Affinity 2025

It was a privilege to be among the few who joined the executive committee online on Monday for the annual meeting of Affinity chaired by Graham Nicholls.

Graham has now served as Director for approximately nine years. He shared highlights of his work, noting that he dedicates about one day a week (or more when needed) to Affinity while serving as a pastor of a local church during the remainder of his time. He expressed deep gratitude to the Advisory Council, trustees, and key supporters, including

• Joel Upton (for administration, creative input and organisational advancements). Joel will be laving his post soon.
• Adam May (for media and political connections).
• Fran Kirby (for social media and content support).
• Paul Yeulett (for chairing and leading the Theological Study Conference).
• Tom Brand (as chair of the Council and for his pastoral guidance and involvement).

Graham outlined a wide range of activities he undertakes, including

• Managing decisions for publications and planning events like the Theological Study Conference and mini-conferences.
• Attending member events, such as the Grace Baptist Assembly Association Day, EMW Ministers' Conference in Bala, and EFCC Prayer Conference.
• Recording podcasts with co-host Lizzie Harewood from the Association of Christian Teachers.
• Engaging in media appearances, including interviews on topics like Generation Z, immigration, the Pope, and the resignation of Justin Welby (with 14 interviews in 24 hours, reaching outlets like the Australian Broadcasting Company). These opportunities allow for gospel proclamation, modelling winsome apologetics, and potentially opening doors for local churches.
• Hosting partnerships meetings to connect agencies and share prayer needs.
• Leading monthly Council prayer meetings and termly in-person Social Issues group meetings.
• Campaigning on key issues, such as supporting marriage declarations, opposing the conversion therapy ban (including a seminar with the Christian Institute in Newcastle), resisting changes to abortion laws, and attending the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast.
• Contributing to Christian publications, engaging in debates (e.g., on concupiscence), speaking at conferences (e.g., London School of Theology on spiritual abuse), and supporting agencies like Release International (e.g., publicising Petr Jašek's story).
• Political engagement, including a planned meeting with the new faith minister.

In response to a question about changes over the past nine years, Graham noted a shift toward more online engagement (post-COVID), the launch of the podcast, evolved publications, and more efficient use of time (e.g., remote media interviews reducing travel).

Among other things, we also heard about the Theological Study Conference for 2027. The 2025 event drew many first-timers and fostered stimulating discussions. The next conference will be themed Kingdom: The Church in a Fractured World.

Speakers and topics include

• Michael Haykin: Salt and Light in a Time of Decay
• Matthew Mason: Speaking the Truth in Love
• Collin Hansen: The People of God in the Nations of the World
• Phil Swann: Authority and Accountability
• Kenneth Harrod: Lessons from the Persecuted Church

The date: Wednesday 10 March to Friday 12 March 2027

The venue: King's Park, Northampton

Affinity Conference Pic

 

Me asking a question

Great God of Wonders 4

On the third and final day we had two sessions. The first session looked at the final paper - that by Michael McClenahan asking about The Trinitarian resurgence? This looked at the way Moltman has had a lot of infuence on modern evangelicals (Stott, Leon Morris, Bruce Ware). We followed the usual pattern of a plenary presentation and then group work. McClenahan was keen, like others, for us to avoid mere biblicism and to make good use of the creeds.

The final session was a Q&A chaired by Paul Yeulett with all the speakers present. These are some of the questions discussed. Most were not addressed.

• How do we translate the lofty concepts we have discussed into "street "language for our congregations ?
• Isn’t Biblicism safer than trusting reason to deduce things by just and necessary consequence to the extent that Classical Theism does?
• If growth includes increasing dependency - on God - how can this be thought of as an imprint of God's non-dependency?
• Bob Letham: If you won't come clean on whether you are a Van Tillian, will you at least give us your take on presuppositionalism?
• Michael Mc: if we are rejecting biblicism, how do we avoid the noble and so well-ratified (by church tradition) practice of Marian veneration?
• How can we avoid drifting into Nestorianism when talking about the two natures of Christ?
• Tom Brand: If (p81) the answer to, ‘Where is God?’ is not the one given, of which Moltmann says, ‘Any other answer would be blasphemy’, what is a better answer?
• To all: Calvin denies (Heb 4:15) that Christ grew in mercy (p114). Rather, that he ‘experienced our misery is a gift to us’. Do you agree?
• If Christ has two wills, divine and human, does that mean he has two centres of self-consciousness?
• What did Jesus mean 'the Father is greater than I" in John 14:28 - is this referring to the economic trinity rather than the ontological trinity?

It has been a great time.

Great God of Wonders 3

The third paper, given this evening, was given by Steve Duby from Phoenix Seminary in Arizona. He spoke on The weaknesses of Christ: their theological and pastoral significance. This, I thought, was the best and most interesting pape of them all. We had the advantage of having Steve in the group, which was great. Having said that, we seem to have lost a few people somewhere along the line. Anyway, in the group and in the plenary session the discussion was very interesting.

After this we had our evening meal and there was then an hour of prayer and praise.

(I should have added that in the afternoon we had a break out session on why there seem to be so few ministers at the moment. It was worth discusssing, though we came to no firm coclusions).

Great God of Wonders 2

Day 2 is a full day here in Northampton. We have papers 2, 3 and 4. We began with Robert Letham on Faith and reason: reflections on belief in God  which dealt with the various so called proofs for God and raised the question of whether that will help a person to know God. Again, we had a good discussion on this.

The second paper was from Tom Brand. Entitled The God of unchanging glory: from Nicaea to Hegel and back it was a good look at the matter of the impassibility of God. Again good discussion followed. It is great to be here and to enjoy the fellowship.

Great God of Wonders 1

Yesterday, I travelled up once again to the conference centre in Northampton, this time for the biennial theological study conference organised by Affinity. Unusuay we began with a sermon and it was my privilege to preach it. I made the simple point that knowing God and knowing about God are two different things and it is important at a conference like this, on the doctrine of God, that we meet with God not simply stuff our heads with knowledge. My text was Isaiah 6 and I think I made my point.

We had our first paper later. This was presented by Mostyn Roberts and was on The personhood and power of God. The way it works at the TSC is that the papers are all written up and distributed beforehand. Mostyn then presented his paper to us in plenary session before we split into a number of smaller groups to discuss questions. I led one group and we had a good session before a final plenary session.

After tea we had a nice quiz and then chatted away until quite late. Good start.

Foundations 85

The new Affinity Theological Magazine Foundations is out. It is an online mag these days. I have an article in it on A red letter day in Bourton on the Water in August 1765.

See here.

Affinity Meeting 2023

Paul Yeulett introducing the Theological Study Conference 2025

There was another opportunity to hear about the work of Affinity yesterday and as it was at London Seminary, on my doorstep, I gladly took the opportunity to go along. My new assistant Eddie is living at the seminary so it was an oppoortuntity to catch up with him too. Graham Nicholls works for Affnity only one day a week officially but he does seem to lap up the opportunities to speak on local radio, etc, and get the evangelical viewpoint acoss. We ought to be thankful for that. Finances are okay and the work of Foundations, the social issues bulletin, the theological conference, etc, all carry on too. Nice to catch up with Mark Thomas and others too. How encouraging.

And the next five

I have finished the book on Hitler and art that I had for my birthday. It is a fascinating book weaving together the story of how Hitler dealt with the mentally ill, including those with excellent artistic skills and his lesser known campaign against modern art. Very interesting. The book on Humility by Gavin Ortlund is in the same series as the one I mentioned by Sinclair Ferguson, Worthy. It is not an easy subject but he deals with it well and helpfully. I piced up David Robertson's book Seek at the Catalyst Conference. It is really for teenagers but I found it so fascinating I ordered the previous title, which I had missed, Ask. Both great little books. The other one I read recently is the Affinity book Challenging Leaders. I am desperate to be positive aboutthis book but am finding it very hard. It is written by a committee and sadly sounds like it as draws together various nuggets of biblical and sociological wisdom. I hope it is a helo to those who need oit most. 

Affinity Study Conference 2023

On Wednesday I caught a train up to Northampton for the Affinity Study Conference. About eighty of us have been gathered over three days to look at the subject of A form foundation: priorities for the rising generation. The conference is unique in that all the papers (five altogether) are written and printed beforehand. The speakers then briefly present their papers before we break for group and then plenary discussion. So on the first day we had an introductory sort of paper from pastor and teacher Peter Sanlon on identity and worldview, the current scene. We then had a second paper on genuine conversion by Robin Gray, a Free church man from Aberdeenshire. The paper drew chiefly on Jonathan Edwards. This was a great start. We were then free for the evening. There was an impromptu quiz, which is one of my great loves, so that was fun.

On day 2 we had the rest of the papers - Phil Heaps, the London based Baptist, on sanctification; Mark Thomas from Wrexham, on pastoring; Dr Patrick Fung, leader of the OMF based in Singapore, on persecution. We were free in the afternoon - time to take advantage of the excellent bookstall here, provided by the Evangelical Bookshop, Belfast. All this was very interesting and stimulating. I had hoped that there would be more cohesion to the papers but that was not conspicuous. In the evening, we had a prayer meeting, first a plenary one then in our groups. Two men were quite emotional as we prayed for the rising generation.

For the last day, we had all five speakers on the platform under the chairmanship of Paul Yeulett, pastor in South London. People asked their questions. Then after a cuppa Pete Campbell from Penrhyndeudraeth in North Wales preached on Ephesians 3:14-21. Through most of the conference, it was snowing or there was snow on the ground, which is a nice thing to look out on.

Day Off Week 9 2023

More like a regular day off this week. I am reading the papers for the Affinity Study Conference next week. I have also made a good start on the latest volume of Nick Needham's church history - great stuff as ever. I also slipped out for a burrito and a coffee in West Hamsptead, where I bought a book - A short history of the word in 50 animals.

Exciting Parcel

The postman just delivered my hard copy of the papers for next week's Affinity Conference. I have read most of the papers in electronic format but it is nice to have this handsome book. I understand there are still one or two sppaces if you like to make decisions last minute. See you there.

Affinity Meeting 2022

A little while ago I recevied a communication from Affinity, an umbrella organisation that we belong to as a  church. The email informed me that now they are a cio they were obliged to hold an annual meeting and I was invited to attend either in person or online. It seemed like an obvious thing to attend - and in person as it was being held in North London not far from where I live (at the Highbury Centre). Anyway, I went along last Monday and as it turned out I was the only one to turn up in person apart from the committee! There were also eight online. (In the deep and distant past I served on the BEC committee that predates this one). It was good to hear Graham Nicholls and others reporting on the various activities (finance, Foundations, the coming theological conference, media opps, etc). I knew several of the committee and enjoyed meeting more of them. They even stood me a meal, which was kind. Affinity is a great idea and it was good to touch base afresh.

BTW theyve just revamped their website. Check it out here.

New Edition of Foundations Out

The latest edition of Foundations the journal of Affinity is out, Number 81. The bulk of it is taken up with the papers given at the theological conference earlier this year on eschatology. Among the reviews I have two - on The History of Christianity in Britain and Ireland: From the First Century to the Twenty-First by Gerald Bray and John Piper on Providence. The journal can be found here.

The Piper review begins

Piper has now produced over fifty books. Like the others, this latest one is careful and exact, fresh in tone, homiletic in style and eager to present biblical truth. It contains some few recycled older pieces but this is primarily fresh material, even where the themes are familiar. It is, may we suggest, his “Hamlet”.

It is in three parts. Part 1 seeks to define the subject. Typically, Piper makes use of traditional material such as the Westminster Confession but seeks a new spin, here including the idea of our enjoying God. He also tackles the push back that such high views of God’s sovereignty can tend to provoke.

Part 2 looks at the ultimate goal of providence. In three sections, it goes back first to creation and even before that, then looks at the history of Israel from Abraham to the return from the exile. A third section introduces the new covenant.

It is not until Part 3 and the nature and extent of providence that we begin to touch on more expected themes such as earthquakes, the 2004 tsunami and the testimony of Nate Saint and Elizabeth Elliot (379). This final part has nine sections and is very practical. The topics are nature, Satan and demons, kings and nations, life and death, conversion and sanctification, ending with the triumph of Christ and his return. This part of the book is full of helpful statements on living the Christian life in the light of God’s sovereign providence. ...

Affinity Study Conference 2021

I'd meant to write up something about the recent Affinity Study Conference, which had to be online this year. It was on March 17 and 18 and featured five papers on the last things and a final round up session with all five speakers, chaired by Tom Brand. The speakers were Paul Mallard, Paul Yeulett, Rupert Bentley-Taylor, Gareth Burke and Michael Horton. Rupert Bentley-Taylor kicked us off with a nice broad paper and then Paul Yeulett navigated us helpfully through the tricky waters of the intermediate state. We ended the first day with a demanding but helpful paper from Michael Horton in California. Gareth Burke then spoke from Northern Ireland on the Jewish question and Paul Mallard on heaven. The format to the conference is that speakers briefly present their papers and we then discuss them in groups. It isa  good format and we covered a lot of worthwhile ground. It was good too to have a little banter with Alan Davey, Mark Thomas and others at one point. The papers will appear in print at some point no doubt. Well done Affinity for getting this organised.

Day Off Week 9 2021

On my day off last week I made a start on reading the papers for the Affinity Study Conference on March 17, 18. I have been to most of these over the years and have always found them a great benefit.  I am sorry we are online and I did think twice about shelling out £30 for such a thing but it will still be worthwhile. Simply reading these different papers on eschatology has been a benefit. (I managed to read two and a half of the five papers on my day off - they vary in length and the third one by Michael Horton I found quite demanding). I also popped out for a take away coffee and did the crossword, etc. A bit of TV in the evening.

PS It could be argued that I shouldn't be reading theology on my day off but knowing it was my day off made a difference somehow. Anyway, how else am I going to get them read?

Book Reviews in Foundations and Banner

My reviews of Dominion and a book on Fuller's ordination sermons can be found here and here. This review also occurs in the current Banner (Do get your copy of the magazine).

Glory to the Three Eternal: Tercentennial Essays on the Life and Writings of Benjamin Beddome (1718-1795) (Monographs in Baptist History, Volume 13)
Michael A. G. Haykin, Roy M. Paul and Jeongmo Yoo (eds.)
Pickwick Publications, 2019
182pp., paperback, £21.00 / $25.00

In the eighteenth century several hundred people were attracted to the Cotswold village of Bourton from the surrounding countryside to hear the faithful preaching of Benjamin Beddome. He was the Baptist pastor in the village for fifty-five years until his death in 1795. Early on in his ministry in 1741 there was a spiritual awakening. By 1766 over two hundred had been baptised and added to

the church.

Beddome was a faithful man who stood firmly in the Puritan and Particular Baptist tradition established by his forefathers. Gary Brady says of him, ‘while never a giant of Particular Baptist history he was certainly a shining light.’ This slim volume containing six essays by six different authors will go a long way toward remedying his relative obscurity. They form the first critical study of Beddome’s writings.

Following a biographical sketch, we have three essays that deal with his convictions regarding the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, and the Holy Spirit. the remaining two essays focus on his hymns and his answers to ‘the Modern Question’ (concerning the free offer of the gospel and whether it is the duty of sinners to repent and believe). It is clear that Beddome was no hyper-Calvinist. There is some repetition in these essays, mostly of a biographical nature - almost inevitable when there are six different authors. Beddome is best remembered today for his hymns, used widely by contemporaries, but not published in their entirety until over twenty years after his death. One of his best known hymns runs:

God in the gospel of his Son,

Makes his eternal counsels known;

’Tis here his richest mercy shines,

And truth is drawn in fairest lines.

Another of his legacies is A Scriptural Catechism (reprinted in 2006). Beddome had been a student in Bristol Baptist Academy, and the use of his catechism there helped the Academy to maintain its Calvinistic theology during the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century.

This volume has been a long time coming, but I hope that readers will conclude that it was worth the wait. It deserves a wide readership and is warmly commended.

AUSTIN WALKER
(See link here)

A helpful book reviewed - Can we trust the Gospels?

I have recently reviewed two books in Foundations 76 now available here.

Here is the first

Can we trust the Gospels?

Peter J Williams, Crossway, 2018, 160pp, £6.35 (Amazon) / £6.03 (Kindle)

Dr Peter Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House, Cambridge, which describes itself as a research institute “housing one of the world’s most advanced libraries for biblical scholarship”. As a leading centre for biblical scholarship, its in-house academic programmes facilitate the research of the history, language and context of the Bible.

This new publication seeks to look at evidence for the trustworthiness of the biblical Gospels. It is deceptively brief and punches well above its weight. In short compass Dr Williams tackles some eight questions of an apologetic nature. He is brief but wide-ranging.

The opening chapter looks at three writers outside the Bible, namely Tacitus, Pliny and Josephus. This chapter not only serves to show that these sources do not necessarily contradict anything in Scripture but sets the tone for the rest of the book – a serious, historical approach that is neverthless accessible to the layman who truly wants to get at the truth about these much-discussed matters.

We then move on to a brief introduction to the four biblical Gospels, followed by a chapter headed “Did the Gospel writers know their stuff?” This fascinating chapter pursues lines of argument that were previously unfamiliar to me and maybe to you. It helpfully highlights the way the geographical references and the nomenclature that we find in the Gospels strongly suggest that these people are reporting real events, events that they knew plenty about rather than some invented world of their own devising, as is sometimes suggested. Similar points are made more briefly with regard to finance, language and customs.

Chapter 4 is on the subject of “undesigned coincidences”, a rather forgotten line of argument pioneered by John James Blunt in the 19th Century and that has been revived in more recent years by Lydia McGrew in her 2018 book Hidden in plain view. Williams takes up the cudgels here, giving just four examples of coincidences in the Gospels that must surely be there because the authors are writing of what is true rather than because of some sort of conspiracy they have devised.

Next comes a useful discussion of why we can be sure that the Gospel writers give accurate – if not verbatim – reports of what Jesus said, and then a brief survey of textual criticism and a reassurance that the text we have in our Bibles is a text that can be trusted.

Chapter 7 is another fascinating chapter that deals with the question of whether there are contradictions in the Gospels. Counter-intuitively, this is approached by pointing out six places where John’s Gospel deliberately contains apparent contradictions. Yes, there are apparent contradictions but none that cannot be reasonably explained.

The final chapter, “Who would make all this up?”, touching on miracles and the resurrection, boldly argues for the reasonable supposition that all of history hangs on Jesus.

This attractively produced paperback from Crossway is enhanced by a general and a scriptural index at the end of the book. Can we trust the Gospels? Yes, we can. We recommend this little stick of dynamite to pastors and church members alike. As the blurb suggests, “Everyone from the sceptic to the scholar will find powerful arguments in favour of trusting the Gospels as trustworthy accounts of Jesus’ earthly life.”

Gary Brady Pastor, Childs Hill Baptist Church, London

Affinity Study Conference 2019 Final Day

On our final day in Northampton, Stephen Clark gave a final paper on worship and culture and then there was opportunity to ask questions of the speakers. Still disa[[pointed at the lack of reference to angels but there we are.

Example quote from Stephen Clark:

It is surely significant that for all its many words, the Bible does not contain one musical note. In his messages to the seven churches of Asia Minor in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus makes no reference at all to the quality of their singing or of their music. He is concerned with their faith, repentance, love, obedience, humility, patience, or the absence of these things. It is here that the emphasis has always been placed in God’s Word, both in the Old and in the New Testament.

Very helpful conference then. Good to meet old friends.

Affinity Study Conference 2019 Day 2

Thursday was the main day of the conference. Three papers were given by Robert Letham, Graham Beynon and Ray Evans.
Bob Letham spoke provocatively on aesthetics, focusing on praying and singing and Graham Beynon took us on a very quick tour of Christian writings on the affections ending, obviously, with Jonathan Edwards. Ray Evanss, in typical style looked at where we are at today.
All three papers were very helpful.
Example quotes

Letham:
In the church, Calvin says, voice and song must spring from the heart or it has no value or profit with God. He strongly commended it. It exercises the mind and heart and keeps us attentive. The tongue was designed for this. Music was created to proclaim the praises of God, mainly through the assembly of believers.88 Singing was an ancient practice going back to the apostles. In it the godly mutually edify one another. Singing, with gravity, lends dignity and praise, kindles our hearts to an eagerness to pray. Our ears should be more attentive to the meaning of the words than to the melody. It is a holy and salutary practice.
Beynon:

Edwards sees a parallel with preaching: God’s word must be preached rather than only read in books because,

…although these may tend as well as preaching to give men a good doctrinal or speculative understanding of the things of the word of God, yet they have not an equal tendency to impress them on men’s hearts and affections.

Evans:
... the church is still the church when we are living for God on Monday – it is the church scattered, not gathered. Without getting into the debate whether “worship” is a “Sunday meeting thing” or an
“everything we do” thing (the one tends to devalue the rest of the week, the other the actual gathering for “vertical” worship on Sundays), it seems to me that it is a both/and not an either/or thing. We leave church worship to go into a time of worship – living for God’s honour during the rest of the week in all that we do.