Alister McGrath, writing in his book, Christian Theology: An Introduction, summarizes Luther – and Reformation thought – with regard to the institution of the church by saying (p.397):

An episcopally ordained ministry is therefore not necessary to safeguard the existence of the church, whereas the preaching of the gospel is essential to the identity of that church. [Quoting Luther:] “Where the word is, there is faith; and where faith is, there is the true church.” The visible church is constituted by the preaching of the Word of God: no human assembly may claim to be the “church of God” unless it is founded on this gospel. It is more important to preach the same gospel as the apostles than to be a member of an institution which is historically derived from them [emphasis mine].

Let that roll around your mind for a while.

to our bookstore, Common Grounds.

Here’s a book review of the new biography of John Calvin.  Tim Challies writes:

It is here at last. For years now I have been waiting for a great biography of Calvin—the kind of biography which I would recommend without hesitation for those who would want to learn about the life of the great Reformer. In a year that has seen the arrival of at least half a dozen biographies of Calvin, this one, I believe, stands as the best. Written by Bruce Gordon, professor of Reformation History at Yale University, it is titled simply and properly, Calvin.

Biographies of figures as controversial as John Calvin tend to be written by unabashed fans or ardent enemies. There is a lot of biography that reads like hagiography and a lot that reads like pure slander. This was the case with Calvin himself and his earliest biographers—either they were his closest confidants, singing his highest praises or they were men who feared and despised him, fabricating outrageous charges against him (such as Jerome Bolsec who, ten years after Calvin’s death, wrote an account of the Reformer’s life in which he accused him of sodomy and suggested that he had died from crab lice). Even today, many of the biographies seem to focus undue attention on Calvin’s great accomplishments without wrestling with his notable faults and foibles. This new biography is an exception as Gordon writes from a position of notable objectivity. He seems a little bit detached from his subject, almost as if he has had to become a somewhat-grudging admirer of Calvin through immersing himself in the man’s life. Throughout the book he is willing to credit Calvin for what he did so well but he is also willing to call a spade a spade, whether that means pointing out pride or temper or youthful arrogance.

continue reading "Coming Soon"

One of the consistent temptations that humanity has faced since the Garden is this: that having been created in the image of God we have ever since sought to return the favor.  A substantial step in Christian maturity takes place when we begin to seek the God who is rather than the God of our desires.  Re-reading John Stott’s wonderful book, The Cross of Christ, this week and ran across this gem of quote addressing this very matter:

The kind of God that appeals to most people today would be easy-going in his tolerance of our offenses. He would be gentle, kind, accommodating. He would have no violent reactions. Unhappily, even in the church we seemed to have lost the vision of the majesty of God. There is much shallowness and levity among us. Prophets and psalmists would probably say of us, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” In public worship our habit is to slouch or squat; we do not kneel nowadays, let alone prostrate ourselves in humility before God. It is more characteristic of us to clap our hands with joy than to blush with shame or tears. We saunter up to God to claim his patronage and friendship; it does not occur to us that he might send us away. We need to hear again the Apostle Peter’s sobering words, “Since you call on a father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives. . in reverent fear.” (I Peter 1:17) In other words, if we dare to call our judge our Father, we must beware of presuming on him. It must even be said that our evangelical emphasis on the atonement is dangerous if we come to it too quickly. We learn to appreciate the access to God which Christ has won only after we have first cried, “Woe is me for I am lost.” In Dale’s words, “It is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God.

with Richard Turnbull.  Richard is the Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.  For the past 4-5 years St. Andrew’s has hosted seminarians from Wycliffe for their summer placement and I’d never had the chance to meet him.  He’d emailed me earlier in the week telling me he was coming to town and we were able to get together.  Richard gave me a copy of his book, “Anglican and Evangelical?” I look forward to the read.

Over the past week we’ve received quite a nice shipment of books into our bookstore, “Common Grounds.”  All the books below, as well as sermons cd’s, music, gifts and videos are available at a discounted price.  Stop in and check it out.

Fearless by Max Lucado

Justification by N.T. Wright

Is the Bible Intolerant, Sexist, Oppressive, Homophobic, Outdated, Irrelevant? by Amy Orr-Ewing

Saving Your Marriage before it Starts by Les & Leslie Parrott

The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted by Gary Chapman

Run Like a Girl by Kathy Vick

Knowing Christ Today by Dallas Willard

A Call to Die by David Nasser

Wisdom from Above by Campbell McAlpine

A Perfect Mess: Why you don’t have to worry about being good enough for God by Lisa Harper

The “Armchair Theologian” series.  This series by various authors give very nice introductions to some of the great theologians of the faith such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards and a helpful book on “Heretics”.