The Letters to the 7 Churches

 

in Revelation. Vaughan Roberts at Bible by the Beach. 

How Adam Broke Each of The 10 Commandments

Butner (Christological Dogmatics, 104) follows Edward Fisher (Marrow of Divinity, 36) in showing how Adam broke each of the commandments.

 

Adam:

 

(1) Treated the Devil as God

 

(2) Idolized his stomach

 

(3) Bore God’s name in vain by failing to believe and worship God rightly

 

(4) Did not rest in his assigned estate and therefore violated the spiritual significance of the sabbath

 

(5) Did not honour God his Father

 

(6) Committed self-murder since when he ate the fruit he would surely die and he caused the death of all his progeny

 

(7) Committed spiritual fornication being unfaithful to his relationship with God

 

(8) Stole the fruit

 

(9) Bore false testimony against God by treating him as a mean liar

 

(10) Coveted the fruit, knowledge of good and evil, and the status of God

Acts 2v42-end handout - A Model Church

 

Acts 2:42-end (page 1094); John 10:1-10 (page 1076)

A MODEL CHURCH

 

v42: Devoted… KJV / AV: “continued steadfastly in” – v46

 

Evidence? E.g. diary, bank account

 

A model church (though not a perfect church e.g. chs 5 & 6)

 

 

(1) … to the Apostles’ teaching

 

One who is sent out e.g. on a mission – authorised representative

 

John 14:25-26; 16:12-15

 

(v43 - 2 Corinthians 12:12)

 

(2) … and to the fellowship

 

Communion / participation / partnership / sharing something in common – similar word in v44 - v44-45; 4:32

 

(3) … to the breaking of the bread

 

v46

 

(4) … and to the prayers

 

3:1

 

And the consequence was… esp. vv46-47

 

How are you, your household, small group, our church doing in these areas? One or two practical steps?

Donkeys

 

This year we journeyed through Easter in our church services with Matthew’s Gospel.

 

I’ve mentioned here before something about the similarities and differences between the four Gospels which we have in our New Testament, and some of the theories about their relationships.

 

In my opinion, all four gospels are harmonizable and complementary. The early Christians who first collected these four Gospels together obviously thought so. But even if some of the Gospel writers knew one another’s works, they each provide a somewhat independent witness to Jesus. They don’t read like police notebooks which have been carefully cooked up to tell an agreed story. Their harmony is sometimes that of different eyewitnesses who notice, mention or emphasise different things. They each write with a purpose and an agenda.  

 

All four Gospel writers tell us of Jesus’ so-called Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12). All four Gospels tell us that Jesus rode on a donkey. Mark and Luke say the donkey was a “colt” “which no one had ever ridden”. What’s the point of this detail? Does it suggest Jesus’ uniqueness: he alone rides on this donkey? I know nothing about horses and so on, but presumably riding a donkey that no one has ever ridden may not be easy. The colt needs to be broken in and trained. Jesus seems to have no problems. Does this point to Jesus’ rule over creation? Jesus is the new and better Adam, to whom the creatures readily submit. Just as the wind and the waves obey Jesus, does the young donkey do better than many of the religious leaders and recognise his Maker? Jesus is the King even of unruly colts.

 

Matthew alone tells us in fact there were two donkeys: a she-ass with her colt. Some sceptical readers have cried, “Ah! A contradiction! Come on! Was there one donkey or were there two?” Of course, saying there were two donkeys includes saying there was one! Talking about one donkey doesn’t exclude the fact that there were two. If the other Gospel writers knew of both donkeys, perhaps they didn’t think it worth mentioning. They simplify the tale. Perhaps they also emphasise Jesus’ power and control by only mentioning the previously unridden donkey. A couple of parishioners have pointed out to me that if you are going to ride on a previously unridden donkey it makes sense to take its mother with it. Both animals are likely to be much happier with sticking together, apparently.

 

Some sceptical scholars have said that Matthew was misreading Old Testament prophecy. Zechariah had spoken of the king coming to his people “gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” One can’t really ride two donkeys at once. Not without getting into a mess, anyway. And Hebrew poetry loves what’s called parallelism: saying the same thing – or similar, or contrasting things – twice or more. This parallelism is like our rhyming, a “rhyming” of ideas. Some people say Matthew has misread Zechariah. Zech is speaking of one donkey, a foal, poetically. Matt has missed the point and assumed there must be two donkeys, so that’s what he put in. Unfortunately this theory falls down, in my view, because it assumes Matthew is stupid and we are cleverer. I’m sure Matthew knew what he was doing.

 

A donkey is not a war horse. Jesus comes humble and gentle and riding on a donkey.

 

But Old Testament kings did ride on donkeys at times. But Jesus’ humility is especially emphasised by his riding on a colt. Jesus is a striking combination of kingly authority and of peace, humility, gentleness and service. Jesus shows, as the modern hymn has it, “meekness and majesty, manhood and deity.” He is the king, but the servant king who has come to die.  

 

Perhaps it’s worth having more than one Gospel. And worth reading them closely, attending to their details and their differences, as well as to their powerful and profound agreement. Donkeys, even foals, speak to us still today.

Metrical Psalm Singing Resource

 Free Church of Scotland The Scottish Psalter and Sing Psalms https://freechurch.org/praise-resources/

Psalm 121 - a 2 minute mini introduction / exposition

 

It might be good advice for us to lift up our eyes.

 

Perhaps the pilgrims sang this Psalm as they went up to Jerusalem, heading for Mount Zion.

Maybe the ancient hills pointed them to heaven and to their creator.

But maybe it was also a difficult journey.

Maybe as they looked up they saw dangers amongst the hills.

Perhaps we can imagine a robber lying in wait.

Or an enemy coming over the horizon.

 

Perhaps we can think of many things which threaten us.

 

So, the Psalmist asks us, where does your help come from?

Where will you look for safety and security?

 

And the Psalmist’s answer is clear:

My help comes from Yahweh, the LORD, the covenant keeping personal God of the Bible who is who he is.

 

Yahweh the maker of all things.

The one who made the hills.  

 

He is the God who keeps, or watches or guards.

In our version of the Psalm we have some form of that word “keep” 6 times.

Our keeper does not sleep.

He keeps us day and night – 24 /7 from all evil.

Neither sun nor moon can strike us.

He keeps our going out and our coming in, and presumably also everything in between, now and for ever.

 

Our life is hidden with Christ in God.

 

There is no better keeper, no surer guard, no more vigilant watcher, no more reliable help. 

In a scorching land, Yahweh himself is a shade right there at our right hand.

 

And so indeed glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

 

Let’s sing his praises with happy, confident, secure hearts.

 

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 - An Outline

 If you are coming to church tomorrow, you may wish to look away now:

 

How was Abraham justified? (v1)

(And how are we justified?)

 

Justified by:

(1) Faith not works (vv2-3)

(2) Gift / grace not obligation / wages (vv4-5)

(3) Promise not Law (vv13-15)

 

SUMMARY:

Justified by:

Promise

Faith

Grace / Gift

(v16)

 

è TRUST GOD!

No boasting (v2);

New Family; New Life / Identity (v17)

Reformed Priorities for Prayer

Although they will sometimes use other metaphors like “prayer is the breathing of the soul”[1] or prayer as “a letter we send to” God[2], for the Reformed prayer is normally talking to God. Prayer is “an earnest talk with God.”[3] The Bible is God speaking to us; in prayer we speak back to him. Thus our relationship with God is a kind of dialogue, a conversation, as we respond with words to his written Word. Cyprian of Carthage said: “in prayer you speak to God; in reading God speaks to you.”[4]

 

Matthew Bingham identifies three priorities for Protestant prayer:

 

(1) Prayer must be thoughtful. Prayer normally consists of thoughtfully chosen words. God is a speaking God and he wants us to speak to him. Which is of course not to say that our prayers must be eloquent for God to hear them. And when we do not know what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit graciously helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26f).

 

(2) Prayer must be heartfelt and sincere.

 

(3) Prayer must be tightly tethered to Scripture.

 

Bingham, A Heart Aflame (Crossway, 2025) esp pp175-190

---

[1] Thomas Blake, Living Truths in Dying Times, p100-1; Bingham p167

[2] Matthew Henry, Directions for Daily Communion with God; Bingham p173

[3] Thomas Beacon, the first English Protestant to write a treatise devoted to prayer, in his catechism on 1548. Ryrie, Reformation Britain, p99. Bingham, p171

[4] Bingham, p179 citing Marian Raikes, A Step Too Lar: An Evangelical Critique of Christian Mysticism (Latimer Trust, 2006), p41

A Puritan Guide to Meditation

Matthew Bingham tries to distil some of the practical advice which the Puritans and similar writers gave for Christian Meditation (that is, purposeful thinking about God and his Word for the sake of personal application and stirring up of love towards God etc.). In doing so, he notes that the Puritans (with their Sola Scriptura principle) were reluctant to give extra-Biblical rules which might bind the conscience. Nevertheless, here are some guidelines:

 

(1) Hold meditation and Scripture closely together. Reflect on some Bible passage and think about other related passages. Bible reading and meditation will naturally also lead to prayer. One may also reflect from a Biblical point of view on one’s own life, giving thanks for blessings, sorrowing over sin, noticing God’s providential leading and marvelling at the glory of God revealed in creation.

 

(2) Distinguish between “settled” and “occasional” meditation. It is good to have some set time of reading the Bible, thinking it through and praying. But in addition to such deliberate, solemn and settled meditation, it is also good to have sudden, occasional, extemporal thoughts of God throughout the day. Short spontaneous godly musings, thanksgivings etc. are to be encouraged. When you get dressed, you might think on being clothed in the righteousness of Christ or putting on the armour of God.

 

(3) Grab hold of a thought and don’t let it go. Think closely over the words and sentences of Scripture from all sorts of different angles. And think about related Scriptures. Don’t just glance at the building, explore the whole house of a text or truth. Contemplate the colours and shades of a landscape as an artist might. Thomas Watson thought that even just fifteen minutes a day would “leave a mighty impression” but the key is to “meditate so long till thou findest thy heart grow warm.” (Heaven Taken by Storm; Discourses 1:254)

 

(4) Apply God’s truth to yourself. This requires scriptural knowledge and self-knowledge. Aim to feel the truth and make it part of your being so that it transforms you and affects your experience. Treasure the truth and stir up godly affections.

 

(5) Don’t overthink it. There is no secret special technique, mysticism or magic involved. Read the Bible. Think about it. Pray. Slow down and digest what you read. Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly (Col. 3:16).

 

Bingham, A Heart Aflame (Crossway, 2025), pp146-159

The Neglected Art of Reformed Meditation

In my little (Conservative Evangelical) corner of the Christian world, we very much encourage personal Bible reading and prayer. The daily devotional “Quiet Time” is often seen as ideal. Our prayer is probably fairly intercession (asking for things) focused. We are a bit sus about listening to God in prayer (rightly in my view) and not quite sure what to make of silent or contemplative prayer. They are not a big thing with us. We read the Bible and see (again I think basically correctly) that prayer seems to be mostly talking to God with words. Jesus says, “When you pray, say…” (Luke 11:12).

 

We theoretically encourage thinking about the Bible. Perhaps its just be who tends to hurry on form the “Questions for Reflection” in the Bible Reading Notes and tick off the devotions as done. We are certainly in to group Bible study where we aim to discuss the meaning and application of the text, even if our sessions can get easily sidetracked.

 

But it seems that compared to our Reformed forefathers, we have very much neglected “meditation”, which might be something like contemplative prayer, or at least prayerful contemplation, prayerful thinking about God and his Word.

 

John Ball said that without meditation “a Christian life cannot stand.”[1] Thomas Watson called this “serious thinking upon God” “a duty wherein the very heart and lifeblood of religion lies.”[2]

 

For a biblical basis for Christian meditation we might think about Phil 4:8; Lk 2:19; Col 3:2 and explicitly of course Psalm 1:2 (and 119:48)[3].

 

Matthew Bingham explores what the Reformed have meant by meditation. It is sometimes a synonym for, or very close, to prayer, and it can be used to refer to communion with God more generally, but especially for the English Puritans it comes to mean “essentially a sustained thoughtful mediation”[4]. For Bingham, the heart of this meditation is to transform thoughts about God “into heartfelt, soul-stirring, life-transforming convictions”[5]. Meditation is purposeful reflection on the personal significance of Scripture which “attempts to move God’s truth from our heads to our hearts.”[6] Meditation “moves towards personal application and transformation… toward spiritual refreshment and growth.”[7]

 

According to Wilhelmus a Brakel, a Christian meditates “to be kindled with love, to be comforted, and to be stirred up to lively exercise.”[8]  

 

Bingham points out that according to Alec Ryrie, by far the most common way that early modern Protestants speak of their spiritual exercises is as a stirring up of the dying embers of the heart[9]. For Isaac Ambrose, “Meditation is as the bellows of the soul, that doth kindle and inflame holy affections.”[10] Similarly, Manton wants to “blow up those latent sparkles of grace that are in the soul.”[11]

 

Let us make space to meditate on the gospel so that we might fan the fires of faith, hope and joy within our hearts.

---

[1] Divine  Meditation, p49 quoted in Matthew Bingham, A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation (Crossway, 2025) p135

[2] Watson, Heaven Taken By Storm, p23; Bingham p135

[3] Bingham, p131, 133f. See also Gen 24:63

[4] p135. See also the previous page.

[5] p136

[6] p136

[7] p136

[8] Christian’s Reasonable Service 4:25; Bingham p137

[9] Ryrie, Reformation Britain p67

[10] Media, p274; Bingham p137

[11] Works 17:275; Bingham p138 

Nine Things The Book of Common Prayer Can Do For You: Reasons To Attend to the BCP

Others have probably done a much better job at this (please do comment with links!), but a friend provoked me to say that a lot more BCP in our lives would help us with many issues. So I thought I might try to spell out some of the way the BCP might do us good:

(1) Reading The Book of Common Prayer is an education. If you are vaguely familiar with The Bible and Shakespeare, it would be worth acquainting yourself with The Book of Common Prayer. A quick look at The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations with prove this.

(2) The language is wonderful and time honoured. It has helped to shape us without our knowing it. Britishness owes much to this book, and its influence has gone global. If you want to speak in public or persuade, you might be moved in sundry ways and places to consider the devices and desires of The Prayer Book. It has the benefit of being highly memorable so you can stock your mind with these things.

(3) The Book of Common Prayer was intended to be a reasonably complete resource for what we would call the spirituality of the nation. You can find it in material for all ages and stages of life and for all sorts and conditions of men, women and children. The Collects (short prayers) are very suitable for personal use. There are services for daily morning and evening use. And much that could be used at any time (for example The Litany or The General Thanksgiving). Birth, marriage, sickness, death and much else besides is all here.  

(4) The prayers and thanksgivings upon several occasions might suit your needs. It is worth checking out what is there should a lack of rain arise. If you are ever going to sea, there’s a whole section for that.

(5) The Book of Common Prayer contains great psychological and pastoral wisdom. Thomas Cranmer, the principal “author” of The Book of Common Prayer had thought about what makes people tick and what they might need.

(6) The Book of Common Prayer is a conduit and container of other material. Cranmer adopted and adapted. The Psalms are here in handy form. The Ten Commandments are included, as well as readings from The New Testament letters and the Gospels in bite sized chunks. Likely your Book of Common Prayer also contains the services for the ordination of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. Carry this one small book with you at all times and you are never without all this and more! The Book of Common Prayer will thus acquaint you not only with The Church of England or with Anglicanism but with much that is common to all Christians.  

(7) There is lots here too for Christian instruction: creeds, a catechism (basic questions and answers), and you probably also have The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (the closest The Church of England has to a doctrinal basis) included.  

(8) Many from all parties of The Church of England have a deep affection for The Book of Common Prayer. It has a capaciousness which can hold many together and be a vehicle for Christian unity without being a bland vanilla fudge.

(9) The theology of the Book of Common Prayer has been much debated and sometimes claimed by one tribe or another. Whilst some Puritans would not accept it, it is clear that it is basically an Evangelical and Reformed (somewhat Calvinistic) document. You will find here the gospel good news of the grace of God to be received by faith alone: that is, that although we have wandered and strayed from his ways like lost sheep, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Forgiveness and comfort are freely offered here.

Matthew 4vv1-11 Handout / Outline / Headings

I want to consider the temptation of Jesus with you under three headings with three key words and a suggested response in each case:

 

(1)   CHAMPION - Jesus is our tried and tested victorious champion whom we should trust

 

(2)   PRIEST - Jesus is our sympathetic and faithful high priest whom we can approach with confidence

 

(3)   EXAMPLE - Jesus is our Bible-believing and obedient example whom we can follow in the way of the cross

A model church

 God-willing I am helping out at a PCC Vision Day today. Here's my handout for the opening session:

Acts 2:42-end

A MODEL CHURCH:

“They devoted themselves to…”

 

Devoted to…

 

Evidence? E.g. diary, bank account

 

 

A model church (though not a perfect church)

 

 

KJV / AV: “continued steadfastly in”

 

 

(1) The Apostles’ teaching

 

 

(2) The fellowship

 

 

(3) The breaking of the bread

 

 

(4) The prayers

 

 

 

And the consequence was…

 

 

 

Some questions for prayer, thought and discussion:

 

Does anything from this passage particularly strike you as relevant for your day?

 

How are we doing on each of the above? Do we need to work on any in particular?

 

How could we devote ourselves to these things more thoroughly and effectively?

 

Are there other things we particularly want to devote ourselves to? Any ideas as to how?

 

(Do you agree it would be better to do a few things well than many in an average or poor way? Are there things we should stop or neglect a bit?)

Why give some time to a Gospel? 5 Reasons to Read Matthew

 

With our Lent Course on Matthew’s Gospel beginning on Wednesday, I wanted to say something about why you should give some time to one of the gospels.

 

(1) You’ll enjoy it. The gospels are really great literature which has stood the test of time. You’ll find it surprising, strange, intriguing.

 

(2) These short books have shaped Western civilisation. Everyone who wants to think of themselves as even vaguely educated should have read at least one gospel as an adult.

 

(3) There is great practical wisdom to be learnt here. The gospel could really help you and change your life for the better.

 

(4) In this book you can meet Jesus Christ. He is the person who divided history in two. Aren’t you a bit interested in him?

 

(5) This is the only reason which really depends on a developed Christian theology. Christians have always believed that these books are the words of God. They are God speaking. God-breathed, given by inspiration or expiration of God. They are human words which convey the divine word. If there is a chance that this is true, don’t you want to listen to what your Maker who loves you has to say to you? In fact, he wants you to know his Son whom he loves, with whom he is well pleased. God the Father says “Listen to my Son”. And we do that as we read the Spirit uttered words of Scripture. In the pages of the Bible you will find Jesus and he is Life. His words are what you really need for a person cannot live by bread alone but only by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. Read the Word and meet the Word.

 

Enjoy!

 

You can join us at the Rectory 7:30pm Wed 25^th Feb for coffee, biscuits and a bit of Matthew’s gospel. Or via Zoom. Anyone localish and all church members welcome.

 

Ash Wednesday Sermon Handout

 

Ash Wednesday 2026

Isaiah 58:1-12 (p744)

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (p970)

 

·       True and false repentance

·       The heart and how it relates to our actions, which might be seen by God and others

 

(1) Repentance is a matter of the heart. Certain symbolic actions do not prove true repentance

 

Our heart / mind / soul / spirit / will / desires as the control centre of our selves

 

Religious observance could come from a true or false or mixed heart

 

(2) Repentance issues in actions which God sees. Certain actions go with true repentance

 

A true heart leads to true actions (truly if imperfectly)

 

e.g. social justice not just church services; good relationships with others (as far as it depends on us) not just talk of piety

 

(3) Repentance must not be a show to impress other people. Certain actions are best kept secret so as to promote true repentance

 

You can sometimes get the reward you are looking for!

 

Look for a reward from God alone by doing what only your Unseen Father who sees what is done in secret can see

 

(4) Repent and believe the good news of Jesus Christ and God will transform your heart and life, and will reward his own work in you

 

Make every effort… Oh, and it’s all God’s work!

Ancient wisdom for modern life

 

There is an industry of Stoicism for Today and Bite-Size Buddhism.

 

Christians have differed on how to account for the wisdom of the ancients. Did Plato borrow from Moses? What role might General Revelation or Natural Law play? What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?

 

Arguably part of Jordan Peterson’s project is to take insights from the Bible and apply them to how we might live today.

 

Many things could be said.

 

At some point, we might need to consider how is relates to ought. What is the metaphysic of this system and how does it relate to morality? Is what these people taught true? You know, true, true. Literally true. And if it is untrue, is it still in some way meaningful or helpful? Does it in some way participate in or borrow from or prepare for The Truth? Or is it an antithetical system?

 

No doubt there are things which Jesus said which can be made into timeless practical lessons. It is probably good, for example, to avoid certain types of worry. But why and how?

 

Is it really possible to have the fruit without the root? How would a cut flower Christianity be sustained? Would it even be Christianity without a living Christ? Jesus as dead guru is not what the Bible has in mind at all.

 

Jesus specifically taught that God is actually real and is the source of all physical and spiritual life. We were made by and for him and so our hearts are restless till they find their rest in him. We are, if you like, wonderful little gods, the very image of God, but also that our hearts spew out evil. We are broken gods. The line between good and evil runs through every soul. We need not merely self-help or moral reformation, but inner transformation: new hearts. We need forgiveness and the friendship of God. Grace. Mercy. Love. Christian community. The power of the Holy Spirit. How To Be Happy The Jesus Way won’t cut it.  

 

No doubt there is much we could learn from the ancients or from Jesus. But Jesus offers the Real Thing. The sum of all wisdom, holiness, peace and joy are to be found in him. Indeed, he offers hope in the face of the grave, a song even for the worst suffering. If we really listened to him, we would trust him with our whole selves and in so doing we would find ourselves.

 

Jesus’ teaching is often radical and all or nothing. He challenges us as to whether we are with him or against him. Will we love him and hate ourselves, our families? This is the path to true love of God, self and others. It is mysterious and paradoxical and the adventure of a life time. Go for the full roast version, not the instant repackaged Jesus flavoured drink.

On Ashes

 Dust and ashes - אפר / עפר - are a Biblical symbol of mourning, repentance and prayer for mercy, e.g. Daniel 9.3, Jonah 3.6; there is warrant for the corporate use of ashes, e.g. Esther 4.3, Jeremiah 6.26, 25.34. Jesus assumes that corporate use of ashes in repentance is an acceptable response to him, e.g. Matthew 11.21. They symbolise that we come from the dust and to dust we shall return because of our sin (Gen 3.19). To make a sign of the cross on the forehead with ashes proclaims to us the judgement the cross passes on us: we sin and deserve death, so should repent and seek God's mercy.

What is a Psalm Roar and why should you go to one?

 Most Christians I know love the Psalms. They give us God-given words to say back to God which we know he approves of, and yet which also so often express what we feel but couldn't have expressed or wouldn't have dared to say. 

Yet most of us don't know the Psalms as well as we'd like to. Perhaps on a good day with a run up we could sing a version of Psalm 23 or Psalm 100. But many of the 150 we don't have out our finger tips. 

Singing the Psalms could help us with that. We tend to remember what we sing so much more than what we read or even say.  

It could inform our minds. And move our hearts. And lift our spirts. Any communal singing is so good for morale. How much more when they are the songs of Jesus!  

And the New Testament seems to command Psalm singing. A command we are very good at neglecting and have some catching up to do on. A command which it is actually a pleasure and a joy to obey.

Last year we had more than 80 people - many of them much younger than usual - at our little church to sing the Psalms and it was a really brilliant day, even if our single loo was a little strained. 

We sang a number of Psalms in different styles. 

All musical abilities and none felt at home. 

It was lots of fun. And very encouraging. There was enthusiasm, warm fellowship, good coffee and lots of cake. And it was a bargain. 

Each Psalm came with a 2 minute introduction focused on the good news of Jesus. So it really did good for our souls. 

I could say more, but you'll want to get on with booking! https://www.psalmroar.org/

Look forward to seeing you in Hove on Sat 7th March if you can make that one. 

Alexei Navalny on God and his Christian faith etc.

Remembering some of the things Alexei Navalny said. “My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches.”; “If you want I’ll talk to you about God and salvation. I’ll turn up the volume of heartbreak to the maximum, so to speak. The fact is that I am a Christian, which usually rather sets me up as an example for constant ridicule in the Anti-Corruption Foundation, because mostly our people are atheists and I was once quite a militant atheist myself. But now I am a believer, and that helps me a lot in my activities, because everything becomes much, much easier. I think about things less. There are fewer dilemmas in my life, because there is a book in which, in general, it is more or less clearly written what action to take in every situation. It’s not always easy to follow this book, of course, but I am actually trying. And so, as I said, it’s easier for me, probably, than for many others, to engage in politics.” Jesus said: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” “I’ve always thought that this particular commandment is more or less an instruction to activity. And so, while certainly not really enjoying the place where I am, I have no regrets about coming back, or about what I’m doing. It’s fine, because I did the right thing. On the contrary, I feel a real kind of satisfaction. Because at some difficult moment I did as required by the instructions, and did not betray the commandment.” 

Paul Kingsnorth, Against the machine

 Some jottings towards a review

If you have any thoughts about what you would say or ask about this book, especially for Reformed Evangelical Anglican pastors, I'd really welcome them, please 

I could have typed out much more of this book! 

In addition to what I've scribbled in the margins:

Against The Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity

Paul Kingsnorth

Penguin / Particular Books, 2025 (ISBN: 9780241788400 hb, 348pp)

 

Written not exclusively for a Bible-believing Christian audience 

Not on the surface entirely or straightforwardly a theological book, but in fact profoundly so since it is about what ultimately matters to us and how we should then live. Kingsnorth sees our problems and their solutions as in the end spiritual and related to God and the so-called / demonic gods. He calls us to the rebellion of true worship in a nihilistic self-loving world (314).

 

As far as I can see, Carl Trueman is the only Reformed writer cited.

 

At times this felt like a mark-every-paragraph sort of a book, though I imagine few readers will agree with everything. Kingsnorth notes that some will find some of the ideas controversial, others incomprehensible (313). I cried on page two. Kingsnorth likes Tolkien and R. S. Thomas. He has thrown away his TV and moved to the West of Ireland where he homeschools the kids. He thinks the West has gone wrong in old, deep, interesting ways to do with technology, the economy, the earth and the soul.

 

Kingsnorth can write. In addition to his journalism, his non-fiction was cited by David Cameron and the Archbishop of Canterbury. His fiction was Booker long-listed.

 

At turns prophetic and poetic. Moving.

 

Unlikely to agree with everything here

 

Kingsnorth has been on a journey via environmental activism, Wicca and Buddhism to the Romanian Orthodox church.

 

Kingsnorth speaks rather sadly of giving in and buying a mower chapter. If he really means that no technology has saved us time or effort, I think that is obviously wrong. But it is true that we are still busy. And we don’t always use that technology well. Email is brilliant, but there were some positives about the effort, delay and locatedness of the letter.

 

Homeschooling his children in rural Ireland where he draws water from his own well

 

Creation and fall

Humanity has chosen the tree of the knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life, information and technology (magic?) over communion  

 

the vision of "The Machine" (a kind of technology-capitalism alliance against humanity) is to liberate "all potential birthing-persons, to spend more time at work, lovingly nurturing economic growth." (Against the Machine, p112)

 

Dominion – technology / magic – Faustian – control which fails to trust God

 

The English lack a shared knowledge of folk songs. And their national costume, the pin striped suit and the bowler hat, suggests the worship of Mammon. We have forgotten where we are from, or we hate it. The white working class are despised as bigots and racists. Our high culture is one of negation (we are against white straight males and Christianity). We want to topple the statues, but we don’t know what to put in their place. We certainly wouldn’t look to the cathedral for inspiration, which is why we could not build a cathedral, only another glass sky-scraper.

 

Our culture is adolescent and locked in rebellion, refusing to grow towards adult maturity and become parents.

 

Supposed liberation but also control. You can shake off all traditional constraints, but you must scan the QR code.

 

Human beings as inherently religious and if we reject the true God we make idols for ourselves

 

4 Ps which underpin traditional culture

People

Place

Prayer

The past

 

4 Ss with which Machine ideology would like to replace them

Sex

Science

Self

screen

 

Much of the book is given over to tracing the origin and nature of the machine which is seen as an alliance of technology and capitalism. The machine is tied up with money. It is Molech and demands human sacrifice. It is Antichrist. Sciencism denying anything immaterial or transcendent. Totalitarian. The nation state has been largely co-opted into this global vision.

 

We might quibble about the notion that the Reformation was (unwittingly?) responsible for desacralizing the world. Or that monasticism might have saved a sense of the transcendent.

 

Draws on the work of Ian McGilcrist who calls this “the most powerful and important book I have read in years. Simply brilliant” (back cover)

 

Reactionary radicalism (ch 24)

 

A moral economy on a human scale based on a community of place

 

“A politics which embraces family and home and place, loving the particular without excluding the outsider….” (284)

 

The Machine’s programme is akin to the Enclosures in 19^th Century English agriculture. It aims to replace “self-sufficient moral economies… with a system of dependency and exploitation which has now gone fully global.” (288)

 

Kingsnorth advocates attempting to evade the reach of the state by a “dispersed culture of refusal” which defends cultural and economic autonomy”. We might choose to live as “barbarians” building “parallel systems… which are hard to assimilate, and are robust enough to last.” (293) A few may do this by forming off-grid communities in the hills; others will “retreat to the margins” (294) in the homes or hearts (295). We may live “in the Machine but not of it” (295) geographically, psychologically or spiritually (295-6) becoming conscientious objectors to the Machine (297).   

 

Whether pirates, highwaymen and outlaws are suitable models? (297)

 

Kingsnorth is clear that he would smash the screens and turn off the internet if he could, yet he is typing these words on a laptop and sharing his essays online.

 

The soul’s needs for roots in place, community, past, shared vision of the future

 

The Machine is “an external manifestation of an inner hunger” (310)

 

The modern West has dedicated itself to uprooting all tradition and has made itself homeless (310) we have replaced a culture with culture wars (310) but the real warfare is spiritual for culture, humanity, creation and God

 

An attachment to hearth and home without making idols of nations or cultures (312)

 

Opponents of the modern machine painted as fossils or fascists (313)

 

Gary Snyder: “The most radical thing you can do is stay at home” (314)

 

Kingsnorth says that in its own way 60s counter culture attempted some resistance against the military industrial complex of the Machine but that the ground of extreme personal liberation proved too swampy to establish an effective lasting alternative (315). The hippies became the yuppies. “The counter-culture has become the culture, and everyone is having a bad trip, man.” (315)

 

A new counter culture should avoid the mistakes of the past, of seeking a blank slate or a national utopia. It would seek to be “rooted in eternal things” (315)

 

Raindance on the astroturf, call down the powers, offer ourselves up to God (316) even if it doesn’t work, what’s the alternative?!

 

Sometimes the ridiculous and the mad is worth trying, as when two halflings take on the power of the Ring. The foolishness of the gospel, we might have said