Westminster Conference Papers 2018 now out

Last year's papers have now been published. They begin with Paul Wells' clear and fair minded introduction to Amyraldianism. This is followed by Geoff Thomas on A W Pink urging us to love Pink despite his evident failures. Then comes Phil Arthur's paper on the Great War and modern Christianity. The fourth paper is James Eglinton's on Herman Bavinck and the fifth Jeremy Walker's on John Owen and the Person of Christ. Last but by noe mans least is Nigel Graham on David Brainerd.

Westminster Conference 2018 Session 3

Our third and final session of the day featured Phil Arthur on the Great War. Phil Artthur is a trained historian and a great raconteur and he was able to give us a fascinating and nuanced state of the art summary of the Great War of 1914-1918. He warned us against drawing our notions of the war from Balckadder or the war poets studied at GCSE level. He also touched on several other issues such as Israel, the end of African colonialism adn the rise of Christianity there, liberalism and the Downgrade, the doctrine of hell, Darwin, higher critcism, etc.

This all led to the question of whether, as is often asserted, the Great War proved fatal to Christianity in Britain. This was shown to be a myth, the faith of many being strengthened and even ignited during the war as often as it was extinguishhed. The real culprits are Darwinism, higher criticism and the flight from the doctrine of hell. This view was reflected in the discussion although some wanted to suggest that the war did have an adverse affect on the church - in the colossal loss of men for example that the war, together with the Spanish flu epidemic, brought about.

They Shall Not Grow Old - Official Trailer (2018)

This really is quite an achievement

The Somme Again

Today is the hundredth anniversary of the last day of the Battle of the Somme. On the anniversary of the first day I produced the piece below. What I don't think I mentioned is a family story of my father at the Somme, apparently being told to take a message outside the trenches. It is said that my grandfather said to the officer that if he went he would die for certain and so the officer, to avoid trouble, sent someone else who did indeed die.It is a striking thought, for me especially.

As most will be aware, today is the one hundredth anniversary of the first day of The Battle of the Somme or the Somme Offensive, a First World War battle between the British and French empires and the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of upper reaches of the River Somme in France. It was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front; more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, supported on the northern flank by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). When the Imperial German Army began the Battle of Verdun on the Meuse on 21 February 1916, French commanders diverted many of the divisions intended for the Somme and the "supporting" attack by the British became the principal effort.

The first day on the Somme was the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties, mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line.

The British troops on the Somme comprised a mixture of the remains of the pre-war regular army, the Territorial Force and the Kitchener Army, which was composed of Pals battalions, recruited from the same places and occupations. Among these latter conscripts was my grandfather, William Brady, born in Bilston but by then living in Newport, South Wales.  He was of Irish ancestry and a Roman Catholic. There is a photograph somewhere from 1914 of my grandfather in a ragtime band. In 1916, aged 21, he was conscripted to the life guards and soon found himself at the Somme. I have no details of what happened, although I believe he was injured and may well have been gassed at this time.

Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle. I am simply glad my grandfather survived. Following the war he looked for a job. Apparently, he was spotted in an unemployment queue by an officer (my grandfather was 6' 4" and not easy to miss) and efforts were made to secure him a job in the steel industry. He spent the rest of his working life in Lysaght's as a steel checker. Remembrance Day was always an important day and he was very involved in the local British Legion. Nine years after the Somme he married my Bristol born, Newport based Protestant grandmother. They soon had my father, who was followed by four other children. He died in 1978, aged 83.

(The 119th Brigade, originally the Welsh Bantam Brigade, was an infantry brigade formation, part of Kitchener's New Armies. It served in the 40th Division on the Western Front. It was formed in Newport and may well have been my grandfather's brigade.)

Battle of the Somme

As most will be aware, today is the one hundredth anniversary of the first day of The Battle of the Somme or the Somme Offensive, a First World War battle between the British and French empires and the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of upper reaches of the River Somme in France. It was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front; more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, supported on the northern flank by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). When the Imperial German Army began the Battle of Verdun on the Meuse on 21 February 1916, French commanders diverted many of the divisions intended for the Somme and the "supporting" attack by the British became the principal effort.

The first day on the Somme was the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties, mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line.

The British troops on the Somme comprised a mixture of the remains of the pre-war regular army, the Territorial Force and the Kitchener Army, which was composed of Pals battalions, recruited from the same places and occupations. Among these latter conscripts was my grandfather, William Brady, born in Bilston but by then living in Newport, South Wales.  He was of Irish ancestry and a Roman Catholic. There is a photograph somewhere from 1914 of my grandfather in a ragtime band. In 1916, aged 21, he was conscripted to the life guards and soon found himself at the Somme. I have no details of what happened, although I believe he was injured and may well have been gassed at this time.

Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle. I am simply glad my grandfather survived. Following the war he looked for a job. Apparently, he was spotted in an unemployment queue by an officer (my grandfather was 6' 4" and not easy to miss) and efforts were made to secure him a job in the steel industry. He spent the rest of his working life in Lysaght's as a steel checker. Remembrance Day was always an important day and he was very involved in the local British Legion. Nine years after the Somme he married my Bristol born, Newport based Protestant grandmother. They soon had my father, who was followed by four other children. He died in 1978, aged 83.

(The 119th Brigade, originally the Welsh Bantam Brigade, was an infantry brigade formation, part of Kitchener's New Armies. It served in the 40th Division on the Western Front. It was formed in Newport and may well have been my grandfather's brigade.)

Unbroken Review

A shorter version of this review also appears in the February ET

Many readers will be aware of the book War and grace by Don Stephens, a collection of short biographies of Christians from the two world wars, that was published in 2005 and again, in a new edition, last year.

The first story in that book concerns an American of Italian extraction called Louis Zamperini. The new edition reveals that he died on July 2, 2014 and mentions the 2010 biography Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and the then forthcoming film of the same name, directed by Angelina Jolie. This film has now appeared, going on general release in British cinemas on Boxing Day, 2014.

We are always looking for ways to introduce Christ to our unbelieving neighbours and so the fact that a biopic about a Christian has appeared is good news. Sadly, the film, unlike the book that it is drawn from, chooses very much to downplay the fact that Zamperini became a Christian after the war and spent much of his life talking about Christ and the forgiveness that can be found only in him.

In his book, Don Stephens prefaces his life of Zamperini with seven summarising bullet points. The first five of these are well covered in the film.

The three middle points are covered the most extensively – An Air force bomb aimer, decorated for gallantry in action; a survivor of 47 days adrift on a life raft; an ill-treated prisoner of war of the Japanese for two and a half years. The bulk of the film looks at these periods, most of the time being devoted to his harrowing years as a POW when a man known as 'The bird' did all that he possibly could to 'break' his prisoner. Much of this, which includes a great deal of senseless violence, does not make pleasant viewing. Hence the '15' certificate. If you do see this film, be prepared for that. Zamperini had recurring nightmares after his experiences, until he came to Christ. One can imagine some people having nightmares after watching this presentation.

The first two bullet points (a juvenile delinquent in California and an Olympic runner at the Berlin Games of 1936) are covered in the film by means of flashbacks that bring out his Italian background, the racism he suffered, his delinquency and the way his older brother eventually steered him in a better direction by means of sport, leading to some success at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

As for Stephens' final two bullet points – a drunkard who almost wrecked his marriage and a Christian – these are almost entirely ignored. The main film ends when the war ends and just a few subsequent points are covered in a brief epilogue, where written material is combined with contemporary stills to fill in the rest of the story.

All this means that the only real Christian elements in the film itself are a snatch from a sermon by a Roman clergyman when Zamperini was a boy (blurring the fact that he later rejected Catholicism for the gospel), his prayer in the life raft that he would dedicate his life to God if he survived and some conversations about God with his fellow survivor Russell Phillips.

It is hard to understand why the film makers were not keener to depict the moment when Zamperini returned to Japan after the war in 1950 and, having preached to his former guards, warmly shook them by the hand and expressed his forgiveness. They chose not to do it this way, however.

That still leaves us with an opportunity to take advantage of the brief spotlight on Zamperini to draw attention to him and his Saviour by means of Don Stephens' book or other materials that do highlight his conversion and Christian life.

One other point to make, if it is not too esoteric, is that if you watch the film carefully you will notice that sometimes Zamperini is framed in an iconically Christ-like way. Further, near the end we see him symbolically crucified, symbolically dead, symbolically raised and this is followed by a symbolic pouring out of the Spirit and a mass baptism. Some have also detected his representative character, his temptation by Satan and his final ascension too. These elements may be helpful or unhelpful in the long run but are worth keeping in mind.

10 Famous Ambulance Drivers of WW1

Walt Disney Publlic Domain(notice the cartoon he has drawn on his ambulance)

1. E E Cummings (writer) - volunteer Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps

2. Jerome K Jerome (writer) - French Army ambulance driver

3. W Somerset Maugham (writer) - volunteer British Red Cross ambulance corps

4. Maurice Ravel (composer) - volunteer ambulance driver or truck driver

5. Ralph Vaughan Williams (composer) - Royal Army Medical Corps

6. Jean Cocteau (dramatist and filmmaker )

7. Stafford Cripps (politician)

8. Walt Disney (Animator and film producer) - volunteer American Red Cross, but served after the armistice ending WWI was signed.

9. Ernest Hemingway (writer)  - volunteer American Field Service

10. John Masefield (writer) - served as hospital orderly in British hospital for French soldiers in France

Paxman and Stan Cohen

The fourth and final programme on the Great War fronted by Jeremy Paxman sustained the interest to the end. Perhaps the most interesting section was the second where Paxman spoke to someone about  aplastic surgeon called Harry Gillies. They mentioned a man called Stan Cohen who you can read about here. They say he taught a Sunday School in Bromley. Children were curious but not horrified by his appearance. I wonder if he was a believer.

Paxman spot on again

The second in the series on BBC1 on the Great War was very good once again. It included a section on the Battle of the Somme, which my paternal grandfather fought in as a conscript and survived. My wife's maternal grandfather was a conscientious objector and there was plenty on that too. The most moving moment was when Paxo read a letter from a Tynesider John Scollen to his family before battle. It went something like this:

My dear wife and children it is with regret I write ... last words of farewell to you, we are about to attack those awful Germans, if it is Gods holy will that I should fall I shall have done my duty to my King and Country and ... hope justly in the sight of God it is hard to part from you but keep good heart Dear Tina and do not grieve for me for God and his Blessed Mother will watch over you and my bonny little children and I have not the doubt but that my country will help you ... for the sake of one of its soldiers ... Well Dear Wife Tina ... you have been a good wife and mother to look after my canny bairns and I'm sure they will be a credit to both of us. Dearest Wife Christina accept this little souviner of France a cross made from a French bullet which I enclose to you. My Joe, Jack,Tina, and Aggie not forgetting my bonny little twins Nora and Hugh and my last flower baby whom I have only had the pleasure of seeing once since he came into the world God bless them ... Now my Dear Wife and children I have not anything more to say only to wish you all God's Holy Grace and Blessing so Good Bye ... and think of me in your prayers I know ... hard for you to recieve but God's will be done. From your faithful soldier husband and Father John Scollen

Britain's Great War

We watched the first of four episodes of Jeremy Paxman's series for BBC 1 on the First World War last night. It was pretty good. I had not realised that Britain was actually invaded in that period with over a hundred dying on the north east coast. My grandfather was a conscript who was at the Somme so I have always been aware of the war but not well informed about it really. Eleri's grandfather was a conscientious objector. More here.

1 in 70 million

With the death of Claude Stanley Choules in Perth, Australia, at the age of 110, it seems that the last known combat veteran of the First World War has died. An interesting statistic is being bandied about - that this man was the last known survivor of "the more than 70 million" military personnel mobilised globally during the First World War. My grandfather William Brady (above) was one of the 70 million who fought. I believe he wa at the Somme.

Grandad's Swastika

Some while back (2007) I referred to the fact that my grandfather always wore a swastika - not because he was a Nazi, quite the opposite. It was the insignia of his regiment in World War I. Here now is the evidence to go with the statement made back here. He is seen with Uncle Fred in the picture (not quite sure who he was).

Visiting Dad 13

So here I am in South Wales yet again taking advantage of my sister-in-law's hospitality. I've been to see my dad again. He was rather sleepy and difficult to communicate with, though there were lucid moments. We read and prayed again. I asked him what he meant when he asked me to do it serious when praying last time. He said he meant really deep. I am supposing he means really getting through. That is the way to pray.

Before driving down I was in our solicitors' plush offices in Clerkenwell on Evangelical Library business. We're inching forward. Before that, I was back at LTS for a meeting about the mentoring scheme. First thing I had gone with Eleri to Brent Cross for a cuppa as part of the celebrations for her birthday.

 

Dear Eleri,

She's just extraordinary,

My love for her will never vary.

 

Wednesday had been a day of preparation with the prayer meeting in the evening. Monday and Tuesday, of course, were conference days. Somewhere amidst all this I am preparing two sermons for Sunday and trying to read Calvin's sermons on Acts for a discussion group coming up.

Back here Glyn and Fflur's other house guest is a former lodger from Australia who is studying an aspect of the Battle of the Somme. My dad always told me that my grand-dad was at the Somme but I wonder if it was really the battle itself, going on what else I now know. Must look into it all one day. I've also been reading a book on myths of WW1 including the crucified Canadian.

Swastika

We had an interesting after church update on work amongst Asians in West London last night from our friends Robin and Muno Asgher. He also spoke a little about Hinduism and mentioned the swastika as one of Hinduism's symbols. Thanks to the Nazi party most people have forgotten the history of this symbol. As a boy I remember that my grandfather had a swastika on his watch fob (he always wore a waistcoat with his watch in a pocket). My instinct was to think it was German war memorabilia but in fact it was the symbol of his regiment in the Great War. That might seem strange but what about this 1921 quote from Robert Baden-Powell?

" ... as you know from the account of the Swastika Thanks Badge which I have given to you in Scouting for Boys, the symbol was used in almost every part of the world in ancient days and therefore has various meanings given to it.
"Anyway, what ever the origin was, the Swastika now stands for the badge of fellowship among Scouts all over the world, and when anyone has done a kindness to a Scout it is their privilege to present him or her with this token of their gratitude, which makes him a sort of member of the Brotherhood, and entitles him to the help of any other Scout at any time and at any place.
"I want specially to remind Scouts to keep their eyes open and never fail to spot anyone wearing this badge. It is their duty then to go up to such a person, make the scout sign, and ask if they can be of service to the wearer."

See this fascinating page here. Also see a good article here.

The Somme

This week is the 91st anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. I believe that my grandfather, William Brady, fought in that momentous battle, which few survived. He was from Newport. He was conscripted not a volunteer. He was in the lifeguards.