With the recent installation of the new pope Francis, it should not be hard to see why the puritans dissented. Pope Francis seemed to delight in praying from the papal balcony to Mary: "Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen". This "prayer" is the famous hail Mary addressing her adoringly, making petitions to her, contrary to all sound wisdom, biblical teaching and the history of Judeo-Christian traditions.
Let us hear the words of the Bible which so evidently dismiss such possibilities of blasphemously praying to Mary or any other saints.
Jesus said before his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension: "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son".
Listen to the preaching of Peter in Jerusalem: "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Listen to Paul instructing Timothy who was in the idolatrous city of Ephesus, to guard Christians from attempting to approach God though any other means than Jesus Christ: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time".
Now I have not even begun to mention the errors of Roman Catholic teaching, such as the office of priests, the assumed supremacy of the office of pope over all Christendom (something that Orthodox churches have never accepted neither Protestants), Catholic mass substituting the Lord's Supper, the use of vestments, incense, statues, and the lack of plain preaching to teach the way of salvation. Imagine if these beliefs and practices were forcibly applied to your church. This is what happened during the times of the puritans. The stakes were high.
The puritans, on straightforward biblical grounds dissented against Roman Catholic teaching, worship and practices (or any Anglo-Catholic practices which were half-reformed). The puritan vision continues because it is a biblical vision and we must give no ground to the Roman Catholic Church which does not bear the marks of a true church. These marks are the preaching of pure doctrine, the right administration of the sacraments, and church order and discipline.
Monday, 25 March 2013
Monday, 18 March 2013
Post-Christian England Desperately Needs Puritan principles for Worship
It is vitally important to stress the need for a recovery of biblical worship. The tables need to be turned. The biblical and puritan vision was and is to be concerned with doing things the way God requires things to be done. However, often the "cart is before the horse" and Christians and churches often think to themselves: "what would I like to happen in church worship services?". This is to get things back to front. Without being irreverent, I would like to suggest that we must always ask "what does God like in worship?". However, this is rarely considered and if it is then the conclusions must be based on Holy Scripture.
Worship wars have happened from the beginning, just look at the narrative with Cain and Abel. The onset of the dark ages was the onset of spiritual darkness in the realm of public worship in Europe. Services began to be held in Latin which few understood. Preaching, reading and discussion in the church must be done in the vernacular of that day. This is what makes the proponents of the King James Version of the Bible misplaced, because its language is Elizabethan english. I love the prose of Elizabethan english but we must not produce stumbling blocks to people by making it difficult for them to understand the message of the Bible.
One of the first documents that the Westminster Assembly produced was The Directory for the Publick Worship of God. This document and Chapter 21 of the Westminster Confession of Faith lays down for us, the elements of public worship. This is what we call the "regulative principle for worship". It is to set down the "divine institution" of worship and these never change between the first and second coming of Christ.
There are many voices that contend that we are living in post-Christian England therefore they claim that we must find new ways of doing new things. Post-Christian England needs a recovery of puritan worship principles because these are biblical worship principles, not the new worship inventions of men. Fallen man has not changed. Fallen men and women are rebels, they are haters of God and we do not accomodate their whims and preferences for how we worship God. No, it is God Almighty who decides how we worship God.
Here are three worship principles for us all to consider.
I. Worship must be conducted with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12:28-29 "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire".
II. We must only approach God in worship and prayer through the one mediator the Lord Jesus Christ. It is forbidden in the Bible to pray in the name of Mary, angels, saints, or anyone, but worship and prayer must be through the name of Jesus. The Bible contradicts the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church and the new pope's public praying on TV which was to Mary. Let us submit to Holy Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus".
III. Preaching and the reading of the Scriptures should be the priority of public worship. There is a misconception among some Christians who somehow think that having a good time of singing is to have a good time of worship. Listen to Paul writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:21 "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe".
May we all learn of Christ and rediscover puritan principles for worshipping God in post-Christian England and Europe.
Worship wars have happened from the beginning, just look at the narrative with Cain and Abel. The onset of the dark ages was the onset of spiritual darkness in the realm of public worship in Europe. Services began to be held in Latin which few understood. Preaching, reading and discussion in the church must be done in the vernacular of that day. This is what makes the proponents of the King James Version of the Bible misplaced, because its language is Elizabethan english. I love the prose of Elizabethan english but we must not produce stumbling blocks to people by making it difficult for them to understand the message of the Bible.
One of the first documents that the Westminster Assembly produced was The Directory for the Publick Worship of God. This document and Chapter 21 of the Westminster Confession of Faith lays down for us, the elements of public worship. This is what we call the "regulative principle for worship". It is to set down the "divine institution" of worship and these never change between the first and second coming of Christ.
There are many voices that contend that we are living in post-Christian England therefore they claim that we must find new ways of doing new things. Post-Christian England needs a recovery of puritan worship principles because these are biblical worship principles, not the new worship inventions of men. Fallen man has not changed. Fallen men and women are rebels, they are haters of God and we do not accomodate their whims and preferences for how we worship God. No, it is God Almighty who decides how we worship God.
Here are three worship principles for us all to consider.
I. Worship must be conducted with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12:28-29 "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire".
II. We must only approach God in worship and prayer through the one mediator the Lord Jesus Christ. It is forbidden in the Bible to pray in the name of Mary, angels, saints, or anyone, but worship and prayer must be through the name of Jesus. The Bible contradicts the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church and the new pope's public praying on TV which was to Mary. Let us submit to Holy Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus".
III. Preaching and the reading of the Scriptures should be the priority of public worship. There is a misconception among some Christians who somehow think that having a good time of singing is to have a good time of worship. Listen to Paul writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:21 "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe".
May we all learn of Christ and rediscover puritan principles for worshipping God in post-Christian England and Europe.
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
The Puritan Vision: Loving the Glory of God
The chief aim of most of the proponents of the puritan vision was a passion, a zeal, a love for the glory of God. While arid caricatures are often made of the puritans it is a gloss over the real heartbeat of the issues at hand. As the puritan Thomas Brooks wrote on "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices", he warns his readers of Satan's devices. Satan does not want the puritan vision to be rightly understood and pursued because their vision was a godly vision for a love for the glory of God. Paul the apostle reminds us all: "so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs" (2 Cor. 2:11).
The opening question of the Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC) clarifies this vision. Question 1 WLC. What is the chief and highest end of man? Answer. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
The last question of the WLC ends with the same note by focussing on the glory of God. Question. 196. What doth the conclusion of the Lord's prayer teach us? Answer. The conclusion of the Lord's prayer (which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.) teaches us to enforce our petitions with arguments, which are to be taken, not from any worthiness in ourselves, or in any other creature, but from God; and with our prayers to join praises, ascribing to God alone eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency; in regard whereof, as he is able and willing to help us, so we by faith are emboldened to plead with him that he would, and quietly to rely upon him, that he will fulfill our requests. And, to testify this our desire and assurance, we say, Amen.
The works of the puritans bear witness to this zeal for the glory of God. Just think of just three of John Owen's works which are titled "Communion with God" or "The Glory of Christ" or "The Holy Spirit". A zeal for the glory of God should consume the church, its office-bearers and our worship. Do you desire the glory of God in the church above all else? Are you prepared to work and labour to reform the church to its instituted pattern which includes God-centred worship with simplicity and reverence?
Let us join together in prayer for the recovery of this apostolic and puritan vision for the church, most especially in the UK and Western Europe while trusting for God's help. That age-old motto of the reformation was often Psalm 124:8 "Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth".
The opening question of the Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC) clarifies this vision. Question 1 WLC. What is the chief and highest end of man? Answer. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
The last question of the WLC ends with the same note by focussing on the glory of God. Question. 196. What doth the conclusion of the Lord's prayer teach us? Answer. The conclusion of the Lord's prayer (which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.) teaches us to enforce our petitions with arguments, which are to be taken, not from any worthiness in ourselves, or in any other creature, but from God; and with our prayers to join praises, ascribing to God alone eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency; in regard whereof, as he is able and willing to help us, so we by faith are emboldened to plead with him that he would, and quietly to rely upon him, that he will fulfill our requests. And, to testify this our desire and assurance, we say, Amen.
The works of the puritans bear witness to this zeal for the glory of God. Just think of just three of John Owen's works which are titled "Communion with God" or "The Glory of Christ" or "The Holy Spirit". A zeal for the glory of God should consume the church, its office-bearers and our worship. Do you desire the glory of God in the church above all else? Are you prepared to work and labour to reform the church to its instituted pattern which includes God-centred worship with simplicity and reverence?
Let us join together in prayer for the recovery of this apostolic and puritan vision for the church, most especially in the UK and Western Europe while trusting for God's help. That age-old motto of the reformation was often Psalm 124:8 "Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth".
Saturday, 9 March 2013
The Puritan Tradition: To Be Continued ...
The body of puritan literature is immense. J. I. Packer describes in his book called "Among God's Giants" (now republished as "A Quest for Godliness") that those puritan pastors were like "American Redwoods" in theological stature. There has been much discussion in recent decades as to the exact definition of the word "puritan" but also the time-frame that they filled. While it is true that the name "puritan" was originally a slur term, the principles that the puritans stood for are not so complex. These can be summarised under three main headings, of which there are three main puritan and New Testament ideals. These ideals all relate to the church; the puritan tradition and the church are inextricably linked. These goals were:
1). To contend for the purity of doctrine
2). The purity of public and family worship
3). The Purity of church government
With respect to the purity of doctrine, the apex of the puritan movement was the production of the Westminster Standards, which comprises one confession of faith, and a smaller and larger catechism. In my view, these provide the best summary of the Christian faith in the English language. They have since been translated and used in many other languages, such as German or Korean, enforcing the idea that they comprise international biblical doctrines for worldwide usage.
Another point is the time-frame of the puritans. It is best to realise that the puritans represent a historical moment in primarily British church history between 1560 and 1660, approximately. Sometimes you read of someone claiming that Charles Spurgeon or some other famous preacher, as being "the last Puritan". I would like to challenge such an assertion. Why? It is because the puritans do indeed represent a particular time frame and secondly because there is no such "last puritan". Why? Puritanism represents three main biblical ideals which should be contended for in the church until the second coming of Christ. The puritan tradition is to be continued ...
Listen to Jude 3: "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints". The puritan ideals should form part of the churches great commission in every generation. I do not mean through looking back to the puritan writers only, but through contending for the church, this is a living a vision. A vision that has "hands and feet" as it were. Will you join this vision?
1). To contend for the purity of doctrine
2). The purity of public and family worship
3). The Purity of church government
With respect to the purity of doctrine, the apex of the puritan movement was the production of the Westminster Standards, which comprises one confession of faith, and a smaller and larger catechism. In my view, these provide the best summary of the Christian faith in the English language. They have since been translated and used in many other languages, such as German or Korean, enforcing the idea that they comprise international biblical doctrines for worldwide usage.
Another point is the time-frame of the puritans. It is best to realise that the puritans represent a historical moment in primarily British church history between 1560 and 1660, approximately. Sometimes you read of someone claiming that Charles Spurgeon or some other famous preacher, as being "the last Puritan". I would like to challenge such an assertion. Why? It is because the puritans do indeed represent a particular time frame and secondly because there is no such "last puritan". Why? Puritanism represents three main biblical ideals which should be contended for in the church until the second coming of Christ. The puritan tradition is to be continued ...
Listen to Jude 3: "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints". The puritan ideals should form part of the churches great commission in every generation. I do not mean through looking back to the puritan writers only, but through contending for the church, this is a living a vision. A vision that has "hands and feet" as it were. Will you join this vision?
Monday, 4 March 2013
Jonah's Second Call
I am currently preaching through the Book of Jonah. There are many lessons to be found in preaching through this book, ones that you do not necessarily discover simply from reading it. This was true of the latest sermon for me, one which was on Jonah's second call. In Jonah 3:1-2 we read: "Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you' ". What do we learn from this?
We learn that God's purposes do not change? The LORD had called Jonah in 1:1-2 and that purpose did not change. It was Jonah who had to change. What were the Lord's purposes as revealed in this book?
1. God's purpose was to use Jonah
2. God's purpose was for Jonah to preach to Nineveh
3. God's purpose was that he would only preach the message that he was given
4. God's purpose was to save Nineveh.
We read the following in Jonah 3:4-5 "Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' And the people of Nineveh believed God".
The main point that I would like to draw out is this. Jonah was a preacher and the means that God uses to bring forth salvation is primarily the means of preaching. Mission agencies, mission theologies, certain church groups and others often want to downplay this means of God. It is God's permanent purpose in the time of Jonah and now, to send trained men to preach the message of God. How often do we hear from Christian leaders about the uniqueness of 21st Century culture as if we are somehow living in a unique culture? Some people talk often that people today cannot listen to sermons, or that we are living in a post-Christian culture and so forth. Their conclusions often end up with the wrong outcomes. This is often to conclude that we must try "new methods" but often it leads to neglecting the necessity for preaching, by men who are called, equipped and sent by God.
God's purposes have not changed! It is by the foolishness of preaching that some are saved. Any missionary endeavour which fails to give preaching the primacy will not produce the fruit which God requires. We have no authority to deviate from the Lord's prescribed methods. If there was ever a potentially godless and hostile audience, it was Nineveh, the capital city of the barbaric Assyrians. Jonah was a preacher. Amos was a preacher, as were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi and Haggai. What more shall I say of Peter, Paul and of course the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the apostle Paul:
"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" 1 Cor. 1:21. Let us make sure that we never concede to people who choose the wisdom of this world and in doing so they "drum down" the necessity for public, declaratory preaching for the salvation of sinners.
We learn that God's purposes do not change? The LORD had called Jonah in 1:1-2 and that purpose did not change. It was Jonah who had to change. What were the Lord's purposes as revealed in this book?
1. God's purpose was to use Jonah
2. God's purpose was for Jonah to preach to Nineveh
3. God's purpose was that he would only preach the message that he was given
4. God's purpose was to save Nineveh.
We read the following in Jonah 3:4-5 "Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' And the people of Nineveh believed God".
The main point that I would like to draw out is this. Jonah was a preacher and the means that God uses to bring forth salvation is primarily the means of preaching. Mission agencies, mission theologies, certain church groups and others often want to downplay this means of God. It is God's permanent purpose in the time of Jonah and now, to send trained men to preach the message of God. How often do we hear from Christian leaders about the uniqueness of 21st Century culture as if we are somehow living in a unique culture? Some people talk often that people today cannot listen to sermons, or that we are living in a post-Christian culture and so forth. Their conclusions often end up with the wrong outcomes. This is often to conclude that we must try "new methods" but often it leads to neglecting the necessity for preaching, by men who are called, equipped and sent by God.
God's purposes have not changed! It is by the foolishness of preaching that some are saved. Any missionary endeavour which fails to give preaching the primacy will not produce the fruit which God requires. We have no authority to deviate from the Lord's prescribed methods. If there was ever a potentially godless and hostile audience, it was Nineveh, the capital city of the barbaric Assyrians. Jonah was a preacher. Amos was a preacher, as were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi and Haggai. What more shall I say of Peter, Paul and of course the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the apostle Paul:
"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" 1 Cor. 1:21. Let us make sure that we never concede to people who choose the wisdom of this world and in doing so they "drum down" the necessity for public, declaratory preaching for the salvation of sinners.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Back to Basics: The First Three Chapters of Genesis
The main reason why I got involved in blogging originally, was a desire to "fan the flames" of reformed doctrine. This is something that is badly needed among Christians. The doctrinal content of the faith is absolutely essential and reformed Christianity offers a rich content of the faith. Christianity is not simply an emotion, it is not just a way of life, but it is faith which is built on truth. It is the truth that God is the Creator and Redeemer. This is one of the reasons why the first three chapters of Genesis are vital to the Christian message and the Christian church. Let me summarise the first three chapters of the Bible
Genesis Chapter 1
God created everything, out of nothing, and in the space of six days. Genesis 1:1 reads: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". In Genesis 1:1, 1:21, 1:27 and 2:4, the word "created" is used six times. There is not the slightest hint of evolution or a compromised hybrid to somehow combine evolution and creation together. God is the Creator and sustainer of all things. This Creation narrative is repeated in summary in Genesis 5:1-2.
Genesis Chapter 2
This chapter reveals what life was like in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. We are told facts about the Creation of Adam and his wife who was called "woman" prior to the Fall. Adam and Eve are historic persons, they are never treated as myth in the Bible. The Garden of Eden was a real, historic place where a "covenant of works" bound Adam to perpetual obedience to the Lord. Genesis 2:16-17 reads: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis Chapter 3
Here we learn of the historic Fall of humanity. Eve ate of the fruit and then gave it to her husband. They broke the one law which God gave them to obey and sin entered the world. All humanity are descended from Adam and Eve and therefore all humanity are affected by their Fall. People are not sinless but they are born in sin and their nature is to live in sin and rebellion against God Almighty. In Genesis Chapter 3 we get the first Gospel promise when the Lord preached to the serpent and Adam and Eve were the congregation. The Lord God said: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”.
The Christian message cannot be rightly understood without these biblical foundations. So much more could be said of God's plan for marriage and the family which are also plainly taught in these opening chapters of the Bible. I recommend that any person reading this blog, that they should simply go back and read the first three chapters of Genesis and think of how many biblical truths are contained in these chapters.
Genesis Chapter 1
God created everything, out of nothing, and in the space of six days. Genesis 1:1 reads: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". In Genesis 1:1, 1:21, 1:27 and 2:4, the word "created" is used six times. There is not the slightest hint of evolution or a compromised hybrid to somehow combine evolution and creation together. God is the Creator and sustainer of all things. This Creation narrative is repeated in summary in Genesis 5:1-2.
Genesis Chapter 2
This chapter reveals what life was like in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. We are told facts about the Creation of Adam and his wife who was called "woman" prior to the Fall. Adam and Eve are historic persons, they are never treated as myth in the Bible. The Garden of Eden was a real, historic place where a "covenant of works" bound Adam to perpetual obedience to the Lord. Genesis 2:16-17 reads: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis Chapter 3
Here we learn of the historic Fall of humanity. Eve ate of the fruit and then gave it to her husband. They broke the one law which God gave them to obey and sin entered the world. All humanity are descended from Adam and Eve and therefore all humanity are affected by their Fall. People are not sinless but they are born in sin and their nature is to live in sin and rebellion against God Almighty. In Genesis Chapter 3 we get the first Gospel promise when the Lord preached to the serpent and Adam and Eve were the congregation. The Lord God said: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”.
The Christian message cannot be rightly understood without these biblical foundations. So much more could be said of God's plan for marriage and the family which are also plainly taught in these opening chapters of the Bible. I recommend that any person reading this blog, that they should simply go back and read the first three chapters of Genesis and think of how many biblical truths are contained in these chapters.
Monday, 4 February 2013
The Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
As a result of being involved in a church planting work in Berlin, German church history is of great interest to me. In the first church planting study in September 2012, we had a PhD student who joined us at the study who was doing research on Bonhoeffer's ecclesiology. He recommended a biography to me called "Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance" by Ferdinand Sclingensiepen (this is accurate and scholarly). There is also a similar biography by Eric Metaxas, which I am told is very good and it is perhaps an easier read.
While we may not agree with all of Bonhoeffer's theology, he and other German Christians stood up to Nazism at great personal cost to themselves. I did not realise it until I read this book, how much German Christians suffered under Nazi rule and how many Christians and ministers were imprisoned and killed for the their commitment to the Gospel of God. It is perhaps a little known truth of World War II.
One thing that struck me was that Hitler would pass new laws and then make it illegal for anyone to hold a contrary opinion. This struck me. Why? Ironically, we face a similar situation in the UK and many Western nations today. Our governments offer subliminal persecution and ostracism to anyone who dissents to their value system. Whether it be evolution, atheism, homosexuality or other matters. It is virtually illegal in the UK today to stand up and say that homosexuality is wrong or sin (as the Bible teaches) and to do so is to be accused of being homophobic. Freedom of speech has fast disappeared in the name of "freedom of licentiousness".
As a young person I grew up under the threat of nuclear war between East and West. Russia and the East were presented as evil and mainly this was due to their atheistic communism. The bizarre scenario today is that communism has mainly collapsed with the exception of China (where it pursues materialistic communism but it is still atheistic), and yet our own Western governments have taken on the same agenda of secular atheism. Perhaps the West has had good times for too long and the church is already facing persecution as an EU rule against Christians who want to exercise liberty of conscience in their jobs has recently proved. In this respect Bonhoeffer has much to encourage us with.
The church are called to be "Salt and Light" (Matthew 5:13-16) in every generation, no matter what the pressures are to come against the truth of God. Jesus said "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:10. Christ Jesus also promised his disciples that: "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). In many ways Bonhoeffer has much to offer us, to strengthen us in our witness, to encourage us to persevere in the faith, to be bold as a Christian, and to refuse to compromise in the face of anti-Christian teaching.
While we may not agree with all of Bonhoeffer's theology, he and other German Christians stood up to Nazism at great personal cost to themselves. I did not realise it until I read this book, how much German Christians suffered under Nazi rule and how many Christians and ministers were imprisoned and killed for the their commitment to the Gospel of God. It is perhaps a little known truth of World War II.
One thing that struck me was that Hitler would pass new laws and then make it illegal for anyone to hold a contrary opinion. This struck me. Why? Ironically, we face a similar situation in the UK and many Western nations today. Our governments offer subliminal persecution and ostracism to anyone who dissents to their value system. Whether it be evolution, atheism, homosexuality or other matters. It is virtually illegal in the UK today to stand up and say that homosexuality is wrong or sin (as the Bible teaches) and to do so is to be accused of being homophobic. Freedom of speech has fast disappeared in the name of "freedom of licentiousness".
As a young person I grew up under the threat of nuclear war between East and West. Russia and the East were presented as evil and mainly this was due to their atheistic communism. The bizarre scenario today is that communism has mainly collapsed with the exception of China (where it pursues materialistic communism but it is still atheistic), and yet our own Western governments have taken on the same agenda of secular atheism. Perhaps the West has had good times for too long and the church is already facing persecution as an EU rule against Christians who want to exercise liberty of conscience in their jobs has recently proved. In this respect Bonhoeffer has much to encourage us with.
The church are called to be "Salt and Light" (Matthew 5:13-16) in every generation, no matter what the pressures are to come against the truth of God. Jesus said "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:10. Christ Jesus also promised his disciples that: "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). In many ways Bonhoeffer has much to offer us, to strengthen us in our witness, to encourage us to persevere in the faith, to be bold as a Christian, and to refuse to compromise in the face of anti-Christian teaching.
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