The New Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones Book

There is controversy brewing around the publication of my new book on Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, controversy that is based on nothing but preconceived ideas about the Doctor.  This is nothing uncommon in Northern Ireland when controversy arises, of course.  And sadly, it is not uncommon even in evangelical circles, either.  

For the sake of clarity, let me explain the breakdown of the book.  The first half is a narrative of what the doctor's ministry meant to me personally - and it is a personal reflection and appreciation.  The second half is made up of extracts from his own sermons, over 320 of them, and these tell us what the Doctor believed about the Gospel and other Gospel issues.  What most people do not know is that DMLJ himself stated that he never believed in limited atonement, nor did he preach it ("only once on Rom.5:15, and I was in great difficulty when I did") - nor did the other Dr Lloyd-Jones, his wife, Bethan, so it is impossible how the impression could possibly be arrived at that he was, as some describe him, "a committed TULIP Calvinist," whatever that is. 

It would be profitable if those who seem to be exercised by this matter did as I did and extracted every statement the Doctor made that indicates that he believed in limited atonement.  This would clear up the matter once and for all. I wish them well! 

Having neither seen nor read the book, some people have already made up their minds that the book as well as the Doctor's theology/soteriology is unsound.  That is regrettable, because until the contents of the book are actually read and the accuracy of the references checked out from the original sources, people cannot possibly come to such an unwarranted conclusion.  Basic integrity demands that the book is read first before coming to any conclusion about it's contents. 

I think there is a great tendency within evangelicalism for Christians not to do their own thinking or to carry out their own research.  There is an incipient Roman Catholicism abroad within reformed evangelicalism in which Christians simply take as true whatever the "bishops" within that constituency say is the truth.  

So what will this book achieve?  It will provide possibly a stepping stone for evangelicals who are interested in discovering the truth about what DMLJ believed, taught and preached about the Gospel's content, and that can only be good for our precious faith.  

I have been appalled at the way reformed evangelicals have resorted to what could be termed 'dishonesty' to maintain and promote their faith.  The view that confessions can usurp the supreme place in the life of the Church was confirmed in a old edition of the Banner of Truth magazine when the writer lamented the fact that some reformed men, while affirming that they held the Scriptures to be the supreme standard of faith and conduct, and confessional formulations to be subordinate, actually and in practice made what is subordinate into the supreme.  For such men, it mattered only secondarily what Scripture plainly taught, while what the confessions said was paramount.  This is precisely my position.

I think reformed evangelicals need to return to the position where in actual fact and practice the Scriptures are our supreme and only final authority in all matters of faith and worship, not any man-made formulations.  Confessions have their place, undoubtedly, but they are NOT Scripture.

This was DMLJ's often repeated position, and it's mine, too.

If anyone reading this post wants to review the book, available at this site, I would ask that they check my extracts from DMLJ's own writings/sermons, my use of which I trust they will find to be accurate, and then if they disagree with what the Doctor said, so be it and then say so in their review.

When In ROME - George Buchanan

Michael J. F. McCarthy (1863/4-1928)

Subtitled:  

The Suppressed Writings Of Michael J. F. McCarthy

From the Foreword:

"George Buchanan's study of the life of Michael J. F. McCarthy was a major undertaking of his tragically short life. ... George was a man of quiet and sober disposition, not given to ostentation or show. He was a man who never volunteered his opinions without due consideration. George was a man of Ulster, and his concerns were Ulster concerns. He was a Protestant, by which George understood not some nominal commitment to a church or dioctrinal formulation, but a heartbeat after holiness. George's faith ran deep and was taken wth great seriousness. That is why George Buchanan identified himself with a number of the smaller Protestant denominations throughout his lifetime. Such matters had to be thought about seriously, and commitments were not to be entered into lightly. And so it was with this great undertaking, a study of the life of the controversial early twentieth century writer, Michael J. F. McCarthy.

George travelled widely, and closely researched the books, pamphlets, newspaper reports, and lesser minutiae that would help to piece together the life and labours of one of the most challenging, but also most neglected, literary figures to appear on the Irish scene during the Home Rule era.

What Michael J. F. McCarthy observed about Ireland, and the conclusions to which he was driven by these observations, provide the three great themes of this book. 

The book was written by George; the draft manuscript, the material of the book, lay contained within a series of computer discs. It fell to others to retrieve all George's research materials, together with the draft manuscript, and edit the text in such a way as to reveal the value of George's industry, and to bring into the light of day the story which it was George's burden to tell."

This book is about lawyer M. J. F. McCarthy, who authored some eighteen books on Ireland, is now available to the general reading public. Students of Irish Politics and Roman Catholicism - he was vehemently anti-clerical - will benefit from this book. Anyone with an interest in Ireland or in things Irish will find this book a very disturbing eye-opener.

One of the disturbing traits of Irish life has been the natural tendency to suppress information that would inform the world of the truth about what went on in that priest-ridden and secretive society.  This is seen currently in the utterly disgraceful pandemic of clerical child sex abuse that hits the news headlines every week in Northern Ireland.  Remember, this has been suppressed for generations, but is now very much in the public domain.  

McCarthy likens the Protestants in Ulster to the French Huguenots who were bitterly persecuted by the Catholic King Louis XIV of France in the seventeenth century.  This is gripping and compulsive reading, and highly informative.

The recommended cover price is £5.95, but any of my readers who is interested can get their copy from me for £5.00 (p&p extra; for postage and packing within the UK, please add £1). To get your copy of this limited edition publication, please email me at JEHLynch [at] gmail.com with your details so that delivery can be made as soon as possible.

The EU Indoctrinates Our Children

The EU has virtually conceded that the majority of people in the UK would want out of the Union at the earliest opportunity.  Adults will have the right to vote on this issue when the time comes, but the children and youths have not that right at present.

So what does the EU do?  Exactly what the Presbyterian Church in Ireland did about two decades ago when it had lost its battle to stay within the WCC and other ecumenical involvements because the adults had the voting power to make the church withdraw its membership from that cocktail of religious viewpoints and practices. having lost the battle with the adults, the youth department set about an indoctrination programme that would in effect teach them that there was only a few little insignificant doctrinal differences between Presbyterians and Roman Catholicism, and that they ought not to be afraid of meeting with them in 'fellowship,' thus leading to inter-marriage, and the eventual upbringing of any offspring as Catholics.

Our children are being taught in the schools, through EU produced propaganda, that our membership in the EU holds many positives for our lives.  But when you look behind it and realise that the EU is a top heavy Roman Catholic institution, it is very clear where this Parliament will take every nation that is part of it.  Our religious freedom to worship and serve God will be seriously curtailled and it will become a crime to evangelise, as it is in some places today.  This is a full frontal attack on our Evangelical and Protestant faith.  But many cannot see it, at least not many within the churches can see it.

Do you want that?  Now is a good time to write to your MP or MEP and ask what exactly is going on.

CHRIST NOT MUHAMMAD

These words from Dr Alan C. Clifford were never more urgently needed than they are today:

With a continuing and growing assault on our Christian heritage, never was there a greater need to get to grips with the truth of the Bible text: “No man ever spoke like this man” (John 7: 46). This was the response of amazed men who heard Christ. What truths explain their astonishment?

1. NO MAN EVER SPOKE LIKE JESUS CHRIST

And why? He was no ordinary man. He was perfect and sinless. He is the ‘God-man’ (Matthew 1: 23); ‘God manifest in the flesh’ (1 Timothy 3: 16); The Eternal ‘Word made flesh’ (John 1: 14).

Thus, He spoke words of truth, purity, love, kindness and compassion. He spoke with divine unction, grace and authority. No one else, before or since, ever spoke like Him. He is Creator, King, and Lord of the Universe.

On the other hand, Muhammad was an ordinary man. He was imperfect and sinful. He spoke words of error, impurity, hate and cruelty.

2. NO MAN EVER LIVED LIKE JESUS CHRIST

His life backed up His words. In lip and life, He was perfectly consistent. He brought blessing, healing, comfort and joy to people. His many miracles confirmed His deity.

His tender touch declared the compassion of God. He liberated women from the abusive treatment of selfish men. He rejected violence as a method of spreading His message. No life has ever been lived to match the life of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, Muhammad's life contradicted many of his more noble sayings. His life is not a good example for ‘private character’. His claims cannot compare with Christ’s. Spreading his message by the sword, he brought violence and bloodshed to those who refused to submit to his ‘Allah’. He humiliated women. His tenderness was reserved chiefly for his own sexual indulgence, and his stomach (according to wife, A’isha).

3. NO MAN EVER DIED LIKE JESUS CHRIST

While His life and preaching angered the religious establishment of His day, nothing could justify the hatred directed at Him. He was guilty of no sin. Expressing God’s mercy to us hell-deserving sinners, Jesus, Saviour of the world, died for our sins.

He died, ‘the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3: 18). In His agonizing crucifixion, He breathed nothing but love and kindness to His enemies. Such dying! Such love!

On the other hand, Muhammad died, burdened by his own guilt. Sadly and tragically, his death did not terminate his cruel conquests. Others perpetuated his vicious legacy.

4. NO MAN EVER BLESSED THE HUMAN RACE LIKE JESUS CHRIST

His impact on history is not just the effect of a perpetuation of His memory. Jesus rose from the dead! He lives! The Gospel is the greatest blessing the world has ever known! It has brought forgiveness, love, joy and peace. Christ has mended broken hearts and lives. He has given hope to those in despair. Through Him, the light of heaven has dispelled the darkness of death.

He has liberated individuals and nations. The Gospel has delivered people from ignorance, slavery, poverty and degradation. All that is truly good, noble, pure and beautiful comes from Him (even if apostate believers - crusading Roman Catholics and deity-denying Protestant Liberals - have corrupted His truth). Christ’s resurrection influence continues still where He is accepted, trusted and served.

On the other hand, Muhammad died, to rise no more, except to be judged by Christ when He returns. His tomb is not empty. His legacy is ignorance, cruelty, fear and oppression. The continued influence of his teachings is a threat to all that Christ represents.

In conclusion, the case for Christ and against Muhammad is compelling in every respect. Assessed by every test that may be devised, there is simply no competition. So let us all respond as did the men in our text! May we all acknowledge, believe, trust, love and surrender to the incomparable Christ. May we all rejoice in Him, and seek to make Him known throughout the world.

I am well aware that many in the secular West desire Christ no more than they desire Muhammad. Therefore, I must warn them. Even if they never suffer from some jihadic atrocity, they will stand before the judgement seat of Christ, when He returns to judge the world in righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 5: 10).

While opportunity remains, come to Christ! If you are a Muslim, renounce Muhammad, and come to Christ! Then, everything I have tried to express will become wonderfully and experientially true.

How Missionaries Are Promoting An Islamised Gospel

By Joel Richardson
In the world of questionable and sometimes downright silly Bible translations, one would think that it couldn’t get any worse
After all, we’ve seen the “In da beginnin’ Big Daddy created da heaven an’ da earth” Ebonics Bible, as well as the “Apostle’s Log” Star Trek English paraphrase Bible. In a more serious effort, the New Oxford Annotated Bible was created in part by pro-”gay” and feminist scholars in order to set forth a more “gay” revisionist interpretation of Scripture.
But now there is a major controversy developing as the latest altered Bibles are being created by organizations that most would think of as being more conservative and reasonable. At the forefront of the controversy are the Wycliffe Bible Translators, the Summer Institute of Linguistics and Frontiers, all of which are producing Bible translations that remove or modify terms which they have deemed offensive to Muslims.
That’s right: Muslim-friendly Bibles.
Included in the controversial development is the removal of any references to God as “Father,” to Jesus as the “Son” or “the Son of God.” One example of such a change can be seen in an Arabic version of the Gospel of Matthew produced and promoted by Frontiers and SIL. It changes Matthew 28:19 from this:
“baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
to this:
“cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.”
A large number of such Muslim-sensitive translations already are published and well-circulated in several Muslim-majority nations such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.
According to Joshua Lingel of i2 Ministries, “Even more dramatic a change is the Arabic and Bangla (Bangladesh) translations. In Arabic, Bible translations err by translating ‘Father’ as ‘Lord.’ ‘Guardian.’ ‘Most High’ and ‘God.” In Bangla, ‘Son of God’ is mistranslated ‘Messiah of God’ consistent with the Quran’s Isa al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah), which references the merely human Jesus.”
In response to these translations, many within the evangelical missions movement as well as many former Muslim converts and indigenous Christians from countries where these translations are being used, are indignant. After numerous appeals have been rejected, a petition has been launched to call for the end to the translations.
More than 3,000 already have signed up.
While the organizations that are promoting these translations are adamant that replacing such terms as Father with Lord or Master best conveys the inspired meaning of the text, many of the indigenous Christian leaders from the countries where these translations are being promoted are broadly rejecting the translations.
The indigenous believers see the introduction of these American-made translations with which they so strongly disagree as a form of American cultural imperialism or colonialism.
According to Turkish pastor Fikret Böcek, such new translations are, “an all-American idea with absolutely no respect for the sacredness of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church.”
According to the testimony of one leader from a church in Bangladesh, one of the most problematic aspects of this development is that it gives fuel to the often-heard Muslim claim that Christians are liars who change their Bibles to deceive Muslims. Once a Bible translation is well established within any country, the introduction of such radically different translations reinforces the Muslim charge and undermines trust in the Christian community.
According to Lingel, who can be contacted at info@i2ministries.org, the crisis in translation methodology is largely due to “a postmodern literary bias” that has crept into some translation circles in recent decades. Such translations would seem to demand that the divine author of the Bible change rather than the Muslim reader.
“But Jesus demanded that many of his listeners change,” says Lingel, explaining that instead of demanding that Muslim readers change their understanding of God, these translations seem to convey that God must accommodate the religious prejudices of Muslims.
“Lingel is also the co-editor of a new book, “Chrislam: How Missionaries Are Promoting an Islamized Gospel,” which represents the first major response against Muslim-sensitive translations as well as the larger movement often referred to as the “Insider Movement” or “Chrislam.”
According to reports, of the roughly 200 translation projects Wycliffe/SIL linguists have undertaken in Muslim contexts, about 30 or 40 remove the terms father and son with reference to God and Jesus.
Lingel’s response is quite direct, “These projects need to be defunded.”
Yet according to a recent Forbes “200 Largest U.S. Charities” report, the Orlando-based Wycliffe Bible Translators USA is the third most well-funded religious charity in the states.
Proponents of the Insider Movement claim that this method of reaching Muslims is bearing great fruit. Opponents, however, point out that the so-called converts within the Insider Movement remain “hidden” within their Muslim culture, continue to attend mosque, pray like a Muslim, acknowledge Muhammad as a prophet, the Quran as inspired, and make the Muslim credal confession, known as the “shahada.”
Some now claim that there are as many as 300,000-1.2 million new “Insider believers” in Bangladesh. But one former Insider who left the movement and speaks out in Lingel’s Chrislam book reports that the number of insiders couldn’t be more than 10,000. According to this source, many of the claims are greatly exaggerated so as to bring in more funding from wealthy American missionary organizations.
“Other former Insiders have reported publicly that many Insiders are really Muslims who will do whatever it takes for the jobs and money they are offered by pro-IM ministries to feed their families,” Lingel says.
Further questioning the funding and support of well-known Christian organizations of this movement, Lingel recounts, “I have consulted with the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention on missions and evangelism among Muslims at various times… [Who] stated that there are tens of thousands of Isa al-masih jamaats, or ‘Jesus congregations,’ in northern Africa. But the members of these jamaats call themselves Muslims, do not believe in the Trinity and believe Muhammad is a prophet of God. Are they Christians or Muslims? Why talk about them in terms of missionary success?”
In response to what many Christians see as a heretical movement based on deception, Lingel’s i2 Ministries is in the process of completing a video-based university called Mission Muslims World University, with 40 of the most experienced professors from around the world teaching courses in Muslim ministries, Islamic Studies, apologetics, evangelism and discipleship.

The Calvin/Owen Theological Relationship

It would be very interesting to discover what current scholarship on the Calvin/Owen theological relationship is finding out.  This is an issue that I am very interested in learning as much about as possible.  It is also very important to keep abreast with what current reformed and evangelical scholarship is saying, and more importantly to discover if modern scholarship and the historical theologians whose work is being studied, really do believe in the perspicuity of the Scriptures without feeling the need to squeeze its teaching into some/any manmade mould so that it produces a predetermined result. Logic is a good servant but a very bad master when it comes to matters theological.  Given that Owen was involved in drawing up the WCF, which is an Owenite rather than a Calvinistic document, and given that much reformed and evangelical scholarship is embedded within confessional church bodies, its conclusions will be very revealing.  

You can discover some excellent resources at Charenton where Dr Alan C Clifford's excellent scholarly treatise on the above issue is available for study.  Also, here you will find other works that explore the Calvin legacy.

You might also be interested in Calvin as a pastor; if so, please visit this site.

CARTWRIGHT, CALVIN AND THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

 

CARTWRIGHT, CALVIN AND

THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

Dr Alan C. Clifford

First-time students of English Puritanism soon discover Calvin’s profound influence on his ‘English sons’. The pioneer and leader Thomas Cartwright (1535-1603)provides very specific evidence in this respect in his presentation of the Gospel as well as his principles of presbyterian church order.

When asked for guidance in theological study, he predictably emphasised ‘the study of the Scripture itself’. After insisting that students should remember ‘the saying of our Saviour Christ, that you take no man to be your father or rabbi here upon earth [cf. Matt. 23: 7-10], he did not exclude the writings of ‘the friends and patrons of the Truth’. That said, Cartwright stresses that biblical theology must take priority over systematic theology. Thus, without questioning the use of biblical commentaries, he is careful to place such before theological treatises: ‘I would esteem also that the commentaries might be read before the other works, for that by them the Holy Scripture (from whence all sound knowledge is drawn to judge all other doctrine by) is made more familiar unto us’.

It is striking to see this criterion operating when Cartwright provides a list of worthy authors. His recommendations predictably include Greek and Latin ‘doctors’ among the ‘old writers’, and Augustine in particular. Among the ‘new writers’, he mentions Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr and other reformers. For works ‘wherein the whole body of the Doctrine of the Gospel is professed to be taught’, he unsurprisingly recommends ‘Mr Calvin’s Institutes’ and ‘Mr Beza’s Confession’. However, placing commentaries before treatises, Cartwright places Calvin at the top of the list: ‘I would content myself amongst the new writers with Mr Calvin’ because ‘for the shortness (brevity) he useth he departeth not far from the reading of the text itself’.

This crucial criterion probably explains the similarity between Cartwright’s and Calvin’s phraseology regarding the extent of the atonement. Just as Calvin generally preferred the New Testament’s universal language to even the ‘sufficient for all, efficient for the elect’ formula (which he still occasionally affirmed), Cartwright seems happy to adopt Calvin’s universalism rather than Beza’s particularism:

A Christian [having] sinned never so oft (as who doth not daily offend God) yet whensoever he returneth unto God by true repentance (which consisteth of inward contrition and a sure faith in Christ Jesus) he is assured by the Word of God to recover and receive again the grace, favour and mercy of God (which through his disobedience he had worthily lost) and immediately to enjoy full, absolute and perfect remission and forgiveness of all his sins, through Jesus Christ, in whom he reposeth all his faith, trust and confidence of salvation. The Gospel assureth him no less saying:

So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [John 3: 16, Cartwright’s version].
... What shall I say of Peter, Christ’s Apostle? Had not he a sure knowledge of Christ, endued with the Holy Ghost and grace from above? And yet after this, he had such a fall, [and] he did most cowardly and shamefully forsake and deny Christ, not without blasphemy. But he went forth and wept bitterly, ... and by faith he returned again unto Christ, knowing His mercy to be infinite and without measure; Christ appeared unto him (to his great comfort) after He rose again from death to life. ... And then Peter became a strong Champion, setting forth Christ to be the only Saviour of the whole world, preaching and openly confessing Him before all men, without any fear.

Such universal language is equally evident elsewhere:

It is no small bondage of Christian men’s consciences to compel them to number all their sins particularly [to the priest], with all due circumstances of time, person and place: and how many times every sin was committed... [the Papists] think that their confession is the cause of forgiveness of their sins: by reason whereof, they blot out the blessed benefit of the passion and death of Christ our only Saviour: which is the only obtainer of grace and mercy, for the sins of all mankind... For sure it is, that to God, no man is able to satisfy for sin: for that satisfaction hath only our Saviour Christ wrought in his painful passion and death.

Clearly then (on this evidence at least), Cartwright seems to be an ‘authentic Calvinist’, insisting on a ‘method’ which placed Holy Scripture before human systems. What a pity the Westminster Confession of Faith failed to reflect this!