Westminster Conference Papers 2022 Print Version Out

The printed version of the six papers given last September on Oxford Street are now available in print form. The death of Michael Toogood earlier this year means that for the first time in along time we did not have his help o this volume.

Westminster Conference 2022 Day Two

The one about the two Scotsmen

If you compare two days, inevitably one will be superior to the other and our second day, for various reasons, was not quite up to our first one. We began with Ian Hamilton, now based in Inverness, who spoke on Protestantism and Tradition. This was a useful and helpful paper, though in danger of rambling at times, I felt. (The anti-Baptist barbs were less of a problem.)

He ended with four conclusions

1. We should give serious thought to the way the church has worshipped down the ages

2. We should never unthinkingly receive church tradtions no matter how godly those we receive them from

3. We need to understand what Sola Scriptura means. It is not Scripture without tradition but tradition always in the light of Scripture.

4. We should practice Calvin's maxim about letting love be our guide. (This is from Calvin's Institutes where he encourages a dynamic approach to worship and gives wise advice on how to determine fitting changes. "... because these things are not necessary to salvation, and for the upbuilding of the church ought to be variously accommodated to the customs of each nation and age, it will be fitting ... to change and abrogate traditional practices and to establish new ones. Indeed, I admit that we ought not to charge into innovation rashly, suddenly, for insufficient cause. But love will best judge what may hurt or edify; and if we let love be our guide, all will be safe" (4.10.30).

In the afternoon we had another Scotsman, this time Alistair Wilson from Edinburgh on David Livingstone (1813-1873) who will have been dead 150 years come next May. This was a thoroughly researched and well presented paper using powerpoint that looked at three questions about Livingstone

• Was he really a ‘missionary’?
• Did he support and enable imperialism?
• Did he act inappropriately towards his wife and family, towards his colleagues, and towards the people of Africa?

Dr Wilson's were nuanced but sympathetic to Livingstone without hagiography. He certainly began as a missionary and even his years as an explorer were with future missionary work in mind. This paper will be well worth reading when it is published. It seemed to me that Livingstone was a typical pioneer with all his good and bad points.

We had decent discussions following both papers. The final paper is not discussed. This time round it was on Guillaume Farel and should have been given by Stephane Simonnin but he had covid and so Jeremy Walker read his paper. Farel is a lesser known Reformer and it was good to hear his story.

So pretty good stuff all round. Numbers were slightly down but not by much. We are a little on the old side but we are trying to address that. Next year, it was announced, the papers will be on Matthew Poole, Eric Liddell, Theodore Beza, Thomas Aquinas and the Puritans on original sin and Edwards on the History of Redemption.

Banner Lite 2020

As the usual Banner Conference was not possible this year, Banner very kindly sent us all a box of books and organised a series of messages on All Things for Good. Ian Hamilton, a very familiar face, kicked us off in an obvious place, Romans 8:28. He was followed by someone unfamiliar to me, Hensworth Jonas, a Baptist in Antigua and Barbuda. he took us to Psalm 27:14 in a fresh Al Martin style that was helpful. We then had a book review of Thomas Watson's book on the conference subject. Ian was backed by a word map and I guess Hensworth was in his church - a slick production with camera angle changes and words appearing appropriately. Jeremy did the no, no, and had his library behind him. Not a problem for Banner types I guess but some may have been tempted to try and assess what he has (everything) and does not have.(nothing). The final session was good old Alistair Begg on lessons from the life of Joseph and Genesis 50:20, the Old Testament Romans 8:28. It was a relief to have a little bit of humour at certain points. The messages are all on the Banner site at YouTube. I enjoyed the music between sessions too, courtesy of YouTube I guess.

Banner of Truth Conference 2019 Final Session Ian Hamilton

The conference ended with a sermon from Ian Hamilton. A searching sermon on Watch and pray is worth listening to, which you can do here.

He quoted from John Owen (on mortification)

Bring thy lust to the gospel, not for relief, but for further conviction of its guilt; look on Him whom thou hast pierced, and be in bitterness. Say to thy soul, “What have I done? What love, what mercy what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this the return I make to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Ghost for his grace? Do I thus requite the Lord? Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, that the blessed Spirit has chosen to dwell in? And can I keep myself out of the dust? What can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How shall I hold up my head with any boldness before him? Do I account communion with him of so little value, that for this vile lust’s sake I have scarce left him any room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great a salvation? In the meantime, what shall I say to the Lord? Love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation… I have despised them all and esteemed them as a thing of nought, that I might harbour a lust in my heart. Have I obtained a view of God’s fatherly countenance, that I might behold his face and provoke him to his face? Was my soul washed, that room might be made for new defilements? Shall I endeavour to disappoint the end of the death of Christ? Shall I daily grieve that Spirit whereby I am sealed to the day of redemption?” Entertain thy conscience daily with this treaty. See if it can stand before this aggravation of its guilt. If this make it not sink in some measure and melt, I fear thy case is dangerous.

*

Next year's conference will be March 23-26 on communion with God. Speakers will include Conrad Mbewe (Lusaka, Zambia), Andrew Randall (pastor of Grace Church Larbert, an IPC congregation), Robert McCollum (minister of Dromore Presbyterian, an RP church and a professor in their college), Christopher Ash (writer in residence at Tyndale House, Cambridge) and Meirion Thomas (pastor of Malpas Road, Newport).

Westminster Conference 2016 Day Two

Day 2 lived up to the promise of Day 1 as even more gathered at the Regent Hall, Oxford Street for a further three sessions. We began with Ian Hamilton looking at the matter of the passivity of God, which has become  hot issue of late, especially in America. The paper was a very competent but hopefully lucid presentation. It was above all irenic and that is one of the things discussed later in one of the better discussion times this year.

I chaired the second session which was a tour de force from my father-in-law Geoff Thomas on evangelicalism since 1945. He spoke of movements (the charismatic movement, etc) and men (Stott, etc) and soon, finishing with 10 encouragements - i] Modern English is the first world language ii] Books iii] The world wide web iv] Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones v] The International scene vi] Pulpits in the UK vii] There are organisations viii] Creation convictions ix] Theological seminaries x] There is this conference.
The closing paper, which is traditionally a biographical paper without discussion, was this year on J C Ryle and was given by Iain Murray, Mr Murray has a whole book on his subject and so he chiefly sought to create an interest in the man, defending him at certain points (on the atonement and as an Anglican for example).
So a very good conference. We plan to meet again next year on December 5 and 6, 2017.

Westminster Conference 2017

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John Owen Centre Annual Conference 2015 Day 1

It was good to at the John Owen Centre today for the first of two days on Putting Theology into Practice. There were three speakers.

Colin Burcombe from Northern Ireland took us helpfully to Genesis 26 and the Patriarch Isaac as an example of a man of principle attracted to pragmatism who makes a principled withdrawal and a return to first principles.

Two nice quotations:

“The promise given to Isaac was searching; to refuse the immediate plenty of Egypt for mostly unseen and distant blessings demanded the kind of faith praise in Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10 and proved Isaac a true son of his father, even though, like Abraham, he was to mar his obedience at once.” (Kidner)

". . . this account of Isaac's dealings with the Philistines portrays Isaac as very much walking in his father's footsteps. He receives similar promises, faces similar tests, fails similarly, but eventually triumphs in like fashion. Indeed, in certain respects he is given more in the promises and achieves more. He is promised 'all these lands [v. 4],' and by the end of the story he is securely settled in Beersheba and has a treaty with the Philistines in which they acknowledge his superiority." (Wenham)

Then came another speaker new to me Alistair Wilson from Scotland who looked at the Apostle Paul, looking mostly at 1 Corinthians and seeking to articulate where Paul was driven by principle and where he was pragmatic. As before, good discussion followed.

The final paper by Ian Hamilton (currently in Cambridge but set to return to Scotland next year) was more anecdotal, reflecting on the Church of Scotland and other developments in church history. He closed by saying

1. God's Word is not a systematic theology

2. Godly men have differed down the years

3. Principled pragmatists have often had a high view of the church

4.  Always think the best of others

Some more quotations:

"... quietness and patience and persuasion are no less Christian virtues than is the heroic sacrifice of stipends on high principle." (Owen Chadwick)

“Among the chief evils of our time is that the churches are so divided, that human fellowship is scarcely now in any repute among us. Thus it is that [as] the members of the church [are] being severed, the body lies bleeding. If I could be of any service, I would not grudge to cross even ten seas on account of it.” (Calvin to Cranmer)

Some of us LTS alumni had a nice get together with the Principal and a short time of prayer after the day's proceedings.

Ian Hamilton on Faith

I picked up Ian Hamilton's little book The faith shaped life at the Banner. I think I mentioned recently that I like to read books by people I know. I had mistakenly thought it was a series of studies on faith but it is, in fact, a collection of 43 "pastoral letters" written over the years. (I think you can find them on his church's website - here). I'm not sure why the book lacks a little foreword explaining this. It is an important part of the pastor's duties in some traditions (Ian would be very much a Willie Still man, a selection of whose letters was published by Banner some years ago). My old pastor used to do it. Anyway, this book is a fine read. There are rare repetitions but lots of good quotations and sensible points in brief compass.

Paul Yeulett inducted at Grove

It was good to be at Grove Chapel in Camberwell last Saturday for the induction of Paul Yeulett to the pastorate there. The place was pretty packed with family and friends and well wishers. I liked the service which included Paul and his wife joining the church as members first. I thought he could have kneeled for the laying of hands but it was all very dignified and helpful. He was also required to sign that he would uphold the church's doctrinal standard the shorter catechism (I guess that was chosen over the confession as it is an independent church in government). Paul was previously in Shrewsbury and was a school teacher for 11 years before that in the north east at Emmanuel School. Ian Hamilton preached briefly from the end of Romans 11 and into Chapter 12. There was a massive spread to follow.  It is good to know that Grove have found a new minister after several years without. Let's pray for blessing on them. Their illustrious past guarantees nothing but faithfulness to God means a lot.

Noah Conference at the John Owen Centre

I haven't been able to report until now on the John Owen Centre conference on Noah, partly because I have been suffering with toothache (I actually missed Stephen Clark's Lloyd-Jones lecture on Noah and the future on the Monday night, though I hear it was good).

On day one we had Steffen Jenkins and Garry Williams looking at Noah in a biblical theological way. Steffen simply looked at the text in Genesis 6-9 and spoke of the context in Genesis 1-5, the ruin of creation while God remained steadfast in purpose (6:1-8), Noah the new Adam and Noah's new world the global foundation of all future salvation. Garry looked at the Noahic Covenant dissenting from VanDrunen (see elsewhere on this blog) and arguing that it is redemptive.

On day two we had Ian Hamilton on the faith of Noah, Mark Garcia in America (by the wonders of modern technology) on Noah, the church and the sacraments (on ravens, doves and rainbows) and Geoff Gobbett on Noah the preacher for preachers.

It was all very interesting and stimulating. I'm sure most of us are not as well thougt through as we ought to be on Noah and his covenant. Steffen Jenkins (a new name to me) was perhaps the most stimulating with his very thorough exegesis of the Scriptures in Genesis regarding Noah. Garry Williams and Mark Garcia were also very interesting. The conference as whole was a blessing and the discussion of a good standard. Around fifty were there. The recordings are worth looking out for.

Here are some quotations that struck me

Steffen Jenkins quoted Gordon Wenham saying "The call of Abraham is the answer to the problems of the world" (See Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey)

Ian Hamilton quoted Bavinck saying, in his Dogmatics (III) “common grace and special grace…flow in a single channel” and Calvin on Romans 4:20 " Let us also remember, that the condition of us all is the same with that of Abraham. All things around us are in opposition to the promises of God: He promises immortality; we are surrounded with mortality and corruption: He declares that he counts us just; we are covered with sins: He testifies that he is propitious and kind to us; outward judgements threaten his wrath. What then is to be done? We must with closed eyes pass by ourselves and all things connected with us, that nothing may hinder or prevent us from believing that God is true."

Geoff Gobbett quoted George Orwell (in the novel 1984) "In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." and Boris Johnson writing several years ago in response to a horrible crime

"Bourgeois Britain is going through a bit of a panic about the role of God in society, largely fuelled by nervousness of Islam. Attacks are made on faith schools, or on BA staff who wear the cross, and the idea seems to be that we can only voice reservations about one religion if we bash them all impartially.

That is why Richard Dawkins is having such a soaraway success with an atheist tract called The God Delusion, ...

Alert readers of this column will know that my own faith is a very feeble tinsel object. I sometimes think there might be some kind of celestial radio signal, but it is about as intelligible as Radio Tirana. ... My only thought, as I stare at the faces of Carty and Brown, is that, if we throw out religion, then we lose a useful tool in changing lives. You and I lead comfortable existences, full of pleasure and interest, and generally so heavily regulated that we do not face that many moral challenges. We may feel that we do not have much of a spiritual void to fill.

But look at these creeps, the shambles of "sperm fathers" and gang warfare and violence. It's not so much that they have been deprived of love, but that they have been deprived of authority of any kind, and our feminised paedophile-obsessed culture means there is less and less chance that they will find a male role model in the classroom.

However ludicrous it may seem, religion sets boundaries; it suggests to bad and loveless people that they are loved. It provides a framework.

Of course it would be nice if Carty and Brown were not recruited to some militant Islamic group; it would be nice if they turned to the good old milquetoast Church of England. But it doesn't really matter. We can't just string these people up. We can't flog them. We are forced to incarcerate and hope for the best.

Before we go all the way with Dawkins and chuck out religion, we should look at the savage and remorseless faces of Carty and Brown, and reflect that, if we are to have any hope of changing them for the better, then God is a useful card for society to keep up its sleeve." (See article here)

Noah Conference

Hoping to be at the Noah Conference at the John Owen Centre Monday and Tuesday. More here. A little bird told me one of the sessions will be on Skype.

In Writing 122

The latest edition of the Evangelical Library organ In Writing is now out. it goes free to all Library members. The main item is Ian Hamilton's piece on Old Princeton from last June. See here for the Library website .

Speaking at Historic Venues

On Saturday there was another opportunity to preach in Trafalgar Square with Biblical Gospel Ministries. I preached alongside several others on John 3:16. The opportunity to pass on TBS Bibles and to witness was a blessing. A Christian worker I know happened to be passing through the square and she stopped to listen, which was nice. I have had that sort of thing happen before. Slightly surreal.

Then yesterday (Monday) I was speaking again on 1662, this time in Cambridge for PTS. The meeting took place in the Round Church, which I was told is the second oldest building in the city. We were only around 20 or so but I knew some of those present (Gearoid Marley of PTS, William Wilson from Norwich and someone I was in CU with all those years ago in Aber. Her husband chaired and had taken the trouble to look in here to have some material for introduction purposes). Beforehand I was able to meet up with a girl from the church here who is studying at Clare College who kindly showed me round before heading to a lecture on Old English riddles (We enjoyed seeing the portrait of Hugh Latimer in the Great Hall). I was also able to meet up with Ian Hamilton, minsiter of CPC, who would have been in the meeting but who was speaking that same night to the Chinese Fellowship. 

Last Week 2 Evangelical Library

On Monday evening it was my great privilege to be at the Evangelical Library to hear Ian Hamilton speaking on the theology of Old Princeton. It was an excellent lecture, popular in the best sense and gave a real flavour of the stature of the Princeton giants - Hodge, Warfield, Alexander, etc. The only disappointment was the relatively poor turn out, which as more like twenty than the forty we might have expected. This was probably due to the lecture being given in July rather than the June date it normally gets. I'm sure I also over-estimate the familiarity of the Christian public with these things and in the publicity I should have put a bigger emphasis on the fact that this is a bi-centennial year for Princeton and the fact that it was until 1929 the home of Reformed theology. The recording can be obtained from the Library and will hopefully appear in print form in due time.   

Old Princeton

Just a reminder that this year's Annual Lecture of the Evangelical Library is othis Monday (02 July 2012) at 6:30 pm in the Library when Ian Hamilton of Cambridge Presbyterian church will be speaking on "Old Princeton and its Theology". Be there or be square.

God is at work always

I came across this encouraging piece the other day from 2005 by Ian Hamilton and found on the Banner website.

It is only too easy for Christians to become daunted and deeply pessimistic. The world we live in is a dark, and presently an ever-darkening, place. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is increasingly and publicly mocked and marginalized throughout society, particularly in the media. Our Government passes legislation that defies the living God. Our churches, most of them, are small and struggling. Evangelical Christianity is awash with theological and moral compromise. You might well be forgiven for thinking, 'Is it any wonder believers are daunted and deeply pessimistic?'


Do we have any reason, however, for being downbeat and discouraged? Allow me to remind you of our Lord's words in John 5:17, "My Father is always working." Always! Not occasionally. Not much of the time. But all of the time. Our God is never indolent, never merely watching the world's progress from the sidelines. He is always at work; and if he is always at work, how can we ever be daunted and discouraged? I know that some who read this letter will be going through sore trials. Others will have legacies of deep disappointments. Some will be in churches where little if any apparent progress has been seen for years. And yet, "My Father is always working."

It is true that our God's working is not always, or even often, obvious. "He hides himself so wondrously, as if there were no God: He is least seen when all the powers of ill are most abroad." Nonetheless, he is always at work, fulfilling his sure, sovereign, blessed purposes. He is never idle. His working is never frantic or uncertain, but always calm, deliberate and perfectly purposeful: "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him" (Psalm 115:3).

If nothing else, this great truth should inspire at least two things in our lives: First, we should never lose heart. Our God is working and nothing and no one can stand against him. History, with all its dark uncertainties and apparently uncontrolled wickedness, is overseen and punctuated by the Sovereign God who works. This is not an excuse for us to sit back and smirk at our circumstances. But it is a wonderful encouragement for Christians not to lose heart, not to become daunted and disappointed. God is at work, always. Secondly, we are encouraged to live by faith and not by sight. What is faith? At heart it is trusting God for who he is, believing his word, whatever it says. Faith says, "I believe God." So, when we read, "My Father is always working," however downbeat and seemingly bleak our circumstances, we believe God's word.

I have little doubt that it often pleases the Lord to withhold the obvious evidences of his working in order to teach us the grace of faith. This truth is put starkly and remarkably in Isaiah 50:10, "Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God." But faith is more than trusting reposefully in God, it is believing that God is able to accomplish whatsoever he pleases. Because our God is an ever-working God, whose power is limitless and unconquerable, there is no saying what he may well be pleased to accomplish. "You do not have because you do not ask!" God's sovereign working is not an excuse for us to sit back and drift with whatever tide comes our way. No, a thousand times no. Does the Lord himself not tell us that his Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? (Luke 11:13). Faith lays hold of the God who always works, pleads his promises, the glory of his Son and the saving of his people.

"My Father is always working." Are these not wonderfully encouraging words? Do they not pierce our gloom and despondency? The Lord will not lose one of his own. He will present his church to himself as a spotless, perfect bride, not one missing. Take heart. The God who is for us in Christ and who rules the heavens and the earth is always working.

Ian Hamilton

Pastor Cambridge Presbyterian Church

revianhamilton@ntlworld.com

JOC Calvin 05

On the second day the first paper was given by Ian Hamilton from Cambridge. His subject was Calvin the Reformer. The focus was to be on reform apart from the work in Geneva. Ian began by warning us against idealising or even idolising the man. There were plenty of faults. Nevertheless he was the Reformer of his age. In looking at his work it is important to remember certain factors always in the background - the precarious political situation of war and rumour of war; internecine strife in the Reformed world and his own constant ill health. Often the cause of Christ, humanly speaking, hung by a thread. He was a colossus but this was not always obvious at the time. He was constantly under great pressure.

Calvin it seems had no great strategy but in the providence of God he took up as many opportunities as he could. He pursued Protestant unity until it exhausted him. He had a concern not just for Geneva and France but for all of Europe and the whole world.
“In short, while my one great object was to live in seclusion without being known, God so led me about through different turnings and changes that he never permitted me to rest in any place, until in spite of my natural disposition, he brought me forth to public notice.” What drove Calvin as a reformer was these five things
1. The spiritual dynamic that captivated him - he was not his own.
It comes out in his willingness to return to Geneva and in so many other ways. This created an atmosphere of gospel credibility about him and so he was able to achieve great things.
2. The way he was animated by the desire to recover the truth of justification and other Christian truths.
His desire for reformation was very great. He had an unremitting zeal for the pure worship of God.
3. The passion for unity that pervades all that he does.
To Cranmer he wrote "This other thing also is to be ranked among the chief evils of our time, viz., that the Churches are so divided, that human fellowship is scarcely now in any repute amongst us, far less that Christian intercourse which all make a profession of, but few sincerely practice ... Thus it is that the members of the Church being severed, the body lies bleeding. So much does this concern me, that, could I be of any service, I would not grudge to cross even ten seas, if need were, on account of it .... Now, seeing that a serious and properly adjusted agreement between men of learning upon the rule of Scripture is still a desideratum, by means of which Churches, though divided on other questions, might be made to unite, I think it right for me, at whatever cost of toil and trouble, to seek to obtain this object." It is this desire that lays behind his attempts to find unity on the communion question. Perhaps he was naive to think that others longed for unity as much as he did. He showed great wisdom and moderation as a reformer recognising how slow people can be to change. Nevertheless, he was quite clearly opposed to the Nicodemites, which shows that he was more concerned with what honoured God rather than simply what might promote reformation. "If we let love be our guide, all will be safe" he says in Book 4 of The Institutes regarding the matter of kneeling. This is typical of his attitude. There is such a thing as godly ecumenism.
4. He felt compelled to seek reformation beyond Geneva.
Geneva became a school of missions and many went out to take the gospel, especially in France. These men often went to their death but they had a tremendous impact despite severe opposition. Millions were converted.
5. His drive for a well educated ministry meant a doctrinally well taught church
Calvin produced around a hundred thousand pages of print every year. There was a vast amount of other literature that went out too.
There was no time to consider the Geneva Psalter or Calvin's letters as desired.
Discussion followed mainly on the matter of unity - the surprising burden of the message.

Banner of Truth 2008

[Pics: Andrew King; Keith Hoare; Graham John talking with Keith Hoare adn Jeremy Walker with Ani Ekpo from Nigeria]

So the Banner was a great time as ever with that excellent balance of Calvinistic methodism or experiential Calvinism that is its strength. Perhaps it was more weighted to the experimental this time but we are celebrating Calvin next year and may be that will be more the other way. Gwynn Williams kicked us off with a carefully crafted and very methodist reminder of the need for the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. Gwynn later introduced John Aaron's long evening paper introducing the massive 2 volume 1600 page Tadau Methodistiaid which he has now translated and that Banner will be publishing this summer. Two things struck me about this. Firstly, I am familiar with the phrase 'Wales the land of revivals' but I had not really appreciated this as a simple fact of history (1735-1850) rather than anything else. Secondly, a sketch of this history explained how Dr Lloyd-Jones could be so disappointed with what he knew in his day. From a high point of 53% of the population attending evangelical churches in 1851 to the present point where only 2% attend any church at all is a roller coaster story of gain and loss. For any believer this is of interest. For a Welshman it is particularly poignant.

The main speakers at the conference were Joel Beeke (on preaching Christ), Stuart Olyott and Ian Hamilton (Cambridge). All had useful things to say. I like Stuart Olyott's clear cut, no nonsense style in particular. He spoke about pastoral ministry and on training up young men and gave the closing sermon on 'the message we always need to hear' about forgiveness (1 John 1). Joel and Ian use a more difficult style but had good things to say.

We also had brief sessions of Spurgeon (from Jonathan Watson) and the matter of unction (from Andrew King). There was also a news session and a question and answer time, always quite stimulating, as are the late night chats with various groups of twos and threes and more. It's great to see old friends like Bernard Lewis, Alan Davey and Keith Hoare, fellow bloggers like Guy Davies and Martin Downes, my father-in-law, the other Welshmen, etc, etc.