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Exploring Early Church History for the benefit of the church today.

Review: Life in a Covid-19 World (Tim Dennis, 10Publishing 2020)

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At the height of Lockdown One, I reviewed (and previewed) three really helpful books that considered the Christian response to the unfolding pandemic.

Now, as we approach Christmas, I want to very quickly review a new tract that 10ofthose have produced, written by Tim Dennis. Life in a Covid-19 World is a short booklet, and a wonderful little packet of hope.

This evangelistic tract offers the reader a lasting hope. We’ve read the news in recent weeks of ‘liquid hope’ in the form of vaccines. We’ve seen the feel good stories throughout the year of those who smiled through the suffering, and those who kept on when it seemed so hard. Everyone has a hope. But is your hope in the right place? Ultimately, can your hope deliver?

Hope Centre Stage

Tim’s booklet seeks to answer those questions. This whole year, we’ve longed for a return to ‘normal life.’ Hope has been the watchword of the race to develop a vaccine, the long term goal of lockdowns and so much more. This short booklet confronts what it is we put our hope in. It challenges whether that hope can really deliver, and then it offers something even better.

Covid-19 has highlighted just how central
hope is to enabling us to live well. Hope gives
us purpose. Hope keeps us going. And on our
deathbed, hope will be all we have. So, what’s
your hope in? And can it deliver to you all that
you want? (p50)

Through this challenge to the hopes of a world far from God, Tim offers a clear and biblical Gospel presentation. Christ is displayed, His authority, divinity and compassion are examined, and the offer is made. Put your hope in Him.

A Clear Gospel Presentation, Rooted in Scripture

This tract has a really apparent Gospel heart, and honestly sets out the challenge to the unbeliever. Through accessible language, the truth of Scripture is examined and explained.

The Gospel case is clearly made in this short booklet, and Tim does not shy away from confronting the reader with the reality of sin and the just punishment that every sin deserves. Nor does he hide from the fact that placing our hope in Jesus doesn’t mean that everything that happens to us in this life will be plain sailing.

So often Gospel tracts can hold out the joyful offer of Christ without recognising our painful need of Him. Or they present our glorious future in Christ without being honest about our present reality. But Life in a Covid-19 World doesn’t do this. Under his overarching theme of hope, Tim presents a full and clear Gospel presentation. Our need is great, our situation is grave, but our Saviour is greater and our hope in Him is certain.

What is equally as encouraging is that this case is made simply on the words of Scripture. The whole booklet is rooted in the Bible and no claims are made that are not backed up by references to or printed sections of God’s Word. This dependance on the Bible only makes the booklet more attractive, as the truth of the Gospel is shown to be compelling, coherent and full of hope.

A Brilliant Resource

All in all, Life in a Covid-19 World is a really helpful booklet, and a brilliant resource for personal or church evangelism over the coming weeks. Christmas is traditionally a time when churches make an extra effort to engage the local community, and perhaps this year that effort will be even greater. Life in a Covid-19 World would be a worthy addition to Christmas cards or packs for the local community. It would also make a great follow-up resource for carol services this year, as well as more generally as a tool for evangelistic outreach over the coming months. It’s not a Christmas tract, but it is a tract for the here and now, and so as Christmas looks a little different, maybe it’s just the tract you need! I think it’s a cracking resource, and if you’re looking for a short booklet that clearly sets out the Gospel message to a frustrated and suffering world, Life in a Covid-19 World would be a great choice.

Book Review: The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, David Mathis (The Good Book Company, 2020)

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The Christmas We Didn't Expect

There are plenty of Advent devotionals, and there are many good ones that I could commend to you. David Mathis’ new book The Christmas We Didn’t Expect offers a set of twenty-four daily reflections on the coming of Christ. It is a fantastic book, and one that this reviewer would highly recommend. In fact, I’m looking forward to picking it back up in a few weeks as my wife and I plan to work through these devotions together this December.

These short Advent devotionals are designed to help us wait rightly for Christmas morning. Taking as our example the likes of the Shepherds and Mary, Mathis encourages us to marvel at God made man. These devotions will help prepare your heart for the day when we most obviously gather around the truth of the incarnation. Advent is a period of waiting: waiting for the day, for the Lord, to arrive. This book helps us to wait well, expectantly and with anticipation, as we long for that day.

Our God Made Man

At the heart of Mathis’ book is a desire to cause his reader to wonder at Christ Himself. To that end the studies are simple, yet full of delight in the glorious truth of the incarnation. Mathis sums up his own amazement in his introduction (12-13).

“What God so stunningly reveals at that first Noël is that when he himself finally does come, it is not in cloud or wind or fire or earthquake, or even simply in a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12). But he comes in the fullness of his creation: as human. He comes as one of us and dignifies our own species in doing so.”

Christ coming down was the seismic event that all of history had been building towards. It’s no exaggeration to say that; indeed it’s a painful understatement! It’s all too easy to see a truth like the incarnation as an abstract, or academic ideal. Yet to marvel at what it truly means, that God Himself dignified our species by becoming one of us, to save us, is a real joy. The incarnation is the incredible truth at the heart of Christmas and these Advent devotions so helpfully point us to it.

A Helpful Structure and a Heavenly Focus.

Mathis has written a series of gentle studies that simply and humbly bring the reader face to face with the God of the Bible. Each study is followed by a reflective and honest prayer that helps us speak with God in light of what we have read. This book is simply laid out, all to help the reader focus on the glorious God who came down at Christmas.

In his introduction, Mathis calls Christ’s birth “humility on mission” (14). God came down, fully God and fully man, to carry out the greatest rescue plan. The first Christmas was no accident, the incarnation was no afterthought. It was God’s glorious plan unfolding.

Through the helpful structure of these twenty-four short studies, Mathis helps the reader focus on the divine truth at the heart of Christmas. Our God came down. In a year when Christmas can seem like salvation in and of itself – we’re longing for it to bring a bit of normality and stability – Mathis turns our eyes back to Heaven.

Conclusion

These Advent devotionals are winsome and clear, yet full of wonder and delight at the joyful truth of the incarnation. In any year this would be a great book to help you explore God’s word in the run-up to Christmas. But perhaps this year this book is even more pertinent. This Christmas will look different, no matter how much we might hope otherwise, and we may find that hard. But whether or not this Christmas is what we hope or expect, in The Christmas We Didn’t Expect we are reminded of the single truth that really does make Christmas the most special of days. That God came down to save us, and He did it in the person of Jesus Christ.

This review is, once again, a longer version of a review for Free Church Books. You can buy The Christmas We Didn’t Expect from 10ofThose or The Good Book Company.

A prayer for the day: pray for the government.

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The Evangelical Alliance has led calls recently to make today, Friday 13th November, a national day of prayer.

Many churches up and down the country have taken up that call and are gathering virtually to pray for our nation. We live in a world that so often feels far from God, and we live in a world where suffering and pain seem so prevalent.

But this is not some theoretical suffering. Our own nation is in the grips of a major epidemic, and the social, economic, physical and mental toll of this will continue to affect us all. The Evangelical Alliance was right to call churches to prayer, we do not have the answers, but our hope is in a God who does. So let’s pray earnestly for our nation today.

Pray for your government

Of the many things and people to be praying for today, our government is certainly one of them. We desperately need to be praying for our leaders. Whatever we may think of them politically, they are the men and women that God has at this time appointed to rule our nation and we must pray for them.

Scripture reminds us of this. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 urges us to pray for our leaders, Romans 13:1 asks that we submit rightly to them. It is right and proper to pray for those who rule over us, to ask that they might strive for the good of their subjects and seek the Lord in their rule. In the midst of the pandemic and the accompanying economic woes, we must ask that the government would humble themselves before our God, look to Him as their only hope, and rule with justice, wisdom and mercy over this land.

So below I have reproduced a prayer of Clement of Rome. Writing at the very end of the first century, Clement is one of the earliest non-canonical Christian writers, with at least one (possibly two) extant letters to the church in Corinth. This short prayer asks that God might cause our leaders to govern with a heart for the Lord, seeking peace and righteousness. And it asks this of a God who alone is able to affect the changes this land so desperately needs. So join me in echoing this prayer as part of your day of prayer today, and let us submit our government to the Lord.

Grant unto all Kings and Rulers, O Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, that they may administer the government which You have given them without failure. For You, O heavenly Master, King of the Ages, give to the sons of men glory and honour and power over all things that are upon the earth. Lord, direct their counsel according to that which is good and well pleasing in Your sight, that administering in peace and gentleness, with godliness, the power which You hast given them, they may obtain Your favour. O Lord you alone are able to do these things, and indeed things far greater than these! We praise You, through the High Priest and Saviour of our souls, Jesus Christ; through Whom be the glory and the majesty, unto You, both now and for all generations, and forever and ever. 

Amen.

This is the third post I’ve recently uploaded looking at prayers from the first Christians, you can find the others through the links below.

Church in lockdown: weary and burdened? A second century prayer of intercession.

Church in Lockdown: Weary and Burdened? A 4th Century Prayer for Refreshment.

Church in lockdown: weary and burdened? A second century prayer of intercession.

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Many of us are weary. Many of us are merely plodding on, and the race feels hard to run.

With lockdown and restrictions on our churches gathering, and with many Anglican brothers and sisters concerned about the publication of LLF today and the fallout and implications of that, we deeply need to be resting on our true source of strength.

During the last lockdown I posted some reflections on a fourth century prayer encouraging us to rest in our Lord, and you can find that here.

This time I want to publish a very short second century prayer, and a simple encouragement with that.

This prayer is from the mouth of Polycarp, an early second-century Christian martyr. This short prayer is found close to the end of the account of Polycarps’s life and death, when he faces the vicious persecution of the Roman state, and has been condemned to die at the hands of the Roman executioners. Polycarp was an old man when he faced this trial (86 years old) – yet he persevered through the strength of the God he depended on in prayer. Our God is so much stronger than our weaknesses, and His power is so much more than our fears. We were encouraged at our church on Sunday morning by the joy of 1 Peter 5:7: “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.“

Our God is great. He cares deeply for us. And He is strong enough to bear our fears and anxieties. So do not be afraid to come to Him for all that you need, even as strains and worries seem to be mounting. In times of great trial and weariness, of suffering and pain, we can wonderfully come to Him who cares for us.

Polycarp knew this and even in his final hours he looked to the one who had saved him, and the one who sustained him even to the end.

So let us trust in God alone to equip us. Let us trust in God alone to sustain us and bless us with what we need to face each day. And pray that this may be so for one another. As we cast our anxieties on Him, may we rest in His strength and depend on His mercies.

Find below the prayer of Polycarp, and whatever burdens you carry at the moment, take time to reflect on this ancient prayer in your own heart, cast your anxieties upon Him, and ask that He might equip you and sustain you as He has long promised to do.

May God the Father, and the Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, build us up in faith and truth and love, and grant to us our portion among the saints with all those who believe on our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for all saints, for kings and rulers, for the enemies of the Cross of Christ, and for ourselves we pray that our fruit may abound and we may be made perfect in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Amen.

Book Review: Merry Christmas And a Happy New Year (reflections) by Timothy Cross (DayOne 2020)

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This is an unusual little book of reflections, and to be totally honest, before opening it up I was sceptical at what it was trying to do. Cross doesn’t offer a series of dated studies, or a series of deeply structured devotions. Instead, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year offers the reader 30 short reflections for the festive season. These aren’t necessarily designed to be read along with the days of December (it’s one short for that, and the chapters would have Christmas fall on the fifteenth if you did try!)

Instead, this short book offers 30 reflections to be read throughout the festive period, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Simple and short, yet packed full of Biblical truth and helpful commentary, Cross provides a book packed full of Christian wisdom. The reflections are also augmented with stanzas from poems or carols, that support the message of each study and help the reader dwell on the Biblical truth they have seen.

A particular point worth highlighting: Cross ends each reflection with a few short points to consider. He doesn’t leave the reader with lengthy study questions, or even with a suggested prayer. Instead he leaves simply a few thoughts for the reader to take the time to mull over. It’s a different way of doing Christmas devotions, but it’s a helpful pattern to gently and humbly rest in God’s truth at the end of each of these reflections.

I really enjoyed this book. Whilst sceptical at first, I was won over by Cross’ honest style, pastoral heart and Scriptural grounding. Although not perfect, I enjoyed how the reflections were short, simple and open-ended. You could make as much or as little of his points for reflection at the end of each chapter as you like. I also enjoyed the fact that Cross writes studies not only for the Christmas period, but also some for the time around New Year. At a time of year when many people, believers or not, are prone to question certain aspects of their lives, consider hopes and dreams for the year ahead, and plan out their next steps, I found these to be helpful reflections to point us back towards Scripture and ground us in the words of our Heavenly Father. Cross was also honest in his approach; he doesn’t ignore the fact that this isn’t always ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ for us all. Loved ones are absent, perhaps permanently, and things might not be how we would like. But these reflections turn our attention back to Christ, our hope and joy at Christmas, in the New Year, and at all times.

I would recommend this book, unusual though it is. It’s not your standard Advent devotion, nor is it really a daily Quiet Time aide. It’s more of a supplement to both of the above. It makes for easy reading, whilst challenging the heart with the truths that lie at the centre of what this season is all about. It would be a good book to have by your bedside, or on your desk over the coming months, to dip into once or twice a day for a short read and a prayerful meditation.

In a world dominated by the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, as Christmas looks more and more likely to be ‘cancelled’ this year, this book is a helpful read to remember what the festive season is really all about. Christmas cannot really be cancelled, because the glorious truth of God made man is ever sure. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas, and this book is a simple, Biblical and gracious testament to that glorious Good News.

Epictetus: ancient philosophy and the question of hope.

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A Classical account I follow on Twitter recently tweeted a small fragment of the Roman philosopher Epictetus. Preserved only as a few lines of text, this ancient philosophical musing reads like much of the worldly wisdom we are offered today.

Οὔτε ναῦν ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀγκυρίου οὔτε βίον ἐκ μιᾶς ἐλπίδος ἁρμοστέον.

We ought neither to secure our ship to a single anchor, nor our life to a single hope.

Epictetus, Frag.30 (89).

Epictetus is making a simple point with these words, likely written in the early 2nd century AD. (Epictetus lived c.50 AD – 135 AD.) It’s the ancient equivalent of the idiom ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ Epictetus sees a world where hopes are continuously dashed. A world where there is no certainty, no lasting stability. To live out a good life, Epictetus teaches, don’t fix your hopes on one thing.

A Radical Alternative

Epictetus was writing at a time when the first Christians were establishing some of the earliest church communities, and the Gospel was starting to spread throughout the Empire and beyond. Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher, teaching a worldview that had roots in the ancient world stretching back hundreds of years. Yet the first Christian communities began sharing a new message. Rather than the hopeless impermanence of the pagan philosophies of the day, the Early Church offered a message of eternal security.

At the heart of their message was a Jewish man named Jesus Christ, whom they claimed was the Son of God Himself. And it was in Him, and Him alone, that the early Christians placed their hope.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

The offer of this Son of God was eternal life, for whoever should believe in Him alone. And this is a claim made by Jesus Himself, recorded just a little later in John’s Gospel.

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Epictetus looked out at an uncertain world and called for a sceptical approach, one matched by our modern world. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t hope and trust in one thing alone. Be flexible, it’s all relative. The first Christians countered that with a living hope. And it equipped them to step out in boldness and live out their faith in a hostile Roman Empire.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

1 Peter 1:3

Because their hope was so secure, it gave them confidence for this life and the next. Theirs was a living hope. Not a fragile anchor, or merely another fleeting hope in a long list of disappointments. The hope of the Early Church was in Christ alone, a true and living hope, a sure and certain hope.

That Living Hope Today

Some 1800 years later, this hope remains. In Christ alone can true human hope be found. All other sources of hope and security will disappoint us, all others will let us down. Our hopes will be dashed if they are continually misplaced. But in Christ alone, our hope is in the sovereign and all-powerful Creator God. And if our God is for us, who can be against us?

I write this brief reflection on a day when America counts the ballots from their Presidential Election, and tensions are running high. I write this on a day when the British Parliament votes on implementing a national lockdown for a month from tomorrow, to combat the Covid-19 epidemic.

So many people, myself included, are tempted to hope in our governments and our democracies. We hope for change, for improvement, for victory. We hope for better, for our side to triumph, for our interests to be recognised. But we shouldn’t listen to Epictetus, casting our hopes onto anything and everything that we can. We should anchor our hope in the one sure and certain truth. We should anchor our hope in the eternal security of Christ alone.

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ Alone, v.1 Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.

On Atheism: Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria

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As I briefly discussed in a much earlier blog post, the first Christians were considered atheists. Christianity was radical in the ancient world because it made a claim to the sole Lordship of Christ. The gods and goddesses of the Roman world were falsehoods and deceptions, God alone was the Lord of all creation. In a polytheistic society such as ancient Rome, such claims opened you up to the charge of radical atheism.

Charged with Atheism

The teaching of the Early Church, centred around the one God, sovereign over all creation, was contradictory to everything the ancients believed. The first Christians believed and taught that there was one God supreme in authority, sovereignty, and judgement. And for this they were labelled atheists.

The third century Christian writer Origen records how one anti-Christian thinker of the second century, Celsus, was shocked (Contra Celsum 1.5.1) that “the Christians do not consider those to be gods that are made with hands, on the ground that it is not in conformity with reason to suppose that images, fashioned by the most worthless and depraved of workmen, and in many instances also provided by wicked men, can be regarded as gods!” Behind Celsus’ words lies a charge of atheism, a common one levelled at the first Christian communities. In a similar manner, the early second century martyr, Polycarp, was accused outright of the charge. Standing before the Roman court, Polycarp was asked to recant (Martyrdom of Polycarp 9) “Swear by the fortune of Cæsar; repent, and say, away with the Atheists!” Atheism was one of the most common accusations made against the first Christians. So how did the Early Church reply? Origen offers a written response in his work Contra Celsum – literally Against Celsus – but in the decades before Origen turned to rebutting Celsus’ accusations, two influential Christian thinkers tackled this charge head on.

Tertullian of Carthage

“You say we are atheists, and will not offer sacrifices for the emperors. Well, we do not offer sacrifice for others, for the same reason that we do not for ourselves — namely, that your gods are not at all the objects of our worship.”

Tertullian, Apology, 10.

Tertullian squares up to the charge of atheism by confirming what those who oppose the Christians claim. These Christ-followers are indeed atheistic about the gods of the ancient world, inasmuch as they simply do not believe them to be true divines. There is but one God, so yes, the Christians are simply disbelieving about the false ‘gods’ of the ancient world.

Tertullian makes a mockery of the gods in this short quote. Christians do not worship the gods for the same reason they don’t worship their very selves! They simply are not worth it. God alone is the object of Christian worship, because He alone is the sovereign creator God.

Clement of Alexandria

He, then, who is persuaded that God is omnipotent, and has learned the divine mysteries from His only-begotten Son, how can he be an atheist? For he is an atheist who thinks that God does not exist. And he is superstitious who dreads the demons; who deifies all things, both wood and stone; and reduces to bondage spirit, and man who possesses the life of reason.

Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 7.1.

Clement responds in a slightly different way, instead turning the charge back upon his pagan opponents. Whereas Tertullian essentially admitted that Christians were atheists – in the sense that they did not believe in these false gods – Clement accuses the pagans of true atheism. How can Christians be called atheist, when they trust in the true God? The truth is in fact the very opposite. Clement confronts his accusers: “he is an atheist who thinks that God does not exist.” Instead of trusting in the true God, these pagans hope in mere superstitions, forsaking reason to hope in falsehoods.

It is the pagan believer who is atheistic about the truth of the one God who could save them. They have lost their minds if they think deifying wood and stone will help them! Clement confronts the charge of atheism head on, and turns it back on his accusers.

Two tactics: one Hope

Both Tertullian and Clement present examples of Christian arguments against this early charge of atheism. Though they take slightly different approaches, the truth behind their tactics remains the same. The world hopes in false gods and superstitions, the Christians trust in God alone. The one true God, worthy of divine worship and sovereign over all creation. Up against this true God, the ‘gods’ of the pagans are nothing more than mere superstitions.

Christians were regularly labelled as ‘atheists’ in those early years. But in these responses from Tertullian and Clement we find a way to counter such a charge. Our own world can accuse us of believing in fairytales and foolishness, but as these men asked some 1800 years ago, is the hope of the world in anything secure? Do our unbelieving friends and family trust in anything more than superstitions and falsehoods? Our God is still the one true Lord of all creation. We are right to worship Him, and we must not stop pointing others to the truth that He alone is worthy of our worship.

Review: Josephine Butler, A Very Brief History by Jane Robinson (SPCK, 2020)

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Jane Robinson has written an entertaining and insightful history of the Victorian social activist and campaigner, Josephine Butler. Though perhaps less well known today, Butler was an enigmatic writer, speaker and advocate, seeking justice in a broken society. Robinson paints a vivid picture of Butler’s life and legacy in just eight short chapters, and writes in a playful, captivated style, betraying an eager fascination with her subject matter. This tempts Robinson at times to being overly colloquial, but on the whole this more informal and engaged approach to biography simply invites the reader in to share in the subject of her amazement.

Butler truly led a fascinating life, and Robinson is rightly passionate about sharing something of her story. Josephine Butler, A Very Brief History, does just that.

A Life Lived in Scandal

Butler lived in (p.3) a “society governed by clearly defined boundaries and roles, where success meant doing exactly what was expected.” Born into a middle class family in the 19th century, Butler was destined to be a wife of good standing, raising a loving family and supporting her well-to-do husband. As Robinson unpacks, Butler achieved all of this (despite the realities of human relationships painting a far more real picture than those stereotypes!), but equally rose to the forefront of national campaigns for political, moral and social sexual equality.

Butler fought against legislation that led to brutal sexual abuse of women across the county. She stood up for victims of illicit prostitution slave-trades, frequently inviting abused women to stay with her and her family. She also openly supported women getting the vote (although as Robinson notes, her time was focussed on achieving other matters, and the vote was not given to women until well after death.) Butler sought enormous societal reform, seeking to protect marginalised and vulnerable women and girls who suffered greatly in Victorian England.

She was a prolific writer and correspondent, as well as an accomplished speaker, leading national crusades on topics ranging from education (which led to the establishment of Girton and Newnham Colleges for the education of women at Cambridge) to sexual protection for young women.

She was truly a remarkable woman, standing up for the rights of women in a society that was institutionally pitted against them. Her stances on women’s rights and public persona led to huge opposition, and often painful social stigma. Her position caused scandal and outrage, and was never an easy road for her to walk. But she took this stand because underlying her passion for equality and security, was a heart for the Lord Jesus.

A Life Lived in Grace

Robinson makes it abundantly clear that Butler sought to live out her life as she did because she trusted not in a religious legalism, but in a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Indeed, as Robinson points out, Butler was known as (p.55) “not the least churchy” but rather strong in the conviction of a need for a personal relationship with Christ. She sought to graciously and lovingly care for the abused and downtrodden because she herself had been shown immeasurable grace.

Butler appeared to be unusually open about her relationship with her Saviour, and Robinson reports that it is quite clearly this relationship that sustained her long campaign for equality. As she fought her good fight, it was the strength of her Saviour that upheld her.

And thus she extended this grace to others. This, for me, was the appeal of Butler’s story and therefore of the book. Those whom society shunned, abused and used were those to whom Butler tended. Those who looked hopelessly lost in their sin or suffering, Butler actively sought out. Josephine Butler was clearly a woman of immense resolve, and took great joy in loving the most unloveable members of Victorian society. She was a champion of equality, a fierce advocate for the image of God to be cared for and celebrated, and a wonderful witness to the grace of the Gospel. “Butler considered prostitutes…sinners,” (16) yet “she also maintained that sinfulness was not endemic; it could be cured.” Armed with a Gospel heart for the lost, Butler reached out to those whom society deemed unloveable and irredeemable.

Conclusion

Josephine Butler was clearly an incredible woman, and Robinson’s book introduces the reader to her story in a manner which makes for very easy reading. The author perhaps takes her own thoughts on the causes which Butler might support today a little too far (Robinson suggests that had Butler been born a century later p.69 “she might well have campaigned for safety over celibacy, and free love over bounden duty (given that the two were not indivisible, which for Victorian Christians was debatable).”) But on the whole Robinson has written a brilliant short biography of Butler’s life. This book holds up Butler as an example, illuminating the life of someone little known in 2020, but who just 100 over years ago was enormously influential, as she sought to love practically from a heart won for Christ.

Book Review: The Cure for Unjust Anger by John Downame, ed. Brian D Hedges (RHB 2020).

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The Cure for Unjust Anger

Another book review of a new title available at Free Church Books, this time a new edition of an early Puritan classic from Reformation Heritage Books, one that is certainly a timely publication.

John Downame was clearly a perceptive analyst of the human state, and considers the topic of anger through a measured Biblical and practical approach. Though written nearly four centuries ago, this book cannot be read without the heart being confronted with the depth and depravity of our sin. Brian Hedges, who has edited this edition, has retained many of the marvellous turns of phrase that Downame so ably employs to convey his message.

The Cure for Unjust Anger considers anger in its entirety, both just and unjust. Just anger is the right response to the defamation of God’s glory in creation, and it is a good thing. Indeed, Downame holds up Scripture to show that (p8) “anger in its own nature is just and holy.” But it is not just anger that overtakes the mind and the heart, it is unjust anger, and it is on this distortion of our emotions that Downame focuses the majority of his book.

Unjust anger leads us away from the things of God, to the selfish interests of our own fallen hearts. Downame diagnoses the problem, considers the causes and highlights the dangers (the ‘evil effects’) of untreated unjust anger, before mercifully offering the remedy for sin-sick souls. This is a welcome word to sinful hearts, and it is wonderfully written. Every assertion is swiftly backed up by Scripture, and historical examples are drawn from throughout God’s Word.

I was struck by the insightful manner in which Downame wrote. A personal challenge arose in his sixth chapter: a worrying characteristic of unjust anger is (p58) “the amount of time it lasts.” For “when anger is retained for too long, it becomes hatred.” When we have been wronged, we can rightly or wrongly convince ourselves that our anger is justified, but when that wrong has been righted, to hold on to our anger is merely affording the Enemy an opportunity to further poison our hearts towards the other. Sin, as Downame points out, is the ultimate root cause of all anger, so we must strive to put this to death, rather than to feed it or let it fester in our hearts. We, I, must confront the anger we hold on to in our hearts. All this, Downame conveys in a few short paragraphs, for Hedges has edited this edition into very short sections, themselves in small chapters. This makes the wisdom of Downame easily consumable, whilst helping the reader thoughtfully consider each challenge that Downame presents.

Unjust anger, to some extent, is a sin of which we are all guilty. This is a helpful and short book to help us challenge that sin, and to see the hope of healing found in the Gospel. I would encourage you to pick up a copy and dive in. Brian Hedges has edited this version into an incredibly readable volume, with footnotes explaining terms or phrases of a more archaic nature. Though the US spelling may stick out to some(!), this is a fantastic edition with a really helpful message. I am encouraged to see a more little-known Puritan classic reprinted for a modern audience, and would gladly commend it as a short but helpful meditation on the sin of unjust anger.

Ten Reasons to Read About Church History

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10 Reasons to Read About Church History

Funnily enough, I think Church History is really important. In this blog that I wrote for IVP Books UK, which I reproduce below, I spell out ten reasons why Christians should engage with the history of our faith.

Whether Church History is what gets you out of bed in the morning, or you’ve always thought it was just dusty old books and grumpy old men, there’s much we can learn from the long history of the Christian faith.

Whilst not always pretty, as history exposes sin and human weakness, the fact of the matter is that we trust and hope in a historical faith. We can study Church History because there is a history of the Church. Yet we live in a time where, particularly in an evangelical context, we are perhaps more ignorant of Church History than at any other point since the Reformation. To our detriment, we simply engage too little with the history of the Church.

Here are ten reasons why it’s worth studying.

1)    Church History is surprisingly accessible, full of men and women like you and me.

Many fear approaching Church History because it feels like the record of an alien time, and of ancient people. Yet the story of the Church is the story of God’s people, men and women like us from throughout history. Christ came to offer salvation to all of humanity, and history reveals that billions, from all faiths, backgrounds and nations, have taken up that call. As we explore Church History, we find people just like us. We find the downtrodden and oppressed, the rulers and the powerful, and everyone in between! Human nature doesn’t change. All have sinned, and fallen short of God’s standard. But all who accept Christ’s offer of salvation are redeemed. The historic Church is made up of brothers and sisters from across the globe. This is our family history!

2)    God promised to keep His Church, and history shows that He is faithful.

Though the Church is made up of men and women, it is kept by the sovereign God of history. Christianity is a historical faith, and our Scriptures are historical texts. In the New Testament, God promises to keep His Church. He promises that the Church will endure, until Christ returns.

As we explore Church History, we see not only that this promise was kept, but just how wonderfully God kept it. In times of trial, error and loss, God has been faithful to His people. When we look at the long story of the Church, we see that glorious truth again and again.

3)   Church History displays God’s sovereignty over all of creation past and present.

God’s sovereignty is total. Scripture tells us this and history, again, shows this to be wonderfully true. What a blessing to know a God who keeps His people, and who holds all of creation in His hands! When we dig into the history of the Church, we see again and again how God worked to raise up men and women for the moments required. We see a history not of heroes, but of weak and feeble people being used by a powerful and mighty God. Church History is incredible because it allows us, time and again, to see the evidence of God at work.

4)    Church History encouragess us to give God glory for what He has done.

As we unpack Church History, we are struck time and again by God’s incredible power, grace and faithfulness. Humanity is never the hero of the story of the Christian faith and history confirms that. It is God alone who time and time again pours out His blessings on His Church, and it is right that we glorify Him for this. In Revelation 7, John is shown a vision of the throneroom of God. Around the throne he sees a host of angels, and they cry out (vs12):

“Praise and glory,

and wisdom and thanks and honour

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

These angels are praising the glorious God of all the nations, of all history and of all creation. When we turn our eyes to Church History, we are shown a glimpse of God’s glory in His wonderful dealings with His people. Our response ought to mirror the angels of Revelation 7 – praise and glory to this wonderful God!

5)    Church History, like Scripture, encourages us to look, and learn from those who have gone before us.

In 2 Timothy 3:14 Paul urges Timothy to continue in what he has learnt because he knows those from whom he learned it. He is encouraged to look back to the model of his mother, grandmother and Paul himself. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul urges the Corinthian church to imitate him, just as he imitates Christ. A pattern emerges in Scripture of learning from those who have gone before us, of looking to wiser older brothers and sisters as models for living a life worthy of our calling.

Exploring Church History allows us to learn from those who have gone before us. A hero of mine is Eric Liddell, the 1924 Paris Olympic gold medallist. Though he was not perfect, through reading biographies of this athlete, I have been encouraged to (amongst other things) prioritise my daily time in God’s Word, and use my gifts for His Glory and not my own. Throughout Church History God has raised up men and women who model godly characteristics to us. These saints are not perfect, but there is so much we can learn from diving into their stories.

Lessons from Church History

6)    Church History challenges our Chronological Snobbery.

C S Lewis famously coined the term ‘chronological snobbery’ – and what he described is rampant today. We think that simply because we come after those before us, we are superior. We are better developed, better equipped, better understanding. It’s foolish to think we have all the answers simply by virtue of living when we do, but it’s an easy mindset to adopt.With our modern ministries, global parachurch organisations and slick social media, it’s all too easy to think we’ve got the Christian life sorted. We can happily think we’ve got all the answers.

A look back through Church History encourages us to consider these things afresh. We see issues and challenges that we too face, and often we can learn how to respond to them. We see faithful Christians living in this fallen, hostile world, and there is much to learn. Many wise Christians have gone before us, it would be an error to ignore them.

7)    Church History helps us to learn from our mistakes.

Though there is much wisdom to gleam from our long Christian history, undeniably, the Church has been involved in great sin throughout the years. Every church is made up of sinful men and women, and this sin can so often multiply. The horrors of the crusades or the persecution of minorities in communities across the Christian world, are just some of the many obvious transgressions. Though at times the Church was a great force for good with regards to the despicable practice of slavery, at times it supported and endorsed this endeavour. More locally, stories of abuse of power and manipulation can rock church families for decades.

A better understanding of Church History, the good and the bad, will equip us to resist repeating the errors of our forebears.

8)    Church History reminds us that the Great Commission was for all of God’s people.

In The Story of The Church (4th ed.), Harman and Renwick write (xiii) “The history of the church is simply an account of its success and failure in carrying out Christ’s great commission ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded’ (Matt. 28:19–20).” This was a commission for all Christ’s Church. It was a command to go out with the Gospel to all the world.

This Great Commission was as true for the first hearers as it was for the earliest Christian communities, the faithful churches of the Middle Ages, and the revivalist preachers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. And it is true for us. This great missional activity of the Church ties all believers together, throughout history, and so as we go out into our own contexts we can take courage, and learn, from those who have done just the same long before us. Church History encourages us in this task, challenges us to avoid error and sin that would hinder us, and helps us look back to the God who is truly in control.

9)    Church History is diverse – so explore!

From biographies of Christian athletes like Eric Liddell, to stories of faithful congregations resisting the errors of Medieval Rome, to the first generation of the post-Apostolic Church; there is so much to explore, so many lives to unpack, so many challenges to heed. Great sermons have been written, theological stands have been made.

 There is so much to Church History, that whatever your background or interest, there is something for you. My encouragement is to explore, and then to dig into areas or periods that truly grip you. God teaches us through His Word, and Church History helps us to see these truths applied across the life of those who make up God’s Church.

10) Church History is fascinating.

From radical communities in the Roman Empire, to humble preachers in the courts of kings and emperors, Church History is diverse, surprising, and fascinating. Humanity is often best (and worst) seen in the context of church, and two thousand years of Church History mean that there are countless lives and events to explore. The story of the Church is a fascinating one, and one that is worth unpacking, exploring, and diving headfirst into!

There is so much to explore in the long history of the Christian Church. This post is an encouragement to spend time exploring it for yourself. When we engage with Church History, we are struck by one of the famous truths expounded by John Calvin in the sixteenth century. Soli Deo Gloria. As we look back at the long history of the Church, there is one simple conclusion: to God alone be the glory.

If you want to explore Church History, I thoroughly recommend The Story of the Church as a great introductory book on the subject. You can find my review of this book here. It’s available from IVP UK here.