Lausanne Global Analysis 6, 6 (November 2017)

The latest issue of Lausanne Global Analysis, from The Lausanne Movement, is available online from here, including pdf downloads.

In the issue overview, editor David Taylor writes:

‘In this issue we mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with a call to Christian unity for the sake of the Great Commission; we consider how to stimulate theological resource-sharing between North and South; we address the issue of connecting across generations for global mission, drawing on lessons from the Lausanne Younger Leader initiatives; we suggest five simple truths for contemporary church planters; and we briefly review the new Operation World app which helps us to pray purposefully together for the world.’

Rediscovering the Gospel

I contributed this week’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son… Jesus Christ our Lord… God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness… I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes… for in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed…

Romans 1:1-4, 9, 14-17

This week sees the 500th anniversary of an event which arguably set in motion what has come to be known as the Reformation. Martin Luther’s 95 theses, nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg – serving as a public noticeboard – were an invitation to debate. They were triggered by the sale of indulgences (pardons for certain types of sins), but quickly led to other questions about how we know God and how we can be right with God. For Luther and others, at their heart was the nature of the gospel itself.

Whatever we make of Luther, the Reformation, and its aftermath, it’s vital for us constantly to return to what really matters. It’s all too easy for our faith to become about who we are and what we do when it’s first and foremost what God himself has done – for us and for the world – in Christ. The gospel is not some abstract teaching about the nature of salvation, but the announcement of the good news that God saves.

In these opening verses of his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul makes it clear that the gospel is focused on ‘Jesus Christ our Lord’ and rooted in Scripture, the fruition of promises made long ago through the prophets. Nor is it merely a private claim, but one of public truth – it’s good news for the whole world.

Small wonder, then, that the gospel defines Paul and his ministry, that he is set aside for it, that he is so eager to preach it. Recall what he says of the gospel: the declaration of God’s saving power through the work of his Son, not least by bringing men and women into relationship with himself, which comes about as it always has done – through faith, from first to last – and which is available equally to all who believe, breaking down barriers between ethnic groups in the process. How could he be ashamed of that?

And, since belief in the gospel comes bound up with a particular view of reality – of God, creation, humanity, sin, redemption – we discover that it provides the perspective from which to view the whole of life. Whole-life discipleship begins with the gospel.

Wherever we find ourselves today, and whatever we have to turn our hand to, may the God of the gospel of Jesus Christ be our strength, our joy, and our hope.

9Marks Journal (Fall 2017) on The Reformation and Your Church

The latest issue of the 9Marks Journal, available from here in various formats and here as a pdf, is devoted to the topic of ‘The Reformation and Your Church’.

In the Editor’s Note, Jonathan Leeman writes:

‘We asked our contributors to consider the Reformation’s relevance specifically to the local church and the pastor. Why should pastors care? Take a look at D.A. Carson’s piece. What does it have to do with expositional preaching, evangelism, church discipline, church authority more broadly, the ordinances, even pastoral counseling? There are articles on each of these topics, too.

‘There is, of course, a danger in idealizing the past. Brad Littlejohn’s piece offers a crucial warning. But there might be a greater danger in forgetting it altogether...

‘Start, therefore, with Stephen Nichols’ piece. It takes you back in time, and lets you imagine what you might have heard in church the Sunday before Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Door...

‘Then ask yourself how you might teach your congregation about the Reformation... How are you equipping your church with knowledge of the wisdom and folly of the past? If you haven’t been doing this, I’m excited about the wonderful stories and truths your church still gets to learn from those who came before us – like hearing a great symphony for the first time!’

Credo Magazine 7, 2 (2017) on the English Reformation

The current issue of Credo is available, this one devoted to ‘The English Reformation’.

According to the blurb:

‘The word “Reformation” immediately brings to mind a young Martin Luther, his 95 theses, and his memorable stand at the Diet of Worms. But did Luther’s writings have any influence in England? And what led certain English reformers to similar, sometimes identical, convictions about justification and biblical authority? In this issue of Credo Magazine we are introduced to some of the key English reformers, men like William Tyndale, Thomas Cranmer, and many others. Outstanding pastors and scholars tell us how the Reformation took root in England under very different political circumstances than Germany and why many of these reformers were willing to be martyred for their faith.’

Individual articles in the magazine are available to read from here.

Christian History Magazine on the Catholic Reformation

The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is devoted to ‘The Catholic Reformation’, the fourth in a four-part series on the Reformation.

Here is the paragraph of blurb:

‘The fourth and final issue of our Reformation series features the story of Catholic reform in the sixteenth century. Renewal spread through the Catholic church through new religious orders – foremost the Jesuits – and through individuals and groups who sympathized with “evangelical” ideas while remaining under papal authority. The Council of Trent, the official response to the Protestant critique, would set a course for Catholicism for the next 500 years. The issue also includes closing thoughts on the long-term effects of the Reformation and the prospects for ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Protestants today.’

The whole magazine is available as a 6.8 MB pdf here.

The previous three magazines in the series are available

• Luther leads the way

• The People’s Reformation

• Calvin, Councils, and Confessions

The (Playmobil) Story of Martin Luther

In anticipation of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Reformation, Go Chatter, an  arm of 10ofthose.com, has made a stop motion video (here) that uses Playmobil to tell the story of Martin Luther.

Credo Magazine on Luther at 500

The current issue of Credo is available, this one devoted to the topic of ‘Luther at 500’.

According to the blurb:

‘The year 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The reformer who ignited this Reformation was none other than Martin Luther. But who was Luther, why was his understanding of God’s grace so radically different than Rome’s, and what was his contribution to the Reformation as a whole? These are the type of questions this new issue of Credo Magazine, “Luther at 500,” aims to answer as we turn our attention not only to Luther’s life but to Luther’s doctrine.

Normally a pdf of the entire issue is available to download, though this facility does not appear to be available in this case. However, individual articles in the magazine are available to read from here.

Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 19, 4 (2015) on the Five Solas of the Reformation

Ahead of next year’s 500th anniversary celebrations of the Reformation, Zondervan is publishing a series of books on the five ‘solas’ of the Reformation...

• Sola Scriptura – ‘Scripture alone’

• Sola Fide – ‘faith alone’

• Sola Gratia – ‘grace alone’

• Solus Christus – ‘through Christ alone’

• Soli Deo Gloria – ‘to the glory of God alone’

I’m currently enjoying the one on justification (‘faith alone’), written by Thomas Schreiner. (Search ‘Five Solas Series’ on the Zondervan website for details of this and the other volumes.)

Handily, the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology has published an issue devoted to ‘Remembering the Reformation Solas’, where each contributor to the Zondervan series essentially summarises the main points made in their respective books.

Individual essays are available from here, and the whole issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Christian History Magazine on Martin Luther

The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is the first of a promised four issues on the Reformation, this one looking at Martin Luther.

The whole magazine is available as a 9.2 MB pdf here.

Timothy George on Reading the Bible for the Sake of the Church

Timothy George, general editor of IVP’s new Reformation Commentary on Scripture series is interviewed by David Neff in Christianity Today, here.

Asked about the ‘superiority of pre-critical exegesis’, George responds: ‘pre-critical exegesis is done in the context of and for the sake of the community of faith. It’s churchly exegesis that puts us in touch with the life of prayer, the great doctrines of the faith, the catechetical tradition of the church, and the liturgy of the church, and it helps us to see Scripture as part of that whole.’

The rest of the interview takes in the inclusion of Roman Catholic and Anabaptist authors in the commentary series, the Reformers as ‘proto-postmoderns’ (‘They were very aware of the communitarian context in which knowledge, exegesis, and comment are made’), the relationship between the Reformers and early church fathers, the differing receptions of Luther over the years, and the renaissance of interest in Calvin.

Themelios 36, 2 (July 2011)

The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the following articles:

D.A. Carson

Editorial: Generational Conflict in Ministry

Carl Trueman

Minority Report: A Word to the Conscience

Scott M. Manetsch

Is the Reformation Over? John Calvin, Roman Catholicism, and Contemporary Ecumenical Conversations

John C. Peckham

Intrinsic Canonicity and the Inadequacy of the Community Approach to Canon-Determination

Mark R. Saucy

Canon as Tradition: The New Covenant and the Hermeneutical Question

Dan Strange

Not Ashamed! The Sufficiency of Scripture for Public Theology

Sinclair B. Ferguson

A Preacher’s Declaogue

Book Reviews

I’m particularly looking forward to Dan Strange’s essay on Scripture and public theology, which is an updated version of a paper originally presented at the Affinity Theological Conference in February 2011 (see here for a link to some of the other papers on Scripture presented at the same conference).

Modern Reformation on Calvin at 500

Today is 10 July. 500 years ago, John Calvin was born – Happy Birthday!

As providence would have it, my special June/July copy of Modern Reformation arrived a few weeks ago, devoted to ‘Calvin at 500: Does He Still Matter?’

No prizes for guessing their answer…

Of course, in true Reformation style, the Editorial promises that the focus will not be on Calvin’s Geneva or his personality or his influence in the history of the church, but on ‘his God-centered, gospel-saturated theology’ (2).

Along these lines, Michael Horton writes the opening essay, declaring that Calvin’s obsession ‘was the tender mercy of the Father, shown towards sinners in the Son and through the Spirit’, and that Calvin was ‘even more interested in God’s fatherhood than his sovereignty’ (3).

A Roman Catholic scholar, Dennis E. Tamburello, contributes a piece on the legacy of the Reformed tradition, focusing on the centrality of Christ (particularly in terms of his grace – for justification and sanctification), sacramental theology (with the most important feature being ‘not what happens to the bread and wine, but what happens to us, who receive the Eucharist in faith’, 9), the Holy Spirit (which pervaded every aspect of Calvin’s thought), and thankfulness to God as a key element of the Christian life (preventing faith degenerating into self-interest or fear).

For those who can’t afford a trip to see the sites, Douglas Bond takes readers on an imaginary tour of the most important places in the life of Calvin – Noyon, Paris, Orleans, Bourges, Basel, Strasbourg, and, of course, Geneva.

A special section on ‘the many faces of Calvin’ contains mini essays on Calvin’s influence – Calvin and Anglicanism, Calvin and Karl Barth, Calvin versus the Calvinists, Calvin and Vatican II, Calvin and Jonathan Edwards, Calvin and the continuing Protestant story, Calvin and Max Weber, Calvin and the Lord’s Supper, Calvin and Luther, and the issue of whether Calvin was a cultural transformationist.

Michael Reeves on the Reformation

Michael Reeves, The Unquenchable Flame: Introducing the Reformation (Nottingham: IVP, 2009), 192pp., ISBN 9781844743858.

This was my ‘tube reading’ (the reading I do on the way to and from work) a few weeks back, and a thoroughly enjoyable romp it was as well (I nearly missed my stop twice).

Currently the Theological Advisor for UCCF, Mike has written a truly engaging narrative of Reformation history from medieval background and precursors, through the usual suspects – Luther, Zwingli, Calvin – taking in the Reformation in Britain and what came after with the Puritans, right up to contemporary discussions as to whether or not the Reformation is over.

Along the way he clears up some misconceptions, nicely emphasises important points related to (for instance) justification by faith and Scripture in an account which is sympathetic without being sycophantic.

The book is supplemented by an excellent collection of online resources – The Unquenchable Flame – for those who’d like to explore further.