Pastoral Ponderings » theologians http://vasbyburnie.net The view from the Church Hill Vicarage (of St Bartholomew's, Wednesbury) Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:31:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The faith of St Patrick http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/03/14/the-faith-of-st-patrick/ http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/03/14/the-faith-of-st-patrick/#comments Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:57:18 +0000 Tim V-B http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/03/14/the-faith-of-st-patrick/ St Patrick’s day is almost here.  Unlike so many early saints, we actually know a fair bit about Patrick – there are two surviving letters of his.  For a brief overview of his life, see the Wikipedia entry.  Although he probably didn’t drive the snakes out of Ireland, he was a great missionary with a real faith in Christ.  Go read his ‘Declaration‘ in which he writes about his life and faith as he defends himself against various charges.  Here’s an extract, which could be a creed he wrote himself; he is (basically) explaining why he was a missionary:

Here I cannot be silent … Because there is no other God, nor ever was, nor will be, than God the Father unbegotten, without beginning, from whom is all beginning, the Lord of the universe, as we have been taught; and His son Jesus Christ, whom we declare to have always been with the Father, spiritually and ineffably begotten by the Father before the beginning of the world, before all beginning; and by Him are made all things visible and invisible. He was made man, and, having defeated death, was received into heaven by the Father; and He hath given Him all power over all names in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess to Him that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe, and whose advent we expect soon to be, judge of the living and of the dead, who will render to every man according to his deeds; and He has poured forth upon us abundantly the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality, who makes those who believe and obey sons of God and joint heirs with Christ; and Him do we confess and adore, one God in the Trinity of the Holy Name.

Amen and Amen!

]]> http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/03/14/the-faith-of-st-patrick/feed/ 1 Calvin the Church Planter http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/02/22/calvin-the-church-planter/ http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/02/22/calvin-the-church-planter/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:58:58 +0000 Tim V-B http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/02/22/calvin-the-church-planter/ The caricature of Calvin has him sitting alone, writing dry academic theology. The reality is far different, as anyone who’s actually read Calvin’s Institutes knows very well!

But there’s more. An article here (at www.rts.edu/quarterly/fall01/james.html) describes Calvin’s love of mission and supporting missionaries / church planters around the world.

You can hear the original talk (1 hr 45min) at this site if you use iTunes. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to get iTunes working with Linux so if anyone downloads it will you e-mail it to me!!  (Update – thank you TS for doing this, and for not commenting on the [alleged] superiority of Mac to Linux…)

[HT: Between Two Worlds]

]]> http://vasbyburnie.net/2008/02/22/calvin-the-church-planter/feed/ 1