The Father-in-law I never knew: Alec Simpson

“His epitaph could have been, ‘his deeds follow him ’ (Rev 14:13). Fifty-five years later Alexander Simpson’s deeds do follow him, ‘embodied’ in the older Brazilian believers converted through him and the younger ones converted through them.

Alec was forty when he died 1950 in Uberaba in the interior of Brazil having come there as a missionary from Scotland with his wife Janet in the late thirties. …”

– Bishop Paul Barnett shares this story about a life not wasted.

Dr Garry Williams on William Tyndale

Dr Garry Williams, Director of the John Owen Centre at London Theological Seminary, recently spoke at Ballymoney Baptist Church in Northern Ireland. His topic: “The Life and Death of William Tyndale: Loving God’s Word”.

The 49 minute (14MB mp3 file) talk gives an excellent insight into Tyndale’s passion to see God’s Word translated into English. Most encouraging. (via Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman.)

More from the Sydney Family Album

Over the last few weeks, more has been added to the ‘Sydney Family Album’ at Theological Theology –

Learn about William Cowper, and his son William Macquarie Cowper (guest posts by Peter Bolt), and Frederic Barker.

Illustrations of Compromise in Church History

Church Society has republished an important 1988 Churchman paper by D A Scales. He looks at –

The Arian Controversy, The Colloquy of Ratisbon of 1541, The Evangelical C of E bishops debate about sacerdotal vesture in 1912, the 1922 debate about Liberalism within the Church Missionary Society in Britain, and the ‘new evangelicalism’ at Keele, 1967.

If you don’t normally think much about Christian history, this would be a good article to read to be alerted to the ever-present danger of losing the gospel.

Download it here as a PDF file.

The Sydney Family Album — 2

“The Rev. Samuel Marsden, second Chaplain to the Colony of NSW, was born in Farsley, Yorkshire on 25 June 1765. He was brought up under a Methodist and Evangelical influence and came under the patronage of the evangelical Elland Society which provided for his education from Grammar School to Magdalene College, Cambridge University, the centre of Evangelical influence at the time.

He was appointed second Chaplain to the Colony of NSW, arriving in 1794 with the backing of the Rev. Charles Simeon, William Wilberforce and the Rev. John Newton…”

– in a guest post at Theological Theology, David Pettett reminds us about Samuel Marsden.

Churchman article on Bishop J C Ryle

“Well-wishers sent him an ornately embroidered cope and mitre, but he returned them, saying he ‘had no intention of making a guy of himself’, and another gift of a pastoral staff was graciously, but firmly declined: ‘No staff for me, if you send me a staff I shall lock it up in a cupboard and never see it again. A Bishop wants a Bible and no staff.’…”

– Church Society has republished Eric Russell’s 1999 Churchman article on Bishop J C Ryle. Available here as a PDF file.

Moore Bolt

“Peter Bolt, the brilliant Head of New Testament Studies at Moore College, has published again. It is fascinating the way he has followed the same trajectory as another great New Testament teacher at Moore, Donald Robinson (who would later become Archbishop of Sydney). Like Bishop Robinson, Peter has taught and published landmark works on the New Testament. His The Cross at a Distance: Atonement in Mark’s Gospel (Nottingham: IVP, 2004) comes to mind.

But lately he has added a new passion: study of the early colonial period in Sydney, and in particular the influential gospel men who laid the foundations of Australian evangelicalism…”

– Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology.

The Sarum Mass compared with the 1549 Prayer Book

Church Society has republished one of the old Church Association Tracts – this one comparing and contrasting the mediaeval Sarum mass and the 1549 Prayer Book.

“Compared with the Missal, the First Book was a highly Protestant production: yet it was, after all, ‘a compromise which satisfied nobody.’”

The 1549 Prayer Book (the First Prayer Book of Edward VI) is well recognised as an important step towards Cranmer’s enduring legacy in the much more reformed book of 1552.

Interested in learning more? The Tutorial Prayer Book by Neil and Willoughby – (reprints from various sources, including Book Depository, also second-hand – and online) – is worth a look.

47 years ago today

C. S. Lewis—one week shy of his 65th birthday—collapsed and died at 5:30 PM (GMT) at his residence at The Kilns, outside Oxford, England.

Two hours later, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX, pronounced dead at 1:21 PM (CST). He was only 46 years old.

Exactly six hours later, Aldous Huxley, the English writer and author of Brave New World, died at 5:21 PM (PST) in Los Angeles. He was 69.

– Justin Taylor reminds us of 23rd November 1963.

Heidelberg Conference on Reformed Theology audio

The 2010 Heidelberg Conference on Reformed Theology was held (in Heidelberg, of course) October 27–29.

Speakers were Derek Thomas, Carl Trueman, Jon Payne and Sebastian Heck.

The audio of the talks (and some video) is now available on their website.

Very helpful in thinking about what we do in church. h/t Thabiti Anyabwile.

The English Reformers on ministry and worship

“The English Reformers faced a formidable task when they began the work of revising the ideas of ministry and worship in the Church. …

In view of the fact that the Reformation is so often regarded as a purely political or social upheaval it is necessary to emphasise that it was essentially a movement inspired by the Bible.”

– Church Society has reprinted the 1992 Churchman article “The Teaching of the English Reformers on Ministry and Worship” by Edgar Dowse. It’s available here in PDF format.

Luther’s Stand

“Luther understood what was at stake.

He mentioned to a friend in advance, ‘Unless I am restrained by force or the emperor rescinds his invitation, I will enter Worms under the banner of Christ against the gates of hell…. I have had my Palm Sunday. Is all this pomp merely a temptation or is it also a sign of the passion to come?’

In just over 24 hours Luther would receive the answer to his question.”

– While this weekend is the anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses to the castle church door in 1517, it led to his crucial stand at the Diet of Worms in April 1521. Chris Castaldo has written a gripping account of the events.

(Chris serves at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. h/t Tim Challies.)

Carl Trueman on the 95 Theses — for Reformation Day

“This Sunday is Halloween. But more importantly, it’s Reformation Day—when the church celebrates and commemorates October 31, 1517.

It was on this day (a Saturday) that a 33-year-old theology professor at Wittenberg University walked over to the Castle Church in Wittenberg and nailed a paper of 95 theses to the door, hoping to spark an academic discussion about their contents. In God’s providence and unbeknownst to anyone else that day, it would become a key event in igniting the Reformation.”

– Justin Taylor asks Carl Trueman about Martin Luther’s 95 Theses – at Between Two Worlds.

Who is Arthur Bennett?

At Between Two Worlds, Tony Reinke shares his research on the author of the much loved collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, The Valley of Vision.

Richard Baxter’s account of the Restoration

“Not only was Baxter a major player, he was, like Pepys, also a meticulous and disciplined administrator and writer. He records many details from events he experienced first-hand, and his account includes a wealth of valuable documentation.”

– Lee Gatiss wrote this interesting article for Churchman in 2008. It’s just been published online by Church Society. (PDF file.)

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