferer, and little suspecting that he himself is
involved in the same danger.
(4) Behind them all, on the background, is a valiant man
who is doing battle with the serpents, which may be seen
rising against him in unabating persistency.
I observed that none of these men were looking at the
brazen serpent as they were commanded to do. I cannot
describe how excited and interested I became ; for I saw in
this illustration a picture of my own life. Here was the
way of salvation clearly set forth, and four ways which are
not the way of salvation, all of which I had tried and found
unavailing. This was the silent but speaking testimony of
some unknown denizen of a cloister, who lived in the
beginning of the fifteenth century, in the days of ignorance
and superstition. But notwithstanding this darkness, he
was brought out into the marvellous light of the Gospel,
and has left this interesting record of his experience.
Like him, I also had fought with serpents, for I began
in my own strength to combat with sin, and strove by my
own resolutions to overcome. From this, I went on to do
good works, and works of mercy, in the vain hope of thus
obtaining the same for myself Then, I relied in the Church
for salvation, as God's appointed ark of safety ; but not feel-
ing secure, I took another step beyond, and sought forgive-
ness through the power of the priest. This I found was as
ineffectual as all my previous efforts. At last, I was brought
(by the Spirit of God) as a wounded and dying sinner, to
look at the Crucified One. . Then (as I have related), I
found pardon and peace. Ever since it has been my joy
and privilege (like Moses pointing to the serpent) to cry,
*' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world" (John i. 29). *' I have determined to know
nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified ;" that is, to tell
only of the person and office of Jesus Christ our Lord.
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/w-william-haslam/from-death-into-life-or-twenty-years-of-my-ministry-lsa/page-23-from-death-into-life-or-twenty-years-of-my-ministry-lsa.shtml
John Stott - All Souls, Langham Place - At dead of night - C111 Face to Face (Interviews with Jesus in John's Gospel) – John 3vv1-15
Haslam tells of "a quaint mediaeval illustration of Moses
lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, copied from a
valuable manuscript (Book of Prayers) in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford"
Haslam describes the picture:
the cross or pole on which the serpent was elevated stood in the centre, dividing
two sets of characters, and that there were serpents on one
side, and none on the other.
Behind the figure of Moses, Is a man standing with his
arms crossed on his breast, looking at the brazen serpent.
He has evidently obtained life and healing by a look. On
the other side, I observed that there were four kinds of
persons represented, who were not doing as this healed one
did to obtain deliverance.
(1) First, there is one who is kneeling in front of the cross,
but he is looking towards Moses, and not at the serpent,
and apparently confessing to him as if he were a priest.
(2) Next behind him is one lying on his back, as if he was
perfectly safe, though he is evidently in the midst of danger ;
for a serpent may be seen at his ear, possibly whispering
" Peace, peace, when there is no peace."
(3) Still further back from the cross there is a man with a
sad face doing a work of mercy, binding up the wounds of
a fellow-sufferer, and little suspecting that he himself is
involved in the same danger.
(4) Behind them all, on the background, is a valiant man
who is doing battle with the serpents, which may be seen
rising against him in unabating persistency.
I observed that none of these men were looking at the
brazen serpent as they were commanded to do. I cannot
describe how excited and interested I became ; for I saw in
this illustration a picture of my own life. Here was the
way of salvation clearly set forth, and four ways which are
not the way of salvation, all of which I had tried and found
unavailing. This was the silent but speaking testimony of
some unknown denizen of a cloister, who lived in the
beginning of the fifteenth century, in the days of ignorance
and superstition. But notwithstanding this darkness, he
was brought out into the marvellous light of the Gospel,
and has left this interesting record of his experience.
Like him, I also had fought with serpents, for I began
in my own strength to combat with sin, and strove by my
own resolutions to overcome. From this, I went on to do
good works, and works of mercy, in the vain hope of thus
obtaining the same for myself Then, I relied in the Church
for salvation, as God's appointed ark of safety ; but not feel-
ing secure, I took another step beyond, and sought forgive-
ness through the power of the priest. This I found was as
ineffectual as all my previous efforts. At last, I was brought
(by the Spirit of God) as a wounded and dying sinner, to
look at the Crucified One. . Then (as I have related), I
found pardon and peace. Ever since it has been my joy
and privilege (like Moses pointing to the serpent) to cry,
*' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world" (John i. 29). *' I have determined to know
nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified ;" that is, to tell
only of the person and office of Jesus Christ our Lord.
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/w-william-haslam/from-death-into-life-or-twenty-years-of-my-ministry-lsa/page-23-from-death-into-life-or-twenty-years-of-my-ministry-lsa.shtml
John Stott - All Souls, Langham Place - At dead of night - C111 Face to Face (Interviews with Jesus in John's Gospel) – John 3vv1-15
Even an Archdeacon can be born again
I heard a version of this story in a sermon by The Revd Rico Tice (AllSouls’, Langham Place - Rico Tice - He calls for new birth - 12/09/1996 – Genesis 3vv1-15
– L022 The Gospel According to Jesus) and a quick Google yields this version:
Bishop Taylor Smith, was once preaching in a large cathedral about the need to listen for Christ’s call, to respond to it and to be born again. To illustrate how even devout churchgoers may not be listening for that call and therefore may never have heard it, he pointed at the Archdeacon sitting in his stall and said:
Bishop Taylor Smith, was once preaching in a large cathedral about the need to listen for Christ’s call, to respond to it and to be born again. To illustrate how even devout churchgoers may not be listening for that call and therefore may never have heard it, he pointed at the Archdeacon sitting in his stall and said:
'You might even be an Archdeacon like my
friend there, and not be born again, and unless a man be born again, he cannot
see the Kingdom of God. You might even be a bishop like myself, and not be born
again, and unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’
Next day he received a letter from the
Archdeacon: ‘My dear Bishop, you have found me out. I have been a clergyman for
over thirty years, but I have never known anything of the joy that Christians
speak of. Mine has been a hard, legal service. I did not know what was the
matter with me, but when you pointed directly at me and said ‘You might even be
an Archdeacon and not be born again’, I realised in a moment what the trouble
was. I had never known anything of the new birth.’
The next day Bishop and Archdeacon met
together and before long were both on their knees, the Archdeacon responding to
Christ’s call as he had never done before, taking his place before God as a
sinner, and committing his life to Christ as his Saviour.
Wednesday, March 08, 2017
Lent Course 1 - Reformation - Introduction / Historical Overview
A mix of things I half remember, Wikipedia and Michael Reeves, mainly:
Reformation 500 Lent Course 2017 (1)
Introduction
Reformation (1517 - the Peace
of Westphalia in 1648) - 500 years
A summary
of key Reformation doctrines - 5 Solas – “Alone”s – Big Ideas
(1) Sola Scriptura – By Scripture Alone – Authority (Method / “Formal
principle”) – rather than church / Tradition etc.
Substance / Content / “Material principle”:
(2) Solus Christus – In Christ Alone – Christ as mediator not a
human priest / Pope / saints
(3) Sola Gratia – By Grace Alone – rather than merit, earning
salvation
(4) Sola Fide – Through Faith Alone – rather than good works / the
sacramental system of the church
(5) Soli Deo Gloria – Glory to God Alone
The importance of the alones! – RC could agree we are saved by
faith / grace / in Christ etc.
Brief, Selective Historical Overview
Background
- Medieval Catholicism
How vibrant / satisfying / corrupt etc.? – certainly abuses - Dante
had placed popes Nicholas III and Boniface VIII in the 8th circle of
hell in The Divine Comedy - ?
Erasmus’ 1513 satire, Pope Julius
[II] Excluded From Heaven – could be
popular and wrong, of course!
Pope as vicar (representative) of Christ on earth – Borgias buying
the votes of cardinals, numerous children
Popes at Avignon and Rome – settled by Council of Constance
1414-18
Latin rather than vernacular languages
How educated were the parish clergy? Magic / superstition?
Pluralism and absenteeism – long tradition of clerks in holy
orders (literate) involved in secular administration – some senior clergy rich
and powerful, some parish clergy impoverished
Monasticism – some education and health care etc. – concept of holiness
Clerical celibacy – supposedly!
Icons and images – a Bible for the poor and illiterate
“Prayer” to the Saints as mediators – veneration not worship? –
Mary as Queen of Heaven, Mary’s mum etc.
The sacrifice of the Mass – transubstantiation - hocus pocus (hoc est corpus) watched by the congregation –
communion in one kind for the laity and rarely
The purgatory system – Masses for the dead – Johannes Tetzel’s
sale of indulgences (the church’s treasury of excess merit) to raise funds from
the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, “when a coin the coffer rings, a
soul from purgatory springs” / “Place your penny on the drum, the pearly gates
open and in strolls mum” – an indulgence would free you from purgatory even if
you were guilty of raping the Mother of God
Relics, pilgrimages, money
Do what is in you, and God will graciously accept it as enough –
but how can I know I’ve ever done my best?
The 7 sacraments as channels of God’s grace
Renaissance
(= rebirth) Humanism
Ad Fontes – Back to
The Sources - A rediscovery of the learning of classical antiquity - Reformation
as a return to the early church / original purity of the Bible
Desiderius
Erasmus
of Rotterdam (1466 – 1536) and the Greek New Testament (published
1516) rather than Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation (from the late 4th
Century) – Luther said that by publishing his Greek New Testament, Erasmus,
like Moses had led many out of slavery but had failed to enter the promised
land (by relying wholly on the grace of God)
“Hail Mary, full of grace…” – Mary as the reservoir of grace,
rather than as a recipient of grace – “Hello, Mary, you who [God has] highly
favoured”
Jesus’ preaching Mt 4:17, “Do penance” rather than “Repent”,
change your mind
The role of the printing press (invented by Johannes Guttenberg
?1450) in helping to spread the Reformation
Forerunners
to the Reformation
John Wycliffe (c. mid-1320s – 1384)
– attacked clerical abuses – the Bible not Pope as supreme authority – rejected
transubstantiation – Wycliffe’s Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate - the
evening star of scholasticism and the Morning Star of the English Reformation –
condemned after death, exhumed, burnt, scattered
The Lollards (mumblers) – followers of Wycliffe – met secretly to
read Bible – Predestination – Iconoclasm - attacked the veneration of Saints,
the Sacraments, Requiem Masses, Transubstantiation, monasticism and the Papacy
John / Jan Huss (c. 1369 – 1415) – Czech priest - Bohemia – attacked indulgences and
crusades – questioned purgatory - burnt at the stake for heresy – “You may
roast this goose [Huss = goose], but a hundred years from now a swan will arise
whose singing you will not be able to silence” –– Hussites defeated Catholics –
communion in both kinds
Martin Luther
(1483 – 1546)
German – peasant stock - Father
a lease-holder of copper – mines - Law student - Becomes an Augustinian monk
after surviving a thunder storm aged 21
Exhausted his confessors
by up to 6-hour confession – true contrition? – terrified of saying his first
Mass in 1507
Wittenberg 19 000 relics:
straw from manger, strand of Christ’s beard, nail from cross, bread from Last
Supper, twig from burning bush etc. - Attack on (misuse of) indulgences – Later
Luther would mock the idea of outlandish relics such as flames from the burning
bush, half a wing of the archangel Gabriel and an egg from the Holy Spirit!
31st Oct (Reformation Day) 1517 Martin Luther nails his
95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg – cf. academic notice
board – points for debate
The authority of the Bible superior to that of the Pope
Luther’s Tower Experience (1519) - Romans 1:17 (Reeves, p41f)
Luther burns Leo X’s Papal Bull (1520) and is excommunicated (1521)
– (bulla = seal)
The Diet of Worms before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1521)
“Unless I am convinced by
the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either
in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often
erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted
and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant
anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. [Here I
stand. I can do no other] May God help me. Amen”
Outlawed – Elector Frederick III (The
Wise) arranged for masked horsemen to kidnap Luther and take him to the
Wartburg Castle at Eisenach (“my Patmos”) for his own safety - living in hiding
as Sir George for 10 months – lonely, sick, tempted to doubt God’s grace – anfechtung – assaults by the devil -
(ink strain!), frenzy of work - Bible translation so punchy and colourful, made
Luther the father of modern German (preface, illustrations, marginal notes) -
letters
Return to Wittenberg – restraining reforming excesses - The German Mass – congregational singing – hymns: A
Mighty Fortress Is Our God – catechism – Reeves (p51): “The catechism was
something Luther took very seriously. He believed everyone should memorize it,
that anyone unwilling to learn it should be barred from the Lord’s Supper, that
parents should withhold food and drink from such children, and that ultimately,
such people should be exiled.”
Married Kate (1525) – former nun – 26; Luther 41 - The importance
of marriage and family - The dignity of non-monastic life – non-ecclesiastical
vocations - 6 children, both daughters died young – dog – visitors – students
-bowling alley in garden – brewing - "My Katie is
in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my
poverty for the riches of Croesus"
Attempt at Protestant –
Roman Catholic agreement - The Colloquy
of Regensburg / Ratisbon
(1541) a form of words agreed but ambiguous and later rejected by both Luther
and the Pope
Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) - German
Lutheran – colleague of Luther - Wittenberg
Martin Bucer (1491–1551) – German based in Strasbourg – exiled to England in 1549, Regius Prof of Divinity at
Cambridge
Huldrych Zwingli
(1484–1531) Zurich,
Switzerland – 1st Jan 1519, begins consecutive exposition of NT
– plague – The affair of the
sausages! (1522) – 1523 Zurich makes only biblical preaching legal - Lord’s Supper as symbolic – removal
of organs, rejection of musical instruments in church – Easter 1525 vernacular communion
in both kinds – Zwingli fights in the battle of Kappel and is killed – Luther’s
response – Mt 26:52
Heinrich Bullinger (1504 – 1575) –
Zwingli’s successor in Zurich
John
Calvin (1509-1564) – b.
Noyon, France – Scholar – The affair of the placards (1534), king’s bedroom, attacking
the mass – Calvin flees – arm-twisted to stay in Geneva (1536), Switzerland and
assist with Reformation – fell out with city council - 1538-41 happy exile to
Strasbourg as pastor of French congregation – return to Geneva, continued from
verse where he left off! – continuing controversies about church discipline –
execution of Trinitarian heretic Michael Servetus (1553) – plans for
evangelisation of France – college and academy (1559 onwards) – lecturing 3x a
week, preaching twice on a Sunday, often daily, commentaries on virtually every
Bible book
The high watermark of the Reformation – doctrinal system - The Institutes of the Christian Religion
(Latin and French) 1536-1559 (1521 pages, only 67 about predestination)
The Doctrines of Grace / 5 Points of Calvinism – TULIP
T – Total depravity
U – Unconditional election
L – Limited atonement
I – Irresistible grace
P – Perseverance of the Saints
Requested to be buried in the common cemetery in an unmarked grave
The
Reformed / Calvinists
Agreement amongst the Reformers at Marburg Colloquy (1529) except on the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper
Luther chalks “Hoc Est Corpus Meum” (This is my body) on the table
The
Radical Reformation – Anabaptists, spiritualists and rationalists
Cf. Magisterial Reformers – mainstream who co-operated with
secular magistrates
Andreas Karlstadt
(1486 – 1541) – fell out with Luther – moderate mysticism – wanted to be
known as “Brother Karlstadt” – dressed as a peasant – rejected infant baptism (Anabaptists
– re-baptizers – adult believers only not infants) and the physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist (which Luther
taught) – shrine smashing rampages – statue of the Virgin Mary accused of being
a witch (floated)
Zwickau prophets at
Wittenberg – the equality of all men – the imminent return of Christ – rejected
infant baptism – slaughter the ungodly, “be born again or die!”
Thomas Müntzer (1489 –
1525) – immanent end of the world – rejection of feudal authority – stress of
spiritual experience and ongoing work of the Holy Spirit / visions / dreams /
revelations – a new Gideon – Luther: “Muntzer thinks he has swallowed the Holy
Spirit, feathers and all!”
The German Peasants’ War
(1524-5) – politics and religion intertwined
Münster
Rebellion (1534-5) – communal government - Bernhard
Knipperdolling installed as mayor – equality, distribution of wealth – forced
rebaptisms – New Jerusalem – visions - John of Leiden sees himself as New David,
runs naked through the streets prophesying – takes 16 wives (one beheaded for
being cheeky) – forced polygamy
Jakob Hutter
(c. 1500–1536) - Tyrol, Italy – Moravia – communal ownership - pacifism
Mennonites, followers of Menno Simons
(1496–1561) – Netherlands - pacifist
Faustus Socinus (1539-1604) – rationalist – Socinianism – Poland –
reject Trinity – Jesus more teacher than Saviour
The Family of Love / Familists - mystic sect founded by
German Henry Nicholis (c.1501–c.1580), The Low Countries and England – visons –
pacifist – against death penalty – questioned Trinity
The
English Reformation
William Tyndale – (c. 1494–1536) –
Bible translation used Greek and Hebrew texts – strangled and burnt nr.
Brussels - Last words: “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.”
A group sympathetic to
Reform met in Cambridge at the White Horse tavern from the mid-1520s and known
as Little Germany – Luther being read
in England though banned
Henry VIII (1491 – 1547) – The King’s
Great Matter – divorce of Catherine of Aragon in favour of Anne Boleyn (1533) – Lev 20:21, dispensation from the Pope
A state sponsoured Reformation from Above
The
Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1532 = the Statute in Restraint of Appeals – England an
Empire
The First Act of
Supremacy (1534) made Henry "the only supreme head in earth of the Church
of England”
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489 – 1556) – married
while in Germany - wife in a trunk!
Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-) (but not the Cathedrals) –
financial and religious reasons
An English Coverdale Bible for every parish church (1538) – Bible
reading now encouraged
Henry’s personal beliefs? – title Defender of the Faith granted by
the Pope for his work on the 7 sacraments against Luther (published 1521)! –
Catholicism without the Pope? - death bed, Masses in will – Edward’s tutors
under influence of reform-minded Catherine Parr
Edward VI (1537 – 1553) – King Josiah - high watermark of Protestantism before the civil
war – clerical marriage – communion in both kinds – removal of images – tables
not altars – preaching in English – Book of Homilies
The Prayer Book / Book of Common Prayer – in English (1549, 1552,
1559, 1662)
Lady Jane Grey
(1536/1537 – 1554) – evangelical - The Nine Day Queen
Bloody Queen Mary I (1516 –
1558) – the return to Rome – clock turned back
The Reformation Martyrs – about 300 evangelicals burnt under Mary
Bishops Hugh Latimer (1487 – 1555) and Nicholas
Ridley (1500 – 1555) – cross in Broad Street, Oxford
Latimer’s last words: “Play the man,
Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in
England, as I trust shall never be put out”
Thomas Cranmer – recantation sermon – holding hand in the fire
Richard Woodman (c. 1524–1557) and the
Lewes Martyrs
Were these things really worth dying for?
John Foxe (1516/16 - 1587)’s Book
of Martyrs, Acts and Monuments
Elizabeth I (1533–1603)– Ps 118:23 – read NT in Gk daily - The Elizabethan Settlement (1559)
– English Protestantism, neither strongly Lutheran nor Calvinist
John Knox
(c. 1513 – 1572) Scotland, Presbyterian – returned from Geneva
- The First Blast of the Trumpet Against
the Monstrous Regiment [rule] of
Women (1558) – Mary Queen of Scots and Mary I of England but Elizabeth I!
1560 – Scottish parliament embraces Calvinism
The English
Puritans – originally a term of abuse -
The hotter sort of protestants from the time of Elizabeth I onwards – John Milton:
‘the reforming of the reformation’ was their goal - some within the Church of
England - some Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Independents etc.
Regulative principle – sign of the cross at baptism – wedding ring
– priestly vestments – kneeling at communion - wafers
Laurence Chaderton, master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,
apologised for preaching for 2 hours and the congregation pleaded with him to
go on!
William Perkins (1558–1602); William
Ames (1576–1633); Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) - John
Owen (1616–1683) – greatest English theologian? - ?
a flashy dresser?! – John Bunyan (1628–1688) – Owen to King: If I could possess
the tinker’s ability in preaching I would gladly relinquish all my learning
The Mayflower Pilgrims sail to the New World (1620) – New England
to be a city on a hill – 10 000s would follow
James VI of Scotland I of England (1566–1625) – King James Bible = Authorised Version
Charles I (1600–1649) – high church, RC wife – communion rails – kneeling – Prayer Book
riot in Edinburgh – Brechin, bishop led service with 2 loaded pistols pointed
at congregation
Civil War (1642-) - Commonwealth (1649 – 1660) - Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658): “Religion was not the thing at first
contested for, but God brought it to that issue at last.” – Presbyterianism –
toleration for Jews and Protestant sects e.g. Quakers and Muggletonians,
Ranters – adultery a capital crime, fines for swearing, Sabbath enforced, no
Christmas
The Westminster Assembly (1643 - 1653) &
Standards – Larger and Shorter Catechisms, Confession of Faith, Directory of
Public Worship
Restoration (1660), Charles II (1630 – 1685) – converted to Rome on his deathbed
The 1662 Prayer Book - The Act of
Uniformity 1662 and the Great Ejection – 1/5 of the clergy of England (2000)
lose their jobs – only Anglicans could hold public office, go to the
universities etc.
And so on!
The
Counter / Catholic Reformation
Council of Trent
(1545–1563) – firmly anti-Lutheran, no more hope of compromise - Attempts to
improve discipline and admin, pluralism condemned, emphasis on the parish,
opposition to absenteeism - Founding of seminaries in every diocese to improve
the training of the clergy - The Roman Inquisition from 1542 – prosecuting
heresy etc. - Reforms to Religious Orders, greater powers for Bishops to
inspect - Missions to Colonies - The Society of Jesus / Jesuits begun by Ignatius of Loyola (1491– 1556) in 1534, recognised by
Pope Paul III (1540) - Renewal of spirituality - Teresa of Ávila (1515 – 1582) - John of the Cross
(1542 – 1591)
The Impact
/ Legacy / Successors of the Reformation
Individualism / Democracy / The nation state?
Post-Reformation
Protestant / Reformed Scholasticism (1560 - 1790) - Even
greater systemisation of doctrine – method of seeking great precision - The Synod of Dort
(1618–1619) - Francis Turretin (1623 – 1687), Principles
of Elenctic Theology
“The Last
Puritan”
Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758) –
America’s Theologian
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 – 1892) - Baptist
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899 – 1981) – The
Puritan Conference – Banner of Truth Reprints
James I. Packer (1926-)
The
Reformational Churches / Reformed Theology Today
Semper
Reforandum – continual / constant Reformation
The
relevance of the Reformation today
Roman Catholic / Protestant Relations
Co-belligerency on some things (e.g. abortion) – common opposition
to atheism / secularism / Islam
Cf. conservative evangelicals / protestants & Roman Catholics over
against liberal protestants?
Evangelicals
and Catholics Together (1994)
31st Oct 1999 – The Roman Catholic and Lutheran World
Federation Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
Further
reading:
Michael
Reeves, The Unquenchable Flame: Introducing
the Reformation (IVP, 2009)
Kirsten Birkett, The Essence
of the Reformation (Matthias Media, 1998)
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Reformation:
Europe’s House Divided 1490 – 1700 (Penguin / Allen Lane, 2003)
Owen Chadwick, The
Reformation (Pelican / Penguin, 1964)
A. G. Dickens, The English
Reformation (Second Edition, Batsford, 1989)
Euan Cameron, The European
Reformation (OUP)
J C Ryle, Five English
Reformers (Banner of Truth)
Thursday, February 09, 2017
Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Carl Trueman Reformation Lectures
19 free You Tube video lectures given by Dr Carl Trueman at The Master's Seminary: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4sbg6ng23C61k2K5J-A9Prw8cy6rAXnM
Saturday, February 04, 2017
Augustine on Child Communion
Facebook has shown me a quotation I don't recall having seen before:
"Yes, they are infants, but they are His members. They are infants, but they receive His sacraments. They are infants, but they share in His table, in order to have life in themselves."
The Works of Saint Augustine, Part 3: Sermons (New City Press), 5:261.
https://www.amazon.com/Sermons-151-183.../dp/1565480074
"Yes, they are infants, but they are His members. They are infants, but they receive His sacraments. They are infants, but they share in His table, in order to have life in themselves."
The Works of Saint Augustine, Part 3: Sermons (New City Press), 5:261.
https://www.amazon.com/Sermons-151-183.../dp/1565480074
Wednesday, February 01, 2017
The Life and Teaching of the Apostle Paul
Some of the good people of Dallington wanted to talk about the life and teaching of the Apostle Paul. I made some notes (which owe a heavy debt to the New Bible Dictionary article on Paul):
The Life and
Teaching of the Apostle Paul
Sources for Paul’s life
The Acts of the Apostles –
chapters 9, 13 onwards – Acts written by Luke, a companion of Paul (Colossians
4:14, “Our dear friend Luke, the doctor…”), the “we” passages
(16:10-16:18; 20:4-21:19; 27:1-28:30)
New Testament letters /
Epistles – probably normally dictated to an amanuensis – Rom 16:22, “I,
Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord” – 1 Cor 1:1,
Sosthenes named alongside Paul; Colossians & Philippians 1:1, Paul and
Timothy; 1 & 2Thess, Paul, Silas and Timothy; sometimes the person carrying
the letter named at the end e.g. Col 4:7; personal handwritten greeting at the
end – e.g. Col 4:18 – may have helped to authenticate the letter – 2 Thess 3:17;
Gal 6:11
Letters to churches: Romans – Paul’s longest letter
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians – possibly
a circular letter to churches of the region
Philippians
Colossians – similar
to Ephesians
1 & 2
Thessalonians
Letters to individuals: 1 & 2 Timothy ) The pastoral epistles – written to pastors
Titus )
Philemon – regarding
the run-away slave, Onesimus
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and
Philemon – the “Prison Epistles”
Addressing particular
situations – e.g., 1 Cor 1:11; 5:1;
6:12-13; 7:1; 8:1; 11:17f; 16:1ff – one side of a correspondence
Intended to be read by
other churches – Colossians 4:16
13 out of 27 books in the
NT written by Paul – 31.56% of NT text
(The letter to the
Hebrews, which is anonymous, was traditionally attributed to Paul, but most
scholars would doubt this)
Paul’s Life
Saul of Tarsus in Cilicia
on the Mediterranean coast in Asia Minor (Acts 22:3) - ? between 5BC and AD 5
A Roman citizen (Acts
16:37)
Acts 22:3 – “I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of
our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.”
Paul’s ethnic and
religious credentials – Philippians 3:4b-5
Of the tribe of Benjamin
(Romans 11:1)
A Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee (Acts 23:6)
A tent-maker – Acts 18:3 –
sometimes supported himself in ministry by his trade
Acts 7:58; 8:1 – At the
stoning of Stephen – “… the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young
man named Saul…. And Saul was there, giving approval to his [Stephen’s death]”
Persecutor of Christians
(Acts 22:4-5; Galatians 1:13-14)
Conversion on the road to
Damascus (Acts 9; 22; 26; Galatians 1:15ff)
Flees to Jerusalem (Acts
9:26)
Introduced by Barnabas to
the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26ff)
After 2 weeks, flees again
to Tarsus (Acts 9:30) – 10 year “silent period”
Barnabas asks him to come
to Antioch to help on the Gentile mission (Acts 11:25-26) and they teach the
church together there for a year
“famine visit” to
Jerusalem with relief for the Jewish Christians (Acts 12:25) – with John Mark
who probably wrote Mark’s gospel (later Paul and Barnabas have a sharp
disagreement about whether or not to take Mark with them in Acts 15:36-41 ad
they part company).
Acts 13:3 – Paul and
Barnabas sent off by the church at Antioch (“apostles”) – c. AD 46
Paul’s missionary activity
is often divided up into 3 missionary journeys, followed by his transportation
to Rome
1st missionary
journey - Cyprus and Southern Galatia (Acts 13-14) – Pisidian Antioch, Iconium,
Lystra, Derbe
“first for the Jew, then
for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16) - synagogue
“God-fearers” – Gentiles
who have attached themselves to Judaism without fully converting
Turning to the Gentiles –
Acts 13:46ff
Paul opposes Peter at
Antioch over Judaizing (Gal 2:14) c. AD 49
The Council of Jerusalem
(Acts 15) c. AD 50
2nd missionary
journey with Silas (Acts 15:40-18:22) from Antioch over land to the churches of
Southern Galatia and at Lystra joined by Timothy, north into Northern Galatia.
At Troas (where Luke joins them) Paul has his vision of the Macedonian and
begins his evangelisation of Greece. Philippi, Thessalonica, Borea. In Achaia =
Southern Greece, Athens, Corinth (where Paul remains for almost 2 years).
Ephesus in Asia. Quick trip back to Antioch via Jerusalem.
The Aegean Period (Acts
18:23-20:38) c. AD 53-58 – overland from Antioch through the Galatian region to
Ephesus (for 3 years), through Troas to Macedonia, then south to Corinth. After
winter, back to Miletus near Ephesus to Jerusalem.
The Caesarean and Roman
Imprisonments – Journey to Jerusalem with a collection for the poor (Acts
21:23f; cf. 1 Cor 16:3f; 2 Cor 9; Rom 15:25ff). Riot and arrest. Removed to Caesarea.
Imprisoned by Felix, the Roman governor for 2 years c. AD 58-60 (Acts 23-26). Appeal
to Cease. Acts 23:11. Shipwrecked on Malta c. AD 61. Acts end with 2 years
under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:31).
Scholars think Paul was
probably released in AD 63 and visited Spain and the Aegean before being
re-arrested and executed under Nero c. AD 67.
Some issues / themes
Apostolic Authority – a
witness of the resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:8-11
The Apostle to the
Gentiles / (non-Jewish) nations (Romans 11:13; 1:5; Galatians 2:8)
Paul’s missionary strategy
of seeking to be all things to all men (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)
Persecution from Jews and
Jewish Christians – “Judaizers”
Jewish – Gentile relations
in the Early Church
Do Gentiles have to be
circumcised and obey the Old Testament Law of Moses (Torah) in order to be Christians?
What is the role of the
Law of Moses in the Christian Life?
Romans 1:1-4 – a very
brief summary
Righteousness /
justification by faith – Romans 1:17
“in Christ” – (Faith)
Union with Christ – cf. in Adam
The church as the body of
Christ – Romans 12:4ff; 1 Cor 12:12ff; Eph 4:4; Col 1:18, 24; 3:15
“already but not yet” – in
Jesus’ death and resurrection, redemption is partly realised now and will be
completed fully and finally when Christ comes again, death is no more and the
presence of sin is removed
New Creation – Romans
8:19-21
The Common Worship Collect for the Conversion of St
Paul
Almighty God,
who caused the light of the gospel
to shine throughout the world
through the preaching of your servant Saint Paul:
grant that we who celebrate his wonderful conversion
may follow him in bearing witness to your truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
who caused the light of the gospel
to shine throughout the world
through the preaching of your servant Saint Paul:
grant that we who celebrate his wonderful conversion
may follow him in bearing witness to your truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The
Common Worship Collect for Peter and Paul, Apostles
Almighty God,
whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul
glorified you in their death as in their life:
grant that your Church,
inspired by their teaching and example,
and made one by your Spirit,
may ever stand firm upon the one foundation,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul
glorified you in their death as in their life:
grant that your Church,
inspired by their teaching and example,
and made one by your Spirit,
may ever stand firm upon the one foundation,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
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