Nicodemus as representative of Israel

Further to Derrick Olliff’s paper “The Eschatology of Being “Born Again””

http://www.davidpfield.com/other/Olliff-Born-Again.pdf

“Descent from Father Abraham and membership of one of the twelve tribes of Israel will no longer count for membership in the people of God…. Easily missed is the fact that Jesus is actually addressing the nation of Israel in the person of this noted individual. This point emerges where we translate the Greek literally:

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 with an announcement that is at the same time bad news and good news. It is bad news because it declares that Israel is not the Kingdom of God, but it is good news because it points to the door into the Kingdom. That ‘door’ is through the one who now speaks to Nicodemus, Jesus himself.

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!

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

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:

 '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.

 http://sherborneabbey.com/sermon/faithful-is-he-who-calls/

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 8^th 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 4^th 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!

31^st 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 – 1^st 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)

31^st 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)

Psalms being sung

http://www.thepsalmssung.org/https://soundcloud.com/connorq?utm_content=buffer03f7c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

ThePsalmsSung.org

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

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

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

1^st 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

2^nd 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.

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.

Malachi 1:1-14

One of the pleasures of a holiday is getting to hear a sermon other than my own!

I recently preached through Malachi and it just so happened that where we went to church on the Sunday after Christmas the sermon was on Malachi 1:1-14. I reckon the preacher probably did a better job that I did (though he didn't preach on exactly the same segment) so I steal his headings here with a possible view to next time:

3 ways the people have dishonoured God:

(1) by their actions, v7

(2) by their words, v7

(3) by their attitude, v13

3 glorious truths about God they have forgotten:

(1) God wants to be known, v1

(2) God loves his people specially and particularly, v2

(3) God is a great king

Ordinary time

This Sunday I might say something about the church year.

I am no expert on its origin or meaning but I think it is a jolly good thing that the church has some Ordinary time.

To be sure each Sunday is a special celebration of the resurrection. And there are seasons of festivity of all sorts. Great.

But much of life is ordinary, isn't it? For many of us it is often mundane, sometimes menial. Christian discipleship is often a matter of simple and humble obedience where God has put me for the time being, to the obvious tasks that come to hand. Life has its ordinary daily needs of eating, cleaning, washing and so on which must always be attended to. And growth often comes from a long and unspectacular obedience in the same direction. It means reading my Bible (which I have read before) again today. Praying, perhaps some of the same prayers. Relating to my sometimes all too familiar family which still has the same foibles. There are few quick fixes. Every day there is me! 

The ordinary matters and is significant.

It is possible, essential even, to serve God in the ordinary.

Ministry to the sick

Granted it was written for a different age, but I wonder how often the C of E minister's visitation of the sick owes anything to The Prayer Book, which remains authoritative for him.

Including for example:

Then shall the Minister examine whether he repent him truly of his sins, and be in charity with all the world; exhorting him to forgive, from the bottom of his heart, all persons that have offended him; and if he have offended any other, to ask them forgiveness; and where he hath done injury or wrong to any man, that he make amends to the uttermost of his power. And if he have not before disposed of his goods, let him then be admonished to make his Will, and to declare his debts, what he oweth, and what is owing unto him; for the better discharging of his conscience, and the quietness of his Executors. But men should often be put in remembrance to take order for the settling of their temporal estates whilst they are in health.

These words before rehearsed may be said before the Minister begin his Prayer, as he shall see cause.

The Minister should not omit earnestly to move such sick persons as are of ability to be liberal to the poor.

https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/book-of-common-prayer/the-visitation-of-the-sick.aspx

Holiday Reading

Richard J. Evans, Telling Lies About Hitler

Evans' account of his involvement as an expert witness in the High Court case which followed when David Irving sued for libel having been called an anti-Semite, a holocaust denier and a falsifier of history.

Somewhat technical in places. I skipped part of the chapter on the allied bombing of Germany.

Could be seen as a practical application of Evans' defence of objectivity in history.

Shows how Irving could take in the general reader and to some extent many professional historians who would sometimes claim, for example, that for all his faults he was unrivalled in his use of German manuscript sources. Unfortunately, Irving's editing and translation were often grossly biased so that his claims could never be trusted without referring back to the original source, which obviously virtually no one will do.

Ben Macintyre, A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

Highly readable, interesting, entertaining. A glimpse into a somewhat vanished time of class privilege, supposed honour and booze. Amazing that Philby could fool so many for so long and could even make something of a come-back after his treachery had been guessed at.

Le Carre's afterward evokes a particular voice captivatingly.