(Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, whose writings revealed the sordid underside of the communist system, was expelled from the USSR in 1974. In June, 1978 he was asked to give the commencement address at Harvard University. I don't know what they expected to hear, but here are some excerpts from what they did hear.) Harvard’s motto is … Continue reading Prophetic words from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Christianity
The French Foreign Legion and the Church
(My wife has written about the nature of an army and you can read her posts at christineevelynvance - see link at lower right. This is a supplement to what she has written.) The Légion Étrangère was founded in 1831 as a unit of the French Army that would be open to voluntary enlistment by … Continue reading The French Foreign Legion and the Church
Does the Bible say black skin is a curse?
The short answer is no. What follows here is a very abbreviated version of the longer answer. The book of Genesis tells of curses on Cain and Canaan. In ancient Jewish folklore the curse on Cain was linked with slavery and the curse on Canaan, somehow transferred to his father Ham, with a black skin. … Continue reading Does the Bible say black skin is a curse?
Questions
It happened the summer that I was 11 years old. I was bicycling along the shoulder of the highway that ran close by our home when I saw a cardboard box lying in the ditch. I stopped to take a closer look and saw that there were three or four Crispy Crunch bars inside. I … Continue reading Questions
English Christianity – Part 7
SO WHAT’S THE POINT? What is there to learn from this tracing of the tangled threads of church history? First, that God is able to work in wonderful and mysterious ways to bring the Gospel to people. This would accord with our Saviour’s statement in Luke 9:50 that “he that is not against us is … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 7
English Christianity – Part 6
METHODISTS Returning briefly to the Moravian Brethren, it was at one of their meetings in London that John Wesley felt his heart “strangely warmed” one evening in 1638. From that time he began to preach the Gospel wherever people would listen. He visited Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian settlements in Germany, and learned much from … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 6
English Christianity – Part 5
ENGLISH MENNONITES IN HOLLAND In May of 1610 there was a conference between the Waterlanders and John Smyth’s congregation. At this time a confession of faith was drawn up and signed by those participating and it appears that the Englishmen were now accepted as part of the Mennonite church. It may be that they were … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 5
English Christianity – Part 2
INFLUENCE OF WYCLIFFE IN BOHEMIA - HUSSITES The writings of John Wycliffe reached as far as Bohemia, where they were adopted, at least in part, by Jan Hus. Hus was appointed rector of the University of Prague in 1401 and chaplain of Bethlehem Chapel in Prague in 1402. Hus preached in the Czech language and … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 2
English Christianity – Part 1
PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY The exact time when the Christian faith first reached the British Isles is lost in the mists of time. Traditions that the Apostle Paul or Joseph of Arimathea first brought the Gospel to England seem somewhat dubious, but cannot be proved or disproved at this distance in time. There is evidence, though, that … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 1
Imaginary Sympathy
Around 50 years ago The Readers’ Digest carried an article suggesting that the word “sympathy” had become so degraded in common usage as to make the word unacceptable to many people. As I recall, the writer felt that “sympathy” had taken on too much of a connotation of superiority towards the person one felt sympathy … Continue reading Imaginary Sympathy
