Evening Prayer (1662 Book of Common Prayer)

ISAIAH-ALERT. External worship “stinks” if the heart, head, and soul are not “thoroughly Reformed.” Piles of liturgy stinks without a regenerated, devout, and God-loving heart. Isaiah lays in his ordnance in 1.10-15. That ain't gonna go over well at the Abbey or DC's Cathedral. Isaiah actually preached this stuff. 

LECTIONS. John Calvin on the Psalms. Keil & Delitzsch: Joshua. Matthew Henry: Isaiah. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown: Gospels. Matthew Henry: Revelation. Dr. Robert Reymond: Systematic Theology. Prof. Berkhof, Systematic Theology: Soteriology. Dr. Philip Schaff, Apostolic Christianity, Medieval Christianity and Swiss Reformation. Dr. Philip Schaff: Creeds. Westminster Shorter Catechism, 61-70. 

For Psalm 9, Prof. Calvin makes his exegetical effort again. As a Hebrew exegete, it’s not impressive. The English text outshines our beloved reformer. As an important aside, the impotent CoE has stricken this and correlative Psalms from usage. As such, we rebuke the CoE Poohbahs. This has been personally discussed with many in 21ish English Cathedrals. We will take the Psalter over Poobahs who castrate God (only in their heads). Psalm 9.19-20: “Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.”

For Joshua 8, Prof. Keil discusses where Joshua may have settled Israel as the northern and southern conquests of Canaan are carried. 

For Isaiah 1.10-15, Prof. Henry notes that “without a thorough reformation of soul and mind,” piles of religious externalities “stink” in God’s nostrils. That might not go over at the Abbey or DC Cathedral. 

For the Introduction to the Gospels, Prof. Jamiesson wonderfully introduces a summary of Matthew’s Gospel, allowing for dating from 38-38 to the 60s. Notably, Prof. Jamieson never drank the poisoned chalice of German-beliefs of God’s inability to work miracles and Jesus’s inability to predictive prophecy. Who can forget the years of studying the German liberals assuring us of the “assured results of scholarship?” Yeah, right. Prof. Jamiesson, aware of these hubristics and poisons, shows his historic colors and banner. A lovely, albeit brief intro to Matthew. Prof. Donald Guthrie we would dare would approve, another fine NT man .

For Revelation 3, Prof. Henry brings the third chapter to a close, noting that all 7 churches and letters are applicable to ecclesiology and life of all ages. More food to digestion from the goodly English Presbyterian.

For Bibliology, Prof. Reymond continues to dismantle Dr. R.C. Sproul’s “classical apologetical effort” for Biblical infallibility. RC has laced his arguments with presuppositions, thinking he thinks without them. Very poor thinking. Dr. Sproul on Dr. Reymond’s deconstruction is a tad sophomoric. We surely follow the more meticulous scholar, Dr. Reymondm and give him our continuing thanks for his insights and leadership. We love RC and he was a decades-old friend, but ain't followin' him here. Churchmen and Doctors are not infallible. 

For Soteriology, Prof. Berkhof drifts around some more on common and special grace. On this subject, Louis puts his Titanic effort forward to push the agenda on the approach to the iceberg. The Protestant Reformed are better on this subject. We love Louis Berkhof, but are with Professor Homer Hoeksema here. 

 

For Apostolic Christianity, Mr. Schaff tells us that “epochs” is a better category than the “centurial plan.” 

For Medieval Christianity, Mr. Schaff we are “told” that Christianity, willy nilly, was “reintroduced” to England by Greg’s boys at Canterbury. An unhappy overstatement, as if the Celtic Christians were abandoned by the Eternal God and had disappeared. Bede is a tad overwrought on the point. And yes, we've read Bede's entire corpus and his History variously. He was pushing the Roman agenda of unification about hair cuts, tonsures and the Quartodecimian controversy. Total non-issues. The real issue: "authority" and "impulse to authoritarianism." The Greeks had the sniffers on the right scent of Rome. 

For the Swiss Reformation, Mr. Schaff leads us to the life and contributions of Oecolampadius at Basel, a man taken in his early prime in 1531 and yet helping in clearing the wreckage of Romanism in Basel. 

For the Creeds, Mr. Schaff talks of the two sticking points between Rome and Constantinople: Papal Supremacy and the Filioque clause of the Nicene Creed.

For the WCF, we tour through the 3rd to 7th commandment, warranting individual, familial, ecclesial, generational, and cultural applications.