The tradition at the conference is to have no discussion after the final session as everyone wants to catch their trains. Once again a biographical paper was given. This was a fine effort from the redoubtable Lancaster Baptist pastor Phil Arthur - very listenable and featuring as it did quotations from the Bible in Anglo-Saxon and Middle English as well as from Tyndale himself.
(I mention this because for the first time in along time all the addresses were taped and will be available for purchase in due time. Of course, most of the published papers will include material that it was not possible to deliver at the time).
(The Anglo-Saxon quotation from Matthew 7 gave me great pleasure as I have it almost by heart - Aelc thara the thas min word gehierth and tha wyrcth, bith gelic thaem wisan were, se his hus ofer stan getimbrode, etc. Phil caused unintended laughter when he pronounced sand-ceosol as sandcastle. I think I am right in saying it should be sand-cheosol!).
One was struck again by what a gifted and resolute hero Tyndale was. I had hoped he would be recognised as British man of the millennium a few years back but the spiritual climate is not conducive to such recognition. He is one of whom the world was not worthy. What a challenge.
Sadly numbers were down a little this year for some reason - nearer 200 than 300. Next year's conference is set for December 11, 12. I will give some details in a separate post.
The similar phrase 'Worldly Christianity' is one used by Bonhoeffer. It's J Gresham Machen that I want to line up most closely with. See his Christianity and culture here. Having done commentaries on Proverbs (Heavenly Wisdom) and Song of Songs (Heavenly Love), a matching title for Ecclesiastes would be Heavenly Worldliness. For my stance on worldliness, see 3 posts here.
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