Tim Challies just posted his notes from a talk by Dr. R. Albert Mohler. The topic was the legacy of John Calvin as a preacher & teacher. Follow this link to read it for yourself: Ligonier Conference – Al Mohler
Calvin understood the majesty of preaching because he understood the majesty of God. Calvin’s mode of preaching was verse-by-verse, book-by-book so he would not selectively avoid things he did not wish to teach. In this way God’s people receive all that they need and not just what the preacher determines the people need. The preacher is neither to add nor subtract from Scripture.
Well and good that Calvin went book by book, verse by verse, but at the very church the Mohlers attend, he is the *only* one to teach or preach expositorily (through his own unquestionably first-rate Sunday school class, or as his church calls its Sunday school now, “adult Bible fellowship,” emphasis on fellowship, meaning social events like swim parties and game nights are the priority). The pastors there, including the head of all their branch banks, rarely preach expositorily, Sunday school teachers other Al have explicit marching orders not to go too deep doctrinally, and Al is the only teacher… Read more »
Jim, wow. Just wow, Jim. Wow.
.-= Darby Livingston´s last blog ..A Scalpel or a Sword: Surgery or Slaughter? =-.
What an ad hominem attack Jim. As a brother in Christ, you should be ashamed of yourself. A Baptist distinctive you’re completely missing is the liberty of conscience. There is room in the SBC for Calvinists and non-Calvinists. There always have and there always will. Instead of slinging cannonballs at those we don’t agree with, we should seek to try to build bridges of fellowship with them. What happened at Southern is nothing short of a miracle, that Christ once again became Lord over the campus. I did my MDiv there and stand on the shoulders of men like Dr.… Read more »
@Jim – Good grief.
@Tony Kummer – Thanks for the link. I missed it when Tim posted it.
.-= Barry Wallace´s last blog ..Gianna Jessen and Jonah: Two lessons in God’s sovereignty =-.
Whether or not you agree with Jim’s tone, our brother’s comments are, to my knowledge, all quite accurate–including his praise of Mohler for being a fine teacher at an otherwise bland congregation. Jim’s historical references to Calvin’s decidedly un-Christian behavior to anyone who dared to oppose him are similarly on target. Any master of divinity student at any seminary studies church history from Justo Gonzalez, and if you go to p. 67 of vol. 2 of Gonzalez’s universally respected Story of Christianity, you will read how Calvin got a prominent physician executed in Geneva for daring to suggest that “the… Read more »
I think you have done your homework on the history of as you call him, the Butcher of Geneva. So, if he had such a prominent role in the city, why was he banished from the city? With the issue of Servetus, you call him a physician but his crime was heresy. He denied the Trinity and was wanted by the Inquisition. Being a man of his time, which we cannot fully understand, Calvin compiled the list of offenses but the prosecution was left to another and the punishment for heresy in that time was death. We cannot read our… Read more »
While I am no fan of John Calvin due precisely to his persecuting practices, and while I hold firmly to Sovereign Grace and know of instances in the first 17 years of the 1500s (before Luther posted his 95 theses), some 35o in England where there were a number prosecuted and persecuted for their holding to things like predestination, I do know that the doctrines of grace are the heritage of the Southern Baptist Convention and Seminary. The man who dreamed the dream and then brough the seminary into existence, Dr.Basil Manly, Sr., was in the words of the First… Read more »
Wow. Who brought up the old post with all the loving comments? 🙂
The main obsession I see with Calvinism in the SBC is those who are opposed to it. Doesn’t the fact that Dr. Mohler belongs to the church he does show that he is not one who desires nothing more than to push Calvinism?
.-= iMark Lamprecht´s last blog ..Senator Ted Kennedy Dies at 77 =-.
Thank you Mark. It is encouraging to see someone using reason and logic. Mohler’s pastor is an outspoken non-calvinist. That says enough for me.
The fact that Dr. Mohler is a member where the pastor is a an outspoken noncalvinist reminds me of Basil Manly, Sr., and his refusal to intrude his views upon others, while at the same time he was fully committed to the Doctrines of Grace. It might surprise many, but true liberalism develops in the tradition of Sovereign Grace. Roger Williams was a committed believer in these teachings, and yet he wrote religious liberty into law. I want people to believe like I do, but I want them to come on their own, being fully persuaded by the facts as… Read more »
“Just as the recent champion of pumping membership rolls by marrying young and having lots of kids whether or not you are mature enough and financially stable enough to do a good job did, in point of fact, stop at having just two kids, had them *after* he was out of seminary.” You know, it is interesting: if you knew anything about Dr. Mohler, you might have an idea that it’s actually a great blessing he has two kids when the doctors first told he and his wife they would have none. You go off on several diatribes and through… Read more »
Thank you Mike! Well said! And his position on that is in response to deliberate childlessness in Christian marriages. The best way to grow the church is 9 months at a time, and raise a godly family that develops into a lifetime of faith.
Scott — Unfortunately, I believe many folks have that same thought you just stated. The truth is, though, that only Christ can grow the church. We can not “birth” a stronger church.
In Christ,
Sallie
.-= Sallie´s last blog ..Home-made Oatmeal Packets =-.
Sallie, am I understanding you right that it’s “unfortunate” for Christian parents to use their families as Gospel ministry fields? And when did I ever imply that was “growing” the church? It’s a simple fact that Christians tend to self-replicate, it’s been a commonality throughout church history
That was the whole point of what I said, that those who raise their children to love Christ (even if they have a Duggar-sized family) have the right to do so and praise God for that
And when did I ever imply that was “growing” the church?
Scott,
Not that I necessarily disagree with your point, but she may have thought you mean that when you said
The best way to grow the church is 9 months at a time
.-= Joe Blackmon´s last blog ..A Christian Response to Health Care Reform pt 2 =-.
A good spirit in disagreements is a matter to be sought and cherished. Oneupsmanship is always an ugly guest in discussing contentious issues. Does anyone really win when they crush their opponent? God has called us to peace,and, above all, Sovereign Grace should make us people of peace.
.-= Dr. James Willingham´s last blog ..The Climax of the Reformation =-.
Ha touché. I think I meant grow numerically and she probably meant conversion growth. My bad on that one! Sorry about that guys