Colin and Mary Peckham's history of the Isle of Lewis revivals is very comprehensive. Mary's personal experience and contacts make it a unique work of history but, of course, it is much more than that. It is a thrilling and puzzling account of God at work in his own way.
One of the personal testimonies records "I have been puzzled over the years theologically to try and work out what it is that happens when God comes in revival. Is it something that happens within God in His response to us or is it something that happens in us in our response to Him?" (testimony of Rev Jack MacArthur). I am encouraged to hear this response 'from the coal face'. I am personally convinced that anyone who claims to understand revival 'theologically' is missing the whole point. This is God at work in original and powerful ways. There is no biblical model for what we read here and yet there can be little doubt that it is authentic, moving and a powerful provocation to prayer.
Throughout the Peckham's account and throughout the personal testimony of 24 islanders certain 'flavours' are persistent. The cultural separation of the islands created a society that is almost unrecognisable to any other citizens of the UK of that era. The predominance of church attendance, the saturation of scripture knowledge through home and school, is another unique feature of the islands. The fierce contentions of the different presbyterian denominations is faithfully recorded and the sad note of 'those who resisted the revival' permeates the accounts. The strong conviction of sin and the special struggles of a Calvinist people to be assured that they were 'elect' and the sheer bubbling joy of those who came to Christ is another unique phenomena. These converts had no slick gospel meetings and no counelling for decision and yet they received an absolute conviction that God had heard them and brought them to himself. And yet 'in spite of' these unique contexts 'Sounds from Heaven' is a haunting account and one that ought to send the saints to their knees.
The prodigious labours of Duncan Campbell are faithfully recorded as are the long hours of meetings that sometimes resulted in folk going straight from the prayer meeting to their morning occupations, wihout feeling weary. It brings powerfully to mind the phrase in Psalm 110. "thy people shall be as freewill offerings in the day of thy strength;" Psa 110:3. and the wonderful promise of Isaiah, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Is 40:30-31 KJV
The un-sanitized and untidy testimonies of the 24 occupy more that half the book and are a wonderful testimony to the infinite variety of God's workings. These personal reminiscences add wonderfully to the whole atmosphere of the book;in some ways they are the most valuable part of book representing the unique primary sources of the eye-witnesses.
One of the things that encourages me most is that the evidence of the book itself makes it impossible to use the Lewis awakening as a template for any human imitation. The God who is the origin of all must be allowed, always, to behave origin-ally. Will God 'do it again?'. No, I think not, he seldom repeats himself. Is he ready to pour water on him that is thirsty? always! Can he move in our day and generation in Holy Spirit origin-ality? of course he can. To your knees then, saints!
Wednesday 19 August 2009
Tuesday 18 August 2009
Creation or Evolution. Do we have to choose? Denis Alexander
This book comes brimmming with recommendations from the evangelical world. Denis Alexander is part of the Alexander family who formed the Lion Publishing company. I regard him as a liberal evangelical and much of Lion's publications though usually in stunning colour are of the same liberal position.
The book is an amazing display of erudition. He is leading light in the fields of Molecular Immunology and has worked in many leading positions in the field. The biological aspect of the book is intense and although written for non-biologists left me well behind in the dust. So how would I begin to judge the worth of such a book?
When I consider the position of Christians who hold an essentially Darwinian view of creation I have a litmus test, I try to discover what they think happened at the Fall and how it has affected the human race. Alexander wonders whether "Christians do not take more of their doctrine of the Fall from the pages of Milton's Paradise Lost than they do from the pages of sacred scripture." p256 This itself is an interesting statement in that it seems to ignore classical Christian teaching from the likes of Augustine, Tertullian and Calvin; all of whom predated Milton.
Alexander does not believe in the Fall in classical Christian terms; the notion of the human race under condemnation as a result of Adam's disobedience is underplayed and his position is revealed in his section on The Fall in Romans. He believes that Adam was a literal figure but sees him as having developed to the stage beyond other Neanderthals in that he became God-conscious. He does not hold however to the classical view that Adam's sin damaged the whole race. His position is stated plainly in "..although verse 12 (of Romans) makes it clear that spiritual death came to all by them actually sinning. Each person is responsible for his or her own sin." p 265
This the position of Charles Finney and his followers who do not believe in congenital sin but only acquired sin. In this view at the point of personal disobedience a man enters into Adam's condition and thus shares with him his condemnation. John Wesley famously declared that a man who did not hold to 'original sin' was still a half-heathen. The Finney view does not do justice to Paul's statement... For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, Rom 5:16 NKJV and Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation... Rom 5:18a NKJV These verses seem to make a clear statement that Adam's sin (and not Eve's) had a dynamic effect on the whole race.
It would be unfair to condemn a book on this single point perhaps but for conservative evangelicals who subscribe broadly to classical definitions of 'original sin' it does constitute a fatal flaw in Alexander's theology. For those better able to judge the biological evidence it a well worth reading but none of Alexander's suggested solutions give any adequate explanation of what it means to be 'in Adam'; a theme which has vital consequences when we examine the parallel phrase of 'in Christ'. On this point alone Alexander's thesis fails biblically.
The book is an amazing display of erudition. He is leading light in the fields of Molecular Immunology and has worked in many leading positions in the field. The biological aspect of the book is intense and although written for non-biologists left me well behind in the dust. So how would I begin to judge the worth of such a book?
When I consider the position of Christians who hold an essentially Darwinian view of creation I have a litmus test, I try to discover what they think happened at the Fall and how it has affected the human race. Alexander wonders whether "Christians do not take more of their doctrine of the Fall from the pages of Milton's Paradise Lost than they do from the pages of sacred scripture." p256 This itself is an interesting statement in that it seems to ignore classical Christian teaching from the likes of Augustine, Tertullian and Calvin; all of whom predated Milton.
Alexander does not believe in the Fall in classical Christian terms; the notion of the human race under condemnation as a result of Adam's disobedience is underplayed and his position is revealed in his section on The Fall in Romans. He believes that Adam was a literal figure but sees him as having developed to the stage beyond other Neanderthals in that he became God-conscious. He does not hold however to the classical view that Adam's sin damaged the whole race. His position is stated plainly in "..although verse 12 (of Romans) makes it clear that spiritual death came to all by them actually sinning. Each person is responsible for his or her own sin." p 265
This the position of Charles Finney and his followers who do not believe in congenital sin but only acquired sin. In this view at the point of personal disobedience a man enters into Adam's condition and thus shares with him his condemnation. John Wesley famously declared that a man who did not hold to 'original sin' was still a half-heathen. The Finney view does not do justice to Paul's statement... For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, Rom 5:16 NKJV and Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation... Rom 5:18a NKJV These verses seem to make a clear statement that Adam's sin (and not Eve's) had a dynamic effect on the whole race.
It would be unfair to condemn a book on this single point perhaps but for conservative evangelicals who subscribe broadly to classical definitions of 'original sin' it does constitute a fatal flaw in Alexander's theology. For those better able to judge the biological evidence it a well worth reading but none of Alexander's suggested solutions give any adequate explanation of what it means to be 'in Adam'; a theme which has vital consequences when we examine the parallel phrase of 'in Christ'. On this point alone Alexander's thesis fails biblically.
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