Free Books for "Baptists and the Cross" Registrants

I am pleased to announce some of the free books that will be given away at this year's conference.  Once again we are grateful this year to have received some great books from generous publishers.  The following books will given to conference registrants at this year's conference held on August 30-31 at Southern Seminary.  For more information about the conference and to register, please visit events.sbts.edu/andrewfuller.

Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, eds. Thomas R. Schreiner & Shawn D. Wright (B&H Academic)
The Cross:  The Vindication of God, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Banner of Truth)
Scandalous:  The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, D.A. Carson (Crossway)
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin

Podcast Interview with Dr. Stephen Wellum

It is our pleasure to have Dr. Stephen Wellum as one of the speakers at this year's Andrew Fuller Conference.  Dr. Wellum is scheduled to address the conference in the second plenary session on the theme “Baptism and Crucicentrism.” Recently, Dr. Michael Haykin had the opportunity to interview Dr. Wellum about his conference topic.  This podcast is the result. This interview is the third podcast of the Andrew Fuller Center.  You can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes using this feed.

You can still register for the conference here.  Discounts available for students.

Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin

New Site on the Works of Wilhelmus à Brakel

I would like to alert you to an excellent new website devoted to the study of The Christian's Reasonable Service by Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635-1711).  This site is an excellent introduction to à Brakel and his magnum opus.  The blog's administrator, Bartel Elshout, actually translated the four volumes from the original Dutch.  I have been told by a friend that Dr. Joel Beeke has said that if he could take only one work with him to a deserted island, it would be The Christian's Reasonable Service.  This is high praise indeed.  To learn more about this important and helpful work, please visit this informative blog.

Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.

Attend Refo500 Conference, Earn Class Credit with Dr. Haykin

The following announcement was posted by Emily Griffin on the Towers website:

The effects of the Reformation remain with us to this day; in fact, the world has been shaped and formed in far-reaching ways by the legacy of the Reformation.

Southern Seminary will host the first North American conference for Refo500, a global project to direct attention toward 2017 and the quincentenary of the beginning of the Reformation. The conference, titled “Celebration Reformation: Challenges and Chances between Now and 2017,” will take place Sept. 27-28, on Southern Seminary’s campus. Featured speakers include R. Albert Mohler Jr., Timothy George, Joel Beeke, Peter Lillback, Herman Selderhuis, David Hall, and others. For more conference information, call 502-897-4072 or visit www.sbts.edu/events.

Southern Seminary students can earn course credit by attending Refo500. Students should register for course #27177: “Studies in Theology: Reformation Theology and Piety” with Michael Haykin. This course is an intensive study of the magisterial Reformation in Germany, Switzerland, France and England, its main events and figures, its theology and piety. Each student is expected to attend eight class lectures on Friday, Sept. 24, and Monday, Sept. 27, and the entirety of the Refo500 conference. Students will also be responsible for three post-course assignments.

If you have questions on course #27177, please contact Academic Records at 502-897-4209 or academicrecords@sbts.edu.

Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.

British rockers playing the blues with Howlin' Wolf

Today I bought a tremendous blues album, The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions recorded in 1970 with Chester A Bennett (Chess, a.k.a. Howlin’ Wolf) and backup by Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts (of the Stones), and a bonus with Ringo Starr playing the drums on one track. Chess was dubious about whether the Brits could ever help him make a blues album. But when it was all over, his doubts were proved wrong and the Brits had played the blues. Like other musical media, blues makes a serious reflection on the human condition: without Christ, the human state is melancholy indeed. I suppose my Celtic melancholic temperament is what finds the blues so appealing, much more than jazz and when played by rockers like the ones on this album utterly awesome—though Clapton and the others were actually going back to their roots when they played blues with Howlin’ Wolf.

New Book by Dr. Haykin: The Empire of the Holy Spirit

Dr. Haykin's newest release, The Empire of the Holy Spirit, is soon to be released from Borderstone Press.  This book can be ordered directly from the publisher by contacting Roger Duke at rogerdduke@borderstonepress.com. Combining both keen historical reflection and rich biblical insight, Michael Haykin has pulled from his expertise in both church history and biblical spirituality in the writing of this volume. The book has already received high praise from several individuals who have endorsed the book.  Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes:

Michael Haykin's The Empire of the Holy Spirit is not just a book about the Holy Spirit.  This is a book written, obviously, by one who knows the Person (not just the topic) of which he writes.

This book will prompt you to think.  You'll want to scratch down notes, and talk about insights over coffee with friends.  But, more than that, this book will prompt you to get on your knees, through the Spirit of God, and cry out "Abba Father!"

Dr. Donald Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, has also endorsed the book:

Besides Michael Haykin, few people, to my knowledge, could have written such a book as this with the same credibility.

The richness of the combination of history, theology, spirituality, and practicality in this volume could come only from someone who has the expertise of a professor of church history and spirituality, the insight of a biblical scholar, the wisdom of an experienced church elder, and the authenticity of a sincere personal piety.

Dr. Joel Beeke, President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, has written:

Haykin's Empire of the Spirit covers a rich cluster of subjects on the Holy Spirit from various biblical, historical, and theological perspectives.  Whether speaking about the Spirit's role in sanctification, in revival, in the Great Commission, in the exercise of genuine success, or in promoting Christian unity, Haykin's thoughts, tethered to Scripture, offer an exciting read.

This book needs to be pondered over and yet it is a page-turner.  I pray that it may promote a deepening interest in and appreciation for the Spirit's indispensable, variegated ministry in the lives of believers.

Other endorsers include Dr. Steven Lawson, Dr. Carl Trueman, and several others.  I will post some of their endorsements in future posts.

If you would like to listen to the author's own thoughts on the book, you can download this podcast in which I interview Dr. Haykin about his most recent book.

Download Podcast

You can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes using this feed.

Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.

Early Registration Ends July 31st

The fourth annual conference of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies is scheduled for August 30-31, 2010.  The theme is:  Baptists and the Cross:  Contemporary and Historical Reflections. The conference will feature speakers such as Danny Akin (president, SEBTS), David Bebbington (professor, University of Stirling), Maurice Dowling (professor,Irish Baptist College), James Fuller (professor, University of Indianapolis), Tom Schreiner (professor, SBTS), Glendon Thompson (president, TBS and pastor of Jarvis Street Baptist Church), and Stephen Wellum (professor, SBTS).  For full bios of the speakers, see here.

Discounted registration rates are now available for the conference (through July 31) and there is a special rate for students.  Students may receive a discounted rate by using the code: “8051974″.  For more information on the conference visithttp://events.sbts.edu/andrewfuller.

Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.

"I wish to be a man of the Church"

“I wish to be a man of the Church, not the founder of heresy; I want to be named with Christ’s name and bear the name which is blessed on earth. It is also my desire to do this in deed as well as in Spirit.” Some of you reading this might be surprised to learn that Origen, nicknamed Adamantius, “Man of Steel,”[1] said this. See his Homily on Luke 16. I think it grievous that later generations have judged Origen so harshly. I have never regarded him as a heretic as some have done. He was a Christian theologian who made some theological errors, yes. But a heretic never! We need to ever recall with figures as complex as Origen the way Robert Murray McCheyne spoke after hearing of the death of Edward Irving, the preaching wonder of the 1820s: for McCheyne, Irving was “a holy man in spite of all his delusions and errors.”[2]

[1] Jerome, On Illustrious Men 54[trans. Thomas P. Halton, Saint Jerome: On Illustrious Men (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1999), 77].

[2] Andrew A. Bonar, The Life of Robert Murray M‘Cheyne (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1960), 35.

Dying with Christ like Isaac

All who follow the Lord Jesus will experience the pain of the cross.

Our baptism as believers speaks of this, does it not? Crucified with Christ. No cause ever for Baptists to be triumphalistic. The only triumph is being crucified with Christ and it hurts!

We will know the pain of rejection and of laughter as we plead with sinners to repent and believe. These are stabs to the vitals, especially when those we plead with are loved ones.

Blessed is the church that knows how to comfort those suffering for Jesus’ sake: places where discipleship is really understood.

But sometimes, I fear, our churches are adept at turning a blind eye than a helping hand. We, like the rest of humanity, really do not want to suffer. And we have no desire to suffer with others. Or no idea of what to say.

This too is being crucified with Christ: realizing how powerless we really are. Where is free will and human power now? This is the crux of the matter: we cannot die with Christ—the Spirit of the Crucified Christ must take us to the cross.

May we go like Isaac: in wonder and awe and come away with reverent fear.

 

Glorying in the Cross with T.T. Shields and Anne Steele

Glorying in the cross of Christ lies at the very heart of what it means to be a biblical Christian.(1) In the 1920s, during the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy, it was this glorying that was central to the difference between Fundamentalists and Modernists. The latter liked to think and talk of Christ’s death as chiefly an example of the Father’s love and Christ’s dying as that of a glorious martyr.(2) But it was men like Dr. T. T. Shields (1873-1955), the Toronto Baptist, who insisted that the death of the Lord Jesus had far richer meaning. The real significance of the suffering and death of the Lord Christ, he insisted, lay in the fact it was for sinners. He suffered and died in their stead. For sinners’ eternal good his sinless soul bore the wrath they justly deserved. And the salvation he consequently secured by his death is full and complete and lacks nothing. Glory—glory indeed!

It is well known, though, that Roman Catholicism has also focused on the sufferings and death of Christ.  Where does it differ then from the Evangelical witness to and glorying in the cross? Mel Gibson’s lavishly produced The Passion of the Christ with its intense concentration on the physical sufferings of the Lord Jesus well reveals the stance of traditional Catholicism. Yet it fails to enunciate clearly why Christ died and the importance of his spiritual sufferings. And here is seen the crucial difference between the Evangelical and Roman Catholic approaches to the cross.

Historically, Evangelical glorying in the cross has also meant an emphasis on a certain type of living. To truly glory in the cross is to no longer live for self and one’s ambitions and plans. It means to give all for Jesus and his glory. The eighteenth-century Baptist hymnwriter Anne Steele (1717-1778) put this truth in this way:

Dear Lord, what heavenly wonders dwell

In thy atoning blood!

By this are sinners snatch’d from hell,

And rebels brought to God.

 

Jesus, my soul, adoring bends

To love so full, so free;

And may I hope that love extends

Its sacred power to me?

 

What glad return can I impart,

For favours so divine?

O take my all, this worthless heart...

(1) Thus Philip E. Hughes and Frank Colquhoun, “Introduction” to Leon Morris, Glory in the Cross. A Study in the Atonement (1966 ed; repr. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 6.

(2) See, for example, L.H. Marshall’s view of Christ’s death as cited by W. J. H. Brown, [“Modernism”] (Unpublished ms., W. Gordon Brown Papers, McMaster Divinity College Archives, McMaster University, Ontario), [p.4].

Anne Steele, "The Savior calls"

One of the very few of Anne Steele’s hymns that are still sung today was originally entitled “The Savior’s Invitation,” and was based on Jesus’ words in John 7:37, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (KJV). The Saviour calls—let every Ear Attend the heavenly Sound; Ye doubting Souls, dismiss your Fear, Hope smiles reviving round.

For every thirsty, longing Heart, Here Streams of Bounty flow, And Life, and Health, and Bliss impart, To banish mortal Woe.

Here, Springs of sacred Pleasure rise To ease your every Pain, (Immortal Fountain! full Supplies!) Nor shall you thirst in vain.

Ye Sinners come, ‘tis Mercy’s Voice, The gracious Call obey; Mercy invites to heavenly Joys,— And can you yet delay?

Dear Savior, draw reluctant Hearts, To Thee let Sinners fly; And take the Bliss Thy Love imparts, And drink, and never die.[1]

Based on Jesus’ open invitation to sinners to come to him and drink, that is, find eternal life, Steele urges “every Ear” to “attend” to Christ’s heavenly invitation. He calls all who are “thirsty” and “longing” to come to him, where they will find “Life, and Health, and Bliss,” in sum, “Springs of sacred Pleasure” that will ease every woe. This invitation is a command—“the gracious Call obey”—but Steele is also aware that “the thirsty, longing Heart” is not sufficient in itself to come to Christ. In the final analysis it is a “reluctant Heart,” filled with doubt and fear. Hence, she prays, “Dear Savior, draw reluctant hearts.”

Anne was an eighteenth-century woman, and much has changed since her day: fashion and food, technology and government. But the human heart has not changed and nor has Jesus—“the same yesterday and today and forever.” And so we pray the same for our family and friends and neigbours and those we have never seen.

[1] A Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (3rd ed.; Bristol: W. Pine, 1778), Hymn 145.

Toronto violence, Scripture, and William Ward

There was violence this past weekend in the streets of Toronto, a city well-known to me and one that I love. In fact, the staging ground for the beginning of the protest marches against the G20 that led to the violence was the Allan Gardens, literally right next door to Toronto Baptist Seminary. Thankfully, I have been told that no damage was done to the seminary. But a lot of damage was done to downtown Toronto stores and businesses by anarchists intent on disrupting the G20. When that could not happen, they evidently became intent on doing as much damage as possible. There have been questions raised about police over-reaction to the rioting. Personally, I am very thankful that we had so many officers of the law on the scene who did a very credible job of containing the violence. We live in a democratic society—for which I thank God—and there are proper channels to voice disapproval of economic policies. And it strikes me as the height of hypocrisy to smash the windows of small stores and cause heartache and problems for small storeowners—all in the name of striking at big C capitalism and “corporate bosses.”

Biblically, Romans 13—though I know it is not the only text of the Bible that deals with our relationship to the state—has to be the Christian’s guideline here. Developing an attitude of submission to duly-constituted authorities is central to the development of Christian character. Of course, when the state seeks to shackle men and women in body and soul, Christians must obey God rather than man. But that is miles away from being the case here. The charges of statism against our government or any of those in the West is merely empty rhetoric. These protestors need to go to Saudi Arabia or Iran or North Korea and see what true statism looks like.

If you want to see what true radicalism looks like ponder the life of William Ward (1769-1823), who, as a printer during his younger years, had been involved in radical politics. It was the era of the French Revolution, and for some in the British Isles that historic event sparked thoughts of similar events in England. But then God got a hold of his life and he went out to India to serve as a missionary. His hardcore commitment to radical politics he put forever behind him when he went out to India, for he was invovled in a much radical exercise: ushering in the Kingdom of the Lord Christ. Of course, his Christian witness had political ramifications. One thinks of Ward's role in the ending of sati and his prayers for and rejoicing in the end of slavery. But there was so much more: there was the freeing of the human spirit and the reconciliation of sinners to a holy God.

H C G Moule on Hebrews 13:7 and the need for church history

Handley C.G. Moule (1841–1920) was a descendant of Caleb Evans (see previous post). In his Messages from the Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Elliott Stock, 1909), chapter 12, he has this to say about the importance of church history: Hebrews 13:7 “consecrates the fidelity of the Christian memory. It assures us that to cherish the names, the words, the conduct, the holy lives, the blessed deaths, of our teachers of days long done is no mere indulgence of unfruitful sentiment. It is natural to the Gospel, which, just because it is the message of an unspeakably happy future, also sanctifies the past which is the living antecedent to it. Just because we look with the love of hope towards “our gathering together unto Him,” we are to turn with the love of memory towards all the gifts of God given to us through the holy ones with whom we look to be “gathered together.” “The exit of their walk of life” (ver. 7) is to be our study, our meditation. We are to “look it up and down” ([Greek: anatheorountes]) as we would some great monument of victory, and from that contemplation we are to go back into life, to “imitate their faith,” to do just what they did, treating (xi. 1) the unseen as visible, the hoped-for as present and within our embrace. Thank God for this authorization and hallowing of our recollections. Precious indeed is its assurance that the sweetness of them (for all its ineffable element of sadness, as eyes and ears are hungry for the faces and the voices gone, for the look and tone of the preacher, the teacher, through whom we first knew the Lord, or knew Him better) is no half-forbidden luxury of the soul but a means of victorious grace.”

Caleb Evans and being a good historian

I first came across the name of Caleb Evans around 1977–78 when I was studying for my comprehensive exams for my Th.D. at the University of Toronto. In Church History at that time we were given 100 questions, in four groups of 25 questions apiece, covering the entire range of Church History. We prepared ourselves on five out of each category, thus twenty and then eight of these were chosen for written exams and also, if need be, oral exams.

 

One of the questions I was studying had to do with historiography. And it was while preparing for it that I came across this statement by the Welsh Baptist leader Caleb Evans (1737–91)[1]: “Every Christian ought to be a good historian.”[2] I forget now where I found it—it was not a Baptist work, I know that—but I have never forgotten this statement. It is so good and so true. It was not for another ten years or so that I discovered anything more about who Evans was. He is probably mostly remembered today as the key Baptist leader who "crossed swords" with John Wesley over the American Revolution. Evans' critique of Wesley drew responses from two key Methodist lieutenants, John Fletcher and Thomas Olivers. But I will ever remember Evans for this statement about history!

 

Before making this statement, Evans says this about the purpose of history: “The study of History is one of the most improving as well as entertaining studies, the human mind can be engaged in. It extends our views, elevates our minds, blots out our narrow prejudices, and from a just and comprehensive view of the past, enables us to improve and enjoy the present moment, and prepare for the future.”[3]

[1] Evans, though Welsh, could not understand the Welsh language.

[2] The Remembrance of Former Days (2nd ed.; Bristol: William Pine, 1778), 24. This was a Fifth of November sermon.

[3] Remembrance of Former Days, 24.

Leadership in the Ancient Church

Over the past two hundred years it has not been uncommon for some historians of the Ancient Church to argue that formal leadership simply did not exist in the early decades of the church’s existence. Rather, they have maintained, things were quite fluid in the decades immediately after the resurrection of Christ and Pentecost. It was a period of charismatic leadership, when people who gave leadership to the church were regarded as leaders not so much due to any official recognition on the part of churches but because of their personal giftedness or because of the force of their personalities. Only with the passage of time did the church begin to have clearly designated offices of leadership like elders or bishops, and this marks a growing institutionalization of the church. From a fairly open fellowship of the Spirit in which all were equal, the church became more rigid and hierarchical. The only problem with this model is that the evidence of the New Testament clearly presents us with a different picture. As we look at the following texts, it will be immediately clear that leadership, ever vital to any group of people, was present from the very origins of the Church:

a. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, for instance, which, apart from possibly James’ letter, is the earliest book in the New Testament, Paul states that the “one who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches” (ESV).

b. Again, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, also a very early text, Paul encourages his readers: “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you” (ESV).

c. And in Philippians 1:1, Paul and Timothy, greet not only “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi,” but also the “overseersand deacons” (ESV).

The key question for the early Christians was not whether to have leaders or not, but what kind of leaders? Leadership was a given. The key question was: What model of leadership was to be promoted?

Thomas De Laune (d.1685), the Cork Baptist and his Irishness

Thomas De Laune (d.1685), was native to Cork, Ireland. His background was Roman Catholic, but in the early 1650s he was converted through the instrumentality of Major Edward Riggs, a wealthy Cromwellian soldier who had settled on a large estate about seven miles from the town of Cork in 1651, and who was a key figure in the founding of the Cork Baptist Church (where I was for about eight days earlier this month). Riggs provided for De Laune’s education till the Cork man was sixteen or so. De Laune eventually moved to London, probably in the 1660s, where he became linked  with the leadership of the London Particular Baptist community. In July 1675, for instance, De Laune co-authored a book with Hanserd Knollys and William Kiffin and three others that defended believer’s baptism. Six years later De Laune and Benjamin Keach co-authored the monumental Tropologia, in which the authors seek to give the interpreter of the Bible a kind of Bible handbook in which he or she can find the explanation of the various tropes, metaphors, and similes in the Scriptures.

Reading through a work attributed to De Laune, namely, A Plea for the Non-Conformists (London, 1684) just now, I came across an interesting, albeit disturbing, statement. The author—indentified simply as “Philalethes” on the title page—is drawing his case for nonconformity to a close and he says that he hopes that he will be heard for he is appealing to “our own Country-men, Neighbours, Fellow-Citizens, Acquaintance, Relations, Gentlemen, Scholars, with men professing the same Protestant Religion with our selves.” He is not speaking, he emphasizes, to “brutish Irish Massacring-Cut-Throats, worse than Canibals [sic] (to whom all Reason, Right and Truth is unacceptable)” (p.78). The author is clearly De Laune, as can be seen by his Two Letters to Dr. Benjamin Calamy (London, 1683), and, in fact, A Plea for the Non-Conformists got De Laune committed to the infamous Newgate prison, where he perished in 1685, a genuine martyr for Dissent.

But what is shocking is that an Irishman could say such things about his fellow Irish! It could be that De Laune has one group of Irishmen in mind, but, at first glance the statement seems to reveal the racism that existed among the English regarding the Irish—and sadly, how an Irishman—who would have been betrayed by his accent like the ancient Galileans—could adopt English attitudes. Oh to move beyond such stereotyping, and see that at the door of the Church such perspectives must be shed wholly and utterly!

Andrew Fuller: the very model of a pastor-theologian

Broadman & Holman have been publishing a new series of monographs on the history of Baptists entitled "Studies in Baptist Life and Thought." These monographs explore Baptist life together and Baptist thought, and are vital reading for anyone who loves the truths that Baptists have lived and died for. Given the many significant changes that the world is undergoing in our day, Baptists are being tempted to divorce themselves from their theological and spiritual roots. Behind this series is the conviction that such would be suicidal and that the volumes in this series will provide a way in which Baptists can learn from the past how to live faithfully for God in the present. The latest volume in the series is Paul Brewster's Andrew Fuller: Model Pastor-Theologian, due out this summer or early fall. Brewster, pastor of Ryker’s Ridge Baptist Church, Madison, Indiana, and an earned PhD from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, examines Fuller as a pastor and theologian and the way in which he was able to frame a theological perspective in the midst of a very busy pastorate.

In recent years, with the upsurge of interest in Reformed theology, there are a number of theologians who have been the focus of attention, Edwards, for example, or some of the Puritans like Owen. But when it comes to a solid model of Baptist ministry, who do we have? Spurgeon, without a shadow of a doubt. Well, after Spurgeon I would suggest that Fuller is a prime example of what a pastor-theologian looks like. Read Brewster's book and see for yourself!

You can pre-order from Amazon.com for $19.79.