Sola Scriptura: Problems and Principles in Preaching Historical Texts, Sidney Greidanus, 1970; 251 pp.

This book, Greidanus’s doctoral thesis, is an important one for those who want to preach on historical texts of Scripture. Central to the study presented is a hermeneutical-homiletical controversy concerning the preaching of such texts. This conflict, known as the “exemplarist – redemptive-historical controversy” (“exemplarisch-heilshistorisch”) raged in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands in the 1930s and 1940s.

In the opening chapters the author introduces the point at the heart of the controversy: in sermons, are the people mentioned in the Bible to be portrayed to the congregation as examples either to be emulated or avoided? Greidanus introduces the reader to many preachers on both sides of the controversy.

In chapter 3, the author shows the problems with the exemplarist approach. It leads to fragmentary, atomistic, biographical, anthropocentric preaching. One is led to ask an exponent of this method whether Scripture is optional. If the person is to be preached, how is the Bible different from the Koran, the Book of Mormon or a history text book? The method has other pitfalls in that it leads to psychologizing and moralizing. In this chapter Greidanus also has a helpful section on “discriminating preaching” with its multiple applications for the different categories of people (believer, unbeliever, hypocrite, struggling sinner, hardened sinner, etc.) in the congregation.

In chapter 4, Greidanus explains the redemptive-historical approach to preaching. Rather than focus on the human characters in the historical narrative, this method wants to show what God is doing in history in his program of salvation in Jesus Christ. It emphasizes theo- and christocentricity and the preacher's task as a herald of what God has done, is doing and will do in history.

In chapter 5, Greidanus offers a critique of the redemptive-historical method of preaching historical texts. He begins by agreeing with the approach at many crucial points: he appreciates that the exponents of the method freed historical texts from the constraints of those who read and preached them in a biographic, dogmatic and moralistic way and therefore did not let the texts say what they intend to say. However, he has substantial criticism for the redemptive-historical approach too.

He claims to have discovered a tension within the school, even a tension between exponents, e.g., between K. Schilder and C. Veenhof. In some ways, this chapter is both the strongest and the weakest of the book.

It is the weakest because it is not so much a critique of the redemptive-historical school but of Schilder’s method of preaching. Schilder can rightly be considered the catalyst of the school as it developed in the Netherlands, but others made significant contributions. It is surprising that Greidanus focuses almost exclusively on Schilder since, in chapter 4, he worked out in detail the contributions of Veenhof, Van’t Veer, Van Dijk, Holwerda, and others. Furthermore, Schilder was a dogmatician. Although a dogmatician must, as a preacher, first be a careful student of scripture, yet we would ask why the author did not focus on, say, Holwerda who was an Old Testament exegete.

Greidanus accuses Schilder of schematism, speculation and objectivism. Arguably, his criticisms are not far off the mark. He also accuses Schilder, and by extension, the redemptive-historical school, of preaching the fact under the text rather than the text. Whether this was in fact true of Schilder we will leave in the middle. To say that it was true of the whole school likely says too much. The point that the method has, in some instances, resulted in schematizing history is probably correct. Dr. C. Trimp made some valuable contributions to the discussion when he said that we must not forget the category of the ordu salutis when preaching historical texts.

This chapter is the strongest because of its emphasis on preaching the text rather than the facts behind the text. We have received the text of Scripture, and that is what we must preach. As we preach the text, we must do so first bearing in mind the original intent and audience of the author.

Although this chapter may be the strongest, it raises some questions. Does Greidanus care about the facts as they happened, or only about the text as various authors’ records of what happened? He has little use for harmonizing of texts. This, understandably, leads him to a discussion on inspiration and inerrancy. What do we do when confronted, e.g., with the two different accounts of the purchase of “the Field of Blood” and the death of Judas (Matthew 27:3-10 and Acts 1:18-19)? Do we even attempt to bring some concordance to the story? Is there a specific way in which Judas, in fact, died? Who bought the field: the priests or Judas? Do we leave the questions in the middle or make an attempt at harmonizing?

In the final chapter, the author provides principles for preaching historical texts. One who would preach historical texts would do well to follow the principles put forward.

Quad-City Times Newspaper Online - the Quad-Cities Home Page: Text of the speech delivered by Pope Benedict XVI, from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica:

Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.

The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

In the joy of the risen Lord, trusting in his permanent help, we go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary his very holy mother stands by us.

I like the way that other German priest put it in A Mighty Fortress is our God: We have the right Man, Jesus Christ, on our side. I love Mary, the mother of my Lord, but I'm pinning my hopes on her Son.

BBK - Internationale contacten: From this site you can download (in PDF, in English translation) a brochure published by the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Liberated) entitled Not beyond what is written. It deals with the issues about which the Dutch churches are facing criticism at home and abroad.

A Faith to Live by: Understanding Christian Doctrine, by Donald Macleod, 343 pp.

This book began as two series of lectures that Professor Macleod, a Free Church of Scotland theologian, delivered. Professor Macleod has an impressive gift for making the complex simple. In twenty-six chapters he deals admirably with most of the main and sub points of dogmatics from scripture and the Trinity to hell and heaven. The confessionally Reformed reader will appreciate the chapters and benefit greatly.

One might want to put some question marks in the margins of the chapter on creation where he is not hostile to the thought of the universe being thousands of millions of years old. He suggests we might do well to interpret the six days as creation eras rather than days as we know them. He does, however, reject Darwinism.

One may not agree with every thought or turn of phrase, but there is much to be learned and gained from reading this popular exposition of the points of theology. One can only admire Macleod's facility as a teacher.

Press Release of the Combined Meeting of the United Reformed Psalter Hymnal Committee and the Canadian Reformed Book of Praise Committee, held 31 March and 1 April 2005 in Ancaster, Ontario.

This meeting was the fourth combined meeting of the two committees, previous meetings were held in London Ontario, Ancaster Ontario and Jenison Michigan, the role of host alternating between the committees.

Rev. G. Ph. Van Popta, convener of the Book of Praise committee, led us in opening devotions. The participants (re) introduced themselves, and Rev. Allen Vander Pol was introduced as a newly appointed member of the URCNA committee, attending for the first time. The meeting schedule was established and the proposed agenda was adopted. The previous combined meeting’s minutes were accepted as an accurate reflection of that meeting. It was noted that Dr. Peter Wallace, pastor of the OPC at South Bend, Indiana, was present as an observer. Dr. Wallace is involved in preparing a Scriptural Psalter as mandated by his Session.

Each committee had an opportunity to report on their respective progress:

The URCNA committee’s mandate was changed by Synod Calgary (at the committee’s request) in that the ‘non musical’ section of the SongBook was assigned to a separate committee. In the past year, work was done in evaluating a number of Psalters and Hymnals in use by Reformed and Presbyterian churches in England, Scotland, Ireland and North America. A number of Hymns, from various sources, were tentatively selected for potential inclusion in the new SongBook. The Principles and Guidelines, as adopted by Synod Calgary, were used in the selection process. Although good progress has been made, this work will continue.

The Canadian Reformed (CanRC) committee reports that synod Neerlandia gave this committee the mandate to expand the current hymnary of the Book of Praise as well as to work together with the URCNA Psalter-Hymnal committee to work towards a common SongBook. It has been a challenge to work through these two mandates, therefore the committee has been busy considering and provisionally selecting hymns using the Principles and Guidelines, as adopted by Synod Chatham. The hymns selected are available for potential inclusion in the new SongBook. Much thought has been given on an index for the SongBook. Often we need to deal with copyright issues as we receive many requests for permission to reprint songs or prose sections. In the past year a central archive was established, at the Theological College in Hamilton. It is a challenge to make such an archive complete after some 50 years of existence of the committee.

To date all joint effort between our committees has been on the hymnary part of the new SongBook. At this meeting, time was devoted to a discussion on inclusion of the 150 Genevan Psalms. A frank discussion was held about a number of issues ranging from complete unfamiliarity of many URCNA brothers and sisters with the Genevan tunes, coupled with the apparent difficulty of a number of the tunes, having only the melody line (not harmony) as well as the physical size of the new SongBook when potentially two versions of each psalm, Hymns, Confessions and liturgical forms are to be included. After the discussion, the committees did agree that it will be helpful if the URCNA committee clearly outlines their views, thoughts and concerns about including the 150 Genevan Psalms, and the CanRC committee outlines the motivation of the Canadian Reformed Churches for maintaining all 150 Genevan Psalms. These documents will be of immense benefit in gaining greater appreciation of each other’s views and will be of great benefit in preparing reports to our respective Synods.

Reports of studies by the two committees were presented:

1. A list of Reformed Psalters and Hymnals and information about the Songbooks that are in use by different churches. (URCNA report)
2. Possibility of adding harmony and /or meter (adding bar lines) to the Genevan Melodies. Conclusion was that adding harmony is possible, and we resolved to recommend that harmonies for these melodies be included in the new SongBook; however, adding bar lines is not recommended as this would require frequent alternation between 4/4 and 6/4 time and would make for a untidy presentation. (CanRC report)
3. Evaluation of the 65 Hymns of the Book of Praise. Great appreciation was expressed for the faithfulness of the text. A number of hymns are very long; many of the hymns originate from the 17th century; other hymns appear to have a mismatch between the words and the music, for example: a song of praise set to music in a ‘minor’ key. (URCNA report)
4. The structure in which to organize the hymnary of the SongBook. As a starting point, it was suggested to have a Trinitarian structure, much along the lines of the Apostles Creed with additions for special occasions such as Holy Baptism, The Lord’s Supper, Marriage and Ordination. (CanRC report) We agreed this would form a good starting point and would be a good guide as to where to place the potential hymns, and would be an aid to compile a ‘balanced’ hymnary. A number of indices, such as a confessional index (keyed on the Three Forms of Unity), a textual index and a topical index would be helpful for the end users.

The URCNA committee reported on the progress of evaluating the hymns of the “Blue Psalter Hymnal”. Approximately 100 potential hymns passed the initial scrutiny of the URCNA committee using the accepted Principles and Guidelines. More work is required in that some of these were done before these Guidelines were in place.

There was a mutual understanding that the functioning as a joint committee would be greatly enhanced by meeting more than once a year. Therefore, we agreed to meet again in the fall of 2005, the URCNA committee acting as host. In this context, the decision was made that all the potential hymns, as selected by each committee to date, will be collected and duplicated for each committee member. It is expected that this will enhance the possibility to present a concept hymnary for the common SongBook to our next respective Synods. The Book of Praise committee realizes that the good progress being made on the mandate for a common SongBook may well render the mandate to produce a new Book of Praise redundant.

This meeting was a very productive one and showed a unity of purpose. Much ground was covered and a lot was accomplished including a better appreciation of each other. It was acknowledged and understood by all that we are working on a common goal, a common book of worship, that will benefit the unity that the Lord demands of his believers. With that in mind, we adjourned.

National Post: "MONTREAL - A Groupaction employee of sponsorship whistle-blower Jean Brault yesterday told Judge John Gomery that his boss kicked in $30,000 to Jean Chretien's 1993 election campaign in his efforts to secure federal government contracts."

Will he try to distract us with golf balls again?

BBC NEWS | Europe | Pope buried in St Peter's crypt: "Pope John Paul II has been buried in St Peter's Basilica after a funeral in Rome watched by tens of thousands of people, including 200 world leaders."

And only four people were at Jesus' funeral....

The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature, by Sidney Greidanus (IVP: 1988), 374 pp.

In The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text, Sidney Greidanus builds upon his doctoral dissertation, Sola Scriptura Problems and Principles in Preaching Historical Texts (1970). In this book he strives fill two needs: to provide a tool that bridges the gap between the departments of biblical studies and that of homiletics; to provide busy pastors and aspiring preachers access to the fruit of biblical scholarship which is so often buried away in scholarly journals and far away libraries. This books has surprising breadth: in it the author deals with issues in history, hermeneutics, homiletics, Hebrew narrative, prophecy, the Gospels and the Epistles. Despite that surprising breadth, the reader will not be disappointed by a lack of depth. This study is not superficial.

In the first chapter Greidanus explores the connection between the Bible and contemporary preaching. He emphasizes the need for expository preaching where the text is master of the sermon, rather than topical preaching.

In chapter two he discusses the radical naturalistic historical-critical methods of approaching scripture that deny the historical reliability of the Bible. His conclusion is that there is sufficient reason for approaching the biblical text with confidence, even as the very Word of God. Greidanus accepts what the Bible says about its inspiration (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21). The Bible is trustworthy. He argues for working with a "holistic" historical-critical method that permits one to recognize historical narrative in the scriptures for what it is and to interpret it accordingly rather than to interpret it as myth, legend or mere story.

In chapter three the author presents a very helpful survey and assessment of the various forms of literary interpretation of scripture: source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, rhetorical criticism, biblical theology, and the canonical approach. He provides an analysis of how the several forms relate to preaching, and how they are either preaching's death knell or of some or much aid to the preacher.

The next chapter discuss the place of historical interpretation. The text is a historical document and must be understood in terms of its own time, place and culture. Historical interpretation seeks to answer the questions: Who wrote this text? to whom? when? where? and why? To understand what the text means, we need to seek to understand what the author meant. In this chapter Greidanus writes about the history of God's kingdom spanning creation to new creation, and works with the theme of creation, fall and redemption.

Chapter five is entitled: "Theological Interpretation." The Bible is not man-centred but has a God-centred focus: it reveals God's sovereignty and relates everything to God. The Bible requires preaching to be Christocentric. Neither the people in the Bible nor in the pew are central to the sermon; rather, Christ is central.

In the view of this reviewer, this chapter could have been strengthened if Greidanus had included a paragraph or two on confessional interpretation. A preacher preaches within a confessional context. His sermons ought not to collide with his church's confession(s). This is not to take the position that the confessions rule over the Word. This does not mean that the preacher would need to round off his sermons with footnotes to his confessions—or that his sermons would be nothing more than footnotes to his church's confessions. The message of the text must always sounds the clear tones of the Word of God. The peculiarities of a given text must be boldly pronounced. At the same time, if a preacher belongs to a confessional church, the confessions will function as he fulfills his task of preaching. The author's thoughts on this would have been appreciated.

After laying groundwork for five chapters, Greidanus gets to nitty-gritty material in chapter six, "Textual-Thematic Preaching." By this he means preaching in which the theme of the sermon is rooted in the text. A sermon must have a text, rather than just a topic. He discusses what a text is and how one delineates a text, and the difference between the theme of the text and the theme of the sermon (sometimes but not always these will be the same). The sermon must have a theme—a statement or proposition. This will help to keep the sermon on track, unified, provide necessary movement, and direct the application.

Chapter seven covers the form of the sermon. In this very interesting chapter he discusses deductive and inductive development, and didactic and narrative forms. Each has advantages and potential pitfalls. The deductive and didactic forms can be good teaching vehicles but can also lead to boredom in the pew whereas the inductive and narrative can be exciting but can also mystify a congregation which has no idea what journey the preacher has taken it on. The nature of the text needs to determine the form of the sermon. Writes Greidanus: "If the text is narrative, then the sermon ought to exhibit the characteristics of narrative; if the text is a lament, then the sermon ought to set the tone and mood conveyed by a lament; if it is teaching, then the sermon out to be didactic in character." This does not call for slavish imitation of the form of the text but for respect for the textual form so that its spirit is not violated by the sermonic form.

In chapter eight the author discuss the relevance of the sermon. The question here is: how does the preacher bridge the historical-cultural gap and show that the ancient text is relevant (not made relevant) to its modern audience? He discusses four improper methods: allegorizing, spiritualizing, imitating Bible characters, and moralizing. In discussing how properly to bridge the gap, we must begin by concentrating on the original message. What did the author intend to convey to the first audience? We need then to recognize the elements of discontinuity between the ancient pre-Christ audience and us, and at the same time recognize the overarching continuity (one faithful God and one covenant people). The preacher must realize that he is not making the text relevant but is coming with a relevant proclamation about God and his Christ. Application ought not to be tacked on to explication. Explication and application must be integrated so that the whole sermon comes across as relevant communication. The preacher needs to address the needs of his congregation, to address the whole person, use dialogue in his sermon, and make use of concrete and vivid language.

In the remaining chapters Greidanus applies the contents of the first eight chapters to preaching Hebrew narratives (ch. 9), preaching prophetic literature (ch. 10), preaching the gospels (ch. 11), and preaching the epistles (ch. 12). These chapters provide a wealth of very helpful insight that will aid a preacher in preaching almost every genre of the Bible.

"Easy Pay" says the sign!?! What's so easy about paying a buck a litre!  

Welcome to Ligonier Ministries: "Listen to a special message from Dr. R.C. Sproul concerning the issues surrounding Terry Schiavo's tragic death."

Excerpts from the interview:

"What happened to Terry Schiavo is symbolic and illustrative of a significant shift in the structure of our culture. Though there are many complex issues here that we can discuss, what we've just witnessed is the willful starving and dehydration of a living human being. If we did that to one of our pets, we would be arrested. If we did that to a convicted killer on death row in one of America's prisons, we would be charged with cruel and unusual punishment."

"There is no more fundamental civil right according to the Constitution than the right to life. And if the government cannot be involved in this, then the government should not be involved in anything. The issues here are so much larger and more serious than the life of one person, as serious as that is. What I've seen is the serious threat to the whole principle of the balance of power in the government of the United States."

"A reasonable response to this tragedy would include within it an emotional response, because a heart that is not moved by understanding is really not rational. I think there should be a cry of mourning but also a cry of protest throughout the land. We have an ethical crisis in this country that is not going to go away with respect to the sanctity of human life."

Weekly Commentary - April 4, 2005 - A fearless bishop will soon face a political kangaroo court

We'll soon see how protected the religious rights of Christians really are.