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.)

In Memoriam, James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000)

“June 15 marks the tenth anniversary of the death of James Montgomery Boice, who was for thirty-two years the pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, the dean of Reformed pastor-scholars in his generation…”

– At Reformation21, Rick Phillips gives thanks for James Montgomery Boice, who died ten years ago. (Photo: Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.)

J.C. Ryle’s legacy — 110 years on

“110 years ago today [well, yesterday – ed.], June 10th, 1900, the prolific writer, vigorous preacher and faithful pastor, John Charles Ryle died in England at the age of 83. Here are some quotes surrounding Ryle’s death and his legacy in Christian history…”

– from J.C. Ryle quotes.

John Newton to Richard Johnson

John Newton to Richard Johnson (first Chaplain to New South Wales):

“I have not been disheartened by your apparent want of success. I have been told that skillful gardeners will undertake to sow and raise a salad for dinner in the short time while the meat is roasting. But no gardener can raise oaks with such expedition.

You are sent to New Holland, not to sow salad seeds, but to plant acorns; and your labour will not be lost, though the first appearances may be very small, and the progress very slow. You are, I trust, planting for the next Century.

I have a good hope that your oaks will one day spring up and flourish, and produce other acorns, which, in due time, will take root, and spread among the islands and nations in the Southern Ocean.”

– Craig Schwarze, who is researching Richard Johnson, posted this on his website. There’s another great quote from John Newton here.

(Photo © Marylynn Rouse / The John Newton Project, used with permission.)

Thomas Cranmer’s ‘True and Catholick Doctrine of the Sacrament’

In 1990, D A Scales wrote a paper for Churchman on Cranmer’s doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. Church Society has just republished it.

“The doctrine of the Lord’s Supper was not unimportant in Cranmer’s eyes, because that Sacrament speaks of the central doctrines of the Christian faith—of salvation through the atoning death of Christ. It was instituted, in St. Paul’s words, to proclaim the Lord’s death till he come: right views of the death of Christ and right views of the sacrament will tend to go together; false views of the sacrament will tend to obscure an understanding of our salvation through the finished work of Christ…”

See it here – PDF file.

Remembering B. B. Warfield

B B Warfield“At important moments in the history of the church God, in kind providence, has raised up men to give voice to His Word. And so there is Augustine, the theologian of sin and grace. He did not invent these doctrines, of course. But in his battle with Pelagius he gave them such clear and cogent articulation that forever since he has been recognized as the one who gave these doctrines to us. He was the high water mark. So also there is Anselm, the theologian of the doctrine of the atonement. And there is Luther, the theologian of justification. And Calvin, the theologian of the Holy Spirit.

In this sense exactly Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield of Old Princeton is the theologian of the doctrine of inspiration…”

– At Between Two Worlds, Fred Zaspel writes on the significance of B B Warfield, who was born 158 years ago today.

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