William Bagshawe: preaching the word in season and out of season
It’s a gloriously starry night. The moon lights up the countryside in an eerie silver light, revealing tree lines, gorges and valleys. Perched on the side of a craggy moor, inside the ruins of an ancient chapel, a group of peasants, men and women, huddle around a number of small lanterns. Lookouts are posted. All around there is an air of nervous expectation.
Early or Late? Dating the Gospels
Questions regarding the Gospels’ legitimacy, authorship and date have been debated from when they were first written to now. But does any of this really matter? Does it actually make a difference to us as we read our Bible?
Balthasar Hubmaier: a greater theologian than Calvin?
I recently attended a study week with Josh, my co-writer at Eat Write Sleep. Around a nice, roaring fire in a Country Manor on the Welsh border, he asked an interesting question: ‘Who are your top ten theologians?’ His point being that the vast majority of them were Presbyterians…
By prayer let us wrestle: encouragements from the Welsh Methodists
In the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist revivals of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the Lord worked powerfully in answer to the prayers of his people. It is said that the prayer meeting is the powerhouse of the church. With this in mind, here are three encouragements for us as believers to wrestle in prayer.
Charles Spurgeon on suffering, depression and humour
For those uninitiated into the colourful world of one of the most gifted and flowery nineteenth-century preachers, you’re in for a treat! However, one side to Spurgeon which doesn’t get too much attention is the very real struggle he had with depression throughout his own life.
Critical Theory and the Reformation
Today’s Reformation Day, so we thought we’d do something a bit different. We’re going on an exploration of sorts, looking at this great historical event to see what it can teach us about how we should approach one of the philosophies that most shapes our lives today. Critical Theory The Dutch theologian Hermann Bavinck once […]
Why we must learn about the Reformation today
Why do we need to know about Luther, Calvin and all the reformers? In this episode, Michael, Ryan and Josh sit down to discuss how important church history is for us as believers, how it helps us makes sense of our world, how it encourages us, but also that we should not romanticise the period. […]
Remembering the Wars: 100 years since the end of WWI
On the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 2018 we shall stop to remember once more all those who have fallen in conflict. I like to remember more than just the last century: for all those who have died to conflict; I think of the warfare of the Thirty Years War and remember the […]
Remembering, commemorating and romanticising the Reformation
Five hundred years ago a big event happened in Europe that changed the course of history forever. Five hundred years ago this month, a monk nailed 95 theses to a door, a move which would shake the foundations of the European world and indeed the global world forevermore. Five hundred years ago, was the beginning […]
Five hundred years of the Reformation: recommended reading material
October is upon us and this month we are celebrating 500 years of the Reformation, but beyond some random hot-headed monk banging a bit of paper on a church-door and a few fights, what else happened? It is my aim in this post to list a number of short books on the Reformation and Reformation […]
18th Century Methodism: an introduction to the social movement
Christians who look back to the 18th century usually focus on the spiritual revival that took place, often termed the ‘Great Awakening’. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, what can tend to be left-out and forgotten is the enormous social impact the movement had on society. Methodism was a movement that grew out of a […]
The Reformation: what were the consequences?
Happy Reformation Day everyone! What was the Reformation you ask? Well it was when the Protestant church broke away from the Catholic Church, all starting with Martin Luther on the 31st October with his 95 theses which he nailed to a church door. This along with the thoughts and ideas of other theologians were spread […]