John R W Stott (1921-2011)

From First Thoughts

Never mind the radio and television preachers we hear so much about. The two most influential figures on English-speaking evangelicalism in the 20th and 21st centuries were, not Baptist or Pentecostal, but  members in good standing of the Church of England: C. S. Lewis and John R. W. Stott, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Murdoch’s good news of the world

From First Thoughts

A newsworthy item from the CNN Belief Blog:It just so happens that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which is weathering a storm of criticism around newspaper ethics, also owns the rights to the world’s best-selling English Bible, the New International Version.Could this lead to an explosion . . . . Continue Reading »

A family bible

From First Thoughts

My great-grandmother, Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder, died several years before I was born, so I have no personal memories of her. However, I do have her family Bible, a hefty King James version printed in 1892 that has been passed down the generations and came into my possession not quite twenty years . . . . Continue Reading »

Americans ahead of their time

From First Thoughts

In 1931 the Statute of Westminster elevated the so-called Dominions within the British Empire to a status of equality with the United Kingdom itself. These included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, the Union of South Africa and the Irish Free State. The Empire thus became the . . . . Continue Reading »

Chanting the psalms, daily prayer

From First Thoughts

An acquaintance recently called to my attention two paragraphs from the Second Helvetic Confession, one of the confessional standards of the Swiss and Hungarian Reformed Churches, as well as of the Presbyterian Church (USA):CHAPTER XXIIIOf the Prayers of the Church, of Singing, and of Canonical . . . . Continue Reading »

Is the earth full?

From First Thoughts

Are we on the brink of an ecological “Great Disruption”? Paul Gilding thinks so, reports Thomas Friedman.Gilding cites the work of the Global Footprint Network, an alliance of scientists, which calculates how many “planet Earths” we need to sustain our current growth rates. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Geneva Bible’s influence

From First Thoughts

This passage from Marilynne Robinson’s The Death of Adam makes me wonder whether we should have celebrated the 450th anniversary of the Geneva Bible last year in preference to observing the 400th of the King James Version this year:“The Geneva Bible, first published in 1560, was a very . . . . Continue Reading »