I'm going to be making myself scarce at the blog for a few days: I have a mountain of essays, and a foothill of speaking engagements over the next week, and so there will be a brief hiatus here. Do call back around next Tuesday/Wednesday when I hope to have some more posts freshly prepared, and served to your taste!.

Showbiz Holocaust

In the world of popular culture, it really does appear that nothing is sacred anymore. According to the BBC News website, a new musical has been released in Spain, which depicts the life and diary of Anne Frank. This is the Holocaust, showbiz style. The show consists of set pieces which provide caricatures of Frank's plight, and the Nazis behind the suffering inflicted on the Jewish community in Europe. There are strobe lights and lame metaphors galore, as one of the greatest evils of the 20th Century is 'played out' night by night.

Frank's only surviving relative has (rightly and understandably) snubbed the show, stating that, 'Anne and millions of Jews died during the Holocaust - her story wasn't made for a lovely evening at the theatre'.

Reading this story touched a nerve for me this morning, particularly in the light of what I have been reading in Laurence Rees' book 'Auschwitz'. It is reflective of Western culture's preoccupation with entertainment, and the trivialisation of all that is significant, profound or powerful.

It also gives me food for thought about how this culture can penetrate our worship and approach to God. In a world where literally everything is entertainment based, it falls to us as Christians to resist any attempts to make God as small as everything else around us. In our private walk with Him, as well as in our public worship, we must not fear transcendence, wonder and awe, nor must we mindlessly trade them for entertainment, accessability and cultural sensitivity.

There are certain things which ought to be left alone - left to stand in powerful and bold relief against a background of triviality and banality. The enormity of human suffering inflicted by the Holocaust is one of them - and surely our worship of the living God ought to be another.

A New Best Friend

Someone recently blessed me by buying me a copy of the NIV Study Bible Compact Edition, and I have quickly become best friends with this edition of Scripture. Although my translation of choice tends to be the ESV (because of its more literal approach to translating the original languages) the NIV Study Bible has won my affection by the sheer thoughtfulness and evangelical conviction behind its notes. This is a Bible for those who wish to get to grips with understanding the background to Scripture, and who want to go deeper in their walk with God. The notes are unobtrusively placed on the page (rather than embodying the 'Pentateuch by Scofield with notes by Moses' approach which certain study Bibles can sometimes embody). The authors of the notes are concerned to present a balanced view of evangelical scholarship on each section of God's Word, and are often at pains to give differing views on areas of controversy a full hearing. The book introductions also engage issues of authorship which can arise within undergraduate theology, and give compelling reasons for accepting the traditional evangelical approach to Scripture.

There are a wide variety of editions on the market, ranging from very reasonably priced hardbacks, through nice touchy-feely trutones, to the luxury of leather...

I heartily recommend this Bible to anyone with a longing to know more of God through His Word.

Romans and the Reich

We often hear it said that the twentieth century began as a period of optimism, but that the cataclysmic events of two World Wars tarnished this happy view of life and humanity. In reading through Laurence Rees excellent book 'Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution', I have been beginning to see the depth to which this statement goes. Rees seeks to write an historically accurate, non-hysterical account of what happened in Nazi Germany, with particular reference to the Death Camp, Auschwitz. The soberness of his tone only serves to reinforce more fully and tragically the horror of what happened in Europe less than a century ago.

As I have been reading some of the accounts of terrible inhumanity and suffering, one main theme has been pulsing in my mind: the authenticity of the book of Romans' analysis of human nature and fallenness. To my mind secular discourse struggles to explain two things convincingly - the complexity of the cosmos, and the wickedness of the human heart. I remember reading Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything', and coming across occasion after occasion when he had to use the phrases such as 'by some miracle' to explain the origin of our world in all its glorious design and beauty. The same is true of Rees when he handles humanity's destructive and contemptible realities.

Over the next while I hope to post some thoughts about the relationship between events described by Rees in the Third Reich, and the picture painted by Paul in Romans about our rebellion from God. I think that, with me, you will see the undeniable logic of a gospel shaped view of humanity, and that we are a world desperately in need of a Saviour.

The Advocate

You've got to respect Steven Spielberg for his principled stand about the Beijing Olympics. He is deeply moved by the terrible suffering of those within Sudan, and is calling on China as a powerful ally of that nation to exert pressure for the alleviation of pain and trauma within the African country. Undoubtedly Spielberg's action will entail a certain amount of cost and loss to him financially and professionally, but it is refreshing to see someone act on conviction and out of compassion.

As I watched the news footage yesterday, however, my mind instantly skipped to the silent sufferers within communist China itself - my brothers and sisters in Christ. No celebrity (as far as I know) has foregone prestige and paypacket to speak for the insufferable conditions in which many of them live, and violent oppression they face, for simply following Christ.

But such a reaction is all too human on my part. I'm not seeing the big picture. They have an Advocate, one who marks their pain, and has shown an identification with their suffering which goes beyond the abandonment of a media project. I am speaking, of course, about Christ. My heart is drawn to Revelation and to the voices of those who are incensed by the suffering of Christ's church on earth - who cry out 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?'. Christ's response is heart melting. 'Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed' (Revelation 6:10-11).

Our brothers and sisters in China (and a whole host of other lands) live under the care of a Sovereign before whom all the kings and rulers will take a knee, and confess HIS Lordship over all. How we need to pray for the Church in these lands, that they would rest in the recompence of their Saviour, and in His intimate concern for their situation.

Uninspiring Inspiration

As mentioned last week, A.T.B. McGowan's most recent book 'The Divine Spiration of Scripture' is causing something of a stir in evangelical circles, mostly because of its 'novel' approach to the issue of inerrancy. I'm not fond of judging a book by its cover (nor by its controversy) and have been working through the text, seeking to get to the root of what he has to say about the inspiration of Scripture. The end result of McGowan's research seems to me to be a mixed bag, providing thought provoking analysis in some areas, and mind-numbing non-argument in others.

On the positive side, McGowan writes with a passion to think clearly and intelligently about how evangelicals use and describe Scripture. Some of his early thoughts are genuinely helpful as he seeks to set the work of the Holy Spirit in breathing out God's Word at the centre of his theological task. He offers some novel and cogent thoughts about the vocabulary used to speak of inspiration. Rather than divine 'inspiration' he urges the use of the term divine spiration. McGowan contends that most translations of Scripture have adhered to the KJV 'inspired' rather than a literal translation of 'theopneustos' or 'God breathed' (cf. NIV;ESV). He also takes issue with the phrase inspiration because of its modern English usage as applied to other works of literature or art, where inspiration is reduced to a merely human process. His argumentation here is linear, lucid and helpful. I think he makes a good case.

McGowan also argues that the traditional phrase for the meaning of Scripture being revealed to the mind, 'illumination', be replaced with recognition. Here, again, the logic applied is persuasive in that as McGowan suggests illumination can make it sound as though Scripture is lacking in clarity and must be 'illuminated', whereas it is the mind of man which is lacking in spiritual understanding and must be enabled to understand or recognise what the Bible teaches.

He also proposes the replacement of 'perspicuity' with comprehension. Perspicuity, he contends, has the potential to make it seem that spiritual truth can be discovered solely by human reason, whereas we need the Holy Spirit to make its meaning known to us.

McGowan then begins an overview of theological history, showing the Englightenment roots which underlie much of liberal theology, and demonstrating responses to this both in terms of neo-orthodoxy (a la Barth and others) and conservative evangelicalism (a la Machen, Van Til etc.) This chapter is excellent, and would serve as a very good in-road for undergraduate students seeking to get a handle on the history of critical thought.

It is following this chapter, however, that McGowan's arguments become less defined, a little fuzzy, and much less convincing. He assesses Fundamentalism and inerrancy, providing a brief history of the movement's roots, and showing how certain theories about the inspiration of Scripture emerged. While McGowan seeks to show a measure of balance in his analysis of those who uphold inerrancy (referencing Carl Henry and others who did not fall into the 'Fundamentalist' camp) his assertions do at times lapse into caricature. He cites some who uphold inerrancy in terms of the KJV being the only inspired English translation, those who uphold inerrancy only in the Textus Receptus, and finally those who hold to inerrancy in the original autographs. For me, McGowan fails to make an adequate distinction between the first two (somewhat irrational) theories of inerrancy, and the latter which is backed by solid scholarship and research. Whilst he acknowledges that the last kind of inerrantists do not hold to a dictational concept of inspiration, he regularly alleges that they have an implicit leaning towards this, which handicaps their view of Scripture.

In the pivotal chapter of the book, 'Infallibility: An Evangelical Alternative', McGowan seeks to elucidate his own view of the inspiration of Scripture. He takes as his starting point the work of Scottish theologian James Orr, along with Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck. My issue in this chapter is not so much with what is asserted through quotation of these scholars, as with what is left out. McGowan appears to be wrestling a straw man throughout. His caricature of inerrancy leaves him free to continually assert that leaving aside this view means that one is free to emphasise not only the divine origin, but the human agency by which Scripture came about. McGowan does not meaningfully engage with any modern inerrantists in this chapter but continually asserts that infalliblity means that both aspects can be justly served by forgetting about the original autographs. As a scholar he is not denying the authority of God's Word, but he is also not really offering any credible alternative to the traditional view of inerrancy as held and explicated by most Reformed theologians. The problem is that McGowan sets up an unneccessary dichotomy of his own, which flings the door wide open for lower views of Scripture than he himself epouses or asserts. His alternative is not so much leaning toward non-inspiration as it is to non-inspiring - he leaves a glaring void in our understanding of the origin and power of Scripture which the remainder of his argument leaves unfilled.

The penultimate chapter deals with the relationship between confessions and Scripture. Here, McGowan is incisive and extremely balanced in the way he handles Protestant understanding and emphasis on their own doctrinal heritage. The final chapter gives a stirring analysis of Calvin's method in preaching and how it emphasised the authority of God's Word. While both of these sections are interesting, it is hard to discern their relationship to the rest of the book which is so geared towards the 'evangelical alternative' to inerrancy that McGowan espouses

In his conclusion McGowan summarises the teaching of the book, and makes a plea for a measured, balanced response to his thesis. He makes it clear that he is not erring towards an errantist position, but that he wishes to modify what he views as dangers inherent within the inerrantist worldview. He pleads that the differences between infallibility and inerrancy represent 'a family disagreement, rather than a cause for division and mutual condemnation and recriminations' [p.212].

In summary, McGowan's book raises some interesting points, particularly in its opening and closing chapters. It must be stated categorically that he is not intentionally or explicitly identifying errors in Scripture, nor lowering its authority or status. It is to be wondered, however, if the arguments outlined in this book may not provide a springboard for others to do just that. For me, McGowan does not provide a coherent or beneficial alternative to inerrancy, and for that reason this is a flawed book which carries a somewhat confusing, problematic and potentially dangerous message.

Call to Prayer. Call to Faith

There has been lots of noise in the British press over the past few days about Islam and Christianity. Most of this has been fueled by the breathtakingly silly statements of Rowan Williams about Sharia law, and the backlash from all quarters about his comments.

In last Friday's Times there was a string of correspondence about Islam - this time with regard to the impact of the call to prayer issued from mosques. It seems that this sound, repeated throughout each day, is causing annoyance and grief in non-Muslim communities which are within earshot. The opinions expressed in readers' letters ranged from the hugely tolerant to the narrowly intolerant, as people gave voice to their concerns.

For me, the most interesting letter by far was from John Gudgeon in Norfolk. His comments begin with a tongue in cheek reference to his student son, but end on a deadly serious note. This is what he writes:

'Sir,
It always seemed to me a pity that we don't hear the daily call to prayer in the early morning - especially when my student son was lodging close to the mosque in Leeds. As long as it's not overdone, it's a very atmospheric and moving sound, a nice foil to the English church bells, and, who knows, this reminder of daily observance might encourage backsliders of other faiths like me'.

In one short paragraph Mr Gudgeon manages to sum up the tragedy of modern Britain, and much of Western Europe. It is a picture of people living in a culture which has lost its own spiritual and moral centre, and which envies that embodied by other faiths. There is something in the human psyche which longs for transcendence, which senses a deep desire to believe in something bigger than itself, and the closest approximation that the writer can find is in admiring the 'daily observance' of Muslims.

Mr Gudgeon's letter gives voice to a hunger which many feel, but few express - a sense that we have sucked God out of the centre (and out of any significant place in our lives) and that now we long for something more.

How pitiable that as a nation we have so forsaken the fountain of living waters that we envy those who are drinking from broken cisterns! How far we are from God, and as Christians how we need to issue our own 'call to prayer' - that men and women might turn again to the only true and living God for salvation.

Two Reasons to Not Give Up Chocolate

Bishops and scientists agree - you shouldn't give up chocolate. At least, that's the potential message which two news stories carried last week.

The first was the Bishop of London's plea for people to avoid giving up the traditional things they abstain from at lent, and work to reduce their carbon footprint instead. Mini egg, anyone?

The other story was that scientists are now positing the thesis that childhood obesity may be more related to their genes than their ingestion. Studies have 'proven' that children who suffer from obesity may do so more because of nature than nurture. In typically clear, understandable language the scientists say: "These results do not mean that a child with a high complement of susceptibility genes will inevitably become overweight, but that their genetic endowment gives them a stronger predisposition." Anyone fancy a Dairy Milk?

My conclusions are, of course, made (pardon the pun)tongue-in-cheek , but these stories do carry an important message about consumption and consequences.

On the one hand a Christian practice which is traditionally understood to focus the mind on the suffering of Christ, has turned its focus instead to the needs of others in the world. The Bishop's ideas are laudable, given that the way we live our lives does seriously impinge on the poorest people on the planet, but are they legitimate in terms of the traditional view of lent? Is our focus solely on the sufferings of others, or should it not be on the sufferings of the Saviour? He is the One who has ultimately borne the consequences of our sinfulness in His body on the cross at Calvary - and He is the only one who can ultimately renew our ailing cosmos.

On the other hand scientists seem to be hinting at the fact that fault cannot be found for being obese. It seems that we cannot be held to account for certain consequences which result from our behaviours. Undoubtedly there are many people who are genetically predisposed to being overweight (and I'm no size 00 myself!) but is this really the message which the media should be presenting to our society which is growing both in waist and waste? Is the so-called 'obesity epidemic' not at least a partial consequence of our consumer culture, and growing affluence?

These are just some random thoughts about carbon, cocoa and consequences, and don't necessarily carry any weight. My own response to both stories will simply consist in cycling to the shop to buy my Mars bar...

Come Over Here and Help Us

The world of missions work is changing. As inhabitants of Western Europe, we must acknowledge that the greater majority of Christians in the world are from non-European, non-westernised roots; and that while the Church in our part of the globe is not experiencing the growth and blessing that it once enjoyed, there are remarkable signs of gospel spread and health in other lands.

All of this affects the way in which we view mission. In a fascinating article in Evangelical Missions Quarterly in January 2005 Miguel Palomino (originally from Peru) writes about 'Lessons from Latino Missionaries to Europe'. He writes that 'new missionary winds are blowing into Europe from Latin America. The rapidly growing and maturing Latino church is fostering a vigorous, indigenous missionary movement that is at work in nations once regarded solely as missionary-senders'. He classes these Latino workers into three categories (itinerant missionaries, informal missionaries, conventional missionaries) and deals honestly with the benefits and difficulties which these individuals can bring to the Church in the West. Often these folks carry a zeal and love for the Lord which is sadly lacking in our own Church culture, but do not at the same time enjoy the same benefits of training and missiological exposure which is enjoyed by their European brothers and sisters.

All of this makes the phrase 'come over here and help us' reflexive, and it is amazing to think of the implications which this simple request now carries in terms of modern missions.

It demands humility from the Western Church, to admit that we are in dire need of help from those of our brothers and sisters who are experiencing God's special blessing on their work. We can no longer think in terms of our land being solely 'senders', but must become 'receivers' from places where traditionally our own missionaries have gone to serve God. The centre of gravity in the body of Christ is no longer found in our own part of the world. We may be the ones who need a story to be brought from the nations that will turn our hearts to the right!!

It also demands mutuality. We can no longer think of them and us, but must itemise our missiological concerns in collective terms. Partnership in our current evangelical climate cannot be the benign handing on of responsibility to brothers and sisters in other cultures, but must literally mean a mutual dignity being invested by all Christians for the fulfillment of Christ's commissions in all nations.

It also demands flexibility. My wife Carolyn and I are going to serve God in Peru, and we are grateful to Him for His call to that land. We feel a passion for God's people in Peru burning in our hearts, and are eager to work for Him there. But could it be as we work with the national Peruvian church that the investment of training into local believers might be to meet global as well as parochial concerns? The sons and daughters of Peru must ultimately be the ones to lead the national church there, but they may also be required of God to come 'here' to bring the Good News of Christ to pagan Britain! This adds depth and dimension to the missionary task, and blows apart many traditional paradigms of ministry.

Come over here and help us'. How we need to simultaneously heed and issue this call for the glory of Christ in the world!

To Inerrancy and Beyond

Geoff Thomas is in Northern Ireland at the moment, and I've been reading his latest book 'The Sure Word of God'. It's an excellent little volume, packed with practical, pastoral and expository reflections on the worth and wonder of the Word of God. While they are seldom referenced in the book, the effect of warm Puritan devotion is written between each line in the text. I have come to expect nothing less of Geoff's preaching and writing ministry.

As he defends biblical inerrancy he makes an important point - while a belief in inerrancy is essential, it is not sufficient. His words, urging Christians to not merely believe but love the Scriptures, are packed with punch and blessing. I trust that they'll warm your heart as much as they have mine:

"So let us hold fast to our confession of the inerrancy of Scripture. Let the infallibility of Christ drive us to that confession as we submit to him as our Lord and God. Then we ourselves will echo his words that Scripture is true - 'Your word is truth' (John 17:17).

But never stop there. Not only every member of every cult, but the very devils believe that the Bible is the Word of God. Demons are orthodox. There are no modernist demons. They confess that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible Word of God. What I am saying is that we must go on from there, and love and delight in the Word of God. The devils never take delight in God's Word. But all God's people are summoned to love this Word more and more, until they meet in glory him whom they have met in its pages."

Why Inerrancy Matters...

A.T.B. McGowan's latest book 'The Divine Spiration of Scripture' published by Apollos/IVP is causing something of a stir amongst evangelicals. Surprisingly McGowan, who is known for his commitment to Reformed evangelical doctrine, has a strange view of inerrancy and infallibility. This is something of a hot potato in current evangelical theology, and McGowan follows the early twentieth century scholar James Orr in his view that upholding the original autographs of Scripture as faultless is an unneccessary move, prompted by fundamentalist concerns. This represents something of a departure from traditional Reformed formulations and concepts of Scripture's authority, although other Reformed scholars have held similar views as McGowan points out (Kuyper and Bavinck among them). As feedback and responses begin to unfold in the world of journals and monographs in the coming months, I'll post a little bit more on this vital issue.

One writer whom I find very beneficial on the issue of inerrancy is Wayne Grudem. In his standard 'Systematic Theology' he writes of the problems entailed in denying inerrancy, and I find them pretty compelling. They are:

1. If we deny inerrancy, a serious moral problem confronts us: May we imitate God and intentionally lie in small matters also?

2. If inerrancy is denied, we begin to wonder if we can really trust God in anything he says.

3. If we deny inerrancy, we essentially make our own human minds a higher standard of truth than God's Word itself.

4. If we deny inerrancy, then we must also say that the Bible is wrong not only in minor details but in some of its doctrines as well.

By anyone's standards, those are pretty major issues and hurdles for a non-inerrancy position to deal with. It is a doctrine which really does matter, and which is vitally important to how we read, value, and understand the message and meaning of Scripture.

More posts on this issue will follow...

A Flavour of Flavel

Post No.10 on the Timmy Brister Challenge.

As February dawns, the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge moves on from Richard Sibbes to John Flavel, and his majestic 'Mystery of Providence'. As with 'The Bruised Reed', this is a work of tremendous theological importance, and pastoral application, and I'm looking forward to sharing some of the treats locked within Flavel. This month's blog series on the Timmy Brister challenge will go under the title of 'The Proof of Providence'.

But down to some biographical details first...

Name: John Flavel (or Flavell)

Year of Birth: 1628

Place of Birth: Bromsgrove, Worscestershire

Father's Occupation: Minister (died in prison of the plague)

Education: Home-schooled (!) and studied at University College, Oxford

Ministry Experience:
1656: Accepted call as minister in Dartmouth
1662: ejected from his pulpit for non-conformity
1665: moved to Slapton and ministered after the Five Mile Act
1672: returned to Dartmouth for a year as congregationalist
1673: King's indulgence revoked, preached secretly
1685: returned to Dartmouth and ministered from his home

Marital Status:
1655: married Joan Randall (died in childbirth)
1656: married Elizabeth Stapell (died around 1672/3)
1673: married Ann Downe (died 1684)

Died: 6th June 1691

Fascinating Flavel Facts:
While preaching covertly after his ejection in 1662, Flavel often found himself in strange and dangerous situations. On one occasion he 'disguised himself as a woman on horseback in order to reach a secret meeting place where he preached and administered baptism. At another time, when pursued by authorities, he plunged his horse into the sea and managed to escape arrest by swimming through a rocky area to reach Slapton Sands' [Meet the Puritans, p.247].

Testimonial from Others:
'That person must have a very soft head, or a very hard heart, or both, that could sit under his ministry unaffected' - Erasmus Middleton

The Vicar Factor(y)

Amanda Lynch of The Times has had her concept of what makes a minister stretched and challenged. In a fascinating article in Saturday 26th January's magazine, she followed the training and experiences of individuals enrolled for theological education in Oak Hill College, London, and Trinity College, Bristol. Many of her preconceptions were exposed as she wrestled with the fact that individuals in these ministry training programmes are not merely irrelevant incompetants who wish to become professional irrelevant incompetants. Instead, she encountered a group of people enrolled in a course which actually seeks to make people into clear and competent preachers, communicators of God's Word to the modern world. She observes that 'the days of the simple country clergyman droning his way through a tedious sermon before his uncomplaining flock have all but disappeared'. Her words carry a certain element of lament, as she likens the training programmes and sermon criticism classes to 'the X-Factor for vicars'.

What emerges from the article, however, is a picture of evangelical training institutions which are deeply concerned about clarity and communication, and which eschew all images of the parish vicar whose life and ministry bear no relation or connection to the real world. Lynch follows student Olly Mears, aged 27, as he preaches in Redland Parish Church, Bristol. He is described as someone whose face 'shines with eagerness and even his hair curls with a muscular Christianity'. She listens to his message, and then attends the sermon crit class which takes place the next day. Her main observations from this are the 'clerical in-jokes' cracked by those in attendance, the warm and friendly atmosphere, and the politeness and grace which characterises the criticisms offer. At the end of her piece, Lynch writes with a certain degree of admiration for young people who have turned their backs on other professions in order to serve God in preaching, showing an appreciation for the sacrifice involved that some Christian believers might struggle to attain. 'Three cheers for Olly Mears', she writes, 'The Flock lucky enough to have him as their shepherd will be blessed indeed'.

It is refreshing to read an article like this from a secular source. It shows the changing face of evangelical ministry training, and the impact which authenticity, simplicity and clarity can have on an unbelieving world.