Not all the blood of beasts

by Isaac Watts
Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.
My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine,
While, like a penitent, I stand,
And there confess my sin.
My [...]

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E. Y. Mullins on apologetics: “The Christian’s acceptance of the Bible arises in another way”

In his The Christian Religion in Its Doctrinal Expression, early 20th century Baptist theologian E. Y. Mullins proposes that the strongest apologetic is one that “emphasizes the facts of history and of experience.” Experience is very important for Mullins, and one of the important ways we know the truth of Christianity.
He says that deductive reasoning [...]

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A constructive solution to “age-appropriate” ministry, part 2

We are concerned with the belief of many that in the course of educating children they are unable to sustain serious delivery of the material, that the children can only be pampered with entertaining or amusing presentations of that material, and that is somehow “age-appropriate.” We are even more concerned of the predominant belief among [...]

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A constructive solution to age-appropriate ministry, part 1

I said last week that I believed there was a constructive solution to problems posed by the “Age-Appropriate” philosophy embraced by so many evangelicals today. I say this not because I view myself as the ideal parent, churchman, or educator, but I am convinced of the error of the “Age-Appropriate” philosophy. Being so convinced, one [...]

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My sins, My Saviour!

by John S. B. Monsell (1811-1875)
My sins, my sins, my Saviour!
They take such hold on me,
I am not able to look up,
Save only Christ to Thee;
In Thee is all forgiveness,
In Thee abundant grace,
My shadow and my sunshine
The brightness of Thy face.
My sins, my sins, my Saviour!
How sad on Thee they fall;
Seen through Thy gentle patience,
I [...]

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Other voices on the “Age-Appropriate” Myth

Following up on my post on the “Age-Appropriate” myth, I thought it would be good to continue by citing some voices that are echoing my concerns from a couple different points of the spectrum.
From a Baptist perspective, the Christ Reformed Baptist Church of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (Pastor Tom Chantry) notes:
Children’s church has become the realm [...]

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Bach’s use of hymns in the great passions

On this 322nd anniversary of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach, I thought I would post something that I have found quite wonderful while lately listening to his great passions, the St. John and St. Matthew. Bach was very familiar, as one might expect, with the hymns of his tradition. He had grown up with [...]

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On the great “Age-Appropriate” Myth

Somewhere along the line we became confused. Children are, it is true, not adults. You should assume when teaching adults that they know more than children. When you teach children, or even new converts, the subject matter must be more rudimentary. This is a conclusion we can reasonably reach from Hebrews 5:13. But somewhere along [...]

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Hash

The blog “Thoughs on Antiquity” explains how to find Migne’s works on Google books (HT: Aquilina). I’ve also added a link on my sidebar (see “Catalog to Google Online Books) to a site that catalogs many links to Biblical and Patristic studies available through Google Books. This is enough to give me goosebumps.
The occasional Immoderate [...]

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O Faithful God! O, pitying Heart

by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) and translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)
O Faithful God! O, pitying Heart,
Whose goodness hath no end;
I know this cross with all its smart
Thy hand alone doth send!
Yes, Lord, I know it is Thy love,
Not wrath or hatred bids me prove
The load ‘neath which I bend.
‘Twas ever wont with Thee, my God,
To chasten [...]

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On Pagels and King on Fresh Air

Yesterday Terri Gross had Elaine Pagels and Karen King on NPR’s Fresh Air. They were there to promote their new book, Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity. I would like to comment on one particular point they kept trying to stress throughout the program.
Evidently, early Christians were very “open” with [...]

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Gregory of Nazianzus on knowing God

In his Second Theological Oration, Gregory of Nazianzus discusses the problem of knowing God. How is it that the Scriptures teach that some men really do know God while the object of knowledge is infinite and utterly transcendent? He explains it this way:
17. What God is in nature and essence, no man ever yet has [...]

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By far the most important channel of transmission of culture remains the family

In Notes toward the Definition of Culture, T. S. Eliot considers what the primary means of transmitting culture. He begins by stating that it is the family, then concedes that this is not the sole mechanism, as institutions such as apprentice-master relationships and universities have themselves passed along culture. Eliot explains,
The primary channel of transmission [...]

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On the 400th anniversary of Paul Gerhardt’s birth

Paul Gerhardt is one of the most important hymn writers of the Christian tradition, especially German Lutheran, “described as the greatest hymn writer in the German language.”* Though he wrote 133 hymns, he is probably best remembered for his translation into German of a Bernard of Clairvaux’s Latin hymn Sal­ve ca­put cru­en­ta­tum, which was later [...]

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