Feb
16
Bruce M. Metzger-Ave atque vale
Filed Under Ave atque vale | 1 Comment
The Sweet Dropper notes that Bruce M. Metzger, professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary and an authority on Greek manuscripts of the Bible, has died at age 93. He was the George L. Collord Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Lebanon Valley College in 1935, a bachelor of theology degree from Princeton Seminary in 1938 and a doctorate in classics from Princeton University in 1942. He became an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church in 1939.
Metzger began his teaching career at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1938, where he stayed in the New Testament department for 46 years. During his time at Princeton Seminary, Metzger developed 25 courses on the English and Greek texts of books in the New Testament. He was also involved with committees in the production of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (1966) and the New Revised Standard Version (1990).
Think of him if you take a Greek New Testament in your hands, and give thanks to God for learned and faithful scholars.
Feb
15
B.B. Warfield on activity and spiritual strength
Filed Under Christian History, Prayer, The Church | 1 Comment
On October 4, 1911, Dr. B.B. Warfield was called upon to address seminary students at Princeton. He challenged them to both learning and piety. He called them to faithfulness in public worship and private devotion. His conclusion is a timely reminder to twenty-first century Christians:
Activity, of course, is good: surely in the cause of the Lord we should run and not be weary. But not when it is substituted for inner religious strength. . . . In the tendencies of our modern life, which all make for ceaseless . . . activity, have a care that it does not become your case; or that your case–even now–may not have at least some resemblance to it. Do you pray? How much do you pray? How much do you love to pray? What place in your life does the ’still hour’ alone with God take?
I am sure that if you once get a true glimpse of what the ministry of the cross is, and of what you, as men preparing for this ministry, should be, you will pray, ‘Lord who is sufficient for these things?’ Your heart will cry, ‘Lord, make me sufficient for these things.’ Old Cotton Mather wrote a great little book once to serve as a guide to students for the ministry. The not very happy title which he gave it is Manductio ad Ministerium. But by a stroke of genius he added a sub-title which is more significant: The angels preparing to sound the trumpets. That is what Cotton Mather calls you, students for the ministry: the angels preparing to sound the trumpets! Take the name to yourselves, and live up to it. Give your days and nights to living up to it! And then, perhaps, when you come to sound the trumpets the note will be pure and clear and strong, and perchance may pierce even to the grave and wake the dead.”
From “The Religious Life of Theological Students,” in The Princeton Theology: 1812-1921, edited by Mark Noll, pp. 266-267.
Feb
14
Last night, the boys and I trekked out to Walmart to get some V-day goodies for Hallie. When we left the store it was raining outside. Joseph said, “Daddy, it is really raining out! It is raining omnipotent!” It took me a minute to figure out what in the world he meant. Then I remembered that we are learning I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art for family worship. The second verse begins, “Thou are the King of mercy and of grace, Reigning omnipotent in every place…” I burst out laughing, longing for the day when those words stored up in his little heart will lead him to the throne of grace.
As we drove away, Joseph simply asked, “Daddy, what does ‘omnipotent’ mean?”
Feb
13
1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
All that is gilded is not gold. All that bears the name of Christianity is not Christianity. But how do you tell the difference? If Christianity has a pulse, where do you find it? If Christianity has a hum under the engine, where do you listen for it? If Christianity is a fire, where is the heat? All of these questions are answered various ways by various people.
Christianity is, etymologically, a movement centered around Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was a man whose ministry most prominently dealt with his death, resurrection, and ascension. It is true that Jesus bears a good many names such as healer, teacher, rabbi, leader, provider, and protector. But what he is most is our crucified Lord. His ministry is most about the Cross. I use Cross here to serve as a tangible sign for his sin conquering death, resurrection, and ascension. Christianity is fundamentally about the Cross. It is at the cross we understand our need for a Savior. It is at the Cross that we see the tremendous mercy and love of our God. It is at the Cross we see the righteous judgment of our Covenant Lord. It is at the Cross that we learn how to love others, sacrificially.
This all sounds very simple. The problem however is not in the articulation of our doctrine but in our actual practice. In practice, there are plenty of reasons we don’t want to live in the shadow of the Cross. It is the place we see the ravages of sin in our hearts. It is a place we understand the terrible holiness of God. It is a place that challenges the very root of our selfishness in our interactions with others. For this reason, we devise all sorts of innocuous ways to wander a little further from the cross. We decide to plunge head long into theological thinking making theology the pulse of Christianity. We decide to plunge head long into community service thinking that community service is the pulse of Christianity. We decide to whip up our emotions thinking that emotional experience is the pulse of Christianity. In all of these things we make the cause the effect and short circuit our dependence on the Cross. The Cross motivates deep theology. The Cross invigorates passionate service. The Cross produces the deepest emotions. It is all because of the Cross.
So my question for you is, “Does your Christianity take you to the Cross?” Do you have splinters in your nose, you’re so close to the Cross? Or have you convinced yourself you can wander a little further away from our crucified Lord for the sake of “good” things? It is only at the Cross, in the person of Jesus Christ, that the Christian finds life and life eternal. Will go there and will you stay there?
Feb
12
You got your caliph in my imam!
Filed Under Islam, Resources | Leave a Comment
Or was it, You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!?
A couple of months ago I heard a U.S. Army lieutenant share some of his experiences in Iraq at a Rotary Club meeting. He was involved in ‘detainee operations’–in other words, housing prisoners, and in the Army’s program of paying the families of Iraqis who accidentally die at U.S. hands, whether in the prisons or on the streets. His presentation was informative and enlightening in many ways. There was, however, a most disturbing moment when he took questions from the audience. Someone asked him to explain the basic differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims. After a few seconds of foot-shuffling, he admitted that he didn’t know.
Now, I’m the last person to claim expertise in how to run a war (I would say, ‘Fix the bayonets, men, and let them feel the steel!’), but it seems to me that military personnel would at least be given a one-hour course on the basic rift that is igniting so much of the violence in Iraq. I mean, if you were a policeman in Belfast, would you not be well-served to know something about why there is Protestant/Catholic conflict in certain areas of the city? Of course, most of us here safe at home are no better educated, although the terms Sunni and Shia are in the news everyday.
National Public Radio (yes, I know, spare me the conservative crankiness) is producing a five-part series this week on its Morning Edition program called The Partisans of Ali: A History of Shia Faith and Politics. The web material is worth checking out–audio, transcripts, timelines and maps. The first part is an excellent, concise account of the historic roots of the split.
We ignore Islam at our own peril.
Feb
9
Back from Minneapolis
Filed Under Travels | Leave a Comment
I’m glad to be back in Kosciusko after the spending the front end of this week in frigid Minneapolis at the Desiring God Pastors Conference. This was my first year to go. I was not disappointed. The following are some of my reflections on the week.
- All of the sessions were excellent. When you go to a conference you expect to get some good, some better, and hopefully some excellent. All, and I mean all, of the sessions were excellent. RC Sproul opened up on Monday night with a powerful exposition on Isaiah 6. The pace never lagged, all the way through the closing Q&A. I would heartily recommend all the sessions, which you can read or listen to here.
- The conference volunteers had a noticeable servant spirit. The event was staffed by DG staff and volunteers from Bethlehem Baptist Church. In their words and actions they showed a sincere zeal to help the pastors in attendance with whatever they needed. I remarked to my wife on my return, “They treated us like weary pastors.” That was so refreshing because so often that is what I am, a “weary pastor”.
- It was freezing! Temperatures hovered around one degree for most of the time. It snowed on Tuesday. The only time I ventured outside was to go a block to a coffee shop. That waiting cup of coffee, that precious carrot on a stick, was all that kept this cold mule trudging. I’ll take 40 and raining, my current weather, over frigid and snowing any day of the week.
- What an excellent book store. My wanderings through the tables of books produced most often one of two responses, either “I have it” or, “I want it.” That is what you want somebody saying as they come through your bookstore. My luggage was notably heavier on my return trip.
- They gave us some great books. Registration included a “goodie bag” of various and sundry books. I won’t catalog them all, but will say that one of the books we received was Beeke’s, Meet the Puritans.
- I have never seen so many shaved heads and goatees in my life.
- I was surprised to see so many older pastors. With all the press on the young, restless, and Reformed I was expecting a younger crowd at the conference. But there were equal men there of most age groups (young seminary students through older pastors).
Parting thought: My greatest encouragement at this conference was being encouraged again to drink deeply of the matchless holiness and glory of our God revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ applied to our hearts by his Holy Spirit. It is easy to let sin and secondary pursuits crowd out the singular beauty of the gospel of grace. The great Husbandman used this conference to carryout significant pruning of and weeding around this humble vine. By his work, I hope to bear more fruit because of it.