All Things Seen & Unseen

As an evangelical Christian I join with many others and am part of a tradition that takes the Bible seriously. In saying that, I am not dismissing authorities such as human tradition and reason; but these are subordinate authorities. I believe the scriptures to be the word of God written given to show us the way of salvation (2 Tim 3.15). The scriptural Word points to Jesus the Word (Jn 1.1;1.14) who points us to God the Father.

Catching Our Breath Discussion of t he various f orms of eschatology reveals complicati ons ; but it can also reveal major points of difference that can help us to make greater sense of the field of study about our major topic, The One People of God .  However, like many areas of scholarsh ip when beginning to try to understand them it is as if one is learning a new language. In some ways that is what is happening. One is lear ning a new language! Furthermore, we can feel as if others have been having an intense conversation in that language for many years.  That metaphor in effect does sum up why we can feel lost in the middle of a for est. Moreover, b ecause we have been absent much of that time we don't really understand why other people fuss over the various issues I have referred to briefly in earlier posts. Some people just e njo y learning about such issues for their own sake. (People enjoy all sorts of knowledge with which I don't interest myself. For example, I ca...

The story of Henry VIII's obsession to secure a male heir so that the possibility of another Civil War (as had happened between the Lancasters and the Yorks in the brutal 'War of the Roses') could be avoided is well-known. Catherine of Aragon of Spain, had formerly been married to his older brother Arthur who died six months after their marriage.   Although Henry VII was not keen for his youngest son to marry Catherine, she did have a large dowry and when King Henry VII died, his son Henry VIII married Catherine.  But her child-bearing years with Henry were accompanied by frustration with the only success being her giving birth to a female heir (Mary, later Mary I). Therefore, Henry determined to gain an annulment from his marriage to Catherine from the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) but was refused for political reasons. So, Henry decided to break with Rome by getting his own clergy to annul the marriage and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was happy to oblige his king. 1   Thomas ...

Many readers will have viewed this charming and engaging BBC TV series but the TV series is based on a book by Jennifer Worth. (It can be purchased for under AUD$12 and can be highly recommended.)  It's superbly written by a talented author with a wonderful gift for the language who has obviously lived through a tumultuous time all but forgotten: deep joy, ecstasy, huge sorrow and pain, wonderful camaraderie, amid the great dedication of nurses and mid-wife Anglican nuns to their respective callings in the squalor and material deprivation of the East End of London following WW2. Jenny at 22 (the author) comes to work as a midwife with a group of sometimes feisty nuns of the Midwives of St Raymond Nonnatus (patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, pregnant women) and other non-professed, young midwives at a residence called 'Nonnatus' near the London docklands. She is fleeing a love affair that ended badly but soon finds herself baptised into a life of relentless wor...

J. N. Darby's Life It seems odd that evangelicalism has been so deeply influenced by John Nelson Darby's views and yet his name is hardly known.  Consonant with that observation,  Sweetman and Gribben (2009) remark that few biographies of worth have been written about the Irishman even though he was an original thinker and later had great influence in several branches of theology. Darby seemed  destined for the law profession i nitially and although he qualified and practised f or a year, he moved into the clerical mini stry of the Church of Ire land (CofI) in Dublin (Anglican). This posit ion seemed well below his past scholarly achievements at Trinity College, Dublin University where he graduated in 1819 hav ing earned a Gold Medal in Classics . He lived an austere life along with his parish ioners and followed a 'catholic' view of churchmanship that divine grace was given primarily through the sacraments (hence, a 'High' Churchman) . His Conv...

The revising of dispensationalism we talked about in the last post in turn gave way to a th ird form of dispensationalism wh ich began in the 1980s called progressive dispensationalism (PD).  One of the major features of this new dispensationalism was that its adherents began to subject one of C. C. Ryrie's defining criteria -literal interpretation- to closer examination and found it wanting. At the same time, dialogue took place between some dispensationalists and nondispensational 1 theologians which brought about more understanding and greater unity between the two opposing groups. The PD group believes that God has one plan of salvation. T hat plan is being unfold ed through a series of different ad ministrations (dispensations) but they emphasise the unity of the dispensations.  However, the PD group still hold s to the main dispensational tenet that Israel and the Church are distinct ; nevertheless, they also h o ld that both receive blessings through the A brahamic...