Tried With Fire

Irenaeus of Lyon by Simonetta Carr, illustrations by Max Abraxas, Reformation Heritage Books, 2017,  64 pages. Simonetta Carr has written another biography in the Christian Biographies for Young Readers series. Her latest subject is Irenaeus of Lyons, the early church father and author of Against Heresies . Irenaeus lived around 130-200 A.D. He was a disciple of Polycarp who was discipled by the apostle John. The Roman Empire was still the dominant force in the world, and their polytheism and emperor worship were stark contrasts to Christianity. Thus the Christians' refusal to take part in pagan religion led to widespread persecution. Irenaeus' mentor, Polycarp, was one of the many martyrs for the faith. This time was also marked by the rise of false teachers who were distorting the gospel and leading people astray. With a desire to strengthen the church in biblical truth, Irenaeus began his work Against Heresies , which is still read today. He set about refuting the ...

I am continuing my reading of A Brief History of Sunday by Justo Gonzalez. It's quite a page turner and has whet my appetite to read more church history. Here are some of my impressions after reading about the Middle Ages. This is the era that adopted the doctrine of transubstantiation - the Communion bread and cup become the actual physical body and blood of Jesus during the celebration of mass. This belief was widely held and spread via stories of a miraculous transformation before it was formally adopted as church dogma . So "popular piety and experiences in worship moved ahead of theological development." This doctrine changed the tone of mass from a joyous celebration to a "fearsome experience." In R.C. Sproul's lectures on Martin Luther, he described the young Luther as trembling and being barely able to speak when he performed his first mass for fear of mishandling the body and blood of Christ. This belief also changed how communion was served b...

Paulus Orosius (375-418) was a disciple of Augustine. He was from Hispania or what is now modern Portugal. He had been with Augustine, helped collaborate on the City of God , and returned home. By now, his home and most of Western Europe were invaded by Germanic tribes better known as "Barbarians." This is what he wrote: "If the only reason why the barbarians have been sent within the confines of the Roman borders was that throughout the East and West the church of Christ will be full of Huns and Suevi, of Vandals, and Burgundians, of diverse and innumerable peoples, then the mercy of God is to be praised and exalted, because so many people have attained a knowledge of truth that they would never have had without these events, even though it may be through our own loss ." ( History against the Pagans 7:41) I will leave you to make your own application. Source: A Brief History of Sunday , Justo L. Gonzalez, Eerdmans, 2017, pg. 67 (italics mine).

There wasn't room in my post on John Calvin's younger years for this interesting tidbit. The following would have been the typical schedule for a student at the  College de Montaigu where Calvin was enrolled in 1521/1522. 4:00 am  - Morning office, lecture. 6:00 am - Mass, breakfast. 8:00 - 10:00 am - The grande class e and discussion. 11:00 am - Dinner with readings from the Bible or the life of a saint followed by prayers and college notices. 12:00 pm - Questions on the morning lesson. 1:00 - 2:00 pm - Rest period with public reading. (Was the missing hour perhaps free time?) 3:00 - 5:00 pm - Afternoon class.  ? - Vespers and questions on the afternoon class.  ? - Supper with more readings. 8:00 or 9:00 pm - Bedtime depending on the season. Earlier time was during the winter. When did the students study? During free time? Given that Gutenberg's press was invented in 1440, were books used at all or was it mostly lecture and discussion? Did they have...

I was hanging out at a local university yesterday afternoon and couldn't help but contrast my surroundings with what I had been just reading about John Calvin's college days. The following is an excerpt from his biography by T.H.L. Parker. Colleges in Medieval times were very different than they are today to say the least. They were male-only institutions. The entrance age was much younger; Calvin was 11 or 12 years old when he began his studies. The living conditions were a tad rougher too. Here's a taste of what the meal plan was like at the Montaigu College, University of Paris: A perpetual fast was kept. In the sense that food was scanty and coarse. For the main meal, the boys were given as much bread as they wanted with one-thirtieth of a pound of butter or some bottled fruit. The meat course seems always to have consisted of part of a herring or an egg and some vegetables. Theology students were in the enviable position of getting a whole herring or two eggs as we...

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary : During this time of year, it is more acceptable to bring up Jesus. I've seen plenty of nativity scenes in people's yards and even in front of businesses. (The fortune teller with the plastic creche out front broke the cognitive dissonance meter, though.) Even traditional Christian Christmas carols are being played on the airwaves. Many see the story of the baby in the manger as just that, a feel-good myth about love, joy, and peace on earth in sentimental but indistinct terms that don't offend anyone's sensibilities. But is that good enough? Many people say they believe in "Jesus," but sadly we live in a day when we need to press the issue and ask "Which Jesus?" Read the rest of the post here .

"While believers should be Bereans and search the Scriptures for themselves, we don't do it in a vacuum. Our study of the Word is not disconnected from what has transpired in church history. " Read the rest of the post here .

It's my turn to post at Out of the Ordinary: My church began a Sunday school series on the history of the Protestant Reformation. In the first class, the teacher gave a 45-minute whirlwind tour of the 1500 years that led up to the Reformation. He covered the eventual decline of the Roman Empire, the threats and attacks from neighboring tribes, and the political instability that ensued. Christianity went from severe persecution to Constantine's blending of church and state, setting the stage for the rise of the papacy. Sadly the church-at-large became a political entity in its own right with all the associated corruption and power grabs. But amidst the decline, God was setting the stage... Read the rest of the post here .

Whether we like it or not and whether we realize it or not, we are the children of the philosophers who have gone before us. Our thinking is never done in a vacuum, but if you believe otherwise, read on. For Bacon, standing at the dawn of the scientific revolution, the main enemy had been Aristotelian philosophy. Thus he taught that science must start by clearing the decks - by liberating the mind from all metaphysical speculation, all received notions of truth, all the accumulated superstition of the ages... Applied to biblical interpretation, the Baconian method stipulated that the first step is to free our minds from all historical theological formulations (Calvinist, Lutheran, Anglican or whatever). With minds washed clean from merely human speculations, we confront the biblical text as a collection of facts that speak for themselves - and then compile individual verses inductively into a theological system... Perhaps most serious, however, was the Baconian hostility to h...

In the Biblical doctrine the sinner, being justified, receives the Spirit of holiness, through whose prevalent operations he perseveres to the end. According to Finney the justified person remains justified so long as he perseveres in the obedience which is the condition of his justification. In the Biblical view it is God, in Finney's it is man, who determines the issue: The whole standpoint assumed by Finney is that of a God responsive to human actions rather than that of a man operated upon by divine grace. Perfectionism , B.B. Warfield, The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1958, pg. 158. (italics mine)

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary today in which I write about my favorite event of the Protestant Reformation,  Martin Luther's trial at the Diet of Worms, and a lesson from his example. Read the post  here . Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves - I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen. 

(Update: See postscript at the end of the post.) Dear Darth Vader: I hope this finds you in relatively good health, all things considered, and trust that the spring pollen has not had a detrimental effect upon your breathing apparatus. But lest I be sidetracked by lesser subjects, let me get to the point of my correspondence. This meme came across my Twitter feed a week or so ago, and I wanted to thank you for the good laugh from this clever mash-up. Well done, sir! But at the risk of being force-choked, I would respectfully disagree with your understanding of Reformed Baptists. Anabaptists aren't our fathers. If you search church history, you will find this to be true. Reformed Baptists can trace their origins to English Puritan separatists in the 17th century. In fact, the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith , printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1742, was nearly identical to the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession,  thus American Reformed Baptists share the same herit...

We were blessed to have Dr. James Renihan as the speaker at my church's annual theology conference. Dr. Renihan is dean of the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies at Westminster California, and the topic was "Baptists: Rooted in Covenant Grace." I'm in the process of listening again to the talks, and I wanted to highlight one question from the brief Q&A at the end of the fourth session. Dr. Renihan's answer is worth considering for all believers regardless of whether you are Reformed, Baptist, or not. Question: Why is it important for Reformed Baptists today to go back to and understand our historical roots? Practically and theologically? Answer: "We must beware of chronological snobbery. By that, I mean thinking that our day and our generation is the best, and we have the answers and why do we need anyone else? We believe in the communion of the saints, and that doesn't just mean the fellowship that we have with people on earth who ar...

I've been reading  Revival and Revivalism   by Iain Murray   since our church is going through a sermon series on Biblical revival. I have a lot of unlearning to do because my concept of revival has been tainted influenced by the revivalism of Charles Finney and his heirs. Based on historical record, here is what Murray deduced about genuine revival in Virginia in the 1700s: In speaking of the meaning of revival it is also essential to note that what [Samuel] Davies and his brethren believed about revival was not something separate from or additional to, their main beliefs; it was, rather, a necessary consequence. Such is man's state in sin, that he cannot be saved without the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration, and the faith that results from it, are gifts of God. Therefore, wherever conversions are multiplied, the cause is to be found not in men, nor in favourable conditions, but in the abundant influences of the Spirit of God that alone make t...

"The better to manipulate you with..." I wanted to give Finney the benefit of the doubt regarding his unnerving stare. He is justly criticized for his theology, but he can't help his looks. Maybe he was the victim of a bad portrait painter. But then again, maybe not. As the Second Great Awakening proceed, however, preachers began to employ methods calculated to pressure people into making a decision. The most aggressive was Charles Finney, a lawyer-turned-evangelist who toned down the revivalist style and added a note of rational persuasion to make it palatable to educated, middle-class audiences. His innovations included several high-pressure tactics, however, that were to become quite controversial. Finney "had a flair for pulpit drama", Hofstadter comments. "But his greatest physical assest was his intense, fixating, electrifying, madly prophetic eyes," 1 which he used to great effect in confronting sinners by name in his revival meeti...

While working on my post for Women of the Reformation , I was surprised at the minimal information available on Idelette Calvin. There's next to nil about her life prior to her marriage to John Calvin, and the most written about her by her husband is on the event of her death.  If there had not been mention in Calvin's correspondence, Idelette would have lived, died, and been forgotten. The part of my brain that has been influenced by feminism more than I would like to admit began to spew out a few toxic thoughts such as:  "It's not fair." " If Calvin has his moment in the limelight, shouldn't his wife have the same? " "Isn't her role just as important?" This is the message that is fed to us 24/7. We live in a day where what's good for the gander is good for the goose. We live in a day of his and hers pulpit ministries. We live in a day where it's our right and duty, as women, to exert ourselves as much as possible in ...

Please join my friend, Christina at Heavenly Springs , and other like-minded sisters as we look into the lives of the women of the Reformation . The series begins October 31, Reformation Day. Hope to see you there.