Remembering Leon Morris on the Centenary of his birth
Australian theologian Leon Morris was born one hundred years ago this weekend – on March 15th 1914.
The current Principal of Ridley College Melbourne, Dr, Brian Rosner, has a tribute. (Photo: Ridley College.)
If you are not familiar with the writings of Leon Morris, you can read three articles on the Church Society website:
The Person of Christ (1960).
The Authority of the Bible Today (1961, PDF file).
Christian Worship (1962, PDF file).
And if you can obtain a copy (and especially if you have some Greek), take the time to read his The Apostolic Preaching of The Cross – The Tyndale Press, London, 1955) – an enormously important book still today.
That book “is an attempt to understand certain key words, words which are crucial to the New Testament picture of the atonement, by seeing them against the background of the Greek Old Testament, the papyri, and the Rabbinic writings. Armed with our discoveries, we then proceed to examine them in their New Testament setting…” – from the Preface to the First Edition.
Update: Sandy Grant has just published this at The Briefing.
Piper on Calvinism: Deeply Experiencing God’s Grace
Andy Naselli writes: “In some circles Calvinism unfortunately has a reputation for being sinfully contentious, especially when self-labeled Calvinists are arrogant and when non-Calvinists misunderstand what Calvinism really is. This 94-page book should help.”
John Piper speaks about his book “Five Points – Towards a Deeper Experience of God’s Grace”, here, where it’s also available as a free PDF download.
A slippery Bible?
Adrian Reynolds (Proc Trust) on the discussion between Steve Chalke and Andrew Wilson, shown on Premier TV in the UK –
“This is actually a helpful episode, because Andrew draws out from Steve what he really thinks… This is liberalism and nothing more.”
Related:
- Steve Chalke or the repentant Rosaria? Whose religious experience? – Mike Ovey.
- Confidence in God and the word he has given us – Mark Thompson.
- Restoring Confidence In The Bible? Let’s Start With Confident Pastors, Seminary Professors and Church Leaders – Colin Adams.
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
Of Tim Keller’s book “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering”, Andy Naselli writes,
“It’s probably the best overall book on suffering because it shrewdly addresses the issue from three angles: cultural, biblical-theological, practical.
As with Keller’s other books, this brims with wisdom from decades of fruitful pastoral ministry.”
– Read more here. (Tim Keller is coming to Sydney later this month.)
Steve Chalke or the repentant Rosaria? Whose religious experience?
“Who’s the most unlikely convert you have ever met? Of course, given the ravages of sin in our hearts and minds any convert is nothing short of a miracle, a new creation that only the original creator can bring about. All the same, there are some whose place in life seems to make it especially hard to hear the gospel, and when someone in that position does become a Christian, one stands amazed at the power of God’s grace in encountering them and bringing them home to himself.”
– Mike Ovey at Oak Hill College asks whose religious experience counts.
Phillip Jensen on ‘Singleness, Marriage, Divorce, & Remarriage in Ministry’
Video files of Phillip Jensen’s talks from the recent Priscilla & Aquila Centre conference at Moore College are now available, courtesy of Audio Advice:
Confidence in God and the word he has given us
“In the last few days Steve Chalke has done it again.
The 58 year old Baptist minister who pastors the Oasis Church in London is no stranger to controversy. He ignited a debate about penal substitution with his book (co-authored with Alan Mann), The Lost Message of Jesus in 2004. That book provoked a series of responses, the most substantial being Pierced for our Transgressions, edited by, amongst others, Dr Mike Ovey, the redoubtable Principal of Oak Hill College London. Then around this time last year, Chalke published in support of monogamous homosexual relationships with a two part article on ‘The Bible and Homosexuality’.
Now he has published an article questioning the truthfulness of everything in the Bible…”
– Moore College Principal Mark Thompson looks at Steve Chalke’s latest foray into controversy.
Sufficiency
“After spending the last 37 years of my life being a Christian pastor, 26 of those years training others to be pastors and missionaries, I have reached this conclusion…
– David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, writes about the sufficiency of Scripture. (You may need to scroll down – now updated but originally published on 17 February 2014.)
J. I. Packer on Personal Holiness
“At the age of 87, Dr. Packer is not travelling to lecture much these days, but a few weeks ago (January 16th, 2014) he spoke at the Trinity School for Ministries on a subject of his choice.
He says that his desire in his remaining days is to ‘campaign for a renewal of personal holiness, as a project, as a focus of interest, as a reality – which our churches need, which our country needs, which the world needs at this time in its history’.”
– Justin Taylor has the link. 51 minutes. Well worth watching and contemplating.
Adultery: When ‘love’ is a ‘tragedy’
“…So common has it become to describe an extra-marital affair as ‘loving’ that even the dictionaries now define a ‘love affair’ as ‘a romantic or sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other.’ We know words evolve over time; and the journalist and barrister may just be reflecting the now common meaning of the word.
However, if that is true, our Bible translators and we Christians need to find a different word to describe God’s character, his disposition towards us and his actions on our behalf.”
– Phillip Jensen writes about true love.
The Prayer of the Lord — free eBook
During February 2014, Ligonier Ministries’ Reformation Trust is giving away the eBook edition of R.C. Sproul’s The Prayer of the Lord.
Prosperity Gospel
The latest 9Marks Journal is on the topic of the Prosperity Gospel. Editor Jonathan Leeman writes:
“Here’s a prediction: as Western culture increasingly turns against Christianity, the prosperity gospel will keep growing, at least for a time. …
This trade is hot! God wants to provide you with gabled double-front doors, leather interiors, satisfying sex, and an all-around better you. It’s like a wedding between a Wall Street shark and a self-help guru, all decked out in the paraphernalia of a Christian bookstore.”
– Download the latest issue here.
The Prayer
“Should I pray for a parking spot near the shopping mall entrance or close to the church door?
Should I pray about that swimming costume I’m dying to buy or the twenty-function vegetable peeler I just saw advertised on TV that would make me more like a Masterchef? …
Is not this kind of praying, and the view of spiritual reality that lies behind, it barely more than half a degree of separation from the prosperity theology that has blighted parts of the church for too long?”
– David Mansfield writes about Prayer at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Related:
A Softer Prosperity Gospel: More Common Than You Think – David Schrock at 9 Marks.
Kingdom-advancing prayer – Ray Ortlund at The Gospel Coalition quotes Tim Keller.
Taking God Seriously
Here’s a challenging video clip from Dr J I Packer on Taking God Seriously.
It’s a subtle promotion for the book of the same name – the video was published almost a year after the book.
Runs for 1:52 at Vimeo. Well worth passing on the link.
About the book, Carl Trueman writes:
“Like many people, I first discovered what it meant ‘to take God seriously’ through reading J. I. Packer’s books. It is thus an honour and a delight to be asked to write a commendation for his latest work, a basic catechetical plea for sober, modest, thoughtful and orthodox theology.
In a church world dominated by Barnum and Bailey circus antics and the brash triviality borrowed from the world around in the name of ‘engagement,’ Dr. Packer remains a truly engaging and gentlemanly advocate for those old paths which are ever fresh.”
Related: Dr Packer’s most recent sermon preached at St. John’s Vancouver, 5th January 2014 – on John 4:1-45.
Theology
“During my 26 years working at SMBC, a number of students, from the same era, commented independently to me, that SMBC at their particular time, was in a ‘golden era’. At the time I disregarded this as a flush of student enthusiasm. On reflection, however, I agree that it was, at that time at the College, a ‘golden era’!
Lots of things contributed to making the era what it was, at Faculty, Administration and Student level, but above all, the health of any Christian training college is determined by its strength in the area of Systematic Theology. It was our strength in systematics which made that era, golden.
Bible coverage, the study of Greek and Hebrew, practical studies are all important, but it is Systematic Theology which unites them all. To be a productive pastor, missionary or preacher, one must have an in-depth knowledge of Systematics.
Broughton Knox, Principal at Moore Theological College (1959 – 1985), my Principal, proved that; every student of that era will tell you how Dr Knox’s first year doctrine lectures were such a vital component in his/her own maturing understanding. …”
– David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, writes about the key place of Theology – in his Moderator Comments (scroll down to the post for 31 December 2013).
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…