The description of Facebook and Twitter as social media is somewhat deceptive. Do they get people in touch? Oh yes, and sometimes long lost buddies re-connect, which is for the good. But, as vehicles of significant social interaction, do they qualify as social media? Not really. Some people seem to think they do and they use them to air all kinds of things best left unsaid in even as liquid a medium as the digital. Simply put: Facebook is not the place for some of the rant and rave that I have seen. In the final analysis, there is nothing like the face to face discussion. Maybe Plato and the Greeks were not all wrong in their complaints about the written word in the social medium of their day--the letter and the book: it is a dead word, cannot speak, cannot respond, can never serve in the stead of the spoken word. Of course, as a Christian who lives on the the written Word of God, I do not buy this. But the point they are making does seem to fit our day's social media: they appear to be responsive, but in reality they do not meet the heart's needs for love and companionship.
Newton on doing controversy--needed now as much as ever
Over at Tom Hicks' blog, Life in Christ,he cites some portions of a John Newton letter regarding controversy. Am always amazed at that saint's wisdom! No wonder he is well described as the letter writer par excellence of the Great Awakening. See here: http://lifeinchrist-tom.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-should-we-treat-our-opponents-in.html?spref=fb and follow the link to the whole letter here on the OPC website: http://www.opc.org/nh.html?article_id=217. We live in perilous days when there be dragons abroad, and it is so easy for the snarkiness latent in some of our Evangelical tradition to emerge when confronting these dragons. I deem Newton's letter a sane corrective.
The fallout of Montanism: looking to canon, creed, and bishop (overseer/elder)
While I do not always agree with Jaroslav Pelikan, he is without doubt the doyen of 20th century church historians. Here is his reflection on the fallout of the Montanist controversy. Pelikan is noting that as a result of the controversy, the church rightly judged Montanism to be obsolete for she "looked increasingly not to the future, illumined by the Lord's return, nor to the present, illumined by the Spirit's extraordinary gifts, but to the past, illumined by the composition of the apostolic canon, the creation of the apostolic creed, and the establishment of the apostolic episcopate." [The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600) (The Christian Tradition, vol. 1; Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 1971), 107].
Very true as an historical reality--its biblical validity is another question. And here I am thinking of the episcopate. The New Testament clearly supports both the looking to canon and creed. But does it support the idea of the historic episcopate?
New "A few acres of snow" post: Math and the Future of Religion
Dr. Haykin has written a new piece for the "A few acres of snow" feature. The newest post analyzes a recent article on the decline of religion in Canada by Daniela Syrovy. Check out "Math and the Future of Religion" and feel free to interact with the post in the comments section below.
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.
Free PDF Lecture on the Making of the KJV
Dr. Michael Haykin recently gave the Staley Lectures at Charleston Southern University on the history of the King James Version of the Bible. These lectures were given in commemoration of the 400 year anniversary of the publication of the King James Version in 1611. Dr. Haykin's lecture notes are now being made available here for free download. They will be available in the future on the Papers page of this website.
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.
Free PDF Lecture on St. Patrick
Dr. Haykin recently lectured in one of his classes about the life and ministry of St. Patrick. On this St. Patrick's Day, he is offering his notes for this lecture for free download. He has titled the lecture for this occasion: "Remembering Patrick and His Confession on March 17, 2011." We hope you enjoy this survey of Patrick's life. It will be available in the future on the Papers page of this website.
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.
Archibald Alexander on Andrew Fuller
Andrew Fuller’s writings were widely read in America throughout the nineteenth century. As Archibald Alexander (1772–1851) remarked of his influence in a book review of the standard print copy of the Fuller corpus: “Few men of the last age, have left a deeper impression of their labours on the public mind, than Andrew Fuller.”[1]
[1] “The complete works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, with a Memoir of his life”, The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, 18, no.4 (1846), 547.
The "AnaBaptist" meeting-house in Charleston
This past week my wife and I visited Charleston, South Carolina, for the third time. It is a city that we love. I was speaking on the 400th anniversary of the KJB at Charleston Southern University, their Staley Lectures. It was a great honour to be there, to speak on the KJB, and renew old friendships, with Dr Peter Beck, and make new ones, with the brothers in the Religion Dept. especially. Among the places we visited was the Charleston Museum, where they had an exhibit for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. A number of things caught my attention: a collection of snuff boxes reminded me of the one that Andrew Fuller passed around at the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society to collect monies for that; George Washington’s baptismal cup; and a confederate soldier’s uniform in which you could see the bullet hole that killed the wearer when he was literally shot through the heart by a sniper.
There was also a map entitled “A plan of Charles Town from a Survey of Edwd Crisp Esq in 1704.” On the map there was a building, marked S, which designated the locale of what was called the “AnaBaptist” meeting-house. This was, of course, the first building of what is now the First Baptist, the mother church of the SBC.
There was no indication of the religious affiliation of Crisp. But it was probably not Baptist. Rarely did the Baptists term themselves Anabaptists. They did not wish to be identified with those denominated by that term in the 16th century. Nor did they admit to what the term designated: they were not re-baptizers, for they believed that anything but believers’ baptism by immersion was not a true baptism.
A reflection on a quote by George Smeaton
My dear friend Stephen Yuille recently posted a statement by George Smeaton (1814–89), who studied at Edinburgh University and was part of the group of friends which included Robert Murray McCheyne and the Bonar brothers, and whom I best know as the author of a fine book on the Holy Spirit. See here for more details on Smeaton: Catherine Dickie, “Rev Prof George Smeaton”, ninetysix and ten (http://ninetysixandten.wordpress.com/books/rev-prof-george-smeaton/). This is the quote Stephen posted on FB: “To convert one sinner from his way is an event of greater importance than the deliverance of a whole kingdom from temporal evil.” See https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1915445931773&id=1410695512.
Of course, there is a truth in this that escapes the modern who thinks only of this world.
But, I wonder if the whole idea is framed wrongly. In Micah 6:8 the prophet says, “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The Smeaton quote seems to leave no room for what the prophet sees as the Christian walk—for surely, this is fulfilled in the followers of the Christ. Are we not to do both: seek the conversion of sinners and see temporal justice done?
I fear that it was the sort of thinking in the Smeaton quote that allowed both the Presbyterians and Baptists to argue for the “spirituality” of the Church in the 19th century and leave undone those things in the social realm that ought to have been done. C.H. Spurgeon, so often a great guide, and here he does not fail us, would have none of it, and refused to sit down to the Lord’s Supper with a slave owner!
Put the Smeaton quote in context thus and see the problems with it: “To convert one sinner from his way is an event of greater importance than to end the abomination of slavery or to end the murder of all of the babies being aborted.” Put like that, we see the problems with the quote: it has set up a false dichotomy. Better to do both, as Micah says: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with…God.”
Looking for the truth: a biblical mean by John Ryland
A great nugget of wisdom from the younger John Ryland (1753–1825): “It w[ould] be well if all Christians w[ould] labor earnestly after the investigation of truth, without being unduly influenced either by their attachment to old ideas and phrases on the one hand, or by the affectation of novelty on the other…”[1]
[1] Letter to Samuel Hopkins, February 21, 1803 (Personal possession of Craig Fries, Amsterdam, New York).
Henry Saville’s Patristic Sacrifice
Among the King James Bible translators was Sir Henry Saville (1549–1622), who was a mathematician and patristics scholar as well as being the warden of Merton College. When he was drafted to work on the translation of the Gospels, Acts and Revelation—he was a part of one of the Oxford translation companies—he shelved a massive project of a critical edition of the works of John Chrysostom. According to Anthony Walker, the author of the life of John Bois, another of the King James Bible translator, Saville was such a sedulous scholar that his wife “thought herself neglected’ and coming to him one day, as he was in his study, saluted him thus, “Sir Henry I would I were a book too, and then you would a little more respect me.” Ouch! All too real a danger for scholars and would-be researchers…brothers and sisters, take warning! Not long before Saville finished the Chrysostom volumes, he fell ill. His wife’s response was: “if Sir Harry died, she would burn Chrysostome, for killing her husband.” When Bois, who was present, remonstrated with her, she asked, “Who was Chrysostome?” When he answered, “One of the sweetest preachers since the apostles times,” she relented, and said “she would not do it for all the world.” In the final analysis, she perceived the value of her husband’s work, but he should have given her some idea of this long before it got to this point. Or maybe he did, and she did not hear him.
Whatever the case, these two exchanges sound so familiar to all engaged in scholarship, and are a powerful reminder of the need to maintain a due sense of priorities.
For the texts cited, see The Life of that famous Grecian Mr. John Bois 5.14 in Ward Allen, trans. and ed., Translating for King James (Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press, 1969), 141¬142.
Roots needed
In 1990 the Christian publication The Door—a.k.a. the Wittenberg Door—did an interview with Dennis Prager, a practising Jew who at the time was one of the most widely listened to and respected commentators and talk show hosts in Southern California. Part of the interview revolved around the impact of secularism. Asked what was the fruit of secularism, Prager stated, among other things, “the death of roots” and “rootlessness.” As he went on to say about the States—and the same would be true of Canada: “Unfortunately we have many people in this country, Jewish and Christian, who loathe their roots. Rootlessness is a guarantor of the decline of the individual and then of society. People need roots…”[1] How true this is. Remembering and celebrating our past as Christians—and even lamenting aspects of that past—is not the only way to renewal and blessing, but it is one. And as this quote reminds us: to forget our roots is the pathway of spiritual folly and one sure way to spiritual decline. As Walter Wright, a past president of Regent College, has put it: “At the heart of wisdom is building on the accumulated wisdom of the ages.”[2]
Reading about the KJB
I am preparing to give a couple of lectures on the King James Bible. It is a fabulous history. Of course, not everyone appreciated reading it. When it was read by Hugh Broughton (1549–1612)—possibly the most distinguished Hebraist in Europe and who expected to have been among the translators of the King James Bible, but was passed over, probably because of his combative spirit and violent temper—his response was blistering. In an eight-page diatribe, he said: “The late Bible…was sent to me to censure: which bred in me a sadness that will grieve me while I breathe. It is so ill done. …I had rather be rent in pieces with wild horses, than any such translation by my consent should be urged upon poor churches. …The new edition crosseth me, I require it be burnt.” [A Censure of the late translation for our Churches ([Middleburg: R. Schilders, 1611?]), [1, 3].]
Thankfully, it was not burnt and the King James Bible became the central vehicle of biblical knowledge for generations of our Christian forebears. If you want to read more about this most influential of versions, it is probably best to start with the important selection of the prefaces of the various Bibles of the Tudor era and that of the King James Bible in Gerald Bray, Translating the Bible from William Tyndale to King James (London: The Latimer Trust, 2010). This will tell you what motivated the men who translated these various Bibles of the sixteenth century as well as the King James Bible.
Then, there are various studies of the specific history leading up to the King James Bible and its subsequent influence. Among the best and most recent of these are Alister McGrath, In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How it Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture (New York: Doubleday, 2001); Adam Nicolson, God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible (New York: HarperCollins, 2003); Derek Wilson, The People’s Bible: The Remarkable History of the King James Version (Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2010); Gordon Campbell, Bible: The Story of the King James Version 1611–2011 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010); Leland Ryken, The Legacy of the King James Bible. Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011).
There is, of course, the massive 900-page work of David Daniell, The Bible in English: Its History and Influence (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2003). Daniell is the leading authority on the life and work of William Tyndale, and while he loves Tyndale, he is somewhat critical of the King James Bible as a translation.
Crossway Releases Rediscovering the Church Fathers by Michael A. G. Haykin
This month marks the release of Dr. Haykin's newest book, Rediscovering the Church Fathers: Who They Were and How They Shaped the Church. The book is published by Crossway Books. From the publisher's website:
This book is an organized and convenient introduction to how to read the church fathers from AD 100 to 500. Michael Haykin surveys the lives and teachings of seven of the Fathers, looking at their role in such issues as baptism, martyrdom, and the relationship between church and state. Ignatius, Cyprian, Basil of Caesarea, and Ambrose and others were foundational in the growth and purity of early Christianity, and their impact continues to shape the church today.
You can pre-order the paperback edition from Amazon.com here. There is also a Kindle edition available for immediate download for only $7.99. If you want to preview the book, Amazon has a "Click to Look Inside Feature" and the Crossway site offers this PDF excerpt. If you have a Kindle, of course you can send your self a sample electronically for free from the Amazon site.
Endorsements:
“Haykin has given us a user-friendly introduction to the early centuries of the Christian church. He illustrates the key elements of the church’s teaching by referring to the lives and teachings of major figures of the time, most of whom are little known to nonspecialists. Ordinary people need to know about these things, and this book is a great place to begin.” —Gerald Bray, Research Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School
“This gem of a study sparkles with polished clarity. Michael Haykin has skillfully unearthed buried treasures among early church leaders. As an experienced guide, he has drawn from his own personal journey and decades of scholarly research. He presents valuable Patristic insights into apologetic engagement, missional work, spiritual formation, use of Scripture, theological discourse, communal worship, personal piety, and approaches to suffering and martyrdom. From the apostolic fathers to the apostle to Ireland, Haykin’s investigations masterfully apply classical wisdom to contemporary concerns.” —Paul Hartog, Associate Professor, Faith Baptist Theological Seminary
“In this introduction, Michael Haykin, an eminent evangelical scholar, opens the door to the riches of early Christianity for evangelicals in a splendidly concise handbook of sorts. Evangelicals, who are experiencing a renaissance of interest in the Fathers, need look no further than this volume for an introduction to many of the most significant figures in Christian history. Readers will be left wanting to learn even more. Evangelicals are indebted to Haykin for this well-written volume.” —Steven A. McKinion, Professor of Theology and Patristics, Southeastern Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.
Michael Haykin's Testimony
Dr. Haykin's testimony, as are all Christian testimonies, an illustration of God's grace and providence. Haykin writes in conclusion:
I, who had once been a Marxist, and so committed to bringing fear and violence into the lives of innocent people, was myself brought by God face to face with fear—the fear of my own death—and so shown the inadequacy of the Marxist view of life: it has no answer to the problem of death. But Christianity does: God has raised Jesus from the dead, and so provided a way of deliverance for those, including myself, “who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)
To read this testimony in its entirety, click here.
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.
Andrew Fuller on "making that a first concern which is first"
On August 1, 1804, Andrew Fuller wrote to John Williams (1767-1825), a Welsh Baptist pastor who had emigrated to New York city, the following snippet in a larger letter having to do with the Serampore mission. This is a real gem, with which I am compelled to wholeheartedly agree: “We consider the mission to Bengal as the most favourable symptom attending our denomination. It confirms what has for some time been, with me, an important principle, that when any denomination, congregation, (or individual) seeks only its own, it will be disappointed: but where it seeks the kingdom of God and his righteousness, its own prosperity will be among the things that will be added unto it. I have seen great zeal for what among us is called the dissenting interest; and in such hands the dissenting interest has died. Had they sought more to make men Christians, they should in most cases have been dissenters of their own accord. In fact, I see that in those congregations where the main object is, what it should be, there religion flourishes. The same may be said of Baptists. If the first fruits of our zeal be laid out in making proselytes to that denomination, however right the thing may be in itself, the Lord will frown upon us, and leave us. But if we are mainly employed in making men Christians, we need not fear but they will be Baptists. It is of great consequence to pursue things according to their importance, making that a first concern which is first, and that a second which is secondary. In seeking the salvation of others, a man will man will find his own. He who is exalted as head over all things, obtained that glory by denying himself for the sake of others.”
[cited “Interesting Intelligence from India”, The Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine, 1, no.4 (May 1805), 97–98].
Ten years ago I included this letter in my The armies of the Lamb: The spirituality of Andrew Fuller (Dundas, Ontario: Joshua Press, 2001), 193–195. But I was citing it from the original copy that was then in the American Baptist Historical Archives that was located in Rochester, NY, but has now relocated to Atlanta, GA. It impressed me then as containing real wisdom, and even more now do I conceive it to be vital to the health of a Christian community of association of churches. I think the principle that Fuller said was an “important” one to be still of great importance.
On St David's Day, remembering "the Doctor"
Without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest influence on my thinking from a twentieth-century figure is the life and writings of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), who died thirty years ago today, on St David's Day, fittingly the day of the patron saint of Wales. He combined a rigourous determination to be fully biblical with a passion for the work of the Spirit individually and corporately. He was a Calvinist, but a warm-hearted one with an intense desire to experience God. I love all of these emphases and identify wholeheartedly with them. And he was baptistic to boot--open membeship, open communion--a Baptist of the Bunyan and Ryland type. Could he be wrong on some issues? Yes, I cannot follow him on his reading of Romans 7 or his understanding of the exegetcial basis for the sealing of the Spirit ( I do not think the sealing a distinct second experience, but oh is he right in describing this experience and our need to know the unction of the Spirit in worship). But there is so much on which he is a great guide and I strongly commend the reading of his life and works to all my readers.
I have moved long enough in Calvinistic circles to know that there is a type of Calvisnism, which has its roots all the way back to a few of the Puritans (note, I say a few, by no means all), that I find to inhabit an unduly narrow world taken up not with the great things of the faith, but lesser matters, and, as a result, their Christian ambience is not at all winsome, but very off-putting. Such I feel is not true to the joy of the New Testament church (it is noteworthy that the great Andrew Fuller saw such in his day and he wrote that marvellous tract on why the Baptists of his day did not have the joy of the New Testament saints). And the Doctor is a great tonic for all trapped in such nugatory circles.
PS In time-honoured Baptist fashion (witness Herman Witsius Ryland, the son of J.C. Ryland, and Jonathan Edwards Ryland, the son of John Ryland, Jr.), I named my dear son after the Doctor: Nigel Martyn Graeme Haykin.
Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?
Dr. Haykin recently had the opportunity to address a gathering at the University of Louisville sponsored by The Campus Church on the question: "Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?" Audio of this lecture is available online here.
Posted by Steve Weaver, Research and Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin.
Katharine Tynan comparing the English and the Irish
Katharine Tynan (1861–1931), the voluminous Irish poetess and novelist who was friends with Gerard Manly Hopkins, that greatest of all 19th century poets, and W.B. Yeats—whom she knew well enough to call “Willie”!—once observed—whether rightly or no, I shall leave for the reader to judge—that when it comes to lectures and debates:
“The Englishman likes to sit still and have his mind improved. The Irish want to improve other people’s minds.”
[Twenty-five Years: Reminiscences (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1913), 142].
Fuller's Gold - Favorite Books Read in 2010
Another new feature of the website is called "Fuller's Gold." This page will feature recommended books ready by the Center Director, Michael Haykin, and/or the Junior Fellows of the Center (Paul Brewster, Joseph Harrod, Jeff Robinson, Steve Weaver, and Ryan West). The first posting is an annotated list of favorite books ready by Dr. Haykin and the Junior Fellows in 2010. You can access Fuller's Gold here.