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)
CMS Summer School 2013 registration
Registration for the NSW CMS Summer School is now open. Details here.
Myths about Christianity
On a recent episode of The White Horse Inn, Michael Horton interviewed History Professor Jeffrey Burton Russell on his new book, Exposing Myths about Christianity: A Guide to Answering 145 Viral Lies and Legends.
Worth listening to a historian’s perspective.
Garage Hymnal new EP launch
Garage Hymnal is launching their new EP, ‘Bird in a Winter Storm’ at 7:30 on Friday 9th November at St Barnabas’ Broadway.
‘XV: the Bible in 15’ — Bible overview app from Matthias Media
Matthias Media has released a free app for iOS 5.0 and later (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) –
“XV helps you do two things: zoom out and see the magnificence of the ‘big picture’ of the Bible’s story, and then zoom in to focus on the life-changing detail.
So you’ll start with a zoomed-out introductory overview of the story of the Bible in 15 stages, from creation through to new creation. This will give you a framework for the next phase of the using the app: zooming in to study the detail of God’s word – understanding it better because of your new sense of how it fits into the big story.
It’s a whirlwind tour of the big breathtaking picture of creation, the fall and the history of God’s dealings with Israel, the promise of restoration, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and what is still to come—the whole story, with all its ups and downs, and with the certainty of God’s promise shining through. …”
– Read more and download link.
There are also ‘in app’ purchases, but the free module, 25 words in 25 days, nicely complements the Bible Society’s 25 Words campaign. Worth checking out.
A book Packer thinks you should read three times
Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds quotes J. I. Packer writing about Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciples for the Christian Life –
“I can go on record as urging all Christians to read what Don Whitney has written; indeed, to read it three times over, with a month’s interval (certainly not less, and ideally, I think, not more) between each reading. This will not only make the book sink in, but will also give you a realistic picture of your seriousness, or lack of it, as Jesus’ disciple.
Your first reading will show you several particular things that you should start doing.
In your second and third readings (for each of which you should choose a date on the day you complete the previous reading) you shall find yourself reviewing what you have done and how you have fared in doing it. That will be very good for you, even if the discovery of it comes as a bit of a shock at first.”
God, sex and marriage — Christopher Ash
Christopher Ash (Director of PT Cornhill) spoke at the Moore College Centre for Christian Living two weeks ago. His topic was God, sex and marriage – what’s it all about?
Well worth hearing – 46 minute / 44MB mp3 file.
‘Why Pastors should flee the Ministry’
Read anything by Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389AD) lately? Keith Goad in Churchman (just posted on the web by Church Society) thinks there is good reason to do so –
“The purpose of this paper is to provide a vision of the pastorate from Gregory’s writing that will challenge pastors to reflect upon the gravity of their office and the responsibilities that are necessary to be faithful to the calling and the one who has called them. The end goal is not to have them flee the pastorate, though this will be tempting in light of Gregory’s vision, but to recognize their need for God’s grace to fulfill their duty and recommit themselves to the office and its high demands.”
– Read it here (PDF).
The minister’s Bible
Adrian Reynolds at the Proclamation Trust writes –
“We started a new series at church last Sunday evening … we read out a slightly modernised version of a prayer from the Valley of Vision. … Here’s the prayer. Good for every minister. Good for every Christian.
Discipling in the Church
The latest 9Marks Journal is out – and the theme is “Discipling in the Church”.
Lots of encouraging ideas. Get it here.
Best books on Preaching
Adrian Reynolds at The Proclamation Trust has been posting a series of brief thoughts on the books on preaching. He’s up to number 7 in his list –
“When The Trellis and the Vine came out, many of us thought ‘this is an excellent book, but where is preaching mentioned or championed?’ The answer was – if only we knew it – that we were waiting for volume 2. And it was worth the wait.”
His posts so far:
1. I Believe in Preaching by John Stott,
2. The Glory of Preaching by Darrell Johnson,
3. Expository Preaching by Haddon Robinson,
4. The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash,
5. Preaching and Biblical Theology by Ed Clowney,
6. Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd Jones,
7. The Archer and the Arrow by Phillip Jensen & Paul Grimmond.
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.
Free book — first draft of The Point of the Sword
Chris Green, Vice Principal of Oak Hill College in London, gave the Annual Moore College Lectures which concluded this morning. The theme of his lectures was – The Point of the Sword: Applying the Bible to applying the Bible.
He has kindly made available the text of his talks as a book-in-progress.
“I recently gave the Moore College lectures on applying the Bible. The aim is to finish writing them up and publish, but in the meantime here is the first draft, warts and all…”
You can download the 850kb Word file from Chris’ blog.
In addition, videos of his lectures as delivered are available here.
Are we together?
“R.C. Sproul has a long history of making a stand for truth. He has an equal history of standing firm against error, using his ministry platform to refute errors that are seeping into the Evangelical church. On several occasions he has reacted to those who have sought to minimize the differences between Protestant theology and Roman Catholic theology…”
– Tim Challies draws attention to a new book by R C Sproul.
Sproul: “In this book, I have a simple goal. I want to look at Roman Catholic teaching in several significant areas and compare it with Protestant teaching. I hope to show, often using her own words, that the Roman Catholic Church has not changed from what it believed and taught at the time of the Reformation. That means that the Reformation is not over and we must continue to stand firm in proclaiming the biblical gospel.”
See also the 80 second promo video here.
Why Johnny can’t sing hymns
The latest White Horse Inn broadcast –
“What is the impact of technology on the way we live and think as Christians? How has popular culture changed the way we worship on Sunday mornings? On this edition of the White Horse Inn, Michael Horton discusses these issues with T. David Gordon, author of Why Johnny Can’t Preach, and Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns.”
– Plenty of food for thought for ministers and congregations. Well worth listening. 36 minutes.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…