Craig, Strobel, Wilson, Denison, and Hitchens debate God’s Existence

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You’ve got to hand it to Christopher Hitchens.  Such is his self-confidence, and perhaps his disdain for the ‘opposition’, that he is prepared to take on all-comers when it comes to debating religion.  Oh, and it must help his book to sell as well.

In March of this year Hitchens took on not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR Christian apologists at the same time.  Of course, he comes out fighting, and if he was feeling a little bruised by the end he is too wily a campaigner to let it show.…

The significance of Christ’s ascension

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John Owen claimed that the mediatorial life of Christ in heaven ‘is not so considered nor so applied as it ought to be’; and again, ‘the darkness of our faith herein is the cause of all our disconsolations and most of our weakness in obedience.’

Owen adds,

‘Most men have only general and confused notions and apprehensions of the present state of Christ with respect unto the church.’

Yet:

‘This assumption of our Lord Jesus Christ into glory, or his glorious reception in heaven, with his state and condition therein, is a principle article of the faith of the church – the great foundation of its hope and consolation in the world…He leads not in heaven a life of mere glory, majesty and blessedness, but a life of office, love and care also.

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The Gospel is about what God has done, not what we do

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In the April 2009 edition of the journal Themelios, D.A. Carson ponders the meaning of the word ‘Gospel’.

We must distinguish between what God has done, Carson argues, and what we must do as a response to that.  But only the first of these can properly called ‘the gospel’.

‘If the gospel is the (good) news about what God has done in Christ Jesus, there is ample place for including under “the gospel” the ways in which the kingdom has dawned and is coming, for tying this kingdom to Jesus’ death and resurrection, for demonstrating that the purpose of what God has done is to reconcile sinners to himself and finally to bring under one head a renovated and transformed new heaven and new earth, for talking about God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, consequent upon Christ’s resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and above all for focusing attention on what Paul (and others—though the language I’m using here reflects Paul) sees as the matter “of first importance”: Christ crucified.

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Is the Old Testament ethical?

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Is the Old Testament Ethical?

Here is an interview with Dr Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House.  With the criticisms of Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion, ch. 7) particularly in mind, Williams gives a cogent series of responses to some of the more difficult and pressing worries that we (whether we are believers or not) may have about the morality of some of the things we find in the Old Testament.

Of course, Williams cannot offer, in the limited time afforded by an interview, a comprehensive set of answers. …

Praying with giants

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I have used the following to guide an evening of prayer.  Much help was derived from members of that remarkable band of Christians who came to be known as ‘the Puritans’.  In particular, some of the prayers and devotions from The Valley of Vision (edited by Arthur Bennett) were adapted and used.

Invocation

Let us lift up our hearts unto God in the heavens.

Let us stir up ourselves to take hold on God, to seek his face, and to give him the glory due unto his name.

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Our daily warfare

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We ought not to think that [the Devil’s] activity is primarily, or even mainly, to be seen in dramatic, extraordinary “power” encounters, where people are exorcised or delivered of demons. His warfare against us – and make no mistake it is real – takes place primarily at a far more frightening level: at the level of ordinary, everyday life.

We see this illustrated repeatedly in the Epistles when our battle with the Devil is mentioned. We keep him at bay when we deal promptly with anger and do not allow it to fracture relationships.…

Be bold!

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What I meant to do, when writing my previous post on William Gurnall, was to present this more extended quotation on boldness.  It is vintage Gurnall, and a magnificant encouragement to Christians.  So here it is:-

O how uncomely a sight is it to see, a bold sinner and a fearful saint, one resolved to be wicked, and a Christian wavering in his holy course; to see guilt put innocence to flight, and hell keep the field, impudently braving it with displayed banners of open profaneness; [to see] saints hide their colours for shame, or run from them for fear, who should rather wrap themselves in them, and die upon the place, than thus betray the glorious name of God, which is called upon by them to the scorn of the uncircumcised.
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Gems from Gurnall

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William Gurnall (1617-1679) was rector of Lavenham in Suffolk.  Although a Puritan in doctrine, he remained loyal to the Church of England all his life.  He is known for one book, The Christian in Complete Armour.  This is a massive exposition of Ephesians 6:10-20, and is a classic on spiritual warfare.  Massive it may be (almost 1200 pages) and yet, as someone once said, there is often more solid teaching in one line of Gurnall than in any number of pages of other Christian writers.…

Calvin: nine preaching engagements

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Peter Adam is Principal of Ridley Theological College in Melbourne, Australia.  In a recent lecture on John Calvin as a preacher, he sets out nine demanding engagements that Calvin sought to fulfil in his own preaching.

There are:-

1.  Engaging with God.  The preacher doesn’t just talk about God in some remote and objective way.  No: the preacher expects God to be present with and in his Word by his Spirit.

2.  Engaging with the 66 texts of the Bible. …

Play

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We spend much of our time, energy and other resources on play, leisure and recreation, and yet rarely reflect Christianly on such things.

Arthur Holmes has some insightful thoughts on the subject of play:-

Difficulty of Defining Play

‘Play is customarily seen as nonproductive activity. This is not strictly correct, for play can be economically productive for professionals, quiz-show participants, and many others. The intent of the definition is that the purpose of play is not to be found in elements extrinsic to the activity, as supposedly with work, but is to be found in the activity itself and its enjoyment.

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