Saturday 23 November 2013

Biblical wisdom at the RRF Conference


There were echoes of the Wisdom literature at the RRF conference at Swanwick, 18-20 November.

Brian Edwards took us to the Psalms, expounding, clearly, powerfully and with reference to revival, three psalms. We were shown, from Psalm 63 the psalmist’s passion (a ‘burning yearning after God with a wonderful delight and certainty’); from Psalm 64 his protest; and from Psalm 65 his praise.

Brian reminded us, with examples and illustrations from the past, of great truths about revival, for instance, for preachers, ‘You just bend the bow, let God shoot the arrow’. This was biblical wisdom as it should be – straight from the shoulder.

Matthew Brennan (Clonmel) on the other hand brought us a bit of Ecclesiastes or Job (though he referred to neither!) – wisdom when life doesn’t work out. Winsomely, with pungency and wit, he took three ‘Texts that Stick’ and illustrated the ups and downs of pastoral life from his own experience but without ever promoting himself.

‘Who has believed our report?’ (Isa 53:1) led us to the familiar experience of an apparently fruitless ministry – but we were reminded forcefully that visible success varies, present success is not always visible, success is not limited to the work of conversion and success is not entirely ‘here’.

Matthew took us then to 1 Thess 1 (when the Word comes in power, the Holy Spirit and in full conviction); and finally 1 Thess 2 – Paul’s mental status, manner of ministry and evangelistic methods.

With all this wisdom it was as well that Jonathan Wood began with a conference sermon on Revelation 2:1-7, which took us more or less to the beginning of wisdom – falling in love with Jesus again – which as Jonathan pointed out, is not a bad definition of revival.

It was again a time of blessing and we were thankful to be there.

To listen to these and other Conference sermons, or for more information about RRF, visit www.reformationandrevival.org (or for CDs email jim.lawson@ntlworld.com).

Saturday 9 November 2013

God's Funeral - A.N.Wilson

This blog is rapidly becoming a blog of book reviews but I have found food for thought in a number of the books I have been reading recently, perhaps because they have been a bit different from what I usually read.

'God's Funeral' is not an atheist rant by Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennett, but a study by A.N.Wilson of the decline of faith and the growth of doubt, scepticism and atheism in the Victorian era. The book's title comes from Thomas Hardy's eponymous poem and Hardy is the subject of the first, inevitably sad, chapter.

Wilson follows up with readable summaries of Hume and Kant, rapidly succeeded by Hegel, J.S. Mill and Auguste Comte. Then come Carlyle, Marx and Engels, who make way for J.A.Froude, Dean Colenso, Thomas Arnold and Benjamin Jowett.

After them come author George Eliot and philosopher Herbert Spencer. Darwin, Huxley and the impact of evolution are examined, as is the life and influence of the outright atheist poet Algernon Swinburne. Freud follows, with the Gosses ('Father and Son'), Matthew Arnold and John Ruskin in their van. Numerous lesser lights are discussed in passing.

William James is given a long and sympathetic chapter. The book ends with perhaps the most sympathetic chapter of all, a study of the Roman Catholic 'Modernists' and one of their heroes, George Tyrrell. This probably tells us more about the sympathies of A.N. Wilson than it does about the importance of Tyrrell.

I found the book fascinating. Wilson's knowledge is broad and he manages to package it attractively for a non-expert. His sub-text is a gentle undermining of the atheism, agnosticism and scepticism he discusses, and the muddled and in some cases tragic lives of his subjects are little commendation of their 'creed'.

The overall impact is of sadness and also, for me at least, surprise at how prevalent varieties of doubt were in the Victorian era, which one somehow thinks of as a very religious period. 1851, for example, saw the highest figure for church attendance ever recorded in Britain.

But that is just the irony. The 19th century was profoundly religious. Some of these figures were also very religious. Their religion had however lost vitality. Many of them were struggling, often very painfully and sincerely, with doubt. German biblical criticism made it impossible , they thought, to believe the Bible as their parents had done. Darwin made it unnecessary if not impossible to believe in a Creator. Schleiermacher (who interestingly is not given much of a mention) made Christianity synonymous with religious sentiment. The Arnolds wanted to equate it with morality and a kind of culture.

Of course, all this was in a very intellectual stratum of society, but their ideas spread. They were articulating what a lot of less able people would have thought, expressing doubts that others either could not, or wanted simply to suppress. Widespread scepticism was to follow in the 20th century.

There is no mention, either, of the evangelical leaders (apart from a passing reference to Lord Shaftesbury, none too complimentary) or the revivals of the first half of the century, or of 1859, or of Spurgeon and many like him. These are below the radar of Wilson's authorial interest, and probably of his personal affection - he is evidently a 'believer' of the most rarified liberal high Anglican/Catholic type.

But it made me realise that we should not complain about atheism and unbelief growing as we see it in our day. We, at least, have a century of evangelical and other scholarship which makes it easier for us to fight back agains the trends in theology and science the Victorians were feeling threatened by. We have the apologetic advantage of a century of unspeakable ferocity and cruelty which has given the lie to the blessing of atheism as a creed. We have much to help us which the Victorians did not.

The book also reminds us that a 'Christian culture' can be a dangerous thing. How much dead belief lay behind the church-going, the mere orthodoxy, the respectable religion of the period. Does one not even have a sneaking sympathy for some of these men and women who were not content with the empty professions of their peers and contemporaries?

They had nothing to put in its place. Why not? They had rejected the Bible as the inerrant Word of God. Simplistic as it may sound, that is the watershed. That is fundamentally what was lost in the 19th century.

Saturday 2 November 2013

Encouragement for today's pastors: Help from the Puritans (Joel Beeke and Terry Slachter)


I have just finished reading this book, having seen a very positive review in ET by Robert Strivens. It has not disappointed.

The authors cover six areas - piety, sovereignty, clarity, creativity and community, dignity and eternity - and weave a biblical and theological coat of many colours for the discouraged pastor.

The threads they use are drawn from the Puritans but there is nothing musty about the finished product. The nature of the encouragement is not at all superficial but profound.

Who would benefit from reading this?

The ministerial student would gain an enriching and enriched sense of his calling and expectations. Colleges should buy every student a copy.

The young minister, perhaps unduly discouraged or elated in the early years of ministry.

The minister of middle years who may be discouraged, or self-satisfied, or losing his zeal.

The older minister who needs his vision of his calling renewed, or comfort after a long haul where he has seen little fruit.

The minister who has seen much visible success and needs to see that fruit in the light of eternity.

In short, every minister would benefit from reading this book. It is not a book of encouragement of the conventional sort which can promote self-pity. There is here as much biblically grounded (and ultimately gracious) rebuke for pride or complacency or falsely grounded encouragement as there is real strengthening of faith and hope. The book is not cynical about true fruitfulness in ministry but puts it all in eternal perspective.

Want to give a minister a good present this Christmas?