Paternoster: suffering and faith

Paternoster: suffering and faith: Two books on suffering and faith. A remarkable book, Raymond Brown, Spirituality in Adversity. English Nonconformity in a Period of Repressi...

suffering and faith

Two books on suffering and faith. A remarkable book, Raymond Brown, Spirituality in Adversity. English Nonconformity in a Period of Repression, 1660-1668 (Paternoster, 2012). A lifetime's research and thought has gone into this book. In it Brown demonstrates the courage of those being persecuted, their faith, their worship and their perseverance in adversity. A magnificently scholarly and pastoral work.
The other is my own, Michael Parsons, Luther and Calvin on Grief and Lament. Biblical Text and Life-Experience (Edwin Mellen, forthcoming). In this I examine how these two pastor-theologians respond to their own and other's adversity and loss: their faith, their centering on Christ and grace, their trust in God the Father and their advice, too.

two awards

Elmer Thiessen, The Ethics of Evangelism (Paternoster, 2010) has just been given two awards in Canada: one for the category of 'culture', the other for 'evangelism'. It's a great book that offers confidence to those of us who want to speak about Jesus and salvation in him in a pluralistic society.

Gospel messengers

'But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?' Romans 10.14-15. The logic is indisputable - whatever the culture we live in! Tell people about salvation in Jesus.

Grace

'There is no such thing as merit.' 'Everything is forgiven by grace.' Luther. It's just so profoundly simple!

Faith

'Faith is not a feeling, nor is it a magical incantation that turns darkness to light: faith is trusting God even without feeling and even in continuing darkness; faith is faithfulness,' John Colwell, Why Have you Forsaken Me? A personal Reflection on the Experience of Desolation (Paternoster, 2010).

Jesus is the Christ

'Messiahship was redefined around the life and death of Jesus, while the more traditional role of the Messiah as a conquering figure was postponed until the parousia. This conception of messiahship led to a complete reconfiguration of beliefs about Jesus' relation to God, Israel, and salvation in the early church. The primitive church, under duress and persecution, continued to venerate Jesus as the long-awaited Davidic king and saviour who would usher in God's kingdom. Its confession of Jesus as Messiah remains embedded in the simple name "Jesus Christ".' Michael Bird, Jesus is the Christ. The Messianic Testimony of the Gospels (Paternoster, 2012). Which leads me to ask how careful we are with that name!

give me a grateful heart

'Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of Thee:

Not thankful when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart whose pulse may be
Thy praise'

George Herbert

Theology is 'good' when it causes us to worship God. The reformers and Moltmann, for example, would demand that our theology turns our hearts to God doxologically. Surely this is right.

Gratitude

'O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete
with thankfulness'
William Shakespeare

Reading the Bible in community

'As we read in community, seeking the help of the Spirit to be transformed by our encounter with the text, the three angles of vision provided by Jesus as prophet, poet, and pastor will constantly come into play. In this way the Bible will always be prophetic – energizing us with its eschatological vision of the shalom of God; that all-encompassing wholeness permeating the whole cosmos and healing creation of the alienating effects of the Powers; subversive – reminding us that we are called to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God whose values are so alien to the domination system which holds sway over the world and from which we have been liberated in Jesus; and, sustaining – providing us with nourishment for the journey and equipping us with all we need for the ongoing task of mission,' Lloyd Pietersen, Reading the Bible after Christendom.

Hermeneutics and the Word of God

'Probably the greatest scepticism about biblical truth today arises from the mistaken notion that you can make the Bible mean anything you like.  We must resist this by applying questions about context, genre and formation.  We must be cautious about pluralism, especially in historical report or in theology,' Anthony Thiselton, from Matthew Malcolm and Stanley Porter (eds), The Future of Biblical Interpretation (2013). This exceptional book is the result of an excellent conference held in Nottingham in honour of Anthony Thiselton last month.