Day off week 43 2019

I did one or two other things but the main things yesterday trying to read a new book on Athanasius by Peter Barnes (not very much progress there) and, in the evening, going to see the film about Judy Garland, Judy, with Eleri. Judy Garland is very much my mum and dad's era but her life is a real draw and this performance by Renee Zellweger was pretty amazing. The child star who lives a rotten life despite immense talent is almost a cliche but it is still moving to see just how that worked out in one tragic and all too short life. As with the recent Laurel and Hardy film the picture takes place mostly in Britain, this time in London, where Bernard Delfont  (yes, him again) has arranged for Judy to perform at the Talk of the Town, which she does for money with only one or two wobbles. The childhood info is passed on via flashbacks. Judging by the size of cinema we were in the film has been out a few weeks now but I like to avoid spoilers as I can. So suffice to say that the film end on quite an emotional high,as films ideally should. It is hard to be sure what might have been done to make poor Judy's life a better one unless she had lived a much more ordinary life.

Heresies and how to avoid them

This collection of essays edited by Ben Quash and Michael Ward is written by people outside my usual circle of writers. I saw the book footnoted in an article by Kevin DeYoung and thought I might check it out. The twelve pieces deal with well known heresies such as Arianism, Docetism, Nestorianism, etc but include less well known ones such as Theopaschitism and the heresy of the Free Spirit. It is all done with care and a little humour and is refreshing. Originally given as "sermons" the book came out in 2007.

New series on the Early Church Fathers

 

 I was very pleased to see these two new volumes on the church fathers. I read the one on Patrick first and was very impressed. He is not an obvious choice for such a series but he deserves a place and this study by Michael Haykin is brief, to the point and popular, yet scholarly too (c 300 footnotes in a hundred pages). There is scant reliable material on Patrick and this is a great contribution.

All this made me positive about reading the volume on Basil of Caesarea by Marvin Jones. The book is quite a bit longer which seemed a shame but I cracked on and for the first seventy or so pages was happy enough despite one or two quirks. As I got into the second half of the book, however, it became less and less readable and in the end a great disappointment. Let me give you some random examples of the Jones style.

Page 135 "There is no doubt that Basil was the first to speak of God in terms that clarified his existence. ... Basil died 1 January 379 and, therefore, never witnessed his contribution to the issue of the Trinity".

Page 149 "The account of humanity's creation within the cosmology, and the ultimate concept of humanity's destiny within the cosmology, is the central theme that occupies Basil's theme".

These are just examples. May be such slips can be overlooked in an undergraduate essay but I paid good money for this product and find it unacceptable. Who is responsible? Clearly Christian Focus need to employ a proof reader or a stylist or something. Michael Haykin is said to be series editor. Paige Patterson, Jason Duesing, Steven McKinnon and Mike Ovey commend the book. I suggest they read the latter chapters and think again.

CYSK 13 John Chrysostom

Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) was Archbishop of Constantinople and an important Early Church Father. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. The epithet "golden-mouthed" was given on account of his legendary eloquence. The Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches honour him as a saint and count him among the Three Holy Hierarchs (with Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus). He is recognised by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church as a saint and a Doctor of the Church. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria also recognises him as a saint. Earl Blackburn has done a very helpful biography in the Bitesize series.

Dr Calhoun Church History Lectures

I have now listened to all 35 lectures from Dr David Calhoun on ancient and medieval church history given I the nineties at Covenant Theological Seminary. Each lecture is around 45 minutes in length and is a helpful introduction or refresher course in the main points of the history of the period from a Christian point of view. Church history is the subject rather than theology as such but there is some helpful stuff here all delivered in a warm and helpful way and well worth checking out. They are available on itunes u.

Reading the Bible Q

Our Saviour's works, moreover, were always present: for they were real, consisting of those who had been healed of their diseases, those who had been raised from the dead; who were not only seen whilst they were being healed and raised up, but were afterwards constantly present. Nor did they remain only during the sojourn of the Saviour on earth, but also a considerable time after His departure; and, indeed, some of them have survived even down to our own times.

The only surviving quotation from Quadratus of Athens, from his Apology

Reading the Bible O

Do you then, my son, diligently apply yourself to the reading of the sacred Scriptures. Apply yourself, I say. For we who read the things of God need much application, lest we should say or think anything too rashly about them. And applying yourself thus to the study of the things of God, with faithful prejudgments such as are well pleasing to God, knock at its locked door, and it will be opened to you by the porter, of whom Jesus says, To him the porter opens. And applying yourself thus to the divine study, seek aright, and with unwavering trust in God, the meaning of the holy Scriptures, which so many have missed. Be not satisfied with knocking and seeking; for prayer is of all things indispensable to the knowledge of the things of God. For to this the Saviour exhorted, and said not only, Knock, and it shall be opened to you; and seek, and you shall find, but also, Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Origen (Letter to Gregory)

Reading the Bible J

Everything we read in the Sacred Books shines and glitters even in its outer shell; but the marrow of it is sweeter. If you want the kernel you must break the shell.

Jero (Letter xxix)

Reading the Bible I

We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. ... after our Lord rose from the dead, they were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down, ... Matthew ... Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter ... Luke also, the companion of Paul ... Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, ... have all declared to us that there is one God, Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets; and one Christ the Son of God. If any one do not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, ....

Irenaeus (Against Heresies)

Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus

I saw this page in the new Banner mag and thought it an enterprising and interesting project

Through Western Eyes

Sorry it's been a bit quiet. I've been busy preparing lectures to give at the EMF School in Welwyn. (More here). I began last Friday with a lecture on Roman Catholicism where we looked at five obvious areas of doctrine where we believe Rome is in error. Next week, before the break it's the JWs and Mormons but this week we are looking at Eastern Orthodoxy. I'm rather less familiar with this and so I've been reading hard on the web and in Robert Letham's latest book Through western eyes. Letham's book is a popular one but he is looking at things from quite theological even academic perspective. He is quite sympathetic and like others who have looked into this (eg Nick Needham) believes there are things to be learned from them. he also usefully removes some of the confusion that exists. He is not blind to the genuine problems, however, and deals with these.

The book is in three parts - history, theology (5 chapters each) and evaluation (2 chapters). The theology section deals with Prayers and icons, Scripture and tradition, Church and sacraments, the Trinity and Salvation.

Letham writes in an attractive style and apart from a tendency to get a little over-excited when bemoaning evangelical failures is quite enjoyable. He provocatively questions whether the right of private interpretation is a Reformaion doctrine.

The book is of special interest to those who want a Reformed perspective on Orthodoxy but is full of interest for anyone who wants to look at subjects like the Trinity from an unusual angle.

Cruise 08

Okay, so we finally came full circle and arrived back in Palma, Mallorca. There we disembarked and flew back to Bristol. Well, what a holiday and all thanks to the kindness of my old dad. He'll be 78 next month and has kept in reasonably good health since the heart by-pass. His facility with words is not what it once was but one of the highlights of the trip for me was having a good chinwag with him. I especially liked it when we had a son or two sat with us too. There's something fascinating about the generation thing. It made me remember my dad's father too, a Roman Catholic steelworker born in the black country but who moved to Newport, South Wales as a youngster.

[Pics: My dad and sister in the lift; Mallorca dawn; typical food display on board; last shot in the Captain's Club/Library]

Tradition & the Fathers

It's a privilege to be so near London Theological Seminary and the John Owen Centre, Finchley. I was there again today (despite a local bus strike) to join around 30 others for a day seminar with Dr Nick Needham.

Nick pastors Inverness Reformed Baptist Church and lectures in Church History at Highland Theological College. He is the author of a series of popular books on church history published by Grace Publications Trust (a group I'm closely involved with) - 2000 Years of Christ's Power (3 of a projected 5 or 6 volumes have appeared). 

The day was entitled Learning from Tradition and the Early Church Fathers and consisted of two papers and discussion, either side of an excellent lunch. AM Nick began with an anecdote about an American Fundamentalist burning a library of works by the fathers, then showed how different this was to the attitude of Luther, Calvin, the Puritans, Gill and Spurgeon. It should not be the attitude of Protestants today. By way of example, he showed how (in spite of Dan Brown and co) the deity of Christ was accepted before Nicaea, where hardly anyone backed Arius. Similarly, the idea that the canonical Gospels were accepted quite late is untrue.

In the afternoon, we looked more broadly at learning from tradition. Following Jaroslav Pelikan (and Heiko Obermann) Nick urged us to be like the Reformers and reject the Roman view of tradition (T2) and follow tradition where we feel it is biblical (T1). We ought not to be like the anabaptists who argued that we should reject all tradition (T0). The idea has been well expounded in the book The shape of sola scriptura by Keith A Mathison. The example here was of seeing how the fathers concentrate on the person of Christ whereas we often move too quickly to his work.

Ken Brownell chaired and there was good discussion. Nick is a fine scholar with his feet on the ground and he answered our questions with grace and insight. With the resources we have today it is realistic to propose more delving into the patristic field where there are clearly rich pickings.

Perhaps the most interesting line of thought opened up for me was the observation that the fathers (pre-Christendom) were in a position more similar to ours (post-Christendom) than the Reformers.