John Calvin’s understanding of piety shaped his followers in very distinctive ways. Active participation in society, intelligent moral character, careful stewardship of human and natural resources are as much a part of Calvin’s piety as corporate worship, devout and disciplined personal and family life, Bible reading, and singing of Psalms.
It runs against the grain today to suggest that anything past could be of interest, let alone of importance. Nevertheless, A.D. 2009 will be the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. It will be appropriate to celebrate by reading his works, especially because he helps us to remember, and to know, the One born 1,500 years earlier than he.
When I was in the second grade I led a solitary sort of existence. As a result, I was soon reading at the seventh grade level. Unfortunately this accelerated progress did not last. By the time I reached the seventh grade I was back to reading, as they put it, in an age appropriate way — smack dab at the seventh grade level.
The following article is excerpted from the author’s book, Calvin for Armchair Theologians (Westminster-John Knox, 2002).
The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sending ten proposed amendments and four ecumenical statements to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes.
As Michael Lindvall reminds us in this week’s Benedictory column, history should be a “distant mirror” that helps us see ourselves and our times more accurately. This week’s issue of the Outlook turns our eyes to what may be the clearest mirror into which we Presbyterians are inclined to gaze: the life and writings of John Calvin.
Both involve struggling against the powers that be. In both, the context is dark, cynical, and clandestine. In both, the world is seen as a precarious place teetering on the edge of chaos and obliteration. In both, it’s the little spark of romance and caring that sustains the main character, but it’s more a fantasy unfulfilled than any real intimacy.
William J. Carl III, president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pa., is the featured preacher Nov. 9 and 16 on "Day 1," a nationally broadcast radio program also accessible by podcast at Day1.org. Each program includes a sermon by Carl along with interviews conducted by the program's host and executive producer, Peter Wallace.
The Presbyterian Outlook readers are among many who have asked about the status of their retirement funds being managed by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Board of Pensions. In response, Robert Maggs, BOP executive director, issued the following statement (also on the board Web site: www.pensions.org):
NAIROBI — (ENI) André Karamaga, a Presbyterian theologian from Rwanda, has been elected general secretary of the Nairobi-based All Africa Conference of Churches, the grouping announced today (October 9).
CAPE TOWN — (ENI) A South African Presbyterian church leader has said poverty in the country is now worse than apartheid, and a "terrible disease" hindering the creation of Christian congregations.
DAMASCUS — Twenty-two Americans representing a variety of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations gathered recently in Syria for an emotional, and at times tearful, encounter with leaders of the five Presbyterian congregations in Iraq.
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Mandy Helton Jones had planned to spend the next couple of months traveling to Asia and Australia with her new husband, Jon. But when she spotted a blog looking for couples to carry a handwritten Bible across America, their travel plans changed in a hurry.
(ENI)--South African church cleric Alan Boesak is on the verge of giving up his church positions and returning to a leadership role in politics.
Did you know that The Presbyterian Outlook magazine includes weekly Bible study helps for those who teach the Uniform Bible Study lessons? …and that it includes monthly helps for the thousands of women participating in Horizons Bible study circles? …and that it includes the Benedictory column – featuring such writers as Craig Barnes, Michael Lindvall, Jana Childers, Richard Mouw, Karen Sloan, Ted Wardlaw, Agnes Norfleet, Heidi Husted, Earl Palmer, and others?
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). If ever there were a living example of the Romans 7 dilemma, it is parading before us daily on the campaign trail. Two great men, both aspiring to be the 44th president of the United States, are behaving in ways that flat-out contradict so much of what they have promoted throughout their careers.
This fall, before the election, presbyteries will be encouraged to set up task forces on immigration — so Presbyterians can be ready to respond the next time a push is made for comprehensive immigration reform. Whether the Republicans or the Democrats win in November, the demography of the country is changing. People are streaming into the United States from all corners of the globe, and the implications of immigration for public policy and for communities and congregations are tremendous.
Editor’s Note: This report on hurricane damage in Texas reflects information “on the ground” in the days right after the disaster.
It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going … ” Hebrews 11:8-10 (Good News Bible)
When Wisdom and Laughter Meet: Stories on the Work and Worship of the Church, by Jim Atwood. Trafford, 2008. Pb., 106 pp. $13.50.
By Gary Wills. Penguin, 2007. Hb., 626 pp. $29.95
by Thomas W. Currie III. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 152 pp. $16.95.
Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution — A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First, by Alister McGrath. HarperOne, 2007. Hb., 560 pp. $29.95.
by Daniel Migliore. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 128 pp. $16.95.
by Mark Labberton. InterVarsity Press, 2007. Hb., 200pp. $18.
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