10 December
By
On
In The Bible and Scientific Issues

This article is from Trowel & Sword, the magazine of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, May 1999. The letters of your two correspondents in the last issue of T & S suggest they have not understood, assuming they have read, the Biblical arguments I have tried to develop in Foundations in Genesis. Lord’s Day 43 in the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that God’s will is that we never give false testimony against anyone or twist their words. We Christians must keep this in mind when we discuss our differences. My two brothers seem to have such a narrow view of what is authentically ReformedRead More →

10 December
By
On
In Book Reviews, The Bible and Scientific Issues

by Peter Lemesurier (London: Piatkus Books 2000) pbk. 325pp) ISBN: 0749921633   From The Presbyterian Banner, September 2002 Peter Lemesurier appears to be one of the more sane followers of Michel de Nostredame (1503-66), if that is not a contradiction in terms. Nostradame, later known as Nostradamus, was a contemporary of his fellow Frenchman John Calvin (1509-65), but was a far different character. Nostradamus was of Jewish extraction but a practising Roman Catholic. He achieved considerable fame as a physician of the plague, although his medical qualifications are uncertain, and he did not claim great success himself. He was also famed somewhat as an ‘astrologer’,Read More →

09 December
By
On
In Book Reviews, The Bible and Scientific Issues

 By Peter Harrison (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), xii + 313pp., A$105 This review by Rowland S. Ward appeared in the Reformed Theological Review, December 1999.   Peter Harrison is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bond University, Qld. He has authored a volume that is well-written and rsearched and which is very valuable in understanding the origins of the natural sciences. A common view since the 1930s has been that the Puritans were the key to the rise of the sciences since so many of them were involved in the founding of the Royal Society. They were also over-represented in the sciences compared to theirRead More →

01 December
By
On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

Extracted from The Psalms in Christian Worship, pp. 1-6 It should be noted that the author holds the singing of the Psalter in public worship is a godly practice and supported by a number of lines of argument. However, he does not hold that use of other song material in public worship is necessarily sinful. He recognises there have always been differences over the application of the regulating principle of Scripture in this area, and has no interest in advancing exaggerated underpinning for the practice. While this book is not intended as an exhaustive study of the principles underlying the practice of singing only theRead More →

01 December
By
On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

Historical aspects of the practice of Reformed worship suggested by a booklet of the same name by Iain H. Murray published by the Banner of Truth Trust, 2001. Published in The Presbyterian Banner, December 2001 and The Monthly Record of the Free Church of Scotland, January 2002 The title says it all. Murray’s answer is in the negative as expected from one who severely criticised the modernisation of many old hymns in Rejoice! – the 1987 hymnbook of the denomination which holds his ministerial credentials, the Presbyterian Church of Australia. However, why is Banner publishing this material? Given that Murray has been notorious for excludingRead More →

24 April
By
On
In The Bible and Scientific Issues

From The Presbyterian Banner, November 2005 The popular weekly British news and information magazine New Scientist has a special report on Fundamentalism in its 8 October 2005 issue. The first article ‘End of the Enlightenment’ argues that reason, pluralism, democracy and freedom of thought are under threat from intolerant belief systems – the fundamentalists of Christian, Muslim and other persuasions. Unable to cope with modernity’s challenge to religious orthodoxy, and fearful of secularism’s cultural dominance, they fight back by asserting the infallibility of the sacred text, the superiority of their belief system to all others, the inadequacy of reason, and the subjugation of human freedomRead More →