In the year 1800, a Welsh girl by the name of Mary Jones walked 26 miles across the mountainous terrain to buy a Bible from a place called Bala. Mary had saved every penny she could muster for six years and when she arrived, her dream eventually came true. A local Calvinistic Methodist minister by the name of Thomas Charles gave Mary a Bible in her own language. Legend has it that Mr Charles was so inspired by Mary’s efforts that he founded the British and Foreign Bible society with William Wilberforce.
The story of Mary Jones and her Bible is a wonderfully inspiring story, and equally intriguing is the theology of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. Many of these Methodists were devoted to the Book of Common Prayer and the doctrines of the Church of England yet had left or been driven out by complications. Thomas Charles was one such minister. Mary Jones was also a Calvinistic Methodist and lived in poverty throughout her life yet she was wonderfully enriched by her devotions to reading of the Bible. Her story still echoes on today with the continued printing and distributing of Bibles throughout the world.
Be inspired by her story and pick up your Bible today and read.
In the 16th century, a man was burned at the stake for his Christian beliefs. His name was John Bradford.
Bradford was born in Manchester, England in 1510. He was educated at a Manchester Grammar school. During the reign of Henry V111 he studied law at the Inner Temple, London and became influenced by the Protestant Reformation. Soon Bradford abandoned his studies and began to study Theology in Cambridge. In 1549 he was made a fellow at Pembroke. In 1550 he was ordained as a Deacon in the Church of England by Nicolas Ridley and he became a powerful preacher. In 1551 he was made Chaplain to King Edward V1 and he preached throughout Lancashire and Cheshire.
Upon the death of Edward V1 and the ascension of Mary Tudor, Bradford would eventually be burned at the stake in 1555.
Today his works continue to be published and he is best known for the phrase, ‘there, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.“
Here is a link to the Life and Teachings of John Bradford on Facebook.
New documentary!
Inspired by Acts 21: 1, Simon Peter explores the Island of Kos, from the perspective of Apostle Paul, and Hippocrates.
Follow up to “Kos and the Gospel According to St Luke” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE-so…
Central London and her city is packed with history and it was there, in 1537, where the English Bible was first printed. An early copy, dated 1537, in the John Rylands Library locates the printing at St Thomas Hospital, Southwark. This was a Bible known as the Coverdale Bible and the New Testament was based on Tyndale’s translation.
Tyndale had left London in 1525 but his influence was never far gone. From 1525, and 1526, Tyndale’s New Testament would be smuggled into London along the Thames. His 1534 translation would prove to be his finest edition. It too made it’s way back into London and would prove to influence the Church in England for hundreds of years to come. This was made possible by the the publishing of the 1535-37 Coverdale Bible. This was eventually commissioned by Henry V111 and Coverdale’s translation of the Psalms would also feature in the…
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Hello all, I trust you are well. Here is some good news: my long awaited documentary on 16th century Welsh Bible translator William Salesbury is now available from free viewing on YouTube.
To introduce the narrative, William Salesbury was a Welsh man who lived in the 16th century and sought for many years to publish a New Testament in his own language. At that time the Welsh language was being ignored, but Salesbury cared greatly for his own people and wanted to preserve the Welsh language and give the Welsh speaking people a Bible that they could call their own. In order to see his quest fulfilled, he himself underwent much travelling and suffering.
William Salesbury is a hero of Wales and a historically mysterious character and today many have never even heard of him. Yet his legacy has continued on for over 400 years. With this in mind, it should be no surprise to learn that the documentary has taken me many years to complete and I have chosen release it this year, because 2020 is the 500th anniversary of his birth.
Today, (April 17) is also the day Luther went before the diet of Worms. History is not unfamiliar with suffering. So let us remember, even though suffering continues and the world appears to be uprooted and in a mess, let us know that Christ is King and Sovereign. The Bible says that Jesus Christ upholds “all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1: 3)
So focus your attention on the Word of your souls health and take some time out from ‘COVID-19’ and uplift your souls and read, read, read the New Testament.
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forevermore.
Simon
Over the last two years, I have been sporadically uploading a series of sermons and lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews. These lectures and sermons were given over a 10-12 month period and are now available in audio format on YouTube.
The YouTube channel is called “An Exposition of Hebrews” and contains a total of 49 sermons and lectures. These talks are freely available and cover chapters 1-6.
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the most complex books of the Bible and also topically debated. If any of our readers are interested in this study of this Epistle, you can now consult the series by clicking the link.
Regards
Simon
Many years ago I read ‘The Sovereignty of God‘ by A. W Pink. This book is a well written work presenting the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God from the the Calvinistic perspective. It is well worth the read.
In this book the author affirmed the doctrine of ‘Once Saved Always Saved‘. Because of the sheer weight of Scriptures Pink presented, I believed the doctrine as very Scriptural.
A. W. Pink was from Nottingham and in my opinion, Pink was the most consistent Calvinist I have ever read. He was a brilliant man and an excellent Christian Theologian. He proclaimed the doctrines of Calvinism to the fullest with no weakness on his part. Obviously it is not difficult to realise that a man of such Scriptural knowledge would have his collisions with the Church of his day. His biography shows us examples of that. But most of it may relate to his Calvinism.
A. W. Pink should be admired, even by his Theological opponents, because he did not shy away from the proper logical conclusions to the clear teachings of Calvinism. These observations (in my opinion), separate him from the more common, inconsistent and unconvincing Calvinist revisionist preachers and writers of our day.
When I read Pink, it would not be long before I became persuaded by the doctrine of ‘Once Saved Always Saved’. Over time however, and through the clear lens of openly reading Scripture, the impact of Calvinism lost its flavour with me. I began to see too many Scriptures contradicting the system and Calvinistic apologists failing to explain the contrasts with proper exegesis or convincing argumentation.
In answer to my title, the reason I once believed in ‘OSAS’ was because of the selective Scriptures which Calvinists use to affirm their doctrine. I am convinced, if people simply read the Bible and never listened to Calvinistic preachers, they would see that eternal security is conditional and apostasy is possible for true believers. Christians have the duty to abide in Christ and no one can abide in Christ if they never were truly saved to begin with.
As a person who once believed the doctrine of ‘Once Saved Always Saved’, I understand it, not merely from knowledge, but from experience too. It is a very persuasive doctrine. However, over time I could see the natural progression of doctrinal bondage developing. Fear of departing from accepted doctrines and the teachings of popular preachers became easy to break when I digested and trusted the words of Christ “the Truth will set you free“.
The truth be told, people who believe in ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ very rarely arrive at that conclusion by simply reading Scripture alone, but by listening to their favourite preachers or their pastors, or biblically external books. For many people and preachers, the doctrine of ‘OSAS’ is Scripture itself and for an individual to deny it either makes a person a half Christian or simply not born again. These opinions however are absolute none sense. No one need accept such attitudes or permit themselves to be bullied into beliefs that contradict Scripture.
Obviously I would not regard those who teach the doctrine as false teachers, but I would say that without their rhetorical skills, the doctrine has little Scripture to authenticate it. The facts remain, as I have written in a previous article, the doctrine of ‘OSAS’ is a historical anomaly and was not taught in the church until the 16th century. John Calvin was probably the first person to have properly taught the doctrine. As I have previously argued in an earlier article, the doctrine likely has Gnostic origins rather than Scriptural foundations.
Over recent years I have repeatedly re-examined the doctrine and the more I read the New Testament from this perspective, and explored the contexts and the Greek, I saw an overwhelming amount of Scriptural evidences to claim the doctrine has little weight to it at all. In fact, there are so many Scriptures that contradict the position, many Calvinistic apologists and preachers are left scraping the barrel for argument, so much so that they are in danger of getting splinters under their finger nails.
The truth be told, there are over sixty or so verses in the New Testament which speak as warnings to Christians to remain loyal and in the faith and to abide in Christ.
It seems quite clear that the Calvinist claim that any believer who departs from the faith, was never truly saved in the first place, may well have some accurate Scriptural examples, but the majority of the doctrine is a violation of the plain reading of Scripture.
Simon Peter Sutherland
Simon Peter Sutherland @ Lydia’s river, Philippi © 2020 Simon Peter Sutherland
Over recent times I have been made aware of the ever growing trend of “rebaptism”. For some, “rebaptism” by immersion is baptism, nothing else. Modern ‘rebaptisers’ claim that there is only “one baptism” and the reason they baptise someone for a second time, is because the first baptism was not legitimate at all.
As always with all my beliefs and Christian practices, I claim that I do not believe or affirm anything in the name of Christianity, if it is not in the Bible. But these days almost all Christians claim that. Some ‘Christians’ claim they hold to ‘Scripture alone’, yet their doctrines are so broad, and unorthodox that it is difficult for me to read or hear them with a straight face. Others have so many variant doctrines, that I have absolutely no idea where their beliefs come from? All I know is they do not come from the Bible.
One of these ideas is the growing trend of ‘rebaptism’ by immersion. An unorthodox practice that is largely associated with ‘Oneness Pentecostals’ and ‘Southern Baptists’ and ‘youth groups’. This ‘baptism’ by definition is a baptism of a person who has been previously baptised, but some denominations or individuals do not accept previous baptisms as valid, because they were done in other churches. The common claim is that the person who has been previously baptised, did not actually fully believe in Jesus when the previous baptism occurred. The proposal is that the person must be “rebaptised” or simply “baptised”.
This trend of ‘rebaptism’ is absolute none sense! The facts remain that there is not a single reference in the entire New Testament for anyone to be ‘rebaptised’ or baptised more than once in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus the answer to the rhetorical title: “Is “rebaptism” by immersion Biblical?” the answer is a direct no. ‘Rebaptism’ simply denies Colossians 2: 12 and the power of God to raise a person up from being dead in sin unto new life, regardless of where that person was spiritually when the baptism occurred.
The harsh and real truth is, baptism by immersion is irrevocable. If someone is foolish enough to get baptised, and yet that person did not truly believe, then that person should take responsibility for their unbelief and actions and seek God for forgiveness. A minister should not allow his congregation to move beyond the realm of Scripture and orthodoxy because a false convert or persons in his congregation have previously made a foolish mistake of being baptised while they have an evil heart of unbelief.
Likewise, a person who goes into a new church and is pressured into being ‘rebaptised’ because the minister or teacher has convinced them they are not really saved, should search the entire Bible first. All people who experience this pressure should ask their pastors why there are no rebaptisms or repeated baptisms, or two baptisms in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the Bible.
Likewise people should ask why there are no denominational rebaptisms in the Bible? Is a single baptism in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit insufficient?
Likewise, the idea of rebaptising false converts is also destroyed by the Bible. In Acts 8 when the sorcerer was baptised, and after ward tried to purchase the Holy Spirit with money, Peter told that person “your money perish with you” (Acts 8: 20). Peter told the man to repent and seek God for forgiveness, in the hope that God may forgive him (Acts 8: 22). Peter did not mention anything about a rebaptism and neither did Luke the author of the Book of Acts.
What is clear is that the modern unorthodox revisionist and emotionally charged practice of ‘rebaptism’ by full immersion in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is nothing less than fiction.
Enjoying Theology 