Epiphany – Five Reflections from a Lifetime
Bishop Paul Barnett spoke at the Mere Anglicanism Conference in Charleston, South Carolina this morning.
He’s posted his fascinating and encouraging talk on his blog. Even without the accompanying slides, this is worth reading and passing on.
Greco-Roman Slavery
“Many modern readers assume that slavery in the New Testament is equivalent to the race-based slavery of the African slave trade. While not defending the Greco-Roman institution of slavery, Tim Keller and Don Carson explain why it’s important not to equate it with the race-based slavery that we may be more familiar with. …”
– Andy Naselli summarises some important facts.
Amazing Grace — a hymn for the New Year (1773!)
John Newton wrote his most famous hymn, Amazing Grace, 240 years ago.
Over at The John Newton Project, you can read his original words, as well as extracts from his diary for 1st January 1773. He wrote the hymn to accompany his sermon on 1 Chronicles 17. See the video (2:18) here.
Luke’s Acts as a Historical Source for Paul
“The Acts of the Apostles is critical to historians for establishing (a) the connection between Jesus and earliest Christianity, and (b) a chronology of the life of Paul and its relationship with his letters. In this brief paper we will direct our attention to (b). …”
– Bishop Paul Barnett explores New Testament historicity – at his blog.
How evil was Herod the Great?
“Tony Reinke has a helpful podcast interview with Dr. [Paul] Maier about the paranoid tyrant who ended up killing three of his sons on suspicion of treason, putting to death his favorite wife (of his ten wives!), killing one of his mothers-in-law, drowning a high priest, and killing several uncles and a couple of cousins.
They also talk about Herod’s plot to kill a stadium of Jewish leaders, and whether there are any doubts in Dr. Maier’s mind about the historicity of the slaughter of the innocent male children recorded only in Matthew 2 — and why there isn’t any collaborating evidence in the historical record.”
– Justin Taylor draws attention to an illuminating interview. In addition, John Piper speaks about his Hope for the Hurting This Christmas video.
Jesus’ ‘wife’ found dead!
“On September 18, the news broke of a small fragment of papyrus purporting to record words of Jesus. It contained the striking phrase, ‘Jesus said to them, “My wife …”‘ and then the text breaks off at the right hand margin. …
However, after nearly a month of scrutiny by scholars on the blogosphere, it appears that the fragment is almost certainly a fake. Here’s how that came to light …”
– Peter Williams from Tyndale House, Cambridge, summarises where things stand concerning this alleged ‘Gospel’ – at Evangelicals Now.
After Darkness… Light
A six minute video from John Piper for Reformation Day (October 31st). It’s a brief look at the legacy of John Calvin – as well as a reminder of the aims of Desiring God.
The Power of overlooking an Offense
“In her masterful biography of Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin records an interesting story in the mid-1850’s, when Lincoln was in the middle of his career in law. The story shines light on Lincoln’s ability to overlook major personal offenses. …”
– Trevin Wax gives an illustration with wide contemporary application. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Did we get Jesus right? Jesus in the Canonical and Apocryphal Gospels
Another lecture given at The Lanier Theological Library in Houston has been released. It’s Dr Simon Gathercole (Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University) on “Did we get Jesus right? Jesus in the Canonical and Apocryphal Gospels.”
He looks at the message of the four Gospels, and then compares them with the later Apocryphal ‘Gospels’.
The talk runs for 49 minutes, followed by two responses and then questions. Worth watching and sharing, and a good answer to notions arising from The Da Vinci Code and similar.
Related: Dr Peter Williams, New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts. (Vimeo)
The Man on the $20 note
“The John Flynn episode of ABC’s Compass … was on ABC Television 1’s Compass last Sunday night…”
– Gary Ware at Mount Gambier Presbyterian Church draws attention to this (somewhat secular) account of Presbyterian Missioner John Flynn. Good to learn a bit of history on the centenary of the founding of the Australian Inland Mission. Image: ABC TV.
Jim Elliot’s little-known brother
Justin Taylor draws attention to this powerful message from Randy Alcorn about Jim Elliot’s younger brother Bert, who went home to the Lord in February.
350th Anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer
Bishop Paul Barnett give thanks for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and points out three characteristics –
1. The BCP expresses a faith that is ‘catholic’.
2. The BCP expresses a faith that is ‘reformed’.
3. The BCP expresses a faith that is defended liturgically.
He goes on to comment on some recent trends –
“Post-modernism puts emphasis on the individual and evangelicals tend to be robust individuals. Many depart from the principle of commonality and uniformity and design their own services away from BCP. There is one Bible reading (or even none); there is no creed (or just occasionally); there is no calendar and no collects.
For them preaching the preacher is the all-important thing. The loss of liturgy means that the voice of the congregation is substantially silenced. Leaving only a single voice of the leader or preacher.
The preacher has replaced the liturgy as the defender of true doctrine…”
Preserving the Gospel in the Seminary
in March last year, Albert Mohler (President of Southern Baptist Seminary) and Peter Lillback (President of Westminster Seminary) spoke about the history of their seminaries. It’s a good reminder of what needs to be preserved. From ‘Christ the Center’. (Audio & video here, or on YouTube – via Justin Taylor.)
Adoniram Judson biography — free eBook
Originally an address to pastors, John Piper’s biography of Adoniram Judson, pioneer missionary to Burma, is now available in a short e-book from Desiring God.
The evangelistic strategy of the Book of Common Prayer
Lee Gatiss writes:
“It’s not entirely a Puritan thing. But it is very much a seventeenth century thing. Last week I gave a talk to a bunch of Anglicans at a clergy conference all about the evangelistic strategy of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.” – Download the audio file from Meet the Puritans.
Mentioned in the talk: An English Prayer Book – free resource from Church Society.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…