Calvinopoly

This is not new but it's new to me. I stumbled across it here. Eagle eyed observers may spot an unintended reference to London Theological Seminary among the orange properties. BTW the Melvyn Bragg the other day was okay but sadly clueless on the Servetus question.

DMLJ 25 Jones on Shadow of Aran

This brief foreword from 1976 is I think the last that Lloyd-Jones wrote. It was for Mari Jones first book of illustrations In the Shadow of Aran.

Foreword

The writer of this little book is well known to many of God's people in Wales, and, indeed, to many in England too.
I think of her essentially as a Christian with a great love for her Saviour, and as one who seeks to show this by unfailing kindness to His people. The hospitable open door at Pantyneuadd is well known, and now, for years, Mari and her genial husband have been keeping up the same tradition at Brynychaf, Llanymawddwy. Dozens, if not hundreds of us have received physical and spiritual refreshments in their company, and that in one of the most beautiful spots in Wales. Spiritual, certainly, as well as physical, for you cannot be long in the company of this writer, without hearing some striking account of spiritual experiences.
Mari belongs to the same spiritual lineage as Ann Griffiths. In the most natural way, she sees spiritual pictures and lessons in almost everything around her, and especially, of course, in shepherds and sheep and dogs. At the same time, she would be the first to say that the first glimpse of some of these things come through the eyes of the shepherd himself!
And now, here are some of these things, that some of us have had the privilege of hearing over the years, in print, giving an opportunity for all to read them. I rejoice in this and pray that God may bless this little book abundantly. Indeed, I'm sue that it will be a blessing to all who read it - enlightening the mind, awakening the imagination and moving the heart. We thank the gentle authoress, and we thank God who endows his children with such a variety of spiritual gifts.
D M Lloyd-Jones
London

10 Welsh Bands

1 The Alarm, alternative rock band from Rhyl, North Wales
2 The Automatic, alternative rock band from Cowbridge
3 Catatonia, alternative rock band
4 Feeder, rock band from Newport
5 Goldie Looking Chain, comedic rap band from Newport
6 Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, alternative rock band from Carmarthen
7 Man, progressive rock band
8 Manic Street Preachers, alternative rock band from Blackwood
9 Super Furry Animals, independent rock band, many songs in Welsh
10 Stereophonics, indie rock band from Cwmaman
(Also may be Amen Corner and Badfinger, sixties pop groups and Budgie, heavy metal band from Cardiff and Racing Cars [not to be confused with the Aberysytwyth band Racecars], progressive rock band from the Rhondda)
More here

DMLJ 24 Westminster Symposium

The next foreword is from a symposium by Westminster Seminary lectures called The Infallible Word edited by Stonehouse and Woolley. The foreword is not in all editions but seems to have been written originally for a 1946 edition.

Foreword

The proposal to republish "The infallible Word" comes to me as most welcome news and I regard it as a real privilege to be asked to write this brief foreword. When it first appeared this book rendered great service in helping and strengthening the faith of true evangelical people throughout the world. It was needed then, but now, alas, the need is even greater. The problem of authority has always been crucial in the life of the individual and the Church; and to Protestants that authority has always been found in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself mediated to us through "the infallible Word." The Bible and our attitude to it has always therefore been at the very heart and centre of the conflict between true evangelicals and Roman Catholicism on the one hand, and liberal and modernistic Protestantism on the other hand. The fight has gone on for two and a half centuries, reaching its climax perhaps in the 20's of the present century. The very existence of the Westminster Theological Seminary is a living reminder of this.

But, it is not yet over, and alas, it is assuming a new form which to those of us who belong to the Reformed and evangelical tradition is most grievous. For it has now become a civil war within that very camp. Where all were agreed until some fifteen years or so ago there is now an obvious and increasing divergence of opinion. Once more the Reformation cry of "Sola Scriptura" is being questioned and that in a most subtle manner. A new authority is being set alongside the Scripture as being co-equal with it, and in some respects superior to it - the authority of modern scientific knowledge. The Scriptures are still regarded as being authoritative in all matters of religious experience. But not only is their authority in such matters as the creation of the universe and man, and even historical facts which play a vital part in the history of salvation, and which were accepted by our Lord Himself, being questioned and queried; it is even being asserted that it is foolish of us to look to the Scriptures for authoritative guidance in such matters. It has recently been remarked that some well-known evangelical writers are arguing that there is a distinction between the Bible's teaching and what is found in that book which is incidental. They believe that the scientific assumptions are usually in the category of incidentals and do not belong to the infallible teaching. In like manner certain historical data are not a part of the infallible message of Scripture.

All this of course is not new; it is but the old Ritschlian dichotomy with regard to facts and judgments. What is new is that men who are the successors of those who fought the old battle so nobly and successfully, and who themselves once saw so clearly the subtle danger of this type of thinking, should be succumbing and even defecting to the ranks of liberalism and what one of the writers of this book has described as "The New Modernism". There is nothing to justify this. There are no new facts or discoveries which have in any way changed the position and which could therefore justify this change. It is part of the indifferentist attitude and spirit fostered and encouraged by ecumenical thinking of a wrong sort, which, in some, places fellowship before truth, and bonhomie and intellectual respectability before integrity and in others allows the "problem of communication" so to occupy their attention that they forget that that is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit, and that our task is to be faithful to "the truth once and for ever delivered to the saints."

I say all this to show that the arguments presented in this volume are not only as cogent as ever, but are as urgently relevant today as they were when it was first published. I can but thank God for its reappearance at this time of unprecedented confusion, and urge all who are anxious to stand steadfastly against the alarming drift even among evangelicals to read it and study it with diligence. It will inform their minds, warm their hearts, and strengthen their resolution.

D M Lloyd-Jones

Westminster Chapel

London, England

Gwobr Rhodri

I went to Cardiff today to see Rhodri get the runner up award for his poem in the Libraries competition. Nice day.

Calvin on Radio 4

Melvyn Bragg's In our time this morning 9 am is on Calvinism. They say here

Melvyn Bragg and guests Justin Champion, Susan Hardman Moore and Diarmaid MacCulloch discuss the ideas of the religious reformer John Calvin - the theology known as Calvinism, or Reformed Protestantism - and its impact.

John Calvin, a Frenchman exiled to Geneva, became a towering figure of the 16th century Reformation of the Christian Church. He achieved this not through charismatic oratory, but through the relentless rigour of his analysis of the Bible. In Geneva, he oversaw an austere, theocratic and sometimes brutal regime. Nonetheless, the explosion of printing made his theology highly mobile. The zeal he instilled in his followers, and the persecution which dogged them, rapidly spread the faith across Europe, and on to the New World in America.

One of Calvin's most striking tenets was 'predestination': the idea that, even before the world began, God had already decided which human beings would be damned, and which saved. The hope of being one of the saved gave Calvinists a driving energy which has made their faith a galvanic force in the world, from business to politics.

Anxiety about salvation, meanwhile, led to a constant introspection which has left its mark on literature.

Justin Champion is Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London; Susan Hardman Moore is Senior Lecturer in Divinity at the University of Edinburgh; Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford.

10 Welsh Artists

1 John Gibson, (1790–1866), sculptor
2 Nina Hamnett (1890–1956), painter
3 Augustus John (1878–1961), painter
4 Gwen John (1876–1939), painter
5 David Jones (1895–1974), artist and poet
6 Thomas Jones (1742–1803), painter
7 Ceri Richards(1903–1971), painter
8 Andrew Vicari (born 1938), painter
9 Kyffin Williams (1918–2006), painter
10 Richard Wilson (1714–1782), painter
More here

Lonely Laish - a warning

Judges 18:28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. There are probably better places in Scripture from which to make this point but given that all of Scripture is God breathed and useful then it cannot be without significance that the reason the city of Laish fell to the Danites was not only that it was a long way from Sidon but also that it had no relationship with anyone else (see also verse 7). A people apparently living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure were easily overcome by the Danites and their land, which lacked nothing and that had made them so prosperous was quickly lost. Those peaceful and unsuspecting people were attacked with the sword and their city burned down (verse 8). A wiser people would have made a treaty with Sidon or with some other city and not failed to foster relationships with at least one other city or other. What is true for cities and, by implication, for larger states, is also true for churches and for individuals. If we are unwilling to have relationships with others, as prosperous and as peaceful as we may be in the short term, we may well find ourselves under attack from one quarter or another and unable to continue as we once did in safety and security. Local churches should be independent, I believe, but not isolated. It is true that we are to carry our own load but a burden shared is a burden halved. Let the story of Laish be a warning to us.

The Spoiler Problem

Spoiler alert! (possibly necessary)

I've just started reading John Grisham's The Associate. I'm reading it because someone gave me a book token and having read nearly everything by Grisham I like to try and keep up. I knew nothing about the book before starting beyond knowing Grisham's usual favourite subjects. Having got through the opening chapters I then read the blurb on the back, which basically sets out the plot. I am very glad I read those opening chapters without it as at first it seems to be quite a different book and so I was able to enjoy the main characters own confusion much more than I would have if I had read the blurb. This is a general problem with fiction, of course. How much do you give away?

I will never forget the surprise and joy one night when, having been dragged off to see Enchanted the cartoon suddenly (and for me quite unexpectedly) turned from a second rate cartoon into a well crafted live action film!

The subject also reminds of how I once watched the 1984 film Passage to India which was rather spoiled for me because I had read some blurb about another film of the same year, Jewel in the Crown, and assumed it applied to the former. Both set in India the films have some similarities in their plot lines but are far from identical.

So what do we actually do about it? People are generally aware of the problem and so the use of the words "spoiler alert" as above are now quite common. Part of the problem is that sometimes it is useful to know ahead the subject matter or certain plot turns and sometimes it isn't.

*

One application of all this is to reading the Bible. I well remember doing a Bible study at a camp once and a teenage girl finding out that Noah got drunk after he came from the ark. She greeted the news with all the disappointment it deserves. Similarly, I remember my mother telling me how when she first read from Scripture the life of David, she kept thinking "God's not going to forgive him this time - and yet he does!" Priceless. On the negative side I remember hearing someone doing a children's talk and mentioning the death of Lazarus as a rather inconsequential thing (probably because he knew what was coming next). Somehow as we read the Bible we need to keep it fresh even though we know it so well. Blessed are the poor in spirit!! A Samaritan! The father ran to him? You know what I mean.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 07

(I decided to redo this post as the above is more of an object than the previous selection).

As we move away from the New Testament period we find the professing church increasingly open to ideas from other directions and various fads arising. One such fad was asceticism. Perhaps the most extreme example is Simeon Stylites. He was a complete fanatic from his teens up and spent 39 years on top of a pillar from a ruin (actually more than one pillar was used over the years). People would come from miles around and he would preach to them. The base iof hsi pillar can still eb seen. More here.

DMLJ 23 Taylor on Pastor Hsi

This is Lloyd-Jones's foreword to a revised edition of Mrs Taylor's Pastor Hsi Confucian Scholar and Christian that appeared in 1949.

Foreword

I count it a real privilege to asked to write a Foreword to this great book, and to have my name associated with it. It affords me an opportunity of expressing my profound admiration for everything that I have ever read by its distinguished author. Likewise I can thus express my sense of gratitude to the China Inland Mission for deciding to issue this Life of Pastor Hsi, which had formerly been in two volumes, in one beautiful and compact volume.
A Foreword is really unnecessary, and any attempt to underline or to call special attention to the salient features of the book is quite otiose, as all this is done by the book itself. Certainly no one who has ever read a book by Mrs. Howard Taylor will need any kind of "appetiser".
To attempt to praise this book would be almost an impertinence, but I may be permitted to say that I regard it as a classic and one of the really great Christian biographies. The ultimate way of judging the true value of a book is to discover its effect upon our personality as a whole. Many books entertain and divert, others provide intellectual stimulation or appeal to our artistic sense, but the truly great book affects us more vitally, and we feel that we shall never quite be the same again as the result of reading it. Such is the effect produced by this Lite of Pastor Hsi. To read it is to be searched and humbled - indeed at times to be utterly humiliated; but at the same time it is stimulating, and exhilarating and a real tonic to one`s faith. In all this of course it approximates to the Bible itself.
This one word which describes the whole atmosphere and character of the book is the word apostolic. One feels this about the character of Pastor Hsi himself. and as one reads about his labours and the results to which they led in the formation of little churches, one is constantly reminded of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. Whatever view one may hold on apostolic succession, no-one can deny that in this account of Pastor Hsi, and the churches in his district of China, we are reading of something that is a direct continuation of what happened in the early days of the Christian church. I have often felt that the history recorded in the Acts is but an extended commentary on Paul's inspired statement that the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation". I felt exactly the same as I read this book. It thrills with power and the only explanation of the extraordinary things which it records is what the New Testament tells us about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. it is indeed nothing but a record of what He did to and with Pastor Hsi, what He taught him and enabled him to do.
As for the man himself, he was by any standard a great man. His personality fascinates and attracts, indeed there was in him that quality of lovableness which is always a characteristic of true greatness. As a natural man he was gifted with unusual intellectual power and an enquiring mind. Moreover, he was cultured and well educated and deeply versed in the learning of his won country. He was a strong character and a born leader with perhaps a tendency, not unusual in such men, to be masterful and imperious and utterly impatient of incompetence. Likewise, he had great courage and determination and an assurance born of the realisation of his own qualities.

When we look at him, however, after his conversion as as he developed in the Christian life, we see a change which as I have already said can only be explained by the miraculous power of God’s regenerating grace. The outstanding characteristic was his spirituality. He was truly a man of God in the real sense of the word. His simple, childlike faith which yet was strong and unshakable was astonishing. He took the New Testament as was and put it into practice without any hesitations or reservations he disciplined himself and his life in a most rigorous manner. The result was that everywhere we are impressed by his humility and his extraordinary balance and sanity. Indeed his humility and his self-control and discipline at certain times move one to tears, especially when one remembers what he was by nature.
What is the great lesson taught by this biography? There are many, but if I were pressed to single out one which is pre-eminent, it would be that we are shown here that the Christian is most accurately described as the fight of faith. Pastor Hsi had no difficulty in understanding what Paul means when he says that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph vi 12). He not only believed in the Holy Spirit but also in the reality of evil spirits, and he fought them not by trying to cultivate the passivity of the mystics and the quietists but by "putting on the whole armour of God" and using it with all his might.
Much light is cast in this book on several subjects which are of great interest and importance and which have often led to contoversy. For instance, Pastor Hsi was a great believer in the value of fasting when he gave himself to a season of prayer. Prayer and fasting seemed to him to go together. Is it possible that the real explanation as to why so many of us do not take the question of fasting seriously is that we have never taken prayer as seriously Pator Hsi did?
Again on the vexed question of faith healing there is a great deal to be learnt from this book. Pastor Hsi believed in it and practised it, and there are some remarkable cures reported. But his attitude to this was essentially different from that of many in this country and the U.S.A. which make much of this subject. There was in him a complete absence of the spectacular and the flamboyant, and he was particularly careful not to make loose statements and exaggerated claims; indeed it is here that his his sanity and balance stand out most clearly. He believed in using drugs and other means, and he organised a great system of refuges for the opium addicts. He was acutely aware of the dangers connected with the whole subject and always proceeded in a most cautious manner. It is particularly interesting to note hoe he became increasingly cautious as the years passed. the effect of all this is that one does not have the usual feeling that most of the purported results can be explained in terms of psychology. One feels rather that they are true, unmistakable cases of faith healing which can be explained in no other way.
It is exactly the same with the question of demon possession. Here again valuable evidence is provided which establishes the reality of this condition as a clinical entity and which shows that there is but one effective treatment.
There are also other matters of absorbing interest, but Pastor Hsi's ultimate rest was not in the cultivation of his own holiness, not in faith healing or the exorcising of devils or in any of the other phenomena of the Christian life: it was in his Lord who had died for him and had revealed Himself to him in his love and mercy and grace. He desired to know him better and to serve Him more truly.
We thank God for the memory of Pastor Hsi. We thank God for Mrs. Howard Taylor, who has recorded the facts of the Pastor's life so beautifully and faithfully. Our prayer is that God may so use this book to all who read It that we all may be likewise filled with Pastor Hsi's love for our blessed Lord, and may become so conformed to Him that He may be able to use us in the work of his kingdom even as he used the great Chinese scholar.

D M Lloyd-Jones

Westminster Chapel,

London

Science Museum

We had a nice time in the Science Museum last Friday during half term.

DMLJ 22 Warfield

This very interesting one is from a British collection of Warfield articles first published in 1958

Introduction

It would probably be true to say of all conservative evangelicals who take a lively interest in theology that no works have proved to be of more practical help to them and a greater stimulus than those of B. B. Warfield. For myself I shall never forget my discovery of them in a library in Toronto in 1932. My feelings were similar to those of ‘stout Cortez’ as described by Keats. Before me stood the ten sizeable volumes published by Oxford University Press. But, alas, it was the OUP of New York only and not of this country also. Friends and pupils of Warfield had arranged the publication of the volumes. The fact that they were not published in this country is a sad commentary on the state and condition of theological thinking here at that time.
The volumes were collections of various articles written by Warfield in journals and encylopaedias, classified under various headings. Here are some of the titles: Biblical Doctrine; Studies in Theology; Christology and Criticism; Calvin and Calvinism; two volumes on Perfectionism.
Warfield had never written text books on theology in a large and systematic manner, but had contented himself with the publication of a few small works. (This I was given to understand by the late Principal John Macleod of the Free Church College, Edinburgh, was due to his loyalty to his friends and teachers, the Hodges of Princeton, and his fear that anything he might publish might affect the sale of their works.) The ten volumes, however, published about ten years after his death which took place in 1921, have served to compensate us for that loss and to give us the essence of his teaching.
There is even a positive advantage in having his teaching in this form rather than in a more systematic one. Warfield was first and foremost a defender of the faith. The title of his chair in the old Princeton Theological Seminary was "Professor of didactic and polemic theology" and the writing of articles and reviews of books, rather than formal treatises, gives greater scope for the display of this polemical element. Warfield lived and taught and wrote in this period (1880-1921) when what was then called Modernism was virtually in control. It was the age of the 'liberal Jesus' and 'the Jesus of history' who was contrasted with the 'Christ of Paul'. The Bible had been subjected to such drastic criticism that not only was its divine inspiration and unique authority denied but the whole idea of revelation was in question. The Lord Jesus Christ was but a man, 'the greatest religious genius of all time', miracles had never happened because miracles cannot happen, our Lord's mission was a failure, and His death on the cross but a tragedy. The great truths proclaimed in the historic Creeds of the Church, and especially in the great Confessions of Faith drawn up after the Protestant Reformation, concerning the Bible as the Word of God and the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ were being questioned and rejected by the vast majority of 'scholars'.
While there were many who fought valiantly to stem this tide and to refute the errors which were being propagated, it can be said without any fear of contradiction that B. B. Warfield stood out pre-eminently and incomparably the greatest of all. He was peculiarly gifted for such a task. He had a mathematical mind and had at one time considered the possibility of a career as a mathematician. His precision and logical thinking appear everywhere. Added to this he was a first class New Testament scholar and a superb exegete and expositor. Furthermore, he had received the best training that was available at the time, and not only in his own country. He thus could meet the liberal scholarship on its own grounds and did so.
His method was not to meet criticisms of the traditional theology with mere general philosophical and theological arguments, though he could and did do that also. It was rather along the following lines. He would first state the case as presented by the critic in a fair and clear manner. Then he would proceed to analyse it and deal with it clause by clause and word by word. He was thoroughly familiar with all the literature but for him the test always was "to the law and to the testimony". For him the question was, Was this a true exegesis and interpretation of what the Scripture said? Was it consistent and compatible with what the Scripture said elsewhere? What were the implications of this statement? and so on. It was really the method of the advocate in the law courts who obtains his verdict, not by passionate and emotional appeals to an unlearned jury, but rather as the result of a masterly analysis and patient dissection and refutation of the case of the opponent, followed by a crystal clear and positive exposition of the truth addressed to the 'learned judge on the bench'.
No theological writings are so intellectually satisfying and so strengthening to faith as those of Warfield. He shirks no issue and evades no problems and never stoops to the use of subterfuge. One is impressed by his honesty and integrity as much as by his profound scholarship and learning. The result is that there is a finality and authority about all he wrote. Those who disagreed with him seemed to recognise this. They did so by simply ignoring him. This has continued to be his fate since his death and since the publication of the ten volumes. It is quite amazing to note the way in which this massive theologian is persistently ignored and seems to be unknown. A 'conspiracy of silence' is perhaps the only weapon with which to deal with such a protagonist.

Some may wonder why the writings of such a man who died nearly forty years ago should be republished and may feel that they are of necessity out of date. The answer is that the writings of Warfield are, as indicated above, not merely polemical and designed to expose error, but also positive expositions of truths which are eternal and which are as vital today as they ever have been. This can be said of the subjects dealt with in each chapter of this present volume, the contents of which have been culled from the ten volumes of his writings. Never have they been more urgent than today and the reader will find, thanks to Warfield's particular method, that he will be helped to face and to answer criticisms of the historic evangelical faith in their most modern form and guise.

A final word. While Warfield was such an outstanding scholar and theologian that the most learned can profit by reading him, it is also true to say that any intelligent lay person though lacking in technical knowledge, can be greatly helped by reading him. His mind was so clear and his literary style so chaste and pellucid that it is a real joy to read his works and one derives pleasure and profit at the same time.

The selection of subjects for this volume is most judicious and representative and should serve as a perfect introduction to the works of the greatest exponent, expounder and defender of the classic Reformed faith in the 20th century.

D Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Tomorrow's Dankworth

Johnny Dankworth the British jazz musician died recently. His was a name I was always aware of (mainly through my dad) though not at all up on his music. It is only with his death that I have learned that the theme tune to BBC's technology programme of the sixties and seventies Tomorrow's World - a tune I always liked -was by Dankworth. This is the whole piece. If I remember rightly Tomorrow's World would be on at 7 pm on a Thursday immediately before Top of the Pops - a good hour that used to be (although we had a regular visitor around then every week who would always talk to my mam right through most of the hour).

DMLJ 21 Hughes Revive us again

This is one of the earliest forewords that Lloyd-Jones wrote - for his friend Philip Edgcumbe Hughes' little book Revive us again in 1947. The 11 chapters first appeared as a series of articles in 'The Life of Faith'. Certain chapters can be found online, eg here and here.

Foreword

It is with very real pleasure that I write this word to commend this little book by my friend the Rev. Philip E. Hughes.

There is no subject which is of greater importance to the Christian Church at the present time than that of Revival. It should be the theme of our constant meditation, preaching and prayers. Anything which stimulates us to that is of inestimable value. At the same time it is the finest spiritual tonic.

At a time when the greatest danger is to rush into well-intentioned but nevertheless oft times carnal forms of activism, it is good to be reminded forcefully of the essential difference between an organised campaign and the sovereign action of the Holy Spirit in Revival.

Likewise it is right that this subject be approached from the standpoint of Scripture teaching and also the testimony of history. We are thus reminded that in spite of all we are told about the new and exceptional features in the modern situation, the laws governing the operation of the Holy Spirit in Revival seem to be strangely and wonderfully constant.

Above all, no one can read this book without realising that the way to Revival is still the way of holiness.

May God bless and use these eleven brief chapters, and in his mercy "revive us again".

D M Lloyd-Jones

DMLJ 20 Frost on Healing

Although first appearing in 1931, Frost's book appeared in 1951 with this piece from Lloyd-Jones as a sort of foreword. Lloyd-Jones owned a small library of books on the subject and was conversant with the various issues.

Miraculous Healing Why does God heal some and not others? by Henry W Frost

ENDORSEMENT

I am truly glad that the publishers have decided to reprint this excellent volume, largely perhaps at my suggestion. Ever since I first read it, I have felt that it is easily and incomparably the best book I have ever read on this subject. It is the book, therefore, which I have always recommended to those who have been anxious for help on this matter. Many times have I been asked to write myself on this theme. I have always replied by saying that Henry W. Frost has already dealt with the matter in what I regard as a final and conclusive manner. The reappearance of this book at this present time is most opportune as there is evidently a recrudescence of interest in this subject.
Some recent writings seem to suggest that the only problem is as to whether one believes or not that miraculous gifts ended with the apostolic age. But this is by no means the only problem. Dr Frost shows clearly that theological problems are also involved, and which we only ignore at our spiritual peril. The Bible frequently warns us against the danger of being deluded by evil powers. All ‘miracles’ and ‘wonders’ are not produced by the Holy Spirit, and we must know how to ‘test the spirits’ in this matter. Our Lord Himself has warned us that the ‘lying spirits’ are so clever and so subtle as to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect (Matt 24:24).
Dr Frost’s method is particularly helpful. He starts on the practical level by citing cases and examples which prove the fact of miraculous healing. He then proceeds to deal with the difficulties, both on the practical and experimental plane, and also in the realm of correct and clear thinking. Above all, he is thoroughly biblical, and not only orthodox, but truly spiritually minded. I strongly recommend this most valuable study.
D. M. Lloyd-Jones

Christmas Easter Combine

My sister Gail with niece Dominique visited us today and we had a combined Christmas/Birthday/Easter celebration all in one as they had been unable to come at Christmas and wanted to get Easter in early.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 06

This is the head of the Colossus of Constantine, a huge statue of Constantine the Great (c 280–337) that once occupied the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum in Rome. It is here to represent the important role of Rome and its emperors in the early years of Christianity. Initially, Rome was opposed to the gospel and some Emperors directly persecuted. With Constantine everything changed and Christianity became the official religion, which was the start of a whole new set of problems for the gospel.

CM 07 Rimsky-Korsakov

We go logically (I think) from Mussorgsky to annother Russian Rimsky-Korakov and his most famous piece. Written for an interlude in his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, it has often been copied by jazz and rock musicians. More here. This is the German philharmonic.

RnR 06 Roll over Beethoven

Haven't quite forgotten the Rock n Roll series. This is ELO doing the Chuck Berry number in a fairly obvious way. It's a bit long but quite impressive.

Ironworkz

My father-in-law put me on to this Australian meat commercial.

Sugar Island

The only obviously political song in the Focus repertoire, the early Sugar Island.

Third Photo Series 03

From Drop Box

Sglodion

Oumu Sangare

I found this in a roundabout way. Oumou Sangare is a 31-year-old Wassulu woman. When she was two years old, her father abandoned the family, leaving his wife and children on the brink of starvation. Though the mother was a talented singer, she couldn’t always make a living even singing at baptisms, weddings and street parties. Oumou learned to sing well, and by age five, her talents were in demand. At age 18, a Malian talent scout found her, and she wound up singing with a band in Europe. Three years later she had her own band and was recording hit albums.
She is a Wassulu woman. Most of her people became Muslim in the 19th century, though they are much more likely to put their faith in traditional religion. Only two percent of them are Christians, though workers are trying to bring the gospel of Christ to these people. More here.

10 Hair Myths

I was looking for something else and I found this list

1. Cutting your hair makes it stronger or grow faster
Its hair, not a lawn. Exactly where this myth started is unknown, but is probably related to the observation of men's facial hair. There are different kinds of hair on your face and head. Hair on your head and facial hair have different properties. Cutting your hair will only make it shorter and hairs grow almost exactly half an inch per month, no matter what you do or take.
2. Split ends can be repaired
Sorry Charlie, not true. Split ends cannot be repaired and should be cut off immediately or they will split yet higher and do yet more damage.
3. Brushing your hair is good for it
To the contrary, brushing your hair is very bad for your hair and the leading contributor to split ends and hair breakage. By all means groom your hair, but once it is in place, STOP.
4. Tight hats cause baldness
This one probably started in the military where young men entering the service were required to wear hats and soon showed signs of going bald, or at least of hair thinning. This is due to coincidental timing. The age that young men enter the military is also the same age that male pattern hair loss begins. This is due to dihydrotestosterone, not hats. Hats do cause hair breakage and to a lessor degree split ends.
5. Hair can turn grey or white over night
What utter nonsense. This one was born in literature. What part of "fiction" did they not understand? Hair receives its colour genetically and can only turn grey or white over very long periods of time. Actually the hair doesn't turn white in as much as the hair loses colour, but not over night, or even a wild weekend.
6. Pluck one grey hair and two grow back
Folks, if this were true I would be pulling my hair out by the fist full. I need more hair and can always color the grey hair.
7. Baldness is inherited from the mothers side of the family
More Hair Voodoo. Male and female pattern hair loss can be inherited from either side of the family and may or may not skip many generations. Male pattern hair loss usually begins at age 18-20 and female pattern hair loss ages 45-55.
8. Dandruff is caused by dry scalp
Dandruff and dry scalp are two entirely different things. A good shampoo and conditioner will take care of the dry scalp, which is 'flaking'. Dandruff shampoos are entirely unnecessary and inadvisable for dry scalp.
Dandruff is a serious health issue and requires medical attention and prescribed medication. The 'flakes' are actually oily, not dry. Very few people have actual dandruff and you would know it if you did.
9. Dandruff is contagious
No. You already have the micro organism that causes dandruff, yours just aren't as active. On the other hand, there are plenty of nasty things you can get from someone else's comb or brush, so be careful.
10. Cutting your hair during a full moon makes it grow in healthier, fuller, faster or longer
Give me a break. I am not even going to dignify this one with an explanation. Hey, if they buy into this type of earth muffin drivel, by all means, let them mark the dates on their calendar.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 05

A catacomb is an underground burial chamber. In the first half of the second century, as a result of various grants and donations, the Christians started burying their dead in such catacombs, especially in Rome. Many began and developed around family tombs, whose owners, newly converted Christians, did not reserve them to the members of the family, but opened them to their brothers and sisters in the faith. The demand was driven both by lack of space and, until Constantine's change of heart and the end of persecution, the need for secrecy. This stone shows typical Christian symbols of the time.

Just Because

Okay the eighties has a lot to answer for musically but it wasn't all bad. This is one of my favourute Jan Akkerman tracks. Why? Just because.

Ain't no grave

This is the title track from the final Johnny Cash album, recently released.

Happy 40th Ian

Last Saturday we travelled down to Wiltshire to join my wife's brother-in-law*, Ian, marking his fortieth birthday. A number of family and a few close friends gathered in North Bradley to chat, to eat, etc.

The "etc" included watching rugby. Wales were playing Scotland, which after last week didn's seem so important though we kept a radio handy to know the score, which didn't sound too encouraging. Ian's friend Chris lives in North Bradley and so he invited us (about 10 or 11 of us I think) to watch the last 30 minutes in his front room. Well, as we all know now it was an incredibly nail biting close and Wales got it - just! Great jubilation from the Welsh men, an the English were happy enough too.

Ian is a cricket fanatic so it also included more or less the same bunch heading across to a nearby park to play a modified cricket game in which (mostly Ian) furiously hurled the ball at a basket ball post hoping for an edge off the batsman. Great fun. As light faded we lost the ball.

Great to be with all the family - ours and Ian's (all believers upwards of their teens). Every blessing for the future Ian. I chose the Emily Maguire song for the tune mainly but it's all about heaven I guess - no place we'd rather be.

(* excuse the pedantry)

Strange Alphabet

This idea has been running through my mind for a while. Here's a strange alphabet that should make sense. Any ideas for improving it?

A for Paper
B for Creation
C for Miles
D for S-station
E for Ages, lad,
F for T' less Lee
G for Sez
H for Visa,
I for Got you
J for Um community
K for A thousand
L for Leather
M for Motorway
N for A
O for A thousand tongues 2 sing
P for A drug test
Q for The loo
R for Ransome
S for See
T for Two
U for A start
V for Engine part
W for Exemption
X for N legion
Y for Goodness sake
Z for BMW

DMLJ 19 Jenkins' Holy War by Bunyan

The Holy War by John Bunyan in modern English by Thelma Jenkins (1976)

Foreword

Nothing, perhaps, provides us with a better index to the quality of life of an individual or a generation of Christian people, than their reading habits.
Many, alas, do not seem to read at all, but just spend their time in talking or arguing or in attending an endless succession of meetings. Others read nothing but exciting and dramatic accounts of other people's experiences. Still others are interested only in books and booklets which deal with the “Christians attitude” to this, that and the other.
Most significant of all, however, is our attitude to the great classics of the Christian life, the books in which our forefathers delighted, and on which, next tot eh Bible itself, they fed their souls. In this category the works of John Bunyan always stood out prominently for some 250 years, and their neglect during the past 50 years exposed the pathetic, superficiality of our generation.
It is said that the moderns find Bunyan difficult to read. Because of this, Mrs Thelma Jenkins, in her desire to introduce people to the riches of 'The Holy War' in particular, has undertaken this labour of love. Her desire is that as a result of reading it in this more modern idiom, many may be lead to read Bunyan himself directly, and thereby experience untold blessings and great enrichment of their spiritual lives.
It is my pleasure to encourage this noble effort and my privilege to pray that God will bless it to that end.
D M Lloyd-Jones

Happy Nightmare

Another video borne of the Focus obsession.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 04

This is P52 the oldest known fragment of the New Testament dating It contains part of John 18. More here.

10 Eponymous UK Places

1 Bury St Edmunds – Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia
2 Kingston upon Hull – Edward I of England
3 Milton Keynes – Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes
4 Ormskirk – Orme, a Viking chief
5 Peterlee – Peter Lee, a miners' leader
6 Telford – Thomas Telford
7 Wolverhampton – Wulfrun
8 Merthyr Tydfil - Tydfil the martyr
9 St David's - David the patron saint
10 Porth Madog - W A Maddocks
More here

CM 06b Mussorgsky

Talk of ELP inevitably leads to Mussorgsky and Pictures at an exhibition. I put the video above together myself.

Joshua Project

I try regularly to use operation world and through them recently came across this interesting site that may be of interest - the Joshua Project

Library lunch times

There will be lunch time meetings at the Evangelical Library on March 22 and May 17 on John Owen and Dr Lloyd-Jones starting at 1 pm. Do join us.

In the latter years at Chiltern Street the Evangelical Library held several lunch time meetings that were much appreciated. They want to hold similar meetings in the new premises and have planned two for March and May. The meetings will commence at 1 pm and last approximately 50 minutes. There will be some time allowed for questions and discussion. All members and friends are welcome. Sorry-no refreshments provided.

The details are as follows

Date: Monday March 22 speaker: Professor Paul Helm subject: The Trinity - a lesson from John Owen
Date: Monday May 17 speaker: Gary Brady subject: A few words about forewords - the shorter writings of Dr D M Lloyd-Jones

Do put these in your diary and spread the word. There is a very warm welcome to all.

Fireflies

I believe this is currently number 1 in the UK and elsewhere. So good pop music is still being made then (and good videos). More here.

You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep.

'Cause they'd fill the open air and leave teardrops everywhere.
You'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare.

I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems ...

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightening bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance a foxtrot above my head,
A sock hop beneath my bed, a disco ball is just hanging by a thread.

I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems when I fall asleep.

Leave my door open just a crack (Please take me away from here)
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac (Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep (Please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep.

To ten million fireflies I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes,
I got misty eyes as they said farewell.

But I'll know where several are if my dreams get real bizarre
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar.

I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems when I fall asleep.

I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems when I fall asleep.

I'd like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams.

Nigerian funeral

Most of my day has been spent at a funeral that I was taking part in. I know one or two Nigerian families that have a London base though they spend varying amounts of time in Africa. I have known well respected and now retired Chief Achimugu and his large Igala speaking family since I first came to the church here. I'd not met many Africans before them and it was wonderful to get to know him and his large family. Because the family are rather spread between here and Nigeria it took a while to get to know everyone's name and I'm still not always 100% sure which name goes with which person!

A little over 20 years ago we learned that another baby was on the way – in fact it was twins! Like most of my own and unlike their Nigerian born siblings, Timothy and Martha were born in the Royal Free Hospital.

In my mind, those births only seem a month or two ago. Because I haven't seen Timothy and Martha that often, it's like a series of snapshots in my mind. First, they are newborn babies (she with earrings, him not), then toddlers, then there around 5 or 6, then 9 and suddenly teenagers and so recently a lovely young woman and a smart young man. And I assumed I would go on collecting snapshots as the two became older. However a few short months ago Timothy contracted a virulent form of cancer and died just under two weeks ago.

The whole family are professing believers and it was a privilege to be present at the burial where they sought to express their great grief and their absolute confidence in God. One of the sons, Emmanuel, had worked out a careful programme of hymns (Rock of ages, Great is Thy faithfulness, etc) readings and tributes. The UK chaplain for the Anglican Church of Nigeria Canon Ben Enwuchola led, family members spoke and read, I preached and a Charismatic pastor led in prayer (the only jarring note for me was the round of applause for Jesus - those after the tributes are simply cultural). We used the south chapel at Hendon Cemetery then proceeded to the interment, where I prayed and read Psalm 23. It was the most distressing moment especially for Mrs Achimugu. The earlier tributes brought me to tears. Martha is 21 in April. The idea of facing such an unknown is hard to imagine.

We then headed back to the chapel here where food had been laid on. I enjoyed the opportunity to eat fried plantain, jollof rice, puff puff, etc and to drink Supermalt, as well as talk with the family members and some of their many friends. Chief Achimugu spoke again later, full of faith and full of Scripture. It was a privilege to be there.

(I left as most people were going. I think we avoided a clash with our Korean friends who meet at the church two Thursday evenings a month - I love being in London!).

Religious curiosity?

Through Martin Downes my attention was drawn to this interview with Euan Murray found here. (I've inadvertently done three Scots blogs in a row now - and me a Welsh man. We Celts need to stick together - or should that be wee celts?)

Euan Murray wraps his arms around his 18st body and shivers. The Northampton Saints and Scotland tighthead prop is a mountain of a man, but he looks vulnerable when facing the subject of his religious choices.
This Sunday, as Scotland take on France at Murrayfield in their first match of the Six Nations, the 29-year‑old will not be on the pitch. He has decided to forgo Sunday matches, and all non-religious activity that affects the Christian Sabbath – including interviews with Sunday newspapers.
Tired of explaining himself, he recently informed his club that he would no longer discuss the decision, and so as we approach the subject Murray sighs. He rearranges his feet on the coffee table in front of him, and sinks deeper into his coat, visibly retreating. "What do you want me to say about it? I don't think I need to say much about it. It's a decision, a difficult decision I had to make. And I'm happy with my decision."
There is a stony silence. The interest in his story has been intense and there is a weariness apparent over being cast in the role of religious curiosity of the week. But it is impossible for Murray not to discuss the subject in detail because his two great loves – rugby and Christianity – are so inextricably linked. Even as he speaks the language of the two collide. "Take my yoke upon thee …" he says, quoting the Bible, before pausing to note the irony. "You know like the yoke we use in training?"
To sacrifice one for the other has been tough and there is a revealing sadness in his voice as he describes what it has been like to miss games for Northampton. "I missed being part of it," he says quietly. "Someone actually told me the score the last time and I was really, really happy that we'd won."
Does he sometimes wonder if he's made the right decision? There is a very long pause. "I believe that biblically I've made the right decision." And emotionally? Murray blows out his cheeks. "Well, when you really become a Christian, life's a battle. You're going against the tide. The crowd are going one way and you're going another. It's always going to be a battle to be different. The easy thing is to go along with the crowd, everybody's doing it. You know? Try going the opposite direction to a crowd. It's hard. You won't get very far."
Did he realise the attention would be so relentless after his announcement? "No I didn't," he says, "but I didn't actually make an announcement. A reporter found out, wrote an article on it and then the Scottish Rugby Union confirmed that I wouldn't be playing on a Sunday." He shifts uneasily in his seat.
And so, when his team-mates run out against France on Sunday, what will he be doing? "I'll do the same thing I do every Sunday," he says. "Relax, rest, and enjoy the day. I won't watch the game. It's a day where I can enjoy the Lord." Will it be hard to not think about rugby? He laughs. "Yeah! I'll pray for the team. We'll see what happens. It's challenging. But ultimately rugby's not what fuels my happiness in life."
He stops, and then smiles. "I just wish that games of rugby weren't played on Sundays. Christ doesn't want them to be played on Sundays."

More here.

Andrew Bonar Lecture

The Evangelical library have announced their Annual Lecture for 2010. It will be at 6.30 pm on June 7 and on Scots worthy Andrew Bonar. They say
This year sees the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of that great 19th century Scots minister Andrew Bonar. The Reverend Maurice Roberts of Inverness has kindly agreed to speak on Bonar on the occasion of our 2010 annual lecture which will again be held at Bethesda Baptist Church, Kensington Place, London W8, near Notting Hill Gate tube station at 6.30 pm on Monday, June 7, 2010. We are very grateful to Mr Roberts for committing himself to lecture on this important figure in Scots church history. Bonar was not only the biographer of M’Cheyne and the brother of Horatius but a significant figure in his own right in the days of the disruption and beyond.

More here

10 Eponymous Elements

1 curium (Cm, 96) — Pierre and Marie Curie
2 einsteinium (Es, 99) — Albert Einstein
3 mendelevium (Md, 101) — Dmitri Mendeleev
4 nobelium (No, 102) — Alfred Nobel
5 lawrencium (Lr, 103) — Ernest Lawrence
6 rutherfordium (Rf, 104) — Ernest Rutherford
7 seaborgium (Sg, 106) — Glenn T. Seaborg
8 bohrium (Bh, 107) — Niels Bohr
9 meitnerium (Mt, 109) — Lise Meitner
10 roentgenium (Rg, 111) — Wilhelm Roentgen

More here

DMLJ 18 Collins on MacLean

Donald Maclean DD by Rev G N M Collins BD

Foreword

It is to me a very high privilege to be asked to write a foreword to this account of the life of Principal Maclean. For he had not only given me the right of regarding him as a friend, but had also by the unconscious exercising of the charm of his rich personality made of me one of his most ardent admirers.
I had the joy of meeting him on many occasions, but what w1ll always stand out in my memory is the week in March 1941 which I spent in his home as his guest. It was a quite unforgettable experience for I not only got to know him intimately but through him, and as the result of h1s truly oecumenical spirit I had the pleasure of meeting a number of other "Scots Worthies". It would be a very easy matter to write of him as the perfect host, but more important matters call for comment.
I have nothing to add to the portrait which the deft and accurate artist, Mr Collins, has painted so perfectly. I can but select and emphasise certain particular features.
The first impress1on left on anyone who met Principal Maclean was the natural dignity, coupled with charm, of his personality. He was one of nature’s gentlemen, with that additional something that can only be supplied by Celtic blood! At one and the same time one was conscious of strength, and almost severity, and yet shining throughout the sterner aspect, was the element of grace and graciousness. His voice was rich and deep, and his tendency to intone as he spoke made his conversation in a very literal sense "music to mine ears".
He at once suggested all one had ever read or heard of the Covenanters. He belonged to them, was one of them, and gloried in them. But at the same time one realised that he was abreast of the times and fully alive to everything round about him.

But one had not been long in his company before realising that the most important thing about him was his great concern for the Truth, and his special zeal for the propagating of the Reformed Faith. That was the great passion of his life, and in a very short time he always turned the conversation in that direction.
Above everything else, however, what was most striking about him was the way in which he combined absolute loyalty to the Truth as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith with a marked catholicity of spirit.

It never ceased to impress me that one who had passed through and had taken a prominent part in, the troubles and controversies in the Church in Scotland that led to the events of 1900 to 1906 should have emerged from it all without any trace of bitterness. His was truly that type of love that "hopeth all things" and which enables one to hate error and heresy without feeling or displaying personal animosity towards those guilty of them.

To him the Truth as he saw it, and accepted it, was so clear and inevitable that he found it difficult to believe that others could rest finally in any other position. This, it seems to me, was the explanation of his attitude towards those who in the past twenty years have been travelling in the direction of traditional Reformed doctrine. He was not only tolerant towards them but actively encouraged them. sometimes at the risk of offending those who shared his own views, believing as he did that eventually they would come the whole way.
All this and especially in his position as editor of the Evangelical Quarterly marked him out as a leader of quite exceptional importance and especially so in view of the present world and theological situation. Furthermore, as Mr Collins brings out so clearly, his knowledge of other lands and his friendships with the leaders of Reformed theology everywhere led many of us to look to him as the almost indispensable link in the post war years between British and Continental Evangelical Protestants.
There seems to be no one who, in terms of character and spirit and knowledge and experience, can take his place.

But we believe with him that God's ways are always perfect, and that though he has been taken from us, the cause which he so loved, and for which he laboured so constantly and valiantly, will triumph and prevail.
His memory will remain with all who had the privilege of knowing him as a constant stimulus and
encouragement. And should we ever tend to become hard and bitter we shall be rebuked by the recollection of the gracious personality and captivating smile of Dr Donald Maclean.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
London

Focus by Focus

This is the original self-titled track by Focus. Last time I saw Focus van Leer did the vocal. I was 10 in 1969.

CM 06a Copland

Like much of my intake of classical music I got this via rock - Emerson Lake and Palmer in 1977. Copland produced his fanfare for the common man originally in 1943. Great music, great title.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 03

The Tenth legion of the sea strait was a legion in the Roman army begun around 41/40 BC to fight during the period of the cvil war that led to the dissolution of the Roman Republic. It continued to exist at least until the fifth centuryy AD.

The legion was centrally involved in the First Jewish-Roman war (66-73) under Vespasian then Titus and would have been present at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD predicted by Jesus.

DMLJ 17 Lupton on the Geneva Bible

Volume 4 of The history of the Geneva Bible

Preface

For many years I had known of Mr. Lewis Lupton's interest in the Geneva Bible, and having heard his paper on the subject at a "Puritan Conference" some years back, I was delighted when he told me that intended publishing the story of its history in several volumes.
I have already greatly enjoyed the first three volumes and it is now my privilege to write this word of Introduction to the fourth volume.
All who have read the previous volumes will need no encouragement to read this one, but for the sake of those who may not have done so, I would call attention to certain special features of this series of books.
They are of unusual interest and importance at the present time. We have been bombarded by new translations of the Bible during the past twenty years, so it is particularly valuable to have this history of one of the most important and influential translations ever made.
Fortunately for us, however, Mr. Lupton does not confine himself solely to that theme. He rightly includes the entire history of that most fascinating period during which the shape of the different sections of the Christian church in Britain was being determined. At a time when the nature of the church and its form of government is constantly before us because of the various ecumenical activities, it is essential that all branches of the church should be familiar with their origins and factors that determined what happened.
Here we have it all in detail - the troubles at Frankfurt, the prejudices and the divisions, and the mighty influence of John Calvin at Geneva.
At the same time there are cameos of the great men of those days who were gathered together in various places, and who grappled with the great questions which are in our day and generation still burning and vital issues.
I am particularly glad that Mr. Lupton has "spread" himself. Far too often we are given mere summaries, or an expression of the prejudices of the author; but here, the facts are allowed to speak for themselves and we see these men who belonged to the second generation of Protestant leaders as they were, and as they met their daily problems.
At the same time we are led into what, from the purely theological standpoint, are most interesting by-paths, where we learn something about printing, art, etc.
Personally I always find this type of book not only interesting but truly instructive and stimulating, and the larger the number of facts and details the better.
Mr. Lupton has not only the eye of an artist but also the nose of the true historian, and above all the understanding of one well versed in the Reformed faith. I need say nothing about the sheer delight to the eye of these volumes.
This particular volume is worthy of its predecessors and whets our appetite for what is yet to come.
D M Lloyd-Jones

DMLJ 16 Fountain on Poole-Connor

E J Poole-Connor 1872-1962 Contender for the Faith by D G Fountain

Foreword

I have much enjoyed reading this account of the life and doings of my friend, the late Rev. E. J. Poole-Connor. The question often arises as to who is worthy of such notice. The Victorians and Edwardians clearly overdid this, and gave posthumous fame to men who, while good and worthy and who did good work in their day and generation, have little to say to subsequent generations. We to-day have tended to go to the other extreme, and on the whole, rightly so.
There is no question, however, of the rightness of issuing this volume and that for one special reason. Mr. Poole-Connor was a very able man who lived to a good old age and who was busy in many spheres for a long period. His work as a preacher was appreciated by congregations large and small up and down the country, and I personally can testify to the invaluable character of his work and stimulus in connection with the Evangelical Library. He was also a friend of many other causes and gave of his time and advice freely without ever counting the cost. All that, however, would not call for special biographical notice in this way.
The thing that marks him out and makes him worthy of our attention is his interest in, and his activities in connection with, the leading problem of our age - namely the question of the nature of the Christian church and especially the relationship of the evangelical Christian to that problem.
His own excellent book dealing with “The History of Evangelicalism in England" showed his grasp and understanding of that problem in a masterly manner.
Here, we have not only the essence of that history judicially selected and presented, but also the part which he himself played in the making of that history in the present century, and particularly in connection with the formation the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.
The Rev. David Fountain has produced a perfect blend of history and doctrine which is most instructive and thought-provoking.
The reading of this book cannot but clarify the thinking of all who are deeply concerned about evangelical witness at the present time and in the years that lie ahead. I therefore strongly and heartily recommend it to all such and pray that God may bless it and use it.

D M Lloyd-Jones

Westminster Chapel

February, 1966

A modern Caiaphas?

Who said this?
I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.
John Piper? John MacArthur?

No! The atheist Christopher Hitchens. It was part of a conversation between Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell and "infamous atheist" Christopher Hitchens.

Check it out here.