They called him by the Latin name Guilliamus Amesius, but if we talk about this British-born theologian at all now, we call him William Ames (1576-1633). Dust him off and read him. Here are some lessons I learned from Ames years ago that have stuck with me ever since. Ames was educated at Cambridge (Christ’s College) under William Perkins, “the architect of Elizabethan Puritanism.” Ames distinguished himself as a scholar and preacher, and appeared to have a promising career... Read more
Today (March 7) is the birthday of Alfred Edersheim, the nineteenth-century Bible scholar who really made the grand tour: He was born in Austria, converted from Judaism to evangelical Christianity in Hungary, studied theology in Edinburgh and Berlin, was a missionary to Jews in Romania and a preacher in Scotland. He was ordained in the Church of Scotland and then the Church of England, preached and lectured at Oxford, and died in France. Edersheim’s greatest works are The Temple: Its... Read more
In First Timothy 1:8-11, Paul gives a striking list of the kind of people that the law was given in order to restrain: The law is not for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine… What’s going on with this list?... Read more
As most of you know, we are nearly two weeks into Lent, that forty day period that we set aside before Easter to prepare ourselves for the remembrance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s an important season in the church calendar and should be an important time of preparation for all Christians. In the words of the Book of Common Prayer: Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our... Read more
In the summer of 1912, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles had been in business for four years, and was about to make major changes. They were putting up an important building in downtown Los Angeles, and hiring the most famous evangelist in the world, R. A. Torrey, as their first academic dean. That July, they published an editorial in their monthly magazine, The King’s Business, putting their plans into perspective. I don’t know who wrote the unsigned editorial. It... Read more
A cartoon tour of the bestiary of sin, exploring the terrible fauna of hamartiology. In issue 4 of Dr. Doctrine’s Christian Comix (InterVarsity Press, 1999), I did my best Dr. Seuss imitation to explore the doctrine of sin. You may need to click through to a larger image to read the text well. Read more
Last week Biola celebrated its 104th birthday, and I got to speak in the Founder’s Day chapel service about the three most important founders: Lyman Stewart, T.C. Horton, and R. A. Torrey. Thirty minutes is not enough time to do them justice! But the audience was good, and spirits were high, and I shared as much as I could. Here is the video. Read more
In the previous post, John Mark announced that he was leaving the honors program he founded to become the new head of academics at Houston Baptist University. He’s continuing, of course, to be an essential member of the team at Wheatstone Ministries through insight at board meetings, speeches at conferences and events, his kind and jolly mentoring, and so much more (…and, by the way, since that’s the case, look out Houston! Before too long, Wheatstone will be rolling back... Read more
Outside my family, Torrey Honors is the best thing to happen to me so far. The chance to start Torrey and work with the chums has been the greatest honor of my life. Jesus built Torrey and it was a miracle that I could be involved. I am so thankful to Biola University for taking a risk on an early thirty-something philosopher and making a dream come true. Men like President Cook, Provost Sherwood Lingenfelter, and Dean Shanebeck were role... Read more
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