A Letter from a Martyr

Wes Bredenhof recently posted a portion of Guido de Bres' letter to his mother, written shortly before his execution in May of 1567 (http://www.bredenhof.ca/).

This is a very moving and encouraging letter, especially when we consider that de Bres was imprisoned under the worst of conditions (in the sewage of the prison).  But as he wrote to his mother, de Bres seems to bask in the assurance of his salvation and the hope of the resurrection.  No doubt, this is what Tertullian meant when he said that the that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

For background, here's Rev. Bredenhof's discussion of de Bres's martyrdom, followed by the first portion of de Bres' letter to his mother.

http://ia311027.us.archive.org/1/items/BredenhofArticles1/TheMartyrdomOfGuidoDeBres.pdf

http://ia341335.us.archive.org/0/items/HeartAflame/HeartAflame.pdf

Thanks Wes, for posting this wonderful letter!

Who Said That?

"The being described in his 5 points is not the God whom you and I acknowledge and adore, the Creator and benevolent governor of the world; but a demon of malignant spirit.  It would be more pardonable to believe in no god at all, than to blaspheme him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin."

You know the drill.  Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating.  Answer to follow next week.

Update on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 08:58AM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is taken from Thomas Jefferson's letter to John Adams on April 11, 1823

Audio from Friday's Academy Lecture Posted

Here's the audio from Ken's Academy 
lecture (11/13/09) "Intelligent Reading 6 
/ Intro to Logic 2:  Learning How to 
Learn - Part 6"
Click here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Is Living Like Jesus Enough?

Some postmodern Christians have begun to argue that what we believe is not as important as what we do, and that Christianity is primarily about "living like Jesus." But are good works enough? Don't we have to believe something? On this edition of the program the host discuss this issue with Michael Wittmer, author of Don't Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus is Not Enough.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/

Tonight's Academy Lecture -- "Learning How to Learn"

Join us tonight (November 13) at 7:30 p.m. when Professor Kenneth Samples continues the Academy series entitled “Learning Skills 101: Learning How To Learn (Part 6)”

The Study Skills 101: Learning How To Learn class is specifically offered to help believers sharpen their thinking, reading, and speaking skills. This course can be directly helpful to teachers, parents (especially homeschool parents), and students, particularly adult students who want to engage in a lifelong journey of intellectual discovery and learning. This class can serve as a fun and challenging opportunity to clear the mental cobwebs that too often accumulate with the passage of time and age. All educational levels can benefit from the content of this class. Come and learn the enduring insights of famed philosopher and educator Mortimer J. Adler by studying his best selling work How to Read a Book. -- Professor Kenneth Samples.

Textbooks: How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren and A World of Difference by Kenneth Samples

Instructor: Professor Kenneth Samples, Senior Scholar of Apologetics at Reasons to Believe, Adult Education Instructor at Christ Reformed Church, Anaheim.

B. B. Warfield on Faith, Reason and the Holy Spirit

(From chapter seven of my dissertation, The Lion of Princeton)   

In the forward to fellow Presbyterian Francis Beattie's book Apologetics:  or the Rational Vindication of Christianity, Warfield, ironically, if not prophetically, anticipated much of the criticism which would be leveled at him by those who are in many ways his direct theological descendants.  It is primarily based upon Warfield's remarks about reason in this essay that many of his critics have reached their negative assessment about Warfield's apologetic.  A brief evaluation of Warfield's essay will be extremely helpful in determining many of Warfield's own views on these matters, since Warfield specifically discusses several of the issues under debate.

Lamenting the twin enemies of rationalism and mysticism, Warfield notes,

The mystical tendency is showing itself in our day most markedly in a wide-spread inclination to decline Apologetics in favor of the so-called testimonium Spiritus Sancti.  The convictions of the Christian man we are told, are not the product of reasons addressed to the intellect, but are the immediate creation of the Holy Spirit in his heart.  Therefore, it is intimated, we can not only do very well without these reasons, but it is something very like sacrilege to attend to them.  Apologetics, accordingly, is not merely useless, but may even become noxious, because tending to substitute a barren intellectualism for a vital faith.

Many of these same charges have been leveled against Warfield himself.

Quickly dismissing the rationalists, since what they need is "not less Apologetics but more Apologetics," Warfield indeed seems quite perplexed about the role of apologetics proposed in the Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology, recently published by Abraham Kuyper.  There are two primary issues about which Warfield takes issue with his esteemed Dutch friend.  First, Warfield is concerned that Kuyper has adopted a "mystical" conception of apologetics, which in effect, results in the practical depreciation of apologetics altogether.  Second, Warfield is concerned that Kuyper's understanding of theological encyclopedia is unduly confused, and may in fact, amount to a departure from historic Reformed practice. 

To read the rest of this essay, click here

"Was Made Manifest" -- 1 John 1:1-4

The First in a Series on the Epistles of John

I know of no religious truth claim quite like the one found in the opening verses of John’s first epistle.  According to the author (John)–who claims to be an eyewitness to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ–God himself was manifest in the flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  The author knows this to be true, because with his own ears he has heard God in the flesh teach and preach.  With his own eyes, John has seen God in the flesh perform miracles, demonstrate his glory, and present himself alive after his resurrection from the dead.  With his own hands, John has reached out and touched the very son of God.  Even as John opens this epistle, he proclaims to us that we too may have fellowship with that same incarnate word whom John describes throughout this epistle as God manifest in the flesh.  Therefore, Christianity is a religion of flesh and blood, anchored in the public record of history, and not in the secret recesses of the sinful human heart.

We begin a new series on the epistles of John.  These epistles include the letters known to us as 1st , 2nd , and 3rd John.  In order to interpret these epistles correctly, it is vital that we know something about the historical background and circumstances which led to their composition.  Therefore, I’d like to spend some of our time this morning going through this material before we turn our attention to the first four verses of John’s first epistle, in which John announces his intention to proclaim to us that Jesus is the word of life, God manifest in the flesh.

The historical circumstances which led to the writing of John’s epistles is vastly different from that of the Book of James, or the Epistle of Jude, which we covered earlier this year.  James was written about ten years after Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension to a group of persecuted Jewish Christians living throughout Palestine and Syria.  John, on the other hand, is writing to a group of house churches in and around Ephesus (made up of Jews and Gentiles).  Not only does John compose these epistles as much as a generation later, the churches to which he was writing are facing a number of false teachers who were denying that Jesus was God in the flesh.  Sadly, many of those teaching such a thing are men who have departed from the faith.  Thus John must deal with an entirely different set of circumstances than James.  If James was the earliest letter in the New Testament, the epistles of John are surely among the last documents to be included in the canon of the New Testament.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click here

"Awaiting our Blessed Hope" -- Free Audio

The Reformation Society of Oregon has made available my recent conference lectures on eschatology (from Saturday, October 17).  Thanks guys!

There are lectures on a Christ-centered eschatology, the case for understanding Revelation 20 as a present reality, and a discussion of issues surrounding the doctrine of antichrist.

You can get them here:  http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/riddlebarger/falltheology.html

Mike Horton on the Nature, Marks and Mission of the Church

Who do so many evangelicals identify with movements not churches?

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/203.html

Who Said That?

"Every man of God that I know today has a nice house . . . . And they drive cars, and they have BlackBerrys or iPhones or whatever.  It's what we need today to simply exist. ... Absolutely I need a private plane.  For the ministry it's a necessity, not a luxury. ... It's a necessity for me to have my own private plane to fly so I can go and do what God called me to do around the world. If I should fly commercial I would wear out.  With my schedule?  It would be madness." 

Who said that?  Leave your guess in the comments section below.  No googles searches or cheating.  Anaswer to follow in one week.

Update on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 03:25PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is from a recent interview with Hinn by ABC News' Dan Harris, October 19, 2009.