Category Archives: People

Puritan preaching priorities

Walking With Giants Posted on by

In a recent article reprinted in The Banner of Truth, Johann Odendaal sets out some of the principle priorities of Puritan preaching.  These help to explain why these men should be regarded as ‘God’s giants’:-

1. Good preaching to them was the primary means of God’s grace to man. It was the highlight of public worship. Through the preaching the Holy Spirit would apply the Word in power to save people from their sins. It is primarily through the preaching of the Word that believers are built up in their faith.…

Guidance – perils and pitfalls

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Christians, as J.I. Packer reminds us, believe in divine guidance.  We believe that God has a plan for us, and we believe that God is able to communicate that plan to us.

We fall into error, however, when we think of guidance as inward prompting of the Holy Spirit apart from God’s written Word.

It is a mistake to narrow the focus of guidance exclusively to vocational guidance (Whom should I marry? Which church should I join?…

The Holy Trinity a Biblical doctrine

Walking With Giants Posted on by

B.B. Warfield, while recognising the obvious fact that the term ‘Trinity’ is not a biblical term, nevertheless maintains that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a biblical doctrine.

The doctrine of the Trinity lies in Scripture in solution; when it is crystallized from its solvent it does not cease to be Scriptural, but only comes into clearer view.

The doctrine of the Trinity, insists Warfield, not only is a biblical doctrine; it must be a biblical doctrine, because it is not discoverable by natural reason. …

Ryle on sin

Walking With Giants Posted on by

It was no accident that J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) gave the first chapter of his celebrated book on Holiness the simple title, ‘Sin’.  ‘I make no apology,’ he writes, ‘for beginning this volume of papers about holiness by making some plain statements about sin.’

Here are some of the rather striking things he has to say on this subject:-

1.  Wanted: clear thinking about sin

‘Dim or indistinct views of sin are the origin of most of the errors, heresies and false doctrines of the present day.…

Calvin and the (in)errancy of Scripture

Walking With Giants Posted on by

It is clear to any reader of the works of John Calvin that he had a very high view of the truthfulness of Scripture.  There are a handful of passages, however, where some have detected hints that the great Reformer thought that the Bible might err in matters of detail.  These are categorised by J.I. Packer as follows:-

  1. Passages in which God accommodates himself to human forms of thought and expression.  Thus, Calvin did not think that we should look to Genesis 1 for scientific teaching on astronomy.
…

Humour: no laughing matter?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Laughter has not always been prized as a wholly positive phenomenon.  In the 18th century Lord Chesterfield wrote to his son: ‘there is nothing so illiberal, and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.’  John Ray called laughter ‘the hiccup of a fool’, and Oliver Goldsmith thought that it spoke of ‘the vacant mind’.  As recently as 1964 a specialist psychology dictionary characterised laughter as an ‘emotional response, expressive normally of joy, in the child and the unsophisticated adult.’ …

Why pluralism?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

How did it come to be virtually taken for granted that there are many paths to God, and that for any one of these (including Christianity) to make any claim to exclusiveness is either ignorant or arrogant?

John Stott discusses the various arguments for religious pluralism that have evolved in recent decades:-

1.  The new global consciousness.  Stimulated by threats to the environments, fears of nuclear conflict, and the continued existence of North/South economic divide. …

The Throne of Grace

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Some very short notes on the first few sermons from a series preached by Robert Traill (1642-1716).

Text: Heb 4:16

Sermon 1

Q. Where is God to be found (cf Job 23:3)? Ans. On a throne of grace: this the antitype of the mercy seat, Heb 4:4ff, which was characterised by (a) limited access; (b) solemn atonement, Lev 16:12ff; (c) communion with God, Ex 25:17ff.

Doctrine: God in the gospel sits on a throne of grace, and from it calls and invites sinners to come to him.…

Which God don’t you believe in?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

‘For seven years,’ (writes Tom Wright) ‘I was College Chaplain at Worcester College, Oxford. Each year I used to see the first year undergraduates individually for a few minutes, to welcome them to the college and make a first acquaintance. Most were happy to meet me; but many commented, often with slight embarrassment, “You won’t be seeing much of me; you see, I don’t believe in god.”

‘I developed a stock response: “Oh, that’s interesting; which god is it you don’t believe in?”…

What is Providence?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

‘Providence’ (writes J.I. Packer) ‘is normally defined in Christian theology as the unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill (Ps. 145:9 cf. Mt. 5:45-48), he upholds his creatures in ordered existence (Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3), guides and governs all events, circumstances and free acts of angels and men (cf. Ps. 107; Job. 1:12; 2:6; Gn. 45:5-8), and directs everything to its appointed goal, for his own glory (cf. Eph. 1:9-12).…