R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 133

The Lost Letter to the Corinthians

A book on Calvin, John Calvin and the Printed Book by Jean- François Gilmont, tells a rather intriguing story. But first, we need some background. Calvin was kicked out of Geneva in 1538 and went to Strasbourg. While there, he published his first commentary, on the epistle to the Romans. It rolled off the press in 1540. The next year, 1541, the city of Geneva begged Calvin to come back. He wrote to a friend, “There is no place under heaven of which I can have a greater dread.” But he felt called by God, and so he went.

When he published his Romans commentary, he was determined to keep going through Paul’s epistles. But a roadblock got in the way, a roadblock named Geneva. The church needed Calvin’s full attention, and he gave it to them. So, these early years of the 1540s were much consumed by church work. The commentary writing went to the back burner. Calvin eventually managed to find some equilibrium and started writing again. His commentary on 1 Corinthians came out in 1546. And now we get to our story.

After he sent off his commentary on 1 Corinthians to the printer in Strasbourg, Calvin set to work on 2 Corinthians. He finished it in a flurry. From what we can tell, Calvin’s record was 17,000 words in about three days. That’s one hundred pages. So, at that pace, he finished 2 Corinthians.

In late July 1546, he sent the manuscript—the only copy of the manuscript—by way of a courier to Strasbourg. It was handwritten. No backup. It was typical for a copy to be made, but Calvin did not want to waste the extra time to making a copy. That was likely a miscalculation. Not long after the only copy left with the courier, it went missing. For a whole month, it disappeared. Another roadblock. Back in Geneva was a very anxious Calvin. He wrote, “If I find that my commentary is lost, I have decided to never touch Paul again.”2 His friends weren’t of much help. Rather than console him, William Farel wrote to him, “Given that mothers do not neglect their children, you too, should have sent out this fruit of the Lord with greater care.”3 Ouch. Apparently, Farel was reading the account of Job’s friends and mistakenly thought it was a command.

But, on September 15, 1546, the word reached Calvin that the manuscript was found safely at Strasbourg and being set to print. No explanations have come down through history, so we’re not sure where the manuscript was during this long time it was lost. It might have had something to do with the Schmalkaldic Wars—wars between the Holy Roman Empire, or what was left of it, and the league of German and Swiss princes known as the Schmalkaldic League. We don’t know. What we do know is that it caused Calvin a month-load of grief.

This story is interesting because it shows us a Calvin we can relate to. One who frets and worries. One who says desperate things—“I’ll never touch Paul again.” One who gets anxious. I don’t know what image you have of Calvin; I hope it’s not the wrongheaded caricature of a dour and mean prophet of gloom. I suspect we tend to think of him as living a somewhat what ivory tower life, immune from the challenges we all face in life. Immune from disappointments and roadblocks, frustrations and anxieties. He was not. Maybe we think of him as a super-Christian, always living out the commands of Christ. No, he wasn’t that, either. Yet, it is precisely in his humanity that we not only need to see him, but we see him as an example for us. I like stories like this because I lose everything. Keys. I misplace my wallet at least three times a week. I don’t like gift cards because, well, I lose them. And I get anxious. We are commanded to be anxious for nothing. But in our frailty, we do. Calvin is part of our company.

If Calvin is known for anything, it’s reminding the church of a bedrock faith that God is sovereign over His universe. God is even sovereign over so-called lost manuscripts. We fret and worry and get anxious. We even say desperate things. All the while, we need to rest in God. To trust Him through the roadblocks. As Paul says in the opening lines of 2 Corinthians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (1:3).

This excerpt is adapted from 5 Minutes in Church History by Stephen Nichols.

Busyness and Rest

Here’s an excerpt from Busyness and Rest, Kevin DeYoung’s contribution to the July issue of Tabletalk:

Don’t think Jesus is some kind of esoteric teacher who spent His life solely in contemplation. If Jesus ministered in the flesh today, He’d get more emails than any of us. He would have people and the media clamoring for His attention. Jesus did not float above the fray, untouched by the pressures of normal human existence. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). And that includes the temptation to be sinfully busy.

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Who Was Zwingli, and What Was His Impact on the Reformation?

From one of our live Ask Ligonier events, Stephen Nichols explains how Ulrich Zwingli came to challenge the Roman Catholic Church and help lead the Swiss Reformation.

To get real-time answers to your biblical and theological questions, just Ask.Ligonier.org.

Read the Transcript

The Methods vs. The Message

Many Christians go their entire lives without being used by God to be the human instrument and means by which a person comes to Christ. My own calling is not as an evangelist, but seeing another human being come to Christ is the most meaningful ministry experience I've ever had.

I once was hired by a church to be the minister of theology, which meant that my job was to teach. They also added to my job description "minister of evangelism." I said I didn't know anything about evangelism. So, they sent me to a seminar to train in evangelism.

The minister leading the seminar talked about how to memorize an outline, how he uses key questions to stimulate discussion, and how there's a pattern to the way in which evangelism is to flow. The idea behind the method he used was to focus attention on the ultimate issue of a person's individual redemption—how can he justify himself before God? Most people will say that they have lived a good life; very few will say that they have been justified by faith alone in Christ alone.

Methods such as these have much to recommend them. They are easy to learn, and they make it possible for people to engage in discussions about Christianity, though care must be taken that one is not simply reading a script but rather is really connecting with the other person.

Ultimately, evangelism is less about the method one uses and more about the message one proclaims. Evangelism, remember, is the proclamation of the gospel—telling the story, announcing the news. Some fear that they don't know enough to evangelize. I say, "Tell them what you do know." Leave the defense of the truth claims to the apologist and hold forth the simple message of the gospel. Anyone who has the ability to speak about three or four simple principles can become an effective evangelist. This is where evangelism programs and training can help.

This excerpt is taken from What Is the Great Commission? by R.C. Sproul. Download more free ebooks in the Crucial Questions series here.

Who Was Athanasius?

In this brief clip from his teaching series A Survey of Church History, W. Robert Godfrey gives a brief introduction to Athanasius, one of the key defenders of orthodoxy in the ancient church. Watch this entire message for free today.

Transcript

Athanasius, one of the great heroes of the ancient church period, later recognized to be a saint by the Western and Eastern churches. Athanasius, a man of great courage, of great faithfulness, and of great insight into theological truth, and Athanasius would later become bishop of Alexandria, and become the key defender of orthodoxy, and he would actually be exiled five different times, thrown out of his church, and then called back, always defending the truth. And so, associated with Athanasius came the Latin phrase, Athanasius contra mundum – Athanasius against the world. He stood against the whole world in the name of truth and he ultimately prevailed.

How Important Are Creeds and Confessions?

From its earliest days, the church has proclaimed the truth of Scripture using the language of creeds. From one of our live Ask R.C. events, R.C. Sproul details the importance of creeds and confessions for the church.

To get real-time answers to your biblical and theological questions, just Ask.Ligonier.org.

Read the Transcript

Medieval Cathedrals

Could you imagine starting a building project that you know you will not finish in ten or twenty or even thirty years? It’s almost impossible for us to even think like that. Now try this: imagine starting a building project that you will not see completed in your lifetime. You won’t even see it completed in your children’s lifetime. And you won’t even see it completed in your grandchildren’s lifetime. Imagine a building project that would take not decades, but centuries to finish. If you can imagine that, then welcome to the building of a medieval cathedral.

Westminster Abbey, the iconic cathedral near the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben along the River Thames in downtown London, stands as a great example. The cathedral, begun in 960, is still having finishes and additions in the twenty-first century.

Cathedrals were such grand edifices that they were literally centuries in the making, and they exhibited a variety of styles. There are Norman cathedrals and English cathedrals. Some of the cathedrals have flying buttresses that support the great height and, of course, the significant weight of the cathedrals. Others have vaulted ceilings. The famous King’s College Chapel in Cambridge is one of the finest examples of the vaulted ceiling style. These are marvels of art and architecture.

These cathedrals also have many commonalities. We can speak of at least five shared elements and features of these cathedrals:

Narthex
Nave
Aisle
Apse
Transepts

First is the narthex or vestibule. This is the part of the cathedral into which you enter as you come from the outside world, before you enter the sanctuary. The narthex is a transitional space to prepare you for entering into worship. In most cathedrals, these tend to be darker spaces without windows.

As you walk into a cathedral, that long center aisle is called a nave. Some think that it was named for a ship, from the word naval, and it comes from the shape of a ship. On each side of the nave are the aisles. The sides of the cathedral are considered the aisles.

At the far end, you have the apse. The apse is the semicircular, domed portion of a cathedral. There, you will find the pulpit or the altar. Usually, in the back of the apse, there are windows made of stained glass. And, since cathedrals are oriented to the east, as the sun rises, its rays penetrate that stained glass and flood the nave of the cathedral with light.

In front of the apse, the cathedral branches out to each side. These branches are called transepts. The word transept literally means “a partition across.” The transepts on either side form two arms, as it were, that extend out from near the front of the cathedral. If you look at a cathedral from above, you very clearly see a cross shape.

As you walk into a cathedral, your eyes are drawn upward by the columns and the architecture. Even the geometrical shapes within the cathedrals draw your eyes upward; they lift you off this human horizontal plane and point you toward God. These medieval cathedrals are wonderful feats of architecture. They are cross-shaped and heaven-focused.

This excerpt is adapted from 5 Minutes in Church History by Stephen Nichols.

$5 Friday: Preaching, the Psalms, & Grace

It’s time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week’s resources include such topics as John Calvin, preaching, covenants, Scripture, providence, the Psalms, grace, and more.

Sale runs through 12:01 a.m. — 11:59 p.m. Friday ET.

View today’s $5 Friday sale items.

The Faithfulness of Christ in the Little Things

Here’s an excerpt from The Faithfulness of Christ in the Little Things, Sinclair Ferguson’s contribution to the July issue of Tabletalk:

It is a principle in Christ’s kingdom that “one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10). But in that kingdom, the Lord Jesus also practiced what He preached. His whole life illustrated “little-things faithfulness.” The theme merits book-length treatment, and this brief essay is intended simply to encourage us all to notice some of the little things we may have tended to overlook in the life of the Savior. Here are five of them.

Continue reading The Faithfulness of Christ in the Little Things, or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3-month trial.

For a limited time, the new TabletalkMagazine.com allows everyone to browse and read the growing library of back issues, including this month’s issue.

Announcing Our 2020 Kingsburg Conference in California

Disciples of Christ are no longer of the world; our desire is for a new city prepared by God. Yet we are not to abandon this world. Having been called out of the darkness, we are sent back into an unbelieving and perishing world so that people may be saved. Now is not the time to let fear of ridicule hinder this mission. We must boldly proclaim the truth.

Join us on April 24-25, 2020, for Unashamed, a two-day conference in Kingsburg, CA. W. Robert Godfrey, Steven Lawson, and John MacArthur will remind us of the power of the good news, paint a picture of gospel-shaped ministry, and help us to say along with the Apostle Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Rom. 1:16). Register today to secure your early-bird discount.

Sessions:

The Gospel of God Regarding His Son by Steven Lawson
The Mark of Faith by W. Robert Godfrey
Encouraged by Faith by John MacArthur
Q&A with Godfrey, Lawson, and MacArthur
Gospel Obligation by Steven Lawson
The Power of God by W. Robert Godfrey
Faith from First to Last by John MacArthur

Register Now