Part Two Re-forming Reformed Evangelicalism. In the first article we surveyed some of the great heritage of English Christianity up until the death of Spurgeon. I also took notice of the burgeoning Liberalism of the 19th Century. The second article charted the progress of Liberal theology and the corresponding waning of the conservative cause until things picked up owing to the influence of Martyn Lloyd-Jones and others in the middle of the last century. Nevertheless, the muddy boots of the …
Category: Church History
PART ONE Evangelicalism’s Fall and Rise (The 20th Century) In the first article I provided a condensed overview of the aspects of English Church History which were salient to my goal. I zeroed in on those persons and developments that shaped the backdrop to the present Evangelical landscape. Naturally, I am aware that in the last 40 years or so the band of churchgoers who have taken possession of the name has become broader (though not deeper). This group (e.g. …
I stumbled across this series of three posts while looking for something else. They were originally written about 20 years ago. but I don’t think the situation has changed for the better since then. The Importance of the Past: Wycliffe to Spurgeon. As an expatriate Englishman I was been asked to outline the state of British Evangelicalism for readers of a Newsletter. I suppose I could just charge in headlong and hope that you would perceive where I’m coming from, …
Part Two This post will be the last set of recommendations for those whom one might call “beginning students.” I had said that I would do Church history and biography, but first let me say something about the apologists Francis Schaeffer and C. S. Lewis. Surveying some of the works of these men does not mean that I endorse everything about their methodology or substance, but the importance of their work speaks for itself. Francis Schaeffer wrote small but thoughtful …
Review of Martin Luther: A Spiritual Biography, by Herman Selderhuis, Wheaton; Crossway, 2017, 347 pages, hardback. Quite rightly, in view of the historical and spiritual importance of the Reformation, there have been a spate of books about Martin Luther; this year, and indeed this day, being the five hundredth anniversary of the event that sparked the movement into flame – the nailing of Luther’s 95 theses onto the church door at Wittenberg on October 31st, 1517. The author of the …
Part One 3. Allegorical Interpretation continued. But what we must keep in mind is that allegorical interpretation was not foreign to Jewish understanding of their Scriptures in the first century. Maier can say, “Jewish interpreters of the first century were convinced that the Holy Scriptures contained more than what the sensus literalis offered.” – Gerhard Maier, Biblical Hermeneutics, 68. Thus, we should not yield to the naïve temptation to think that the Jews held to single-sense literal hermeneutics. So what did …
This is a revision of a series I wrote some years back. The history of the interpretation of the Bible is a long and involved one. For many centuries some have approached the Scriptures supposing that they should be interpreted literally whenever possible. Others have believed that one ought to look deeper than the surface meaning to find its true spiritual center. Still others have believed that the Old and (to a lesser extent) the New Testament is opened up …
Dr Jim Gifford has just completed a terrific series called ‘Saint Augustine and Southern Baptists.’ The series title does not do justice to the usefulness of Gifford’s work. The posts and the discussions in the combox are very helpful for anyone interested in Augustine. You might not agree with all his insights, but you will appreciate Gifford’s demeanor and careful scholarship: Augustine and Southern Baptists: Introduction Augustine and Divine Omnipotence Augustine and Human Nature A Augustine and Human Nature B …
A Review of Augustine: A New Biography, by James J. O’Donnell, New York: HarperCollins, 2006, paperback, 396 + 15. This review is written to help those wanting to read a good book on Augustine who might be fooled by this bad one. The book has been on the market for 7 years, but since I endured reading it, I felt I should record my opinion of it here. Augustine is not one of my favorite theologians. Yes, he was brilliant …
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) America has produced many great minds; many men and women whose intellects have made them notables in the history books. One whose name shines as bright as any that could be named is Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was contemporary with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, but unlike them, he could not be called a child of the Enlightenment. He was a pastor of a medium sized Congregational church in New England, and one of the most remarkable things …
