Griffith Thomas on The Lord’s Supper in the Prayer Book

Church Society is continuing to republish online excellent resources from days gone by.

They have just made available this chapter on “The Lord’s Supper in the Prayer Book”.

It’s from “A Sacrament of our Redemption — An Enquiry into the Meaning of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament and the Church of England” by W. H. Griffith Thomas, 1861-1924.

Some other chapters from the book are already on Church Society’s website, and you can download the entire book (in PDF, Kindle and other formats) from Archive.org.

Bruce Ware on the exclusivity of Christ and the gospel

Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman provides links to the audio files from last week’s visit to Scotland by Dr Bruce Ware from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr Ware’s topics included “Exclusivity of Christ and the Gospel”.

He also spoke on the latest assaults on biblical Christianity  – with a focus on the teaching of Brian McLaren (who was invited to speak at the last Lambeth Conference). Well worth hearing.

See Unashamed Workman for the links. (Related: Earlier stories on Brian McLaren.)

From the archives — Are we stronger than He?

Six years ago, we published this paper by David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver. It’s a good reminder of what is (still) at stake around the Anglican Communion. PDF file here.

(The paper was first delivered at The National Canadian Anglican Essentials Conference in Ottawa on August 31, 2004.)

Dever on Conversion and Evangelism

Last October, Mark Dever spoke on ‘Conversion and Evangelism’ at Boyce College, on the campus of the Southern Baptist Seminary.

The 18 minute talk is a 6.2MB download. The end of the talk is cut off, but the message is a straightforward reminder of the necessity of conversion.
(h/t Faith by Hearing.)

The Christian Worldview as Master Narrative

“Even as the Bible begins the story with creation, it immediately moves to an explanation of what has gone wrong. Again, such an account is required of every worldview, and every philosophy of life must provide some explanation for why human beings are as we are and why we act as we act.

The Bible directs those who asked this question to the Garden of Eden and to the event we know as the Fall…”

– Albert Mohler on the Bible’s unique view of our world.

Biblical inerrancy

“I have long wanted to write a serious piece on the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Recently I was given the opportunity to do so through an invitation to contribute to a volume essays, The Bible and the Academy: Critical Scholarship and the Evangelical Understanding of Scripture in the 21st Century, edited by James Hoffmeier and Dennis Magary and to be published by Crossway in 2011.

I do not intend to reproduce the article here but instead simply to outline its argument…”

– ACL President Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology.

Assurance and Perseverance

“I was recently asked to write a brief response to a question about assurance. The questioner had been troubled by the question (or rather by some responses to the question) ‘Can a believer lose their salvation?’

The question of assurance is a deeply troubling one for many. In every church where I have served there have been people who have struggled with this question…”

– Mark Thompson writes on “Assurance and Perseverance” at Theological Theology.

See also Mark’s (unrelated) previous post, Whatever happened to ad fontes?

“Many of the great advances of the Renaissance and Reformation eras were built upon the humanist program of education in the eloquence of antiquity. Intellectuals such as Desiderius Erasmus believed that society could be improved, and the abuses and errors of the past corrected, through serious and extensive engagement with classical literature.

In the field of theology, one of the most decisive changes was an insistence on first-hand engagement rather than a reliance on secondary summaries of great thoughts from the past. Instead of relying on the Vulgate, Greek and Hebrew studies flourished. Instead of working from collections of purple passages from the church fathers, reading extensively in their works was encouraged as a means of properly understanding the context and significance of things they taught…”

Spiritual Warfare 101

“Several years ago I read David Powlison’s book, Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare. (Sadly, no longer in print—though I believe a second edition may be forthcoming.) I found it extremely helpful and persuasive. I took notes, and thought it might be worth posting them…”

– Justin Taylor’s notes are indeed helpful and worth reading.

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.

Christians responding to suffering

Over the last week, Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, has been sharing the insights of some friends on the topic of Christians responding to suffering. See his blog – Imaginary Diocese.

God displays his wisdom — through the church!

John Piper spoke at the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town a week or so ago – on Ephesians 3 and the breathtaking wisdom of God.

It’s worth watching his full talk. See it via The Proclamation Trust website.

Oversight: in the grip of grace — by John Woodhouse

Paul’s description of what is needed in an overseer in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 presents a picture of a person who is firmly in the grip of the glorious gospel of God’s grace.

“when Paul describes what is needed in those who do the work of oversight in a church, he does not mention many of things that we might have expected.”

Today we have all been touched by the culture of celebrity. We have imbibed ideas about leadership from the business world. Furthermore as we see too many churches in decline, and too few growing, we long for people with new, bold ideas and the energetic drive to change things. But when Paul describes what is needed in those who do the work of oversight in a church, he does not mention many of things that we might have expected.   Read more

Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality

“To speak of hell is to speak of things so overwhelming that it cannot be done with ease.

Yet hell exists; this is the testimony of the Scriptures, of the apostles, and of the Lord Jesus himself. The emotionally intolerable is also the truth — and therein lies its awfulness.

It is incumbent on the Christian pastor to be familiar with it, to feel the weight of it, to preach it, and to counsel his flock in connection with its meaning and personal implications.”

– Sinclair Ferguson is one of the contributors to the latest 9Marks eJournal, just released.

Read online – or download as a PDF file – from 9Marks.

Carl Trueman interviewed at Oak Hill

Carl Trueman, Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary was a Visiting Lecturer at Oak Hill College in London earlier this year.

Principal Mike Ovey asked him about the doctrines of Scripture and of Justification in three videos just posted on the Oak Hill website.

Part 1: The doctrine of Scripture.
Part 2: The doctrine of Justification.
Part 3: Holiness and the New Perspective on Paul.

Total running time of about 24 minutes. Worth watching.

Christ-centred Communion – Further thoughts (full series)

Barry Newman has been adding to his series on ‘Christ-centred Communion’ and has now completed his ‘further thoughts’.

Even if you don’t agree with it all, you’ll find it stimulating and edifying.

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