As I stumble out of bed for another early morning commute to work I wonder, again, why God has put me on this never-ending treadmill. For many years now I have struggled to balance two compelling, and sometimes conflicting, visions – the one is a calling to the ministry of the word, the other is a … Continue reading »
Filed under Scripture …
Ultim Scriptura
Calvin’s Institutes, Book 4 Chapter 9 Under what government is the church to be run? Who makes the final decision and decrees in regard to sound doctrine and teaching? The Israelite nation operated under a number of different systems – ancestral tribal leaders (e.g. Jacob); charismatic judges (so called “Kritarchy”); divinely anointed monarchs (e.g. David) … Continue reading »
Why is the Old Testament shut out of church?
I recently read this interesting article by Dale Ralph Davies and thought it fitted in well with where we are in the Institutes regarding the value and place of the Old Testament. Thanks to Reformation21 for posting it on their website: http://www.reformation21.org/articles/why-is-the-old-testament-shut-out-of-church.php “I don’t want to begin this lecture by spiritualizing a text but…the Old Testament is good … Continue reading »
From fading glory to surpassing glory
Book 2 Chapter 11 Section 1-14 During the last few chapters Calvin has been at pains to stress the unity and connection between the Old and New Testaments. However, now he focuses on how they are different. He concludes that the major differences lie principally in the mode of administration between the two covenants rather … Continue reading »
The relational God
Book I Chapter X Section 1-3 In Chapter 10 Calvin returns to the theme of the knowledge of the Creator God as found in the scriptures. By now we appreciate how hard it is to come to a real understanding of who God is. Indeed in Chapter 6 Calvin is honest enough to recognise how … Continue reading »
Word and Spirit in harmony
Book I Chapter IX Section 1-3 In this short chapter Calvin address the error of the Libertines – not the British punk-rock band, but a group in Calvin’s day that claimed the Spirit spoke to them apart from the written word. They are even so bold to ”reject all reading of scripture themselves, and deride the simplicity … Continue reading »
An argument for the credibility of scripture
Book I Chapter VIII Section 1-13 Having established in the previous chapters that the witness of the Spirit is essential to believing in the divine inspiration of the bible, Calvin does not leave the issue there. In Chapter 8 he turns to “proofs” that demonstrate the reasonableness of this belief. He uses a number of … Continue reading »
The secret testimony of the Spirit
Book I Chapter VII Section 1-5 After contemplating why we need a written record of God’s activity in Chapter 6, Calvin goes on to now ask – “how can we be sure that the bible is God’s word?” and “where does the authority of the bible come from?”. His first concern is to refute the error that … Continue reading »
Knowledge of God through obedience to the Word
Book I Chapter VI Section 1-4 In the previous 5 chapters Calvin has sought to establish the key principle, that although God has used many means to awaken our minds to his presence and grant us knowledge of himself, they have all proved ineffectual due to our blindness and corruption. The main means being – … Continue reading »
