Archive for September, 2009

I was recently asked regarding what I saw as the top ten dissertations needed for the Greek Fathers. Well, here are twelve:

1. The theology of the Letter to Diognetus.

2. Trinitarian theology and biblical exegesis from Ignatius to Origen

3. The piety of the Odes of Solomon.

4. Slavery in the thought of the Cappadocian Fathers.

5. The relationship of Athanasius to Marcellus of Ancyra and Apollinarius.

6. The exegesis of the pastoral epistles in the Cappadocians.

7. The canon in the fourth-century Greek Fathers.

8. The exegetical basis for the Eucharistic theology of the Greek fathers in the fourth century.

9. The pneumatology of Irenaeus of Lyons.

10. The pneumatology of Theodore of Mopsuestia.

11. Prayer in the second- and third-century Greek Fathers.

12. Prayer in the fourth-century Greek Fathers.

Two new book reviews by Michael Haykin have been posted on the Book Review page.  Both of these books were written or edited by Doug Sweeney and focus on the theology of Jonathan Edwards.  The first book, Haykin says, “is without a doubt one of the best studies to appear on Edwards in recent years.” It is Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word: A Model of Faith and Thought by Douglas A. Sweeney.  The second volume reviewed is a reader which highlights the writings of the heirs of Jonathan Edwards, the New Divinity school. Dr. Haykin believes that  The New England Theology: From Jonathan Edwards to Edwards Amasa Park (edited by Douglas A. Sweeney and Allen C. Guelzo) has great “potential for helping students of this era in American theological history appreciate the impact of the New Divinity men and their thought.”

The history of theological education by and for Baptists in this province of Ontario makes for a fascinating story. By the grace of God an overview of this history will form a chapter of a forthcoming book I am planning on seven vital reasons why Baptists need to be deeply acquainted with their history.

In essence, I am convinced that in addition to the much good that has been achieved through Baptist schools in the past 180 years (the first school was actually in Montreal, Canada Baptist College, from 1838 to 1849), some major mistakes have been made that have hurt the Baptist cause here tremendously.

One of the most significant mistakes—and it is still a major problem—goes all the way back to that first school in Montreal: the failure of Baptists to provide financial support for their theological institutions. One of the major reasons why the school in Montreal closed was the lack of support from Baptists in Canada West (the name of Ontario before Confederation). As one Baptist leader said in 1853 about the negative impact that rugged individualism had had upon early Baptist life in Ontario:

“Had the Baptist of Canada laid aside their mutual jealousies at an earlier day, and concentrated their strength in aggressive movements upon the domains of sin and error, not only would our denominational statistics have reached a higher figure, but what is of infinitely more importance, Christ would have been more honoured by us…”[1]

Then there was the Canadian Literary Institute in Woodstock. The school grew to a peak of 253 students by 1874 and was enormously influential in giving shape and cohesion to the Baptist cause in Ontario—some of its key leaders like E.W. Dadson (1845-1900) and its first overseas missionaries, John McLaurin (d.1912) and Americus Vespucius Timpany (1840-1885) came from the school. But it took a heavy toll on the Principal, R.A. Fyfe (1816–1878)—that remarkable Scottish-Canadian Baptist leader, who might well be called Mr. Baptist.

Every school year between 1861 and his death in 1878 from diabetic complications Fyfe regularly taught six hours a day, five days a week. On Sundays he never declined an opportunity to preach and conduct Sunday School classes. And in the summers he would travel the length of the province raising funds for the school. In the entire seventeen years that he was principal he only took two vacations and all but worked himself to death.

And why? Far too many of the churches failed to see the vital necessity of theological education for their existence. It was all too easy to let others support the school or go to the United States for men. Not much has changed in the past 140 years! Baptist causes and churches here in Ontario still have the same mind-set.

What I am about to write may not be well received by some Ontario Baptist pastors and leaders who will read this, but let the chips fall where they may! If you are a Baptist leader in this province and have any interest in the larger cause of Christ and the health of Baptist churches in this province, you need to be ashamed of yourself if you are not making sure your church is behind the financial support of solid conservative Baptist seminaries in this province. And I am, of course, very biased with regard to such seminaries; for me, Toronto Baptist Seminary heads the list.

It amazes me that Baptist churches in this province who are deeply concerned about the advance of the Kingdom of Christ are so utterly blind to this vital issue. To be sure, they want Christian leaders, but they are not willing to put their money where their desires are. It is all too easy to let others do the hard work of financial support. And the reality is that theological education cannot be all that it aspires to be.

And don’t retreat—in Hyper-Calvinistic fashion—to saying that keeping theological schools needy keeps them near the Lord! The words of Andrew Fuller (1754–1815) when confronted by the refusal of Baptists to engage in missions are my words to you: God will do this work of theological education but he will do it by means of others who are more faithful in this than you!

Brother, you need to repent, and do the works befitting a leader of a local Baptist church! Remember 2 Timothy 2:2!

We have received overwhelmingly positive responses to last week’s conference on Baptist Spirituality.  These responses have come from personal conversations, emails, and some have posted their reflections on the conference on the web.  I think Ian Clary was the first to post his thoughts on the conference here.  He especially enjoyed Kevin Smith’s lecture on the distracted piety of African American Baptists and Greg Thornbury’s paper on Baptist “Personal Las Vegas Moments”.  Another highlight for Ian was SBTS convocation which he eloquently describes as follows:

Southern is celebrating their sesquicentennial this year, marking 150 years of their existence. Therefore convocation was especially poignant. I can’t tell you the feeling that surged through me when the massive congregation arose to sing “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and the whole faculty processed through the chapel. Looking over to see top evangelical theologians like Tom Schreiner, Stephen Wellum, Michael Haykin, Denny Burk, Bruce Ware, Tom Nettles, Brian Vickers, etc., being led by Albert Mohler and Russell Moore to their seats at the front gave me goosebumps. Being there really made you feel like you were a part of something big. When Dr. Mohler announced the signing of the Abstract of Principles – Southern’s faith statement – the gravitas and solemnity was everywhere in the air. Chip Stam and Brian Vickers signed the statement as new full-time faculty. With quill in hand, they signed the 150 year old document with pride.

By the way, Ian also presented at this conference in a well-attended and well-received breakout session on “Alexander Carson (1776-1844): Jonathan Edwards of the Nineteenth Century”.

Jeff Straub also provided his thoughts upon what he called “A Great Conference!” at Central Baptist Theological Seminary’s Theology Central blog.  He writes about the Andrew Fuller Center the following kind words:

In recent times, much of the material by and about Baptists has come from writers inclined toward theological progressivism rather than confessional orthodoxy. I am happy to report that the AFCBS is trying to fill the void for a more confessional approach to Baptist identity.

The Andrew Fuller Center does seek to provide an alternative to moderate approaches to Baptist identity and we appreciate Jeff for recognizing these efforts.  Jeff also presented a well-received paper on the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Crawford Gribben is celebrating the conference by giving away one of the free books that we gave him.  He doesn’t say much about the conference, but I know he enjoyed it.    Meeting Crawford was one of the highlights of the conference for me and so many others that I’ve spoken to since then. His paper on “Irish Baptist Piety in the 17th Century” led off the conference. Several people have commented on both his friendliness and brilliance.  If you don’t know Crawford, you can see the numerous books he has written or contributed to here.

Finally, Aaron Menikoff has posted his reflections on the conference on “Church Matters”, the 9 Marks blog.  He highlights a number of the presentations, but especially Greg Thornbury’s and Greg Wills’.  Of Dr. Wills paper, Aaron writes:

There were many other presentations, but the last one I want to mention comes from my former supervisor at Southern, Greg Wills. He lectured on what he called the “piety of humiliation.” This, he said, should be a distinguishing mark of every pastor. Instead of trying to be relevant at all costs, we ought to aspire to be holy. And here’s the rub: holiness doesn’t win friends and influence people–if anything it tends to alienate. He put it this way, “The gospel seems to lose relevance in proportion to our contrivances to gain it [relevance].” Nice.

Dr. Wills’ presentation on “Relevance, Severity, and Spiritual Power in Baptist Piety”was indeed a highlight of the conference for many, including me.  I listened to it again last night, along with my wife.  It is a powerful and challenging call to be willing to suffer reproach for the cause of Christ.  I highly recommend that you listen to it.

There were many other excellent presentations.  In fact, I did not hear one which I did not truly enjoy.   Most of the audio has been posted here.  There have been some technical difficulties with a few of the presentations which we’re trying to work out.  If those are fixed we will post the missing sessions later.  A special event that ended the conference was the late night discussion by Drs. Haykin and Yarnell: “Reformed and Anabaptist: Strengths and Shortcomings of Two Traditions”.  Unfortunately, the first few minutes of Dr. Yarnell’s first presentation is missing. It is hoped that this will be fixed as well, but until then the audio as we have it has been posted.  There is still over an hour of discussion for your listening pleasure.  You can access all the available audio of the conference here.

It’s not too early to make plans to come to next year’s conference.  The theme is “Baptists and the Cross:  Contemporary and Historical Perspectives” and will occur on August 30-31, 2009.  A tentative schedule is posted below: