Why Read Dickens?

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February 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.

Writing in Evangelicals Now, Ann Benton offers several points of interest in Dickens’ writings.  Here’s a summary:-

1.  His characterisation.  Dickens’ characters are superbly described.  We can see their mannerisms, their clothes, their gait.  We can hear them talking.  He saw the world vividly, and enjoyed observing peoples’ diversity and peculiarities.  He had a deep psychological understanding of the reasons why people think and behave as they do. …

Don’t change the law on assisted suicide

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Writing in The Times (5th January), Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss (former President of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice) argued cogently against any change in the law.

I summarise:-

1.  The law works well as it is.  Each year, fewer than 20 cases of assisted suicide are considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions.  In Oregon, by way of contrast, the number of assisted suicides has quadrupled since it was legalised in 1997.  ‘Legalisation means normalisation’. …

Law and gospel

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The relationship between God’s law and his offer of salvation through Christ is a tricky one.

In the Middle Ages, law and gospel were often unsufficiently distinguished.  Many were taught to regard law-keeping as essential to be right with God.

Protestants taught that the law was given to Adam as a way of life.  After the fall, however, humankind was unable to keep the law perfectly and so a way of salvation was provided whereby the Sinless One kept the law in our place, bore the penalty for our transgression, and that forgiveness and new life are received by faith in Christ.…

Moses the preacher

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Moses was the first great preacher of the word of God of whom we have any detailed knowledge.

Moses speaks the words of God

Moses’ call is recorded in Ex 4:10-16.  When Moses protests his inability to speak for God, the reply he receives is that God will teach what to say and how to say it.  He is to be God’s mouthpiece.  He is to act as intermediary between God and the people.  He spoke on God’s behalf to the people, and the people accepted his words as the Lord’s, Ex 24:3. …

Shall we know one another in heaven?

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For many Christians the prospect of being re-united with loved ones in the life to come is one of the greatest comforts in the face of bereavement.

Of course, this prospect ought not to overshadow that fellowship with our Lord which ought to be pre-eminent.  After all, the Psalmist could pray, “Whom have I in heaven but thee?’ (Psa 73:25), and Paul’s great desire was to depart and ‘being with Christ’, Phil 1:23; 1 Thess 4:17. …

Peggy Mason, 1917 – 2011

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My mother, Peggy Mason, died peacefully on 11th December after a short illness.  She had led an extraordinarily active life, and although in recent years short-term memory loss took its toll, her loving personality remained intact until the end.

Yesterday, Friday 23rd December, a service of thanksgiving was held at Chapelfield Road Methodist Church, Norwich.  One of my sisters, Catherine, spoke of our mum’s life generally, and I had the privilege of saying a few words about mum’s Christian faith.…

The case for conditional immortality

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A number of evangelical scholars, including John Stott, Phillip Edgecumbe Hughes, and Stephen Travis, have favoured a doctrine of ‘conditional immortality’ over that of ‘eternal punishment’.

According to Travis, the doctrine of eternal punishment depends on a belief in the immortaility of the soul, as well as the ‘apparently explicit’ teaching of texts such as Mt 25:34,41,46; Mk 9:42f; 2 Thess 1:9; and Rev 14:11; 19:3; 20:10.

The case for conditional immortality, on the other hand, can be summarised as follows:-

1. …

Meyer vs. Fox – ‘Signature in the Cell’

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A recent edition of Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Unbelievable’ show featured a discussion between Stephen Meyer, Director of the Centre for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle and a proponent of Intelligent Design, and Keith Fox, Professor of Biochemistry at Southampton University and Chair of Christians in Science and a disbeliever in Intelligent Design.

It was a rather frustrating experience to listen to this discussion.  The main problem was Stephen Meyer.  Although not overtly aggressive, he seemed only interested in what he himself had to say. …

Imagining the Kingdom

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‘Imagining the Kingdom: Mission and Theology in Early Christianity’: This is the title of Tom Wright’s inaugural lecture at St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews 26th October 2011.

Here is the full text of that lecture.

It is something of a tour de force, and I’m going to attempt to sketch out the main steps of the first part of Wright’s argument.

The four Gospels are remarkable documents, and we should not allow their familiarity, or the existence of purported rivals (such as the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ or the hypothetical ‘Q’) to blind us to ‘their remarkable blend of page-turning narrative, vivid portraiture (especially of their central figure), historical verisimilitude and sophisticated theology.’…

1966 And All That

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Chris Green, Vice Principal of Oak Hill Theological College, has noted that among the 35 contributors to John Stott: a portrait by his friends, there is none from ‘the other side’ of the 1966 debate with Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. ‘Perhaps,’ Green suggests, ‘some issues are still too raw.’

It seems extraordinary that such a situation should pertain nearly half a century after the event. I would like to revisit the momentous events of that 1996 debate and its consequences.…