Book Review of Archbishop Justin Welby: The Road to Canterbury by Andrew Atherstone

February 16, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

Andrew Atherstone, Archbishop Justin Welby: The Road to Canterbury (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2014), viii+152 pages.

What drew me to this unauthorized biography of Justin Welby, the 105^th Archbishop of Canterbury, was frankly the author, Andrew Atherstone, currently Tutor in History and Doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Having profited greatly from books that he was written in the past, I looked forward to the same in this sympathetic biography.

Welby was born into wealth and was very successful in the world of finance—he was a treasurer in the oil industry and had a salary of £100,000 per annum in 1989; but the compulsion of the Spirit and constraints of the gospel led him to train for vocational ministry at Cranmer Hall in Durham. During the early days of his Christian life after a distinctly evangelical conversion he was deeply shaped by the Vineyard as it found expression in the ministry of Holy Trinity Brompton.

His first ministerial charge was at Chilvers Coton in the diocese of Coventry. This diocesan locale proved to be important for Welby’s long-term career. The destruction of Coventry and St. Michael’s Cathedral in 1940 during World War II had led to the formation of the Community of the Cross of Nails (so named because of three medieval nails from the destroyed cathedral that were fused into a cross after the bombing), which came to focus on reconciliation projects in trouble spots around the world. In time, reconciliation became a defining hallmark of Welby’s ministry.

From Chilvers Coton, Welby went to Southam, Warwickshire, as the rector of Sr. James, where he became increasingly concerned for parish renewal, the relationship between theology and ethics, and the ministry of reconciliation. The latter frequently took him to Africa, where he faced mortal danger more than once, especially in Nigeria where violent clashes between Muslim and Christian were becoming more and more frequent in the 2000s.

Welby has insisted that he is “an orthodox Bible-believing evangelical,” for whom Scripture is “my final authority for all matters of life and doctrine” (p.90). But his concern for reconciliation has also led him to seek to preserve the unity of the Anglican communion despite recent deep divisions over women’s ordination and the question of same-sex marriage. There is no doubt that the latter issue will definitely test his abilities as Archbishop, for, in the final analysis, same-sex marriage is incompatible with a high view of Scripture.

Three things in particular struck me in Atherstone’s story of Welby’s life thus far: Welby’s concern for unity; in his own words, it is an “absolute essential” (p.113). Sadly, because unity has all too often in the past century been the concern of ecumenical types with a low of scriptural authority, evangelicals have not paid the matter the attention it deserves. But such an attitude is out of sync with both Scripture and the tradition of evangelicalism. The critical question, of course, has to do with the dynamics of making it happen. Then, there is Welby’s early experience with the charismatic movement and Third Wave theology that seems to have given him a life-long desire for revival, which, he would argue, is rooted in the resurrection: “Our hope of revival is based on the resurrection. Again and again in church history churches far worse off than us have, with clear leadership, found new life, and finding it have seen astonishing growth. Personally I believe passionately that it is possible” (p.131). To be honest, I did not expect the Archbishop of Canterbury to speak in such terms. Yet, his words are welcome and wise.

Third, it is clear that while Welby’s roots are evangelical, he has moved beyond the boundaries of evangelicalism in his practice of the Christian life. For instance, Atherstone notes Welby’s deep indebtedness to both Benedictine and Ignatian spirituality (p.94–97, 143). Reading this, it struck me that Welby typifies so many other evangelicals who have turned to other traditions of piety to enrich their faith. To be sure, it is not the case that we evangelicals have nothing to learn from these traditions. But the questions lay burning in my heart long after I had finished reading this biography: do we not have a tradition of piety that can nurture the deepest recesses of the believer’s heart (forsooth we do) and why is it not being retrieved and taught?

Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

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Book Review: The Quest for the Trinity by Stephen Holmes

February 8, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

Stephen R. Holmes, The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History and Modernity Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012; xx+231 pages.

A part of an ever-growing body of recent literature on the most important doctrine of the Christian Faith, that is, that the true and living God is a triune Being, this comprehensive study by Stephen Holmes, senior lecturer in theology at the University of St. Andrews, is a solid critique of the direction of much of this literature. As Holmes notes, many theologians in the twentieth century, especially in the latter half, believed that the doctrine of the Trinity had been neglected, even lost, and they sought to recover it. As Holmes adeptly shows, though, this recovery by the likes of Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, and John Zizioulas has given rise to a perspective on the Trinity quite at odds with what had prevailed in Christian thinking and devotion from the patristic era to the end of the eighteenth century. The reason for this Holmes deftly shows to have been the fact that twentieth-century thinkers regarded the patristic understanding of the Trinity, which Christian tradition had assumed to be correct down to the rise of biblical criticism in the eighteenth century, as deeply problematic. The Fathers’ insistence on the simplicity and ineffability of the divine being, the fact that the three divine hypostases are distinguished by the eternal relations of generation and procession, and that the entirety of Scripture bears witness to the Triune God have basically been ignored by modern writers. And the result, in Holmes’ opinion, can hardly be described as a “Trinitarian revival.”

Holmes first looks at the biblical witness to the Trinity (p.33-55) and rightly stresses that the Patristic development of the doctrine of the Trinity is “largely a history of biblical exegesis” (p.33). Some of their exegesis seems odd to early twenty-first-century readers, but Holmes helps us make sense of their hermeneutics and also shows why it can be regarded as viable. He then turns to the actual development of the patristic understanding of the Trinity, which rightly occupies a significant amount of his book (p.56–143). Critical to his argument here is his cogent demonstration that there is a unified patristic witness about the Trinity, contra the common, but very wrong, assumption that the Greek Fathers, personified in the Cappadocians, and the Latin Fathers, personified in Augustine, took two very different and conflicting pathways of thought about God.

Chapter 7 looks at the medieval doctrine of the Trinity and the debate over the filioque (p.147–164), where Holmes argues that neither position in the latter should be regarded as doing “violence to the received orthodox and catholic tradition” (p.164). While this reviewer personally sees the filioque as a correct development, I think Holmes is right in his emphasis here. Chapter 8 (p.165–181) tracks the story from the Reformation to the close of the eighteenth century. The period after the Reformation is often ignored in the history of Trinitarianism, and Holmes’ careful, though succinct, attention to this era is very welcome. The final chapter (p.182–200) looks at Trinitarian thought in the last two hundred years—the speculative nature of much of it in the nineteenth century after G.W.F. Hegel and F.D.E. Schleiermacher and then the supposed recovery in the twentieth century.

Has Holmes proven his case? This reviewer thinks so: twentieth-century theologians have clearly regarded the patristic synthesis as deeply problematic and taken thinking about the Trinity in very different directions from the received tradition. If so, what is needed then is a true ressourcement, in which the Fathers’ thinking on the Trinity is carefully delineated and its significance for the present day cogently argued.

Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

To download the review as PDF, click here. To see other book reviews, visit here.

Book Review: Edward VI: The Last Boy King

February 1, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

Stephen Alford, Edward VI: The Last Boy King (London: Allen Lane, 2014), xii+98 pages.

Stephen Alford’s adroit use of a wide variety of sources contemporary to Edward VI makes this a delightful biography to read, one of the first in the new series initiated by Penguin Books, “Penguin Monarchs.” In a concentrated space of less than a hundred pages, Alford ably documents not only the power politics that surrounded Edward—two of his Protestant uncles attempted coups and paid the price for their treason—but also Edward’s devotion to learning—by his death he was reading and writing fairly fluently in Latin, Greek and French—and his love of such things as astronomy and various court festivities (though firmly Protestant, Edward did not share the later distaste by some Puritans of the latter). Alford is also able to capture another dimension with regard to Edward through his commentary on various contemporary portraits of Edward—one by Guilim Scrots of Edward at fourteen is particularly striking. These mini-studies provide further aid the reader’s understanding of the way Edward appeared to those who knew him.

Alford is quite aware of the importance of religious issues for Edward—he was firmly committed to the faith of the Reformation personified in the work of men like Thomas Cranmer and Hugh Latimer. In a lengthy discussion of Edward’s important document “My device for the succession,” drawn up in the final months of his life so as to secure a Protestant monarchy after his death, Alford notes that guiding Edward was “one question only”: “Who was best qualified after his death to rule England and Ireland as defender of the faith and Supreme Head of the Church of England…?” (p.76–77). Yet, there is really very little said about the monumental religious changes that Edward’s reign brought to the English state.

Alford does cite a portion of an intriguing sermon preached by Latimer after the downfall of Edward’s uncle, Thomas Seymour, who had married Henry VIII’s widow, Katharine Parr. But it seems that this extract is primarily introduced to draw attention to the fact that it took two blows by the executioner’s axe to decapitate the traitor (p.42). Cranmer is mentioned a number of times, but nothing said about the religious changes his archbishopric had brought to English religious life beyond the fact that the revolutionary “[c]hange had come from the top” (p.45). This remark may well reflect the relatively recent revisionist opinion that Protestantism was very much an elite affair in England until well into Elizabeth’s reign, an opinion belied in part by the large numbers of Bibles circulating in England during the reigns of both Edward and his father, Henry VIII and also in part by the many “common folk” who perished for their evangelical convictions during the reign of Edward’s Roman Catholic sister, Mary I.

On the other hand, Alford provides the reader with an excellent character study of “the last boy king” of England, which reveals a young man increasingly assuming the reins of power when he died at the age of fifteen. Had he lived he might have proven to be a formidable monarch and major religious player in England and even beyond.

Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

To download the review as PDF, click here. To see other book reviews, visit here.

Book Review: George V and George VI

January 26, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

David Cannadine, George V: The Unexpected King (London: Allen Lane, 2014), xiv+121 pages; and Philip Ziegler, George VI: The Dutiful King (London: Allen Lane, 2014), viii+94 pages.

These two brief biographies are two of the first offerings in a new series being published by British publishing giant Penguin Books, “Penguin Monarchs.” The series will cover all of the English monarchs from William the Conqueror (including, interestingly enough, Oliver Cromwell, though neither the Empress Matilda nor Lady Jane Grey) and four Anglo-Saxon kings (though not Alfred). The series will take four years to complete and the biographies will be released in groups of five (the others released with these two are Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Charles I). Reading these two biographies back to back—their reigns covered the years 1910 to 1952—one clearly sees the way these two men, father and son, were critical to the adaptation of the British monarchy to the vicissitudes and democratization of the twentieth century.

Neither expected to be king—George V’s older brother Eddy died in 1892 at 28 and George VI’s older brother Edward VIII abdicated after less than a year as king—and thus both had challenges when they came to the throne. In George V’s case it was a lack of proper preparation to be monarch; in his son’s case, George wrestled with a painful stammer that made public speaking agony for him and a genuine loathing of being in the limelight. And in both cases, they faced major challenges, in particular global wars: George V was king during World War I and his son was monarch during World War II. Neither biography glosses over their faults and weaknesses—George V’s failure as a father to George VI, for example, is duly noted as is George VI’s lack of charisma—but both men were successful kings. A key word that comes through in both of biographies is “duty.” Both monarchs knew what was expected of them and they did their duty.

Both men were also practicing Anglicans—though neither biographer makes much of this fact (though, see Cannadine’s reference to George V’s “understated Anglicanism,” page 105). Ziegler’s conclusion to his biography of George VI is especially moving: “He was high-principled, sober, loyal, reliable, honourable, extraordinary in his ordinariness. …He was a good king; more important than that, he was a good man” (page 83).

Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

To download the review as PDF, click here. To see other book reviews, visit here.

New Book: Baptists and War: Essays on Baptists and Military Conflict 1640s-1990s

January 20, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

Coming soon from Pickwick Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, a collection of essay on Baptists and War. These papers, which were originally delivered at the 2011 annual conference of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, were compiled by Gordon L. Heath and Michael A.G. Haykin. From the back cover:

While Baptists through the years have been certain that "war is hell," they have not always been able to agree on how to respond to it. This book traces much of this troubled relationship from the days of Baptist origins with close ties to pacifist Anabaptists to the response to Baptists in America to the War in Vietnam. Essays include discussions of the English Baptist Andrew Fuller's response to the threat of Napoleon, how Baptists in America dealt with the war of 1812, the support of Canadian Baptists for Britain's war in Sudan and Abyssinia in the 1880s, the decisive effect of the First World War on Canada's T. T. Shields, the response of Australian Baptists to the Second World War, and how Russian Baptists dealt with the Cold War. These chapters provide important analyses of Baptist reactions to one of society's most intractable problems.

Book Review: The Longest Afternoon: The 400 Men Who Decided the Battle of Waterloo by Brendan Simms

January 19, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

Brendan Simms, The Longest Afternoon: The 400 Men Who Decided the Battle of Waterloo (London: Allen Lane, 2014), xx+127 pages.

The Napoleonic Wars, a global conflagaration, came to an end at the climactic Battle of Waterloo (Sunday, June 18, 1815), when some 140,000 men under the commands of Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley (1769–1852), the 1^st Duke of Wellington and a relative of John and Charles Wesley, clashed and decided the future of Europe. There have, of course, been no end of books about the Napeolonic Wars and the Battle of Waterloo, but now a new book by Brendan Simms, Professor of the History of European International Relations at the University of Cambridge, looks at a key aspect of the battle—from Simms’ point of view, the key aspect—the defence of the farmhouse and orchard of La Haye Sainte by the King’s German Legion, an elite Anglo-German unit, established in 1803 of mostly Hanoverians (recall that the monarch of England, George III, was also the Elector of Hanover). Some of its officers were British and commands were usually given in English. In fact, their uniform was that of the distinctive green jackets of the British light infantry.

Simms gives an almost minute-by-minute account of the way a little less than 400 riflemen of this elite unit under the command of Major George Baring held up the advance of the most formidable army in Europe—nearly all of them veterans from former battles and wars of Napoleon—for the entire afternoon of June 18. It is a remarkable story, one that Simms tells well in a book that is hard to put down. Simms notes that there were ideological factors that enabled these men to stand at their post in the face of overwhelming odds, especially their determination to fight “French tyranny.” It is interesting that the recent terrorist attacks in France have evoked from some in high quarters the statement that the French response not to be cowed by Muslim fundamentalists is in line with France being a home of democracy—an obvious reference to the French Revolution. That is certainly not the way anyone in Europe viewed France in the wake of the sanguinary events of the French Revolution. It was not democracy but the tyranny of Napoleon that emerged from the revolutionary fervor of the 1790s. When Napoleon’s war machine had overrun Hanover, these brave men were determined to do something for the cause of their homeland’s liberty and thus the King’s German Legion was formed. In the final analysis, Simms reckons that it was a a sense of “honor” and trust in their officers that were the main determinants in the courage of these 400 men.

When the remnant of the King’s German Legion finally had to relinquish control of the farmhouse in the early hours of the evening—Baring refused to throw away his men’s lives needlessly—Napoleon had no time to capitalize on his taking the farmhouse, for Wellington’s Prussian allies under the command of Field Marshall Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819) arrived and helped save the day. As Wellington said after the battle to a civilian who interviewed him, the battle was “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.” Indeed, without the 400 at La Haye Sainte there might have been no victory and subsequent European history would have been quite different with no century of peace to be shattered by World War I. On such relatively “small” events does the large wheel of history sometimes turn.

Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

To download the review as PDF, click here. To see other book reviews, visit here.

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Michael A.G. Haykin is the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies. He also serves as Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Haykin and his wife Alison have two grown children, Victoria and Nigel.

Coming September 2015: Owen on the Christian Life by Matthew Barrett & Michael A.G. Haykin

January 19, 2015 Andrew Fuller Center

Coming in September 2015 from Crossway. By Matthew Barrett and Michael A.G. Haykin: Owen on the Christian Life.

New Book of Poetry by Michael A.G. Haykin

December 17, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Steve Weaver

Michael A.G. Haykin, director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, has released a new book. That's not news. However, this book differs from the typical historical works for which he is widely known. This new release from Borderstone Press is a collection of poetry written by Dr. Haykin over the past four decades. The collection is beautifully titled, The Sweetness of God: Poetic Reflections on the Grace and Love of the Triune God. The title reflects two specific emphases of Haykin's teaching, which I remember from my time as one of his students. First, the use of the term "sweetness" in church history is a topic that has long fascinated him. Second, the subtitle's explicit reference to "the Triune God" reflects an emphasis in Haykin's teaching on the self-disclosed nature of the God who is eternally three in one. Together, the title combines these two emphases in a way that illustrates Haykin's personal piety and affection for the Triune God revealed in Scripture.

Haykin describes the work as follows: "The poems in this collection were written over a lengthy period of more than thirty-five years, from the mid-1970s to the present day. They seek to express, in ways not accessible to an historian’s prose, my experience of the delights and paradoxes of being a believer in and follower of the Triune God."

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Steve Weaver serves as a research assistant to the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies and a fellow of the Center. He also serves as senior pastor of Farmdale Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY. Steve and his wife Gretta have six children between the ages of 3 and 15. You can read more from Steve at his personal website: Thoughts of a Pastor-Historian.

New Bitesize Biography on George Whitefield by Michael Haykin

December 16, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

Today, December 16^th, 2014, marks the 300^th anniversary of the birth of the great eighteenth century revivalist George Whitefield. Born at the Bell Inn in Gloucester in 1714, Whitefield shaped the trans-Atlantic British community through his participation in what came to be known as The Great Awakening.

In celebration of this anniversary, a number of works on Whitefield have come out, including a new critical work by Dr. Thomas S. Kidd of Baylor. Making a unique contribution to Whitefield literature is a new work by Fuller Center Director, Dr. Michael Haykin.

BB-George-Whitefield

Haykin has recently released a new work in an ongoing Evangelical Press series, entitled Bitesize Biographies: George Whitefield. In the work, Haykin captures the key facets of Whitefield’s life and theology through nine brief chapters of edifying material drawn from years of study. He summarizes his book this way,

So, after outlining the era in which Whitefield lived and ministered in chapter 2 and giving an overview of Whitefield’s life and ministry in chapter 3, the next five chapters look at five key areas of his ministry: his passion for preaching the gospel, his emphasis on the new birth and justification by faith alone, his defence of a biblical understanding of holiness especially in contrast to John Wesley’s view of Christian perfection, his commitment to Calvinism and its distinctive spirituality, and finally the example of his impact upon one denominational grouping, the Baptists.

For a rich and accessible biography of Whitefield, I heartily recommend picking up a copy of Haykin’s work. There is no better time than the 300-year anniversary of Whitefield’s birth to learn about his remarkable contribution to Evangelical life and spirituality.

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Dustin Bruce lives in Louisville, KY where he is pursuing a PhD in Biblical Spirituality at Southern Seminary. He is a graduate of Auburn University and Southwestern Seminary. Dustin and his wife, Whitney, originally hail from Alabama.

Book Review: A Christian Guide to Spirituality: Foundations for Disciples by Stephen W. Hiemstra

September 8, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

Stephen W. Hiemstra, A Christian Guide to Spirituality: Foundations for Disciples(Centreville, VA: T2Pneuma Publishers, 2014), xx+206 pages.

During Easter 1985, Thomas Howard—a graduate of Wheaton College and a professor of English at Gordon College, both long-standing bastions of Evangelicalism, and himself the product of a staunch Evangelical family, whose sister is Elisabeth Eliot, author and widow of the Evangelical martyr Jim Eliot—became a Roman Catholic. His conversion to Roman Catholicism caused quite a stir at the time in Evangelical circles, and Christianity Today, that quintessential Evangelical publication, ran a nine-page special report on the event. It makes for fascinating reading. When asked why he had decided to make the journey to Rome he cited the “shallowness” of Evangelicalism, “the desperate, barren, parched nature” of its worship, and its “poverty when it comes to the deeper riches of Christian spirituality.”

Howard’s observation that contemporary Evangelical spirituality is poor and shallow, indeed “gossamer-thin,” is something that many others have also apparently recognized, for a growing number of Evangelicals in the past thirty years or so have begun to pay more attention to this vital subject. In fact, in Evangelical circles, “spirituality” has become what American Evangelical historian Richard Lovelace has called “a growth industry.” A helpful contribution to this “industry” is this new book by Stephen Hiemstra, who is described on the website of his publisher as “a slave of Christ, husband, father, aspiring pastor, economist, and writer.” Based mainly on the very familiar texts of the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s prayer, and the ten commandments, the book comprises fifty meditations that flesh out each of the phrases of these texts with rich reflections, prayers and follow-up questions. There are also fifteen other meditations that deal with basic questions about knowing God and various spiritual disciplines (Hiemstra includes music, physical exercise, and marriage among these disciplines). The inclusion of questions at the close of each meditation will enable the work to be used in small groups that want to advance their understanding of what is biblical and reformed spirituality.

Upon an initial read I thought the title inappropriate: the book’s design is clearly that of a devotional, not a systematic study of Christian spirituality. But as I began to read the various meditations, I perceived that though each one is short—usually no more than 190 words or so—together they give the reader a rich overview of Christian spirituality from a reformed perspective.

Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

To download the review as PDF, click here. To see other book reviews, visit here.

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Fuller’s Sketch of the Lord’s Prayer

August 8, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) was a skillful pastor-theologian. He was also a soul physician who knew how to guide God’s people into a deeper knowledge of Christ. Below is an example of Fuller’s ability to unfold the principles and meaning of Scripture in a way that is clear, practical, and faithful to the text. Fuller summarizes the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-15) with a few simple observations:[1]

If in anything we need Divine instruction, it is in drawing near to God. It does not appear to have been Christ’s design to establish a form of prayer, nor that it was ever so used by the disciples; but merely a brief directory as to the matter and manner of it. Such a directory was adapted not only to instruct, but to encourage Christians in their approaches to God.
First, The character under which we are allowed to draw near to the Lord of heaven and earth.—“Our Father.”Secondly, The place of the Divine residence.—“Our Father, who art in heaven.”Thirdly, The social principle which pervades the prayer.—“Our Father—forgive us,” etc.Fourthly, The brevity of it.—“Use not vain repetitions, but in this manner pray ye.”Fifthly, The order of it.—Our attention is first directed to those things which are of the first importance, and which are fundamental to those which follow.
As there are three petitions in respect of God’s name and cause in the world, so there are three which regard our own immediate wants; one of which concerns those which are temporal, and the other two those which are spiritual.
“Give us this day (or day by day) our daily bread.” Bread comprehends all the necessaries, but none of the superfluities, of life.“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As bread in this prayer comprehends all the necessaries of life, so the forgiveness of sin comprehends the substance of all that is necessary for the well-being of our souls.“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The last petition respected the bestowment of the greatest good; this, deliverance from the worst of evils. Christ teaches us to suspect ourselves.
The concluding doxology, though omitted by Luke, and thought by some not to have been originally included by Matthew, appears to agree with the foregoing petitions, and to furnish encouragement to hope for an answer.

[1]Andrew Gunton Fuller, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume 1: Memoirs, Sermons, Etc., ed. Joseph Belcher (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 578-583.

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Evan D. Burns (Ph.D. Candidate, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is on faculty at Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, and he lives in Southeast Asia with his wife and twin sons. They are missionaries with Training Leaders International.

“Silently Blessed”

July 17, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

While Judson was in prison for 21 months, Ann Judson cared for Adoniram Judson, and concurrently their daughter, little Maria, was ill. The gravity of this tribulation nearly pushed the Judson family to the breaking point. Recording the Judsons’ submission to the sovereignty of God, Ann wrote:

Our dear little Maria was the greatest sufferer at this time, my illness depriving her of her usual nourishment, and neither a nurse nor a drop of milk could be procured in the village. By making presents to the jailers, I obtained leave for Mr. Judson to come out of prison, and take the emaciated creature around the village, to beg a little nourishment from those mothers who had young children. Her cries in the night were heart-rending, when it was impossible to supply her wants. I now began to think the very afflictions of Job had come upon me. When in health, I could bear the various trials and vicissitudes through which I was called to pass. But to be confined with sickness, and unable to assist those who were so dear to me, when in distress, was almost too much for me to bear; and had it not been for the consolations of religion, and an assured conviction that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I must have sunk under my accumulated sufferings.[1]

After being imprisoned under torture and horrid conditions for 21 months, Judson wrote to Dr. Bolles about his sufferings with the perspective that God works all things together for the good of his people.

[My sufferings], it would seem, have been unavailing to answer any valuable missionary purpose, unless so far as they may have been silently blessed to our spiritual improvement and capacity for future usefulness.[2]

[1]Wayland, Memoir, 1:361.

[2]Middleditch, Burmah’s Great, 209.

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“All is Alike Inspired”

July 10, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

Seeking to counter those who say the Bible is not inspired because of the varieties of its style and authorship, J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) employed metaphors and analogies that are very helpful for understanding the continuity of Scripture and its overall sufficient inspiration:

It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the writers of the Bible have each a different style. Isaiah does not write like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly true— and yet the works of these men are not a whit less equally inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one place they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is owing to the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea. The breath of a man may produce different sounds, according to the character of the instrument on which he plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet, have each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth the notes, is in each case one and the same. The light of the planets we see in the skies is very various. Mars, and Saturn, and Jupiter, have each a peculiar color. And yet we know that the light of the sun, which each planet reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the same way the books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth— and yet the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the Holy Spirit makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual being; but the Divine Guide who dictates and directs the whole, is always one. All is alike inspired. Every chapter, and verse, and word— is from God.[1]

[1]J.C. Ryle, Bible Reading.

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Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism: A Brief Review

July 2, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Ryan Patrick Hoselton

Many historians and theologians have described Scholasticism as dry, stodgy, and mechanical. Although Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism has not necessarily convinced me that the Scholastic literature is more exciting than reading Augustine or Jonathan Edwards, it has shown me that understanding Scholasticism is worth my time. Written by Dutch scholar Willem J. van Asselt with three other contributors, the work was translated into English from its original publication, Inleidung in de Gereformeerde Scholastiek.

The authors challenge the historiographical scheme that pits Calvin versus his Scholastic heirs. Following Richard Muller, they counter that Calvin was not the sole shaper of the Reformed tradition and thus should not represent the standard by which the rest are judged. Secondly, they argue that Scholasticism refers to a method rather than a doctrinal system. Theologians from a variety of traditions—including Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, and Arminian—all employed the Scholastic method but adhered to different doctrinal content. Thus, the authors define their study by narrowing it to Reformed theologians who employed the Scholastic method.

In the first half of the book, the authors provide a brief history of nineteenth and twentieth-century scholarship on Scholasticism, arguing that many have erred by either reducing the tradition to a Centraldogma or dismissing it as rationalism. They then examine the impact of the Aristotelian tradition on their method and the Augustinian tradition on their content. In chapters five through seven, they explain how Scholasticism operated in Medieval and Renaissance universities, outline the scholastic method and style of argumentation, and they define much of the difficult jargon like quaestio, disputatio, and fontes solutionum.

The second part of the book describes the eras of Reformed Scholasticism. Van Asselt follows Richard Muller’s classification of early (1560–1620), high (1620–1700), and late (1700–1790) orthodoxy, showing how Reformed Scholasticism developed from confessionalization and codification in the early stage to a sophisticated academic system with active debates and diverse schools of thought by the high and late stages. He highlights characteristics of each era, the positions represented in the leading universities and regions, and a theologian who is representative the period. The appendix offers a helpful study guide on how to access and navigate the primary source material of the Scholastics.

The work is accessible and comprehensive. I found the chapter on late orthodoxy especially useful in guiding one through the Reformed reaction to the Enlightenment. The work even addresses the role of Baptist theologians—like John Gill (1697–1771) and Andrew Fuller (1754–1815)—and their use of Reformed Scholastic categories in the debates during the period of late orthodoxy. Becoming familiar with Scholasticism is vital for understanding medieval theology, the Reformation, and the Puritans, and I highly recommend Van Asselt’s work as an introduction to the subject.

______________________ Ryan Patrick Hoseltonis pursuing a ThM at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY with his wife Jaclyn, and they are the parents of one child.

Andrew Fuller and Antinomianism

May 27, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Nathan A. Finn

In recent months, a debate has been stirring mostly among our conservative Presbyterian friends over antinomianism, or the idea that because believers live under grace God’s moral law should not be considered an appointed means used in our sanctification. Most antinomians are not libertines (a common misperception), but because they downplay the necessity of good works in the life of a Christian, mainstream Reformed believers argue that antinomian views do lead to a stunted understanding of sanctification.

The Reformed version of antinomianism (there are many versions of this particular error) that has often appeared among Calvinists argues against the necessity of the moral law based upon a fatalistic view of predestination and/or a too-sharp distinction between law and gospel. PCA pastor-theologian Mark Jones’s new book Antinomianism retraces the history of Reformed antinomianism and makes some contemporary application. In fact, Jones’s comments about some well-known Calvinist pastors, especially Tullian Tchividjian, have played a key role in bringing the current controversy to a head. You can read more about the dust-up at The Gospel Coalition, Reformation 21, and Tchividjian’s website. For a timely and edifying word that is inspired by this controversy, see Nick Batzig’s excellent blog post “Dangers of Theological Controversy.”

Once upon a time, the English Calvinists Baptists faced their own kerfuffle over antinomianism. Robert Oliver discusses this topic at length in his book History of the English Calvinistic Baptists 1771-1892: From John Gill to C.H. Spurgeon (Banner of Truth, 2006). This issue played a key role in the separation of the Strict and Particular Baptists from the majority Particular Baptist movement during the first half of the eighteenth century. Among Particular Baptists, there was often a connection between antinomianism and High Calvinism, though this wasn’t always the case.

Andrew Fuller wrote against the Reformed version of antinomianism in a posthumously published treatise titled Antinomianism Contrasted with the Religion Taught and Exemplified in the Holy Scriptures (1816). Fuller’s treatise can be found in the second volume of the “Sprinkle Edition” of The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller. Fuller argued that antinomianism is, at root, a species of spiritual selfishness that is concerned more with the spiritual benefits of the faith than a wholehearted devotion to Lord that is evidenced, in part, though the pursuit of ongoing spiritual maturity.

For an excellent introduction to Fuller’s critique of antinomianism, check out Mark Jones’s plenary address on that topic from last fall’s Andrew Fuller Center Conference.

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Nathan A. Finn is associate professor of historical theology and Baptist Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also an elder at First Baptist Church of Durham, NC and a fellow of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies.

Historiae ecclesiasticae collecta: a weekly roundup of blogs, articles, books, and more

May 16, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

News of the Tom Nettles retirement from full-time teaching has been making its way around the Internet this week. Check out this Baptist Press article for coverage. Also, see this reflection by John Fea and this list of Nettles’ books from Books-at-a-Glance.

Blogs

On Canon & Culture, a blog of the ERLC, Noah Braymen offers a look at the great John Leyland in a three-part series. Check out part one, “The Life of John Leland: Sinner Saved by Faith Alone,” and part two, “The Life of John Leland: Preacher Evangelist.”
Don’t miss this Baptist history rap written and performed by a SEBTS student and mother of two.
John Fea discusses a new book, Why Church History Matters: An Invitation to Love and Learn from Our Past (InterVarsity Press, July 2014), with the author, Robert Rea of Lincoln Christian University.
Over at The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor highlights a George Marsden lecture on the great Jonathan Edwards.
Taylor also posts an excerpt from Timothy Larsen on “Evangelical Narratives of Declension.”
On Miscellanies, Tony Reinke posts an insightful interview with Mark Jones, “The Nature and Scope of the Atonement in the Calvinist – Arminian Debates (Interview with Mark Jones).”
Matthew Emerson interacts with “Steve Harmom and Baptist Catholicity” on Secundum Scripturas.
On Thoughts of a Pastor-Historian, Steve Weaver posts “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Books and the Preacher.”
Weaver also published a “Letter from C.H. Spurgeon to A.G. Fuller Commending Andrew Fuller.”
On Reformedish, Derek Rishmawy discusses Calvin’s “Unexpected English Fruit.”
On The Founder’s Blog, Jon English Lee discusses Sabbatarianism prior to English Puritanism.
Check out “How to study St. Thomas Aquinas: An interview with Therese Scarpelli Cory” at Medievalists.net.
Over at The Anxious Bench, John Turner discusses “American Religion and Freemasonry.”
On First Things, Peter Leithart comments on a new book dealing with post-Reformation Reformed thology in a post entitled “Ussher’s Soteriology.”
Don’t miss the latest Beeson podcast, a fascinating lecture on “Augustine and Time” delivered by Timothy George himself.
Finally, check out this recommendation of a new book by AFC director, Michael Haykin, and Jeff Robinson, entitled To the Ends of the Earth: Calvin’s Missional Vision and Legacy.

Recent Book Releases

J. A. I. Champion, The Pillars of Priestcraft Shaken: The Church of England and its Enemies, 1660-1730 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History), Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Charles E. Raven, Apollinarianism: An Essay on the Christology of the Early Church, Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli, From Words to Deeds: The Effectiveness of Preaching in the Late Middle Ages (Sermo), Brepols Publishers, 2014.
Philip Jenkins, The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade, HarperOne, 2014.

From the Fuller Center

Contributor Evan Burns posts on a letter from Adoniram Judson to Ann Haseltine, in “Irrevocably Gone, Indelibly Marked.”

What did I miss this week? Share in the comments or on Twitter: @AFCBS or @dustinbruce.

Note: Inclusion of an article, book, or any other form of media on the Historiae ecclesiasticae collecta does not constitute a theological endorsement by the compiler, Michael Haykin, the Andrew Fuller Center or Southern Seminary.

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Historiae ecclesiasticae collecta: a weekly roundup of blogs, articles, books, and more

May 9, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

Blogs

Mark Movsesian writes on the latest Bonhoeffer biography, Strange Glory, at First Things.
Thomas Kidd celebrates five years of Patheos with a roundup of his top five Anxious Bench posts. Also, make sure and sign up for his weekly newsletter.
Check out John Fea’s recent interview with Todd Brenneman based on his new book Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism(Oxford University Press, December 2013).
Learn about the influential systematic theologian John Murray.
Check out this odd but interesting piece on “A Short History of Christian Matchmaking” by Paul Putz.
American Puritanism and pop culture intersect on Books and Culture in “Cotton Mather and Uppity Women.”
Douglas Bond posts on “Isaac Watts: A Child Poet” over on the Ligonier blog.
Justin Taylor highlights a new book due out in October by Thomas Kidd in “George Whitefield: Lessons from Eighteenth Century’s Greatest Evangelist.”
See the latest from Tom Nettles on The Founder’s Blog, “Fuller and Irresistible Grace: The Necessity of Regeneration as Prior to Repentance and Faith.”

Recent Book Releases

Apollinarianism: An Essay on the Christology of the Early Church by Charles E. Raven.
Original Bishops, The: Office and Order in the First Christian Communities by Alistair C. Stewart.
Clothing the Clergy: Virtue and Power in Medieval Europe, c. 800-1200 by Maureen C. Miller.
He Leadeth Me by Walter J. Ciszek S.J. and Daniel L. Flaherty S.J.
The Pillars of Priestcraft Shaken: The Church of England and its Enemies, 1660-1730 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History) by J. A. I. Champion.

From the Fuller Center

Junior Fellow, Evan Burns, highlights Adoniram Judson’s piety amidst grief in “To Hold Myself in Readiness.”
Don’t forget to check out our "Whitefield & the Great Awakening" conference page.

What did I miss this week? Share in the comments or on Twitter: @AFCBS or @dustinbruce.

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Historiae ecclesiasticae collecta: a weekly roundup of blogs, articles, books, and more

May 2, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

Registration is now open for “Whitefield & the Great Awakening,” a conference of the AFCBS. The conference will run October 21–22 on the beautiful campus of Southern Seminary. Find out more here.

Also, take an associated course with Dr. Michael Haykin and receive Master’s level course credit. Conference registration is included with tuition.

Blogs

Fred Sanders reflects on this week’s Future of Protestantism debate with Prescriptions for Protestants.
Video from Wheaton College’s recent conference, “The Spirit of God: Christian Renewal in the Community of Faith, have now been made available online. There are several sessions that may peak your historical interest.
On Doctrina Coram Deo, Shawn Wilhite reviews Rowan Greer’s Captain of Our Salvation: A Study in the Patristic Exegesis of Hebrews.
Sharon James writes on “The Life and Significance of Ann Hasseltine Judson (1789-1826)” in the recent issue of SBTS Journal of Missions.
On The Church Society blog, Simon Tomkins cleverly presents “An interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Check out this “Coffee Table Talk at the Café Einstein Stammhaus in Berlin” about the study of early Christianity at Marginalia Review of Books.
Check out John Fea’s recent interview of Luke Harlow based on his forthcoming book, Religion, Race, and the Making of Confederate Kentucky (Cambridge University Press, May 2014).
Also, check out John Fea’s upcoming project writing a history of the American Bible Society.
Check out this post on the Crossway Blog, “Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The World’s Best Grandfather.”
Finally, on the Founder’s Blog, check out two posts by Tom Nettles, “Fuller the Non-Calvinist” and “Fullerite: the Doctrine of Inability.”

Recent Book Releases

John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet by Jon Balserak. Oxford.
Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh. Knopf.
The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: A Translation of Their Collected Correspondence and Related Writings (New Middle Ages), ed. Mary Martin McLaughlin and Bonnie Wheeler. New Middle Ages.
While not a recent release, Steve Weaver informs us as to how some copies of Jonathan Arnold’s, The Reformed Theology of Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) have been made available to those of us on this side of the pond.

From the Fuller Center

Steve Weaver announces that registration is now open for the Fuller Center’s Fall conference on “George Whitefield and the Great Awakening.”
Contributor Evan Burns posts on Adoniram Judson’s declaration that “The Best of All Is, God With Us.”
Also, Michael Haykin presents “Andrew Fuller on the extent of the atonement: A surrejoinder to Drs. Allen and Caner.”

What did I miss this week? Share in the comments or on Twitter: @AFCBS or @dustinbruce.

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Historiae ecclesiasticae collecta: a weekly roundup of blogs, articles, books, and more

April 25, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

Happy Birthday to Oliver Cromwell who was born April 25, 1599. Check out a former post by Michael Haykin on Cromwell, “Religious Freedom: Historical Highlights & Patterns. Part 1: The Puritans and Oliver Cromwell,” or his book, To Honour God: the spirituality of Oliver Cromwell.

Blogs

On Euangelion, Michael Bird posts a recent lecture by Diarmaid MacCulloch entitled, “What if Arianism Had Won?”
David Murray lists “Top Ten Biographies of Men” and “Top Ten Biographies of Christian Women” on his blog, HeadHeartHand.org.
On First Things, in a post entitled “What’s the Bible For?,” Peter Leithart interacts with a recent article by Mathew Levering on Augustine’s understanding of the Spirit as “love” and “gift.”
Miles Mullins writes on the important concept of “Christian Humility? In Academia?” on The Anxious Bench.
Also on The Anxious Bench, John Turner begins a series on the role of visions in the history of Christianity with “Eucharistic Visionaries.”
On the Founders blog, Tom Nettles discusses Ann Judson’s conversion to Baptist principles in “Truth compelled us to be.”
Paul Helm posts “The many dimensions of Calvinism – again” on his blog, Helm’s Deep.
Fuller Center Jr. Fellow Ian Clary weighs in on a recent debate with “Fuller and the Atonement” on the City of God blog.
The most recent edition of Themelios, associated with The Gospel Coalition, has dropped and includes an article by Collin Hansen, “Revival Defined and Defended: How the New Lights Tried and Failed to Use America’s First Religious Periodical to Quiet Critics and Quell Radicals” and another by Ryan Van Neste, “The Care of Souls: The Heart of the Reformation.” Also, check out the smattering of book reviews on History and Historical Theology.
Finally, on the American Historical Association blog, Vanessa Varin offers advice we can all use in “Spring Cleaning: 5 Tips for Being a More Organized Historian.”

Recent Book Releases

Kevin Belmonte, D.L. Moody - A Life: Innovator, Evangelist, World Changer. Moody.
John Bowlin ed., The Kuyper Center Review, volume 4: Calvinism and Democracy, Eerdmans.
Roger Williams, Bishop Lists: Formation of Apostolic Succession of Bishops in Ecclesiastical Crises, Gorgias Press.
Paul Figueras, An Introduction to Early Christianity, Gorgias Press.
David Bebbington, The Nonconformist Conscience (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 19), Routledge. Now in Kindle.
Timothy Furry, Allegorizing History: The Venerable Bede, Figural Exegesis and Historical Theory, Timothy Clarke & Co.
Justin S. Holcomb, Know the Heretics (KNOW Series), Zondervan.
Justin S. Holcomb, Know the Creeds and Councils (KNOW Series), Zondervan.

From the Fuller Center

Contributor Evan Burns highlights Fuller’s Edwardsean roots in “The Sum of All These Rewards.”
Michael Haykin offers a rejoinder to Emir Caner’s recent post on SBC Today in “Andrew Fuller’s Calvinist soteriology: a brief response to Emir Caner.” Make sure and check out the comments.
Michael Haykin also provides a “Reading Plan for the Latin Fathers (April-June 2014).”

What did I miss this week? Share in the comments or on Twitter: @AFCBS or @dustinbruce.

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Reading Plan for the Latin Fathers (April-June 2014)

April 19, 2014 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

April 19–26 Read Tertullian’s Against Praxeas Question: What are Tertullian’s main arguments against modalism and how does he anticipate the later Trinitarian formula “three persons in one being”?

April 27–30 Read Cyprian, To Donatus Question: Outline Cyprian’s understanding of conversion.

May 1–7 Read Cyprian, On the Unity of the Catholic Church Question: What are the marks of the true church according to Cyprian and how does he substantiate his view?

May 8–15 Read Novatian, On the Trinity Question: How does Novatian show from Scripture that Jesus is God?

May 16–23 Read Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity, Book 1 Question: Outline Hilary’s conversion.

May 24–31 Read Augustine, Confessions (the whole book) Question: Outline the way that Augustine depicts God as The Beautiful.

June 1–7 Read Augustine, City of God 1.1–36; 4.1–4; 11.1–4; 12.4–9; 13.1–24; 14.1–28; 15.1–2; 20.1–30; 21.1–2; 22.8–9; 22.29–30 Question: What is Augustine’s understanding of history?

June 8–15 Read Patrick, Confession Question: What is Patrick’s understanding of the missionary call?

Download the Reading Plan for the Latin Fathers (PDF)

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