It’s odd, isn’t it, how things apparently unrelated can connect in your head. “We are living in a day of great wickedness,” said the lady, and she was right, of course. She had noticed that someone had nicked her neighbour’s wheelie-bin, and drawn the obvious conclusion. We are indeed living in an age of great [...]
One of the concepts which has figured prominently in the post-Plenary Assembly discussions is “Ordination Vows”. To the best of my knowledge there is no such concept in Scottish Presbyterianism; the phrase is entirely foreign to our practice. In Acts of the General Assembly 1648-1842 the word “vow” doesn’t occur once; and the only significant [...]
Going about doing good The first half of this article focused on the importance of putting the church on a missionary footing. It emphasised the Rules of Engagement given to us by Jesus, and in particular the urgent obligation to present the multitudes outside our churches with the incredible message of the love of God. [...]
What is God’s vision for the church? As we ask that question we are faced with many imponderables. One thing we do know, of course. The church is in safe hands: very safe hands. But beyond that we know little. We don’t even know how much time is left to us. We’re living in the [...]
In the 1840s few names were better known in Scotland than Hugh Miller’s; and few Scottish names were better known world-wide. Miller owed his fame to his editorship of the Witness, a newspaper which rivalled, and sometimes outsold, the Scotsman. Established in 1840, the Witness was the voice of the Evangelical Party in the Church [...]
The Gospel for a Wounded Conscience Last week I decided to re-visit Martin Luther’s Lectures on Galatians. Readers will remember, perhaps, that John Bunyan commends this book most warmly in Grace Abounding: “ I do prefer this book of Martin Luther upon the Galatians , excepting the Holy Bible, before all books that ever I [...]
Hugh Martin (1822-1885) was one of a remarkable group of theologians produced by Scottish Presbyterianism in the mid-nineteenth century. Pre-eminent among them were Thomas Chalmers, William Cunningham and Robert Candlish, all of whom were household names in Victorian Scotland. The others were less prominent, but this bespeaks no inferiority in point of theological ability. Such [...]
Pluralism is no new thing. In the world that the Apostle Paul evangelised there were ‘gods many and lords many’. In post-Reformation Scotland we briefly grew accustomed to a different world, in which Protestantism enjoyed an unquestioned hegemony. That world has now gone. Not only have other Christian traditions grown in strength, but immigration has [...]
If you’re not prepared to believe in miracles there’s little hope of your having much patience with the Bible. It’s full of them. If you pick up the gospels, for example, you meet the Virgin Birth at the very beginning and the Resurrection at the end. These set the tone for the whole life of [...]
My father was a hero. The word, of course, has military associations. The ancient Latins made no distinction between a hero and a man, taking the view that both had one function: to fight. As a child of the War I was happy to buy into the package. My foetal brain heard little music, but [...]
