The Unquenchable Flame

Listening to: Nothing

Dave 'Lightning' Bish has blogged this before I had the chance, but yesterday we launched the brand new section of Theology Network- The Unquenchable Flame- which is to coincide with Mike's book of the same name. It's full of resources on the Reformation, its theology, history, characters, and implications for us today.

It covers the medieval background of the Reformation, Luther, Zwingli and the Radical Reformation, Calvin, the British Reformation, the Puritans, and the Reformation today. The issues at the heart of this section are of vital importance: justification, assurance, the authority of scripture, the priesthood of all believers...

http://www.theologynetwork.org/unquenchable-flame/

Duelling Keyboards

Listening to: Nothing

This is hilarious. It made me cry.

Mat Kearney, Durham, Barnabas

Listening to: 'All I Have' by Mat Kearney

It's been a long, long time! Here are a couple of tidbits from the last couple of weeks.

1. Mat Kearney
I've been thoroughly enjoying the new album by Mat Kearney, City of Black and White.



This is seriously good melodic pop-rock: think Doves, Coldplay, or something like that. Well, well worth a listen.

2. Durham
I spent the weekend up in Durham staying with three new- but already very dear- friends, Jono, Jack, and Jonny. I already have far too many friends with names that begin with 'J', but that's not the point is it? I had a great time relaxing, enjoying the sunshine, barbecuing, and chatting about the Lord. Thanks boys.



3. Barnabas
Thursday 11th was the feast of Barnabas, which is cool. There's a letter amongst the Apostolic Fathers attributed to him, which you can read here. It may or may not really be from him, but it's worth a read as a piece of first century theology.

Justin on the Trinity

Listening to: 'Let us break their bonds asunder (Chorus)' by Handel (Sir Colin Davis)

Monday June 1st was the feast of Justin Martyr, and Sunday (tomorrow) is Trinity Sunday. So here are some quotes from Justin on the Trinity. These are great because the doctrine of the Trinity wasn't formalised really until after the Christological controversies which ran on through the likes of Cyril, Athanasius, and on to Chalcedon. So here we have a first century believer explaining his understanding of the three persons from the Bible.

Justin's main point here is to prove to Jewish people and to the gentile authorities that it is right to worship Jesus as God, yet as a distinct person from the Creator. In the process, he speaks of God's Triunity- mentioning the Holy Spirit too. Enjoy.


'The Father of the universe has a Son, who also being the first begotten Word of God, is even God.'
(First Apology, 63)

'But if you knew, Trypho,' continued I, 'who He is that is called at one time the Angel of great counsel, and a Man by Ezekiel, and like the Son of man by Daniel, and a Child by Isaiah, and Christ and God to be worshipped by David, and Christ and a Stone by many, and Wisdom by Solomon, and Joseph and Judah and a Star by Moses, and the East by Zechariah, and the Suffering One and Jacob and Israel by Isaiah again, and a Rod, and Flower, and Corner Stone, and Son of God, you would not have blasphemed Him who has now come, and been born, and suffered, and ascended to heaven; who shall also come again, and then your twelve tribes shall mourn. For if you had understood what has been written by the prophets, you would not have denied that He was God, Son of the only, unbegotten, unutterable God. For Moses says somewhere in Exodus the following: `The Lord spake to Moses, and said to him, I am the Lord, and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, being their God; and my name I revealed not to them, and I established my covenant with them.' And thus again he says, 'A man wrestled with Jacob,' and asserts it was God; narrating that Jacob said, 'I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.''
(Dialogue with Trypho, CXXVI)

'We will prove that we worship him reasonably; for we have learned that he is the Son of the true God Himself, that he holds a second place, and the Spirit of prophecy a third. For this they accuse us of madness, saying that we attribute to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all things; but they are ignorant of the Mystery which lies therein'
(First Apology, 13:5-6)

In the News

Listening to: 'Goldberg Variations' by Bach

A few quick scribblings.


One of my very best friends, John Steptoe, proposed to his girlfriend, Jo Lacey, a couple of weeks ago. Jo said 'yes' and so they're getting married! Yesterday, John asked me to be his best man- an honour I've gladly accepted. Readers of this blog who know John and have any incriminating or embarrassing material are encouraged to get in touch...

On another note, this evening I discovered something called 'vlogging' which is like blogging but is made out of videos instead of words! How bizarre! Unbeknownst to me, this has been going on since 1995 yet only today I stumbled on charlieissocoollike, the UK's premier vlogging 18 year old. He appears to video himself doing silly tasks or chatting away to himself and gets four million views. Astonishing! Is this good fun, or is there some sort of twisted voyeurism thing going on? I wonder if Charlie gets to live a normal life, or whether his school friends mercilessly taunt him for being an internet celebrity. I wonder if he ever does his homework. Can such a thing end up being an unhealthy escape from reality, and a constructed fantasy world in which to live? Maybe Charlie will drop by and let us know. Perhaps if my blog were that famous, I could tell you myself!

The Shack again

Listening to: Nothing

I can hardly believe I missed this piece nearly a year ago. Absolutely brilliant from John Crace at The Guardian.

The snow lay thick and the shack was deserted when Mack arrived, but he blinked and suddenly it was spring and the forest was covered with verdant greens. "Hello, Mack," said a black woman.

"I wasn't expecting God to be a black woman," Mack gasped.

"That's because you've never read any quasi-liberal, religious crap like this before," God laughed. "But don't panic. I am American."

"I'm Jesus," said Jesus. "I've got a wacky sense of humour."

"And because I'm eastern, I've been given the job of being the Holy Spirit," Sarayu murmured, "so forgive me if I sound like a stoned hippie when I burble some meaningless mystical bollocks."

"So the Garden of Eden is really true and You did create everything in six days?" Mack asked.

"Of course," said God, "But let's not get hung up on dull subjects like evolution. I'm not even that bothered about what religion you believe in, provided you accept everyone else has got it all wrong. What I'm really about is relationship. Without an S. Now let's walk on water."

Read the whole thing for a great laugh.

Can we 'live the gospel'?

Listening to: Nothing

Sometimes, it's suggested that speaking the gospel is a bit cheeky (or rude), and that the best way to witness is to 'promote' the gospel, or 'live' the gospel. Here's great quote on that from Graeme Goldsworthy:

The gospel is what we must believe in order to be saved. To believe the gospel is to put one’s trust and confidence in the person and work of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. To preach the gospel is faithfully to proclaim that historical event, along with the God-given interpretation of that event. It cannot be stressed too much that to confuse the gospel with certain important things that go hand in hand with it is to invite theological, hermeneutical and spiritual confusion. Such ingredients of preaching and teaching that we might want to link with the gospel would include the need for the gospel (sin and judgment), the means of receiving the benefits of the gospel (faith and repentance), the results or fruits of the gospel (regeneration, conversion, sanctification, glorification) and the results of rejecting it (wrath, judgment, hell). These, however we define and proclaim them, are not in themselves the gospel. If something is not what God did in and through the historical Jesus two thousand years ago, it is not the gospel. Thus Christians cannot ‘live the gospel’, as they are often exhorted to do. They can only believe it, proclaim it and seek to live consistently with it. Only Jesus lived (and died) the gospel. It is a once-for-all finished and perfected event done for us by another.

Live a life influenced by the gospel! Act in ways that commend the gospel to others! But for gsodness sake, speak about Jesus.