Infinity, eternal punishment and the cross

Chris Tilling has initiated a debate on hell. Amongst other things, he questions whether hell need be understood as the infinite, eternal punishment of the wicked. See here & here for the posts and to follow the discussion.

Jonathan Edwards taught the eternal, conscious punishment of the wicked on this basis:
God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and beauty. To have infinite excellency and beauty, is the same thing as to have infinite loveliness. He is a being of infinite greatness, majesty, and glory; and therefore he is infinitely honourable. He is infinitely exalted above the greatest potentates of the earth, and highest angels in heaven; and therefore he is infinitely more honourable than they. His authority over us is infinite; and the ground of his right to our obedience is infinitely strong; for he is infinitely worthy to be obeyed himself, and we have an absolute, universal, and infinite dependence upon him.

So that sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations, must be a crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving of infinite punishment.- Nothing is more agreeable to the common sense of mankind, than that sins committed against any one, must be proportionably heinous to the dignity of the being offended and abused; as it is also agreeable to the word of God, I Samuel 2:25. "If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him;" (i.e. shall judge him, and inflict a finite punishment, such as finite judges can inflict;) "but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?" This was the aggravation of sin that made Joseph afraid of it. Genesis 39:9. "How shall I commit this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This was the aggravation of David's sin, in comparison of which he esteemed all others as nothing, because they were infinitely exceeded by it. Psalm 51:4. "Against thee, thee only have I sinned."-The eternity of the punishment of ungodly men renders it infinite: and it renders it no more than infinite; and therefore renders no more than proportionable to the heinousness of what they are guilty of.

See here for full text of Edwards on The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners.

If sin does not deserve infinte and eternal punishment, why did the Son of God have to become flesh in order to atone for sin? Only he as an infinite Person could propitiate God's holy wrath aganist our sin. John Owen reflects on the infinite value and sufficiency of the death of Christ in the following quote:

The first thing that we shall lay down is concerning the dignity, worth, preciousness, and infinite value of the blood and death of Jesus Christ. The maintaining and declaring of this is doubtless especially to be considered; and every opinion that doth but seemingly clash against it is exceedingly prejudiced, at least deservedly suspected, yea, presently to be rejected by Christians, if upon search it be found to do so really and indeed, as that which is injurious and derogatory to the merit and honour of Jesus Christ. The Scripture, also, to this purpose is exceeding full and frequent in setting forth the excellency and dignity of his death and sacrifice, calling his blood, by reason of the unity of his person, “God’s own blood,” Acts xx. 28; exalting it infinitely above all other sacrifices, as having for its principle “the eternal Spirit,” and being itself “without spot,” Heb. ix. 14; transcendently more precious than silver, or gold, or corruptible things,1 Pet i:8; able to give justification from all things, from which by the law men could not be justified, Acts xiii. 28.

Now, such as was the sacrifice and offering of Christ in itself, such was it intended by his Father it should be. It was, then, the purpose and intention of God that his Son should offer a sacrifice of infinite worth, value, and dignity, sufficient in itself for the redeeming of all and every man, if it had pleased the Lord to employ it to that purpose; yea, and of other worlds also, if the Lord should freely make them, and would redeem them. Sufficient we say, then, was the sacrifice of Christ for the redemption of the whole world, and for the expiation of all the sins of all and every man in the world. This sufficiency of his sacrifice hath a twofold rise:— First, The dignity of the person that did offer and was offered. Secondly, The greatness of the pain he endured, by which he was able to bear, and did undergo, the whole curse of the law and wrath of God due to sin. And this sets out the innate, real, true worth and value of the blood-shedding of Jesus Christ.

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See here for full text of Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.

Puritan Prayers and the Evangelical Revival

According to Andrew Davies in The Holy Spirit in Puritan Experience:

The Puritan era was undoubtedly a time of preparation, a significant stage in the unfolding of God's purposes for that remarkable age [the 18th Century Evangelical Revival] . As such it is an encouragement for us today, for who knows but that God may be preparing the Church now for something similar in days to come? It is an incentive to pray. We cannot measure the spiritual significance of the praying of the Puritans for revival. To what extent was the coming of the Spirit in 1735 God's answer to the cries of his children in the preceding decades? Let me close with the dying prayer of Henry Dorney as he cried to God for the prosperity of the Gospel in his age. May God set us to praying like this!

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"Oh that the days of this darkness may be blown away; and let there be a mighty coming in of truth, holiness, sincerity, and spiritual light and manifestation, that there may be a mighty childlike spirit in all thy children...Let thy good Spirit come upon all thine: Oh glorify thyself now and ever...Oh let truth and power be given. Oh God fill the world with thy Spirit; that thy work may be done tidily, tidily. Oh let there be nearness between thee and the souls of thy people...Oh that thy people may judge of their love to thee by the very out goings of their souls to thee...Oh that I might see religion to be something!!"

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From Faith and Ferment Westminster Conference paper 1982, p 32.

Winner of Best English Bible Translation Poll

The AV and its younger sibling the NKJV are joint winners!

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1st Authorised Version 26%

1st New King James Version 26%

2nd English Standard Version 23%

3rd New American Standard Version 16%

4th New International Version 10%

Body image: some theological reflections

The Western world is suffering from something of a crisis on how we should view the body. The problems of obesity and anorexia are often discussed in the media here. Just this week, medical experts revealed that obesity can lead to blindness amongst other very nasty things. At the same time, we are bombarded with images of idealised male and female beauty. Is a man a man if he hasn't got a six-pack and a perfectly coiffured head of hair? Of what value is a woman if she does not conform to the skinny splendour of the likes of Keira Knightley?

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Christians are not Teflon-coated. The thinking that shapes our society rubs off on us. We struggle to respond to James' exhortation to "keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). Some believers battle with being overweight, others with an obsession with body image that leads to anorexia. Still others feel worthless because of their perception of their physical appearance. I do not write as a dietitian or psychologist. I don't propose to try and discuss, for example some of the physical causes of obesity. But I do understand that a person may be underweight or overweight due to underlying medical problems. What I would like to reflect on in this post is the way in which the Bible would have us view the human body. A truly Biblical theology of the body will help Christians to relate to their physicalness in a healthy and realistic way.

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When God created human beings in his image as male and female, he created them with bodies as well as souls. We are, by divine constitution psychosomatic beings. Our physicalness is as fundamental to our humanity as our spirituality. When God looked at the created universe with embodied human life at its pinnacle, he declared all "very good". Adam and Eve would have been paragons of human perfection and beauty.

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The first human beings were not otherworldly ascetics who stifled the pleasures of physical pleasure. They took great delight in the enjoyment of the earth that God had created. They ate freely of the food the God provided for them in the garden of Eden, food that was attractive to the eye, and delicious to the palate. They enjoyed the physical exercise that came from happily working in the garden. This is how God meant human beings to live, in grateful communion with him, their bountiful Creator. When we despise the body and seek to annihilate our physicalness as is the case with those who deny themselves food and other legitimate pleasures, that is a symptom a deep malaise in the human psyche. When we over-indulge our bodies to the point of being dangerously overweight, that too is an indication that the joyful innocence of Eden is no more.

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The fall of human beings into sin did not destroy the image of God in mankind. But sin has distorted and ruined all human life. Not one person can now claim physical or spiritual perfection, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23.) Even the most attractive of human beings is marked by the ugliness of sin. But God does not loathe fallen people with all their spiritual and bodily imperfections. He affirmed the value of human life in this fallen world when he sent his Son, Jesus Christ into our world "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3). Jesus embraced the ugliness of human life and was deformed so that "his appearance was marred more than any man" when he was crucified for our sins (Isaiah 52:14).

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After death, Jesus did not abandon physical life to live on in some kind of disembodied, non-physical state. He was raised from the dead. His crucified body was reanimated and transformed by the Spirit of God. He now possesses a glorious body, resplendent with divine majesty. Jesus' resurrection life is the embodiment of human worthy, dignity and beauty. Christian believers, as God's new humanity will be made like their Lord when they are raised from the dead on the day of Jesus' appearing. We will share in his human perfection and enjoy the delights of God's new creation.

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Christians are called to live in the light of this future hope. Our bodies are even now the temple of the Holy Spirit. Abuse of the body, in terms of sexual immorality or allowing ourselves to become dangerously ill because of too much / too little food is inappropriate. We are to honour God in our physical lives because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, "therefore glorify God in your body". (1 Corinthians 6:20.) ..

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A Biblical theology of the body will help us to embrace our physicalness as God's gift, to be used for his glory. Men and women have value and worth as human beings because they have been created in the image of God, not because they conform to the image of femininity or masculinity promoted in Hello magazine. The fact of sin will make believers realistic about the impossibility of physical perfection in this life. The resurrection hope holds before us the promise of Christlike beauty in the the age to come. In the light of the gospel, let us present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God. (Romans 12:1)

The defence of Hodge at Helm's Deep continues....

Vahhoozer's canonical linguistic approach to Christian Theology vs Hodge's inductive theological method

In an earlier post, I drew attention to Paul Helm's defence of Charles Hodge against the criticisms of Kevin Vanhoozer here . Now those fair minded folks over at Reformation 21 have given Vanhoozer the right of reply.

See here for Vanhoozer's response as he joins the battle of Helm's Deep and here for Helm's rejoinder.

Howell Harris by Geraint Tudur

Howell Harris From Conversion to Separation 1735 - 1750
by Geraint Tudur, University Press of Wales, Cardiff, 2000, reprinted 2003 here .

Howell Harris was a pioneer of the 18th Century Evangelical Revival in Wales. He was the first of the revival leaders to be converted, in May 1735. Harris began to preach in the open air and gather new converts into “societies” before any other Methodist leader in England and Wales. By any reckoning, Howell Harris was a figure of real importance in the early Methodist movement. But unlike his contemporaries George Whitefield, the Wesley brothers and Daniel Rowland, Harris has not been the subject of a contemporary biography in English. Geraint Tudur has filled an important gap in our knowledge with his well-researched account of Harris’ life. The book is based on an Oxford D.Phil thesis. Tudur, a Calvinistic Methodist Minister, writes with scholarly grasp of detail, spiritual insight and warm sympathy for his subject. His account gives us a picture of a very human Harris as a great man with great faults who God used to accomplish great things.

From his conversion in 1735 until his death in 1773, Harris kept a regular spiritual journal. He left behind the literary legacy of 284 diaries. The diaries contain Harris’ reflections on his own spiritual progress and his analysis of the development of the Methodist Revival in England and Wales. Tudur set himself the task of mastering Harris’ virtually illegible handwriting in order to base his account on the diaries. It took the writer three months of painstaking work to crack the Methodist’s text.

Not long after his conversion, Harris began to read pious books to friends and neighbours. He soon progressed to preaching in the open air. His ministry had a noticeably awakening effect and Harris began to organise the converts onto Societies where the new believers could be nurtured and disciplined. Harris was a loyal member of the Church of England, although the leadership including his own Minister viewed him with suspicion. Harris’ attempts to gain legitimacy for his work via ordination were repeatedly blocked by his bishop. This led to Harris having something of an inferiority complex which he would compensate for by insisting that he was the overall leader of Welsh Methodism because he was the fist to be converted.

Dissenters tried to encourage Harris to join them and form his Societies into Nonconformist Churches. But he was determined to remain in the Church in which he had been converted and work for further revival and reformation in Anglicanism. This policy left the Societies open to attack and persecution by the authorities without the protection afforded to Dissenters under the Toleration Act of 1689.

Harris regarded himself as an “exhorter” rather than a preacher in order to distinguish himself from the clergy. His bold and powerful exhortations to the people to repent from their sin and turn to Christ provoked much persecution. Harris was mobbed, beaten, shot at and prosecuted for his evangelistic activities. But he continued to bring his message to the masses and many were awakened and joined the new Methodist Societies.

The book discusses Harris’ conversion and formative influences. From the time of his conversion, Harris believed that the Lord guided him by providential events and subjective impressions. If he was unsure of a course of action, he would seek God until he was granted the appropriate indication of what he was to do. This reliance on subjective guidance left Harris open to the charge of “enthusiasm” or fanaticism. Harris' understanding of these matters meant that once he had made up his mind that he was doing God’s will, nothing could make him alter course. This insulated Harris from legitimate criticism of his behaviour. His critics were dismissed as opponents of God’s purposes. If only they were more spiritually minded, they would see that he was in the right! Jonathan Edwards wrote his The Religious Affections to correct just this kind of attitude among converts of the Great Awakening.

Harris was the leader and chief organiser of the Methodist movement in Wales. In the early days he cooperated harmoniously with his fellow Methodists Daniel Rowland and William Williams. He fostered links with English Methodism, befriending Whitefield and the Wesleys. He was often invited to preach at Whitefield’s Tabernacle in London when the great evangelist was in America.

Tudur is too honest a biographer to omit discussion of the disruption of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism in the late 1740’s, that led to Harris' withdrawal from the movement in 1750. Harris came under the influence of Moravian teaching that put great emphasis on the blood of Christ. He preached about the blood of Christ as the blood of God and spoke about the Trinity in ways that alarmed other Methodist leaders such as Daniel Rowland. He was charged with patrapassionism – the teaching that the Father as well as the Son suffered on the cross. Harris’ response was that God had led him to this teaching and that Rowland and the other Methodist clergymen relied too much on book knowledge. Coupled with this was Harris’ increasingly domineering style of ministry as he sought to impose discipline on Welsh Methodism and eliminate criticism of his leadership.

But the issue that forced Harris to leave the mainstream revival movement was his relationship with Mrs Sidney Griffith. He was convinced that Mrs Griffith was a prophetess with rare spiritual insight. In the face of bitter (although understandable) opposition from his wife Anne, Mrs Griffith accompanied Harris on his preaching tours. This alienated the other Methodist leaders and made Harris’ relationship with Mrs. Griffith the subject of gossip and insinuation. But Harris was convinced that God had brought them together for the good of the revival. It seems that Harris was infatuated with this married woman. Although Tudur refutes Geraint Jenkins’ claim in The Foundations of Modern Wales that the relationship was consummated, Harris acted most unwisely during this period of his life. Tudur suggests that Harris was suffering from a kind of nervous breakdown due to massive overwork. This certainly helps to explain Harris’ erratic behaviour during the 1740’s and 50’s.

After the disruption, Harris withdrew to Trevecca, where he founded a community. He was reconciled to the other Methodist leaders in the 1760’s and resumed his work in the revival movement. This life of Howell Harris is a reminder that God uses deeply flawed human beings to accomplish amazing things for him. Harris was the instrument of conversion and revival blessing for thousands. The movement he began, Welsh Calvinistic Methodism seceded from the Church of England in the early 1800’s and became the largest and most vibrant of Welsh denominations in the Victorian period.

Aber 2006

What makes over 1200 people head to the Welsh seaside town of Aberystwyth for the second week of August? Is it the gloriously unpredictable weather? Probably not. Torrential rain with the added bonus of thunder and lightning is not exactly the ideal backdrop for a holiday. Is it the sight of the old castle, trashed and ruined by the Roundheads? Er…no. The focus of this gathering is the preaching of the word of God and an opportunity to have fellowship with other believers. The worship is simple, with no elements of drama or dance. The singing is accompanied by a solitary organ not a pulsating worship group. We sing hymns old and new from the revised Christian Hymns. The main meetings fill the Great Hall of Aberystwyth University to capacity.

Aberystwyth Castle

Gwyn Williams, Pastor of the Welsh Evangelical Church in Cardiff started off the Conference by preaching on James 1:22-25. We must not listen to preaching so that we can compile of a list of our “Top Ten” preachers. The purpose of preaching is to hold up a mirror so that we see ourselves as God sees us. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only.

This year’s main Conference speaker was Joel Beeke, Pastor of Heritage Netherlands Reformed Church. In four addresses delivered each morning from Tuesday to Friday, he drew our attention to Jesus Christ, Walking as He Walked. Beeke is steeped in the writings and vital piety of the Reformers and Puritans. But his style is contemporary and up-to-date. We considered Jesus’ Cross Bearing & Ours, Jesus’ Office Bearing & Ours, Jesus’ Tears & Ours and Jesus’ Endurance & Ours. The preaching was expository, applicatory and experimental. There was a realism and pastoral sensitivity to the messages that called upon the congregation to take up the cross and follow Jesus to the end. People were moved, stirred and challenged to live for Christ.

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Joel Beeke, preaching in the Great Hall

Liam Goligher, Senior Minister at Duke Street Church, Richmond spoke three times at the Conference. He preached powerfully on 2 Corinthians 5:21-21 on Tuesday evening, on Psalm 2 on Thursday evening and gave a seminar on What would the Doctor think of evangelicalism today? at a Wednesday afternoon seminar. Goligher made it clear that the somewhat pretentious sounding title for the seminar was not his suggestion. He went on to give us a penetrating Lloyd-Jonesian analysis of the state of evangelicalism today. He highlighted the dangers of process theology, the new perspective on Paul, and Emerging Church thinking. The speaker urged us to return to the Evangelicalism’s robust theological heritage in the great confessions of the Reformation and Puritan periods.

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Aber Pier

Keith Hoare, a missionary in France preached on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 on Wednesday evening, drawing particular attention to the authority of Jesus. Geoff Thomas, Pastor of Alfred Place Baptists Church, Aberystwyth preached at the final meeting of the Conference on 1 Peter 1:8. He showed us that in Jesus, Christians have Someone to Believe In, Someone to Love, and A Goal in Life. He used these points to challenge non-Christians in the Congregation to turn to Jesus and seek him until they found him.

The preaching was warm and powerful, the fellowship friendly and meaningful. Meetings were held for children. Young people attended the popular extratime events where various subjects were discussed. A Missionary Exhibition filled the large Morlan building in the town. The Conference was well run by a helpful team of EMW Staff and volunteer Stewards.

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Copies of all the preaching and seminars are available from the Evangelical Movement of Wales in cassette, CD and DVD format. Contact EMW here. The dates for Aber 2007 will be August 11th to 18th, with Ted Donnelly as the main Conference preacher.

New Poll: English Bible Versions

Vote for your favourite Bible version in the Poll [Top Left] and leave a comment to explain your choice.

The Contenders:

AV = Authorised Version
NKJV = New King James Version
ESV = English Standard Version
NIV = New International Version
NASV = New American Standard Version

Hymnwriter Poll Result

Isaac Watts is the winner of the All Time Favourite Hymnwriter Poll with 47% of the vote.

Westward Ho!

Sunset at Westward Ho!, Devon

We're back from our holidays. We had a lovely two weeks in Devon and an encouraging week on ministry and fellowship at the Aberystwyth Conference. I'll be writing up my reflections on the Conference in the next couple of days.