No Gloating, Please!

I saw The Toronto Star today—its front page, though I rarely look at this particular paper—with its picture of Conrad Black heading to prison and underneath the headline “Lord 18330-424.” Could not help but think of the way the world often gloats over the unhappy circumstances of others. Oh, you say, this man deserved this. Maybe—maybe not. I honestly do not know and I have not followed the details of the trial. It is not so much in the interest of justice that I am blogging.

Rather, I am concerned about the way in which there is something rotten in the human heart that takes comfort in the misery of others.

You doubt this? Then read Fik Meijer, The Gladiators: History’s Most Deadly Sport, trans. Liz Waters (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007), pages 1-12—very convicting about the depth of human depravity.

Still unconvinced? Then read the account of Alypius, the friend of Augustine, and the time he went to the Roman Colosseum.

And it should not be this way for the followers of the merciful Jesus who prayed for those who put him to death—he did not gloat that one day they would face a Judge much greater than Pilate—namely himself and inherit the trash-heaps and ashen dumps of hell if they had not repented. Who can gloat when all of us--oh yes, no exceptions here; my universalism--deserve just this?

A Sober Assessment of the Present State of Evangelicalism

Talk about Spurgeon redivivus: here is Phil Johnson’s take on the current state of Evangelicalism and he couldn’t be more right! Gospel Lite. Some people, well-meaning, tell us that we should not be so critical, we need to be kind with all of our words and not cause any divisions, lest the true enemies of the Christian faith, namely, the Muslims, come in and take us over! Well, I for one am glad that Martin Luther, with the Muslims at the gates, did not hesitate to criticize the Pope. Or Augustine, with the barbarians about to sweep over the Roman Empire, was not slow to tell those who recognized Pelagius and his error that they were on the high road to hell because of heresy. Or Paul, facing persecution at the hands of the Jews, was not afraid to tell his readers to have nothing to do with theological error.

To Kill a King

To Kill A King (2003): I was utterly surprised to find this movie just released on DVD about that most tumultuous era of the British Isles’ history, the era of the 1640s and 1650s, when the world of our Anglophone forebears was “turned upside down” (a phrase actually used in the movie). It is well done in many ways: costumes and acting—Rupert Everett as King Charles I is excellent, as is Dougray Scott as Lord Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671), and Olivia Williams as Anne Vere, Fairfax’s wife. It was good to see married love—that between Fairfax and his wife—portrayed with sympathy. In fact, from Naseby to Charles II’s public hanging of Cromwell’s corpse, the movie is marked overall by historical accuracy—except in one instance: the character and rule of Oliver Cromwell.

I was sorely disappointed in the portrayal of Oliver Cromwell (acted by Tim Roth). Not by Roth’s acting, but by the portrayal of Cromwell as a morose individual who, according to the movie, eventually exercises a brutal tyranny through the Army. The movie thus perpetuates one of our great historical myths: that Cromwell was cut from the same cloth of such later tyrants like Robespierre and Stalin. As one reviewer put it, Roth’s Cromwell is “assured but troubled, righteous yet ruthless,…the ugly, human face of this riveting drama.”

Those of us who love the memory of Cromwell—in this, the 350th anniversary of his death—await a sensitive, accurate celluloid portrayal of this complex man.

Book Review of Fik Meijer, the Gladiators

Fik Meijer, The Gladiators: History’s Most Deadly Sport, trans. Liz Waters (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007), xviii+267 pages. I must admit that the gaudy cover of this book was off-putting at first glance. I picked it up at a variety store in an airport terminal and frankly, I thought it looked somewhat hokey. A quick perusal of the book, though, soon convinced me otherwise. And as I read it over the next few days I realized that this 2003 work by Dutch historian Fik Meijer is a gem. The very fact that the topic of gladiators is of perennial interest provides space for Meijer to argue that the modern West is as deeply fascinated by violence as Rome ever was.[1]

He first explains how the bloodiest “sport” in history evolved to become a key aspect of Roman society. Details regarding the lives of the gladiators—everything from the various types of gladiators who fought in the arena to the financial details of the shows—and the building of the Colosseum in Rome (the most spectacular of over 200 such amphitheatres in the Roman world by the third century a.d.) are then given in a lively prose style that is at once informative and fascinating reading.

The chapter “A Day at the Colosseum” brilliantly recreates what it would have been like to have attended one of the shows for a day of bloody and brutal entertainment. Although I have read the accounts of Christian martyrs for a good number of years now, I was completely unaware that their deaths would have taken place during what Meijer terms the lunchtime interval between the morning programme when there would have been animal fights and the afternoon “attraction” of the main gladiatorial fights (p.147-159). Meijer actually draws on the North African theologian Tertullian (fl.190-220) for some of his information, citing the second-century author more than half a dozen times.

Three final chapters deal with sea battles, the burials of slain gladiators and the end of the gladiatorial shows. Although Constantine issued legislation abolishing the shows in 325 a.d., it was not until the fourth decade of the following century that the shows finally ended.

All in all this is an excellent work and helps students of the Ancient Church understand in part why that ecclesial tradition, reacting against the violence of their world, was so solidly committed to non-violence.

[1] See pages 1-12, and his brief reviews of the movies Spartacus (1960) and Gladiator (2000) (p.220-231) as proof.

The Hymns of Keith Getty

One of my criticisms of contemporary worship music has been its failure to generally focus on the cross. This lack of crucicentrism is sad, given the priority that the cross of the Lord Jesus has in the Scriptures. How encouraging then to be given this evening Modern Hymns Live: The Hymns of Keith Getty (2006). Wow! Here is fresh music for corporate worship that retains the riches of the Evangelical hymnody of the past—especially crucicentrism. This is rich. O for more hymnwriters like Keith Getty! Check out his website: www.gettymusic.com.

Thanks to a dear brother Chip Stam ( www.carlstam.org ) for the gift of this CD.

David F. Wright

Dr. Ligon Duncan has a notice about the death of one of the great Reformed Patristic Scholars of our day, Dr. David F. Wright, Professor of Patristic & Reformed Christianity at the School of Divinity, the University of Edinburgh. I read Dr Wright’s article on Mat 28 just this past week, a superb piece as was the case with all the work he did. I have deeply admired him and his work. Praise to the Lord who gave him to the church. Thank you Ligon for this note. HT: Justin Taylor.

Reading Week, February 1974–A Week Never to Be Forgotten

I was sitting with my daughter Victoria in a Second Cup café today partly because she has her reading week this week and some free time. As I was musing on reading weeks and their importance in the life of the student—and the teacher—I recalled a very important reading week thirty-four years ago. I find it hard to believe that so much time has passed, but it has. It was the Sunday following the University of Toronto’s reading week of 1974. I was at the worship service of Stanley Avenue Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ontario. The preacher was a Welshman by the name of Davies—was it Elwyn Davies?—and he preached one of those Spirit-anointed sermons one never forgets, and which we need far more of these days, and then gave an “altar call.” Within a minute the front of the church was packed with thirty or so people, among them myself. I came forward to give my life to Christ.

Then later that week, in the privacy of my apartment, I gave myself unreservedly to the Triune God and knew what it was to be a Christian. When was the moment of regeneration and when the hour of conversion? I am not sure, but O how I wish I had lived up to the commitment I made then. But if I have failed the Lord, He has never ever failed me.

But, whatever my failings and sins, there has been no turning back. And that because of God’s grace. I would not have seen that then. But I sure do now: only divine grace can enable perseverance. Eternal praises to His Name!

Pray for Dr. Mohler

You who bow the knee and pray to the Living Christ, Lord of heaven and earth, our great High Priest, please remember our dear brother Dr Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who needs surgery to remove a pre-cancerous tumor in his colon. Dr Mohler has been a tremendous encouragement to God’s people as he has been at the forefront of a remarkable work of grace in our day. May we who have richly benefited from his ministry be an encouragement to him as we pray for restoration of health and strength.

George Adam Smith: Generous Orthodoxy in the 19th Century!

I have long enjoyed reading the blog Free St. George's. Here is a recent post that is so illuminating about Sir George Adam Smith (1856-1942), whom I would call a liberal, but who regarded himself as an evangelical and who delighted in the ministry of D.L. Moody. How can such things be? Read Book Review: 'Fixing the Indemnity'and take note of these words in the review: "Today we see history repeating itself. We fear that evangelicals who read little, particularly in the realm of history, are ill-equipped to handle the present crisis. Now those who read this blog are not in that category, so we recommend they buy the book, read it, and tell their friends what it contains.”

This is not an idle warning. All around us we see signs of Evangelicalism collapsing--and yet we despair not, for we serve a Sovereign God who can make out of stones voices of praise. And we that happening too--in the most unlikely of places God is raising up living stones for his praise and glory.

Reading Euripides

My son has been reading Euripides’ Antigone (442 bc) for an English class and he asked me to read the play so as to be able to help him think through some of the material. I must confess that I had never read Euripides before. It is a very powerful play, dealing with the central theme of the clash of personal conviction/conscience and state law. What struck me at the time of reading it and afterwards is that there are a number of things here that help illuminate New Testament teaching. Humanity’s ability to master the animal world, noted by James in James 3:1-5, is paralleled by lines 381-395. The fact that the guards around Polyneices’ corpse will suffer if they allow anyone to creep up and bury the body illuminates what is happening in Acts 12:19 regarding the guards killed by Herod.

And the overall themes of honour and shame (in this case, the disgrace of being bested by a woman), hybris, andthe importance of not violating one’s conscience, these are great perennial themes dealt with by holy Scripture and need to inform any student of God’s Word.

Teachability: Part of True Mentoring

What happens in the mentoring process, be it pastoral or academic? It is not the case that the person being mentored is totally passive and the mentor has all of the answers. Rather, a true mentoring experience is one in which there is a subtle interplay between teaching and learning on both sides. In the true mentoring experience the mentor also experiences what is to be a learner. And being a learner, summed up by that exquisite word “teachability,” lies at the heart of what it means to be a true leader.

When Wrong Is Honoured As Right

Darrin Brooker, a very close friend, alerted me to the fact that it has been suggested that Dr. Henry Morgentaler be awarded the Order of Canada. I was personally deeply distressed by this, for this man has made it his life’s goal to promote abortion throughout this fair nation—which is nothing less than the slaughter of countless innocents—and we are considering honouring this man with one of our nation’s highest honours! I love our country and have been greatly exercised by the way what is wrong has been promoted as a good and what is good has been treated as a merely cultural artefact and outmoded. Goodness never goes out of style; and what is wicked does not change its hue because of a different cultural scene.

There is a poll that The Globe and Mail is conducting regarding this—please take the time to register your opinion:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/v5/content/poll/static/nationalPoll.html.

What If the English Reformation Had Never Happened?

In a recent review of Bill Griffeth’s By Faith Alone: One Family’s Journey Through 400 Years of American Protestantism (Harmony, 2007), Chris Scott notes Griffeth’s assertion that his family roots, which are among the New England Puritans and their journey from England to America, would “never have happened if Henry VIII’s request for a divorce had been granted’ [“Religion: Faiths of the Forefathers”, Bookpage (January 2008), 30]. In other words, if Henry VIII had been able to coax Pope Clement VII (Pope, 1523-1534), the grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent, into giving him a divorce then the English Reformation would not have taken place. This is an intriguing thought—one of those that delight those who enjoy the pastime of reading of alternative histories. It is like the question: What if JFK had never been assassinated? Or this one: What if Hitler had invaded England in 1940? This Reformation alternate history then is this: Was the English Reformation so dependent on state support that if Henry had not gone into schism over his desire for a new wife, then the Reformation would have been stillborn?

Any close study of the period I think would reveal that men like William Tyndale would have pursued their programme for Reform—could the Reformation have succeeded, though, without state support? And if Henry had stayed within the orbit of Rome, would his children have done the same? It might be the case, that what might have been produced would have been the Reformed Church the Puritans longed for—in which case there would have been no need for the Puritans to venture overseas.

But this is not what happened. Clement stalled for time, not wanting to alienate either Henry or the nephew of Catherine of Aragon—Henry’s wife—who was Charles V, before whom Luther stood at Worms and who genuinely scared the Pope. And in the providence of God there was a Reformation in England—and how thankful we are to God for such. Whatever England may be now, her sons and daughters were once at the cutting edge of the advance of the Kingdom of God in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. And their American evangelical cousins performed a similar service in the twentieth century and are still, by God’s grace, at the heart of the expansion of that Kingdom. Long may it be so!

A Stunning Case of Historical Ignorance!

According to a Fox News passed on to me by a friend, “1 in 4 Britons Think Winston Churchill Never Existed”! I know—it sounds ludicrous! One of the most powerful memories of my childhood in England was Churchill’s funeral—I can almost see the headlines now announcing his death. What are we coming to? If this is an accurate assessment of the state of historical ignorance, it is no wonder tripe like the Da Vinci Code seems plausible to so many. This is one of the key reasons for studying and teaching history: there is so much bad history out there. And the idea that Churchill never existed is bad history at its worst!

The Perversity of the Human Heart

So perverse is the human heart that even when a person grows up under the constant sound of the gospel and hears the Word preached regularly, and has surrounding him or her godly models of the Christian life, unless God acts in sovereign grace, there will be no saving faith in the heart. Well did John Calvin put it in his Treatise on Eternal Election (1562): ‘It is not within our power to convert ourselves from our evil life, unless God changes us and cleanses us by his Holy Spirit.’[1]

[1] CO 8:113.

Calvin & Loving Unity

One of the great griefs here in this vale of tears is that God’s people—those blood-bought brothers and sisters who will spend eternity with the Saints and with their heavenly Lord with whom they have union—cannot get along. Sometimes, the issues are major—the nature of gospel preaching, for instance. Sometimes, they are minor—I think some of the divisions over worship today fall into this category. I dare not say all, for worship is an important matter. What shall be our attitude to all of this? I can recommend none better than that of John Calvin, that lover of church unity, who feared to leave Rome lest he was engaging in schism! When Martin Luther was “flaming against the Zurichers,” Calvin said the division between Luther and the Zwinglians of Zurich caused him “no little grief” and he “lamented in [his] own breast in silence.”[1]

Sometimes separation must take place—but it must be deeply lamented and all done to secure unity before such a step taken.

[1] Second Defence of the Pious and Orthodox Faith Concerning the Sacraments, in answer to the Calumnies of Joachim Westphal [Tracts, trans. Henry Beveridge (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1859), 2:253].

Who Is This? Philosophical Questions, Truth & the Saints

What prevents human reasoning from proving the existence or non-existence of God? Human logic and reasoning are flawed and not infallible and are shaped by all kinds of reasons that do not accord with Reason. We are like people then trying to speak about something that lies outside of our complete ken—or like Plato’s cave dwellers.

But I shall never forget that day in the fall of 1972, when, in my first year of university, I sat down to prove the existence of God with pen and paper. I was new to the halls of academia and I was filled with the love of philosophy and philosophical books and the love of words and reasoning. I had gathered a small cache of books, maybe twenty--in them my world of thought was confined. And I often regretted that one day I would die and could peruse those books no more. Little did I know what awaited me that golden autumn. For that day, there in a room in a house off Richmond Street in London, Ontario, where I was boarding with a very elderly couple, before I could put pen to paper, I knew...I knew God existed. Oh, my world was changed. He existed.

I did not yet know him as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who is as burning fire, the God of glory revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. But I was being turned from the confines of human reason to Truth above. I was starting on that road--rather, he was taking my hand down that road--that would lead to a church pew in Stanley Avenue Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ontario, where I heard the Gospel really for the first time and a one-room apartment in Toronto on Dundonald Avenue, where the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, my Maker, revealed himself in the fire of revelation and I came to the point where I could say, without any philosophical hesitation, Christianus sum.

I then knew, as I had never known before, the limits of reason and why I was alive and I was given a reason to live forever. To enjoy his presence and to bathe in his glory with the saints of his Church: philosopher saints like Augustine and Anselm and humble saints like Augustine's mother Monnica.

"Who is this that hangs there dying while the rude world scoffs and scorns Numbered with the malefactors, torn with nails, and crowned with thorns? 'Tis our God who lives forever mid the shining ones on high In the glorious golden city, reigning everlastingly." (William W How)

Calvin’s Psychopannychia and the State of Your Soul

At one point in John Calvin’s earliest publication after his conversion, the 1534 treatise Psychopannychia, the French theologian reflected on what life is like without a saving knowledge of the living God. While his comments are not autobiographical in form, they can, as Heiko Oberman has pointed out, be interpreted as a commentary on his own life prior to his conversion. “Do you want to know what the death of the soul is? It is to be without God, to be deserted by God, to be abandoned to yourself. …Since there is no light outside of God who lights our darkness, when he withdraws his light then our soul is certainly blind and buried in darkness; our soul is mute because it cannot confess, and call out to embrace God. The soul is deaf because it cannot hear his voice. The soul is crippled since it does not have a hold on…God…”[1]

If Calvin is right—and I passionately affirm that he is with all of my being—oh what a sorry state all men and women are in without the Lord Jesus. And oh what bliss to know the Lord Jesus.

Reader: into which category do you fall? If the former, think hard about the folly of putting off commitment to the Lord Jesus. Passion for any other—be he the Buddha or Confucius or Muhammad—will do you no good in that day when fates are sealed. Then only One—yes only the great God and Saviour, Jesus—will be able to save your soul.

If the latter and the way sometimes proves hard, remember whose you are and the glorious joy of being loved by him and known by him.

[1] Trans. Heiko A. Oberman, ‘Subita Conversio: The Conversion of John Calvin’ in his, Ernst Saxer, Alfred Schindler and Heinzpeter Stucki, eds., Reformiertes Erbe: Festschrift für Gottfried W. Locher zu seinem 80. Geburtstag (Zwingliana, 19/2; Zürich: Theologischer Verlag, 1993), 2:295, n.4.

For a translation of Psychopannychia, see Tracts and Treatises, trans. H. Beveridge, 3:413-490. For Beveridge’s rendering of the passage that Oberman has translated, see Tracts and Treatises, trans. H. Beveridge, 3:454-455. For the Latin behind this translation, see CO 5:204-205.

For a study of Psychopannychia, see George H. Tavard, The Starting Point of Calvin’s Theology (Grand Rapids/Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 2000).

New Year’s Resolution: This Year a Budding Historian!

I have entered a new phase of my life: full-time professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am deeply humbled and in some ways terrified! But I see it also as an opportunity to be what God has called me to be: an historian. I wrestled with that calling long and hard. By that I do not mean that I ever fled from being an historian. In some ways it fits me as naturally as my skin! But for a long time, in a church culture that sees calling as primarily meaning becoming a missionary or pastor, I could not believe that this was my calling. I suppose it was not until I was fortyish that I began to accept it as my calling.

Since then I have been learning what it is that God has called me to do—and learning what he has not called me to do. The latter has been especially very difficult, since there is this underground rivulet (or is it a stream?) in my heart that keeps hankering to be more than an historian. But that is my calling—after Christian, husband, dad, and friend.

And then I look at what it means to be an historian—and that daunts me as well! Maybe tomorrow, or the day after, I will begin to be an historian, I think. But I am nowhere near where I should be—and I am in my early fifties!

A fitting new year’s resolution: this year a budding historian!