Repackaging Christianity by Andrew Atherstone

This is a very thorough write up of the whole Alpha story and its various twists and turns. It is good to have it all written down in black and white. Atherstone tries to be balanced, reporting various criticisms at times and seeking to be candid. It is very useful therefore although it does tend to toe the party line rather insted of being more critical.

A number of things struck me. John Wimber, who died in 1997, had quite an influence on the whole HTB/Alpha world. Atherstone describes a meeting at HTB where Wimber claimed a word of knowledge that revealed that ten people in the room had athletes foot! Nine stood but Nicky Gumbel resisted at first, rather embarrassed. It is an amusing story in some ways yet for HTB's John Collins it was as though for an hour or two they were back in New Testament days seeing the disciples at work. This is utter nonsense. How the devils must be laughing to know this story.

More seriously still, there are claims of miraculous healing in the book. Most of it is the relief of aches and pains and unverifiable. But then there is a claim that someone was healed from blindness! A woman called Jean Smith from Cwmbran (where I am from) was the person supposedly healed in 1997. So I looked this up and saw that Dr Peter May mentions the case in a paper on the subject. He points out that this claimed healing was never validated by an ophthalmologist. And so it is mere hearsay. For Andrew Atherstone to repeat it in this unqualified way is irresponsible.

Another sad thing that is part of the story is the way that although Alpha originally had a good statement on the priesthood of all believers and the fact that sacrificing priests are not needed today. French RC bishops objected, however, when Catholic version so Alpha were made and so Gumbel deleted such statement from his Questions of Life.

It is not difficult to see good in the Alpha story but again and again there are things that are very unhelpful and so it still has to be avoided by right thinking Christians.

The Reformation Andrew Atherstone

It was a real joy to get a last bite for the year at the subject of the Reformation in Nigeria recently. Earlier this year I bought a copy of AndrewAtherstone's The Reformation Faith and Flames. I thought it would make a nice coffee table book and to be fair it has sat on our coffee table in the front room only being glanced at a few times to scan the wonderful pictures Lion have provided it with. So, with time running out, I took it to Nigeria and thankfully was able to finish it before returning.

In the course of 10 Chapters it covers the basics of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation to the end of Elizabeth I's reign with an excusable emphasis on Britain and what happened in England and Scotland. I had forgotten that my first exposure to the Reformation was in school, especially doing A level history.

This is a fine introduction for those who are unfamiliar. All the basic names, facts and quotations are here from a historian abreast of his subject. I was surprised that Catherine Parr got no mention (the other five are all named).

I also bought a paperback, Atherstone's Reformation A World in Turmoil at some point also by Lion but with no pictures. The text of both books appears to be the same but I cannot see any reference to the fact in either book.

 

In Writing 124 Latest Edition

The latest issue of the Evangelical Library magazine In Writing is out. The main item in it is Andrew Atherstone's piece on George Whitefield and the elegies that followed his death in 1770. The substance of it was given as the Library's annual lecture in 2014. This year Digby James will address us on Richard Baxter (June 1). Next Monday (May 18 at 1 pm) Ian Densham will speak on “The Infinity and Eternity of God”. Do join us if you can.

Whitefield Elegies Footnotes 1 and 2

George Whitefield's grave in the crypt of Old South Presbyterian Church, Newburyport, Massachusetts between Jonathan Parsons and Joseph Prince

1. One of the things that came up the other night was the fact that Whitefield died at the age of 55 (which I had forgotten). I turned 55 the other week. There was a time when it was thought his problem was asthma but it is now agreed that it was probably angina pectoris, ie heart problems. I can confirm that such heart problems do present with breathlessness, which could be misconstrued to be asthma.

2. The other things follows Dr Atherstone saying that he had difficulty finding Baptists who had preached or written elegies in memory of Whitefield. At the back of my mind I recalled that Benjamin Francis of Shortwood, Horsley had written something and when I checked I found that to be the case, though I can't see anything online. John Fellows was quoted briefly and though some doubt it he was a Baptist. So no problem there then.

 

Elegies for Whitefield

We had a very good meeting at the Evangelical Library last night. Dr Andrew Atherstone took us through some of the many elegies composed and sermons preached at the time of George Whitefield's death in New England in 1770. These appeared first in New England and then in England when the news reached there. Sermons came first then poems, not all of the best quality.

This material has been rather neglected but is worth examining it was argued. Dr Atherstone highlighted the way they focus on five main things. They all lament the loss of such a great man. They note his powerful preaching and his ecumenical spirit. They also often give an evangelistic call and often contemplate life without Whitefield.

Dr Atherstone gave copious examples without being at all tedious and the printed paper will be worth seeing.

Here by way of example

1. Lament

"He died like a hero on the field of battle. Thousands in England, Scotland, and America have great reason to bless God for his ministrations." (Edward Ellington)

"Shall I a momentary loss deplore. Lamenting after him that weeps no more? What though, forbid by the Atlantic wave, 1 cannot share my old companion's grave, Yet, at the trumpet's call, my dust shall rise. With his fly up to Jesus in the skies. And live with him the life that never dies." (Charles Wesley)

2. Preaching

"What an honour it pleased God to put upon his faithful servant, by allowing him to declare his everlasting gospel in so many various countries, to such numbers of people, and with so great an effect on so many of their precious souls! Have we read or heard of any person since the apostles, who testified the gospel of the grace of God through so widely wended a space, through so large a part of the habitable world? Have we read or heard of any person, who called so many thousands, so many myriads of sinners to repentance!" (John Wesley)

"fired with a flaming zeal for his Lord and Master; filled with bowels of tender compassion to immortal souls; and favoured with more than Ciceronian eloquence - he soon became the wonder of
the world as a preacher." (James Sproat)

3. Ecumenism

Preachers of many different denominations praised him and many picked up on this.

"Though long by following multitudes admired
No party for himself he e'er desir'd.
His one desire to make the Saviour known,
To magnify the name of Christ alone" (Charles Wesley) 

This emphasis meant that Calvinism was downplayed. The one exception here was a sermon by Richard Elliott.

4. Evangelistic call

...

5. A future without Whitefield

"O had he dropped his mantle in his flight!
O might his spirit on all the Prophets light!" (Charles Wesley)

 

 

 

Annual Lecture Evangelical Library 2014

Do note that the Annual Lecture of The Evangelical Library for 2014 will be held at 6:30 pm at the Library when Andrew Atherstone (Wycliffe Hall, Oxford) will lecture on “George Whitefield: Eulogies and Elegies in England and New England” All are very welcome.

Justin Welby

I came across this book on the (relatively) new Archbishop recently in the Oxfam in Aber the other day and picked it up. It is very brief and simply gives the bare facts plus some interviews with friends. Welby had a rather dodgy background on his father's side but the rest is pretty predictable - Eton, Cambridge, CICCU and Bash camps, Charismatic Renewal, oil executive, study and ordination, rector, international peace promoter, higher office. Over the years he's managed to dabble in high church as well as low church ways and so I'm sure is an ideal candidate for what is wanted. I learned from the book that the Welbys had a daughter die young and that there are more Anglicans in Nigeria than anywhere else. I was also left as bemused as ever by the whole Anglican scene.

Westminster Conference 2012 03

Perhaps the most interesting paper of the day was that given by Andrew Atherstone - another Anglican as it turns out. He was looking at the whole matter of the writing of Christian biography and history. It is a subject most germane to the conference. He outlined the more recent resurgence of evangelical history writing within academia (by Marsden, Noll, Bebbington and others) and then noted the uneasiness about this expressed in the pages of the Banner of Truth, especially by Iain Murray. Andrew Atherstone's plea was for both as he felt that both forms have their place. The rest of us were not so sure although we were broadly in agreement  guess. The fear is that is academia dictates the ground rules something will be lost. The other area covered more briefly was the danger of hagiography. On the way home I was reading Luke Tyerman's biography of Samuel Wesley and I was interested to come across this line "The extract is inserted with reluctance; but, in delineating character, faults as well as virtues must be noted". So a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good.

Westminster Conference 2013

This is just a reminder that the Westminster Conference is on next week (Tuesday, Wednesday Dec 4 and 5) at Regent Hall (The Salvation Army) 275 Oxford Street, London W1C 2DJ.

The programmes is as follows

 

1662 and all that (Lee Gatiss)

Two eminent ejectess, Philip Henry and Samuel Jones (Andrew Davies)

Hagiography and history (Andrew Atherstone)

 

Pascal: Truth Through the Mind and Through the Heart (David Gregson)

Christian attitudes to Islam (Roger Welch)

Henry Martyn (Peter Law)

 

The cost is £40. More details here.