Reflections After Reading An Old Autobiography: (A. C. Gaebelein)

I have just finished reading an interesting autobiography by a major Bible teacher of the first part of the 20th Century named Arno C. Gaebelein.  The book is titled A Half Century: The Autobiography of a Servant. The book is beautifully bound and signed by the author, August 10th 1944.  Gaebelein died a year later.  I found several items of interest in the book that I thought I would like to share.

I should first say something about the subject.  A. C. Gaebelein was one of the most important teachers of what he called Dispensational truth in the halcyon days of America’s Prophetic Movement.  He was well acquainted with the likes of James H. Brookes, C. I. Scofield and many other premillenarians of the day.  He authored a number of books, the best of which (in my opinion) are Harmony of the Prophetic Word,  The Annotated Bible, The Angels of God, and Conflict of the Ages. He also wrote a fine exposition of the Olivet Discourse.

Gaebelein published his book in 1930 when Jehovah’s Witnesses were called “Russellites,” when Pentecostals were commonly denounced as heretical enthusiasts, and when Presbyterian pastors enthusiastically endorsed premillennialism.

Here are some reflections on his Autobiography:

1. The first thing is that Gaebelein was diligent.  He was very driven (as we say today) and made the most of his opportunities to teach himself the biblical languages, as well as Syriac and, because he at first worked as an evangelist to Jewish immigrants in New York, Yiddish (he also knew German, having been raised in Germany).

In the second place he was diligent.  Not only did he learn several languages on his own, he was constantly reading his Bible, writing books and pamphlets, editing his magazine “Our Hope,” and preaching.  He was very industrious.  He writes in one place about the importance of reading the Bible as a means of communing with God and refreshing the soul.  Without this, he believed it was not possible to maintain a right relationship with the Lord.

I was impressed by this conviction that attentive Bible reading and a living and open relationship with God were inextricably linked.  The Bible is the source of our sermons and our theology.  But it must also be the voice of the personal God to us.  It must be God speaking to us.  “Ministry,” he writes, “can only be kept by a real growth in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and such growth demands a diligent and prayerful study of the Bible.” (169).

In another place he mentions a small prayer-book which he carried around with him and made it his habit to consult and pray for people whenever he had a free moment.  Gaebelein placed a lot of emphasis on prayer: “True ministry must be born in prayer and communion with the Lord.  A ministry without prayer is barren.” (237).

A New Nobel Laureate

Congratulations President Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize for….well whatever!  I’m sure no one could think of anybody more deserving.

Honestly, is there any sanity left in the world?

Real Spirituality: What Does The Incarnation Teach Us?

Our world is certainly troubled.  There is so much hostility, so much greed, so much unfairness.  For many people today, the way through the hardness of day to day life is through “spirituality.”  Indeed, “spirituality” is on the rise in our society.  Whatever the growling New Atheists say, it is a fact that the majority of people yearn to find some sense of meaning in a form of spirituality.

Even Christians may have leanings this way too.  For example, in taking my students through the first era of Church History I have had cause on several occasions to call to their attention that practically all of the so-called great leaders in the early Church for the first five centuries were ascetics.  That is, they believed in celibacy and simple diet and longed for solitude.  Well, which of these is spirituality?  Are any of them “spiritual” per se?  I don’t think so.

On Reading Slowly

C.S. Lewis once said that if a book is worth reading it is worth reading slowly. Since coming upon his observation I have tried to follow his advice. Formerly, I tried to rush through books; commentaries, histories, theologies. And although I certainly learned a lot that way (speed-reading does work. One often can take in more than one thinks one can) I have to say that I am a true believer in the “Lewis method.”

Sir Francis Bacon advised, “Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.” He was also the man who observed that, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” Those latter works are the ones which Christian readers need to be most concerned with. There are so many time-wasting volumes out there, it behooves us to take responsibility for what we run our eyes over.

When I am asked to recommend books (as I quite often am) I always tell the questioner, “You don’t have time to read bad books. You must read the best books. And if you read them you should read them slowly.” I say that because I have noticed that those who read books like they are throwaway ads tend to have a rather superficial notion of what it was that the author was trying to put across. They may glean some useful thoughts here and there, but nothing of real substance can permeate a brow that has not had time to furrow, even just a little, before the next page is turned. One cannot ’skim’ any worthwhile author, be he Calvin or Owen or Baxter or Edwards or Warfield or Lewis.

Reading “slowly” doesn’t hold up the consumption process as long as one might think. But the extra time and effort will bring its rewards. One must get in a good book and not just through it. A good book is worth marking up. Not rudely with yellow highlighters, but carefully with a nice pen or even a pencil. I use a self-devised code: T = Theological, Q = worth quoting, ! = an arresting thought, ? = possibly dubious/spurious, etc. This helps me when I am researching something later. Again, I don’t see how one can do this if one is flying through the contents so as to “finish it.”

The verb “to read” is at home with terms like “consider,” “meditate,” “muse,” “ruminate,” “ponder,” and “think.” So slow down. If a book is really worth reading, it is worth reading slowly.

Three Cheers for Van Til!

Cornelius Van Til was one of the truly great thinkers that the LORD gave to the Church. His books, as I am well aware, abound in unusual phrases and difficult combinations of words, but the depth of his insight and the implications of his theological-philosophical thought are, I believe, revolutionary. I think John Frame is correct to call Van Til “the most important Christian thinker since Calvin.”

Van Til taught that God has flooded the creation with clear revelation of His Divine nature (theotes), and that man, as the image of God, is both himself revelatory to himself and is equipped – at least as he came from the hand of the Maker – to interpret the revelation which God puts forth. Only we do not interpret autonomously, that is, outside our God-intended parameters. We were made for exalted communion with Yahweh, the “I Am” (Exod. 3:14; Jn. 8:58), and this communion is predicated upon our sustained worshipful dependence on Him.

Things Are Progressing!

I thought it would be a good idea if I gave an update on Veritas School of Theology and what I’ve been up to.

In two weeks, Tom Pryde and I will be flying (Sept. 26th – 29th) to meet with the President and faculty of a fine Christian College to discuss a ‘partnership’ between the two schools; they will likely be donating classes to be used in our online school, and Veritas would provide online training at a graduate level and beyond for their students. They seem enthusiastic about meeting with us, and we, for our part, are very happy that an institution we both respect wants to discuss our vision. It’s becoming more and more evident that online education is the future.

I am very close to completing the recording of lectures for my course on “The Doctrine of God (1),” which means that it will be available soon! I have been working on the materials for many different courses for awhile, more specifically, for: “The Doctrine of God (2)“, “Intro to Biblical Apologetics“, “The Canon of Scripture“, and “Church History (1).” Many more courses are in the pipeline.

We are very thankful to those of you who are supporting the work financially. May God bless you all. Veritas needs a dedicated server (about $5,000?) so that we can handle more students and provide the bandwidth necessary for the lectures. We received our EIN# yesterday, which enables us to proceed on the business side of things, but we also need to complete our application for tax-exempt status as a 5o1(c)3 corporation, which will cost $750. It is imperative that we file this in October, so that we can begin processing funds for Veritas. I shall be posting a “Shopping List” on the website soon, so that any “project-oriented” individuals can see where they might supply a need.

As one might expect, Satan is unhappy with what Tom and I are doing and both of us have been hit in the pocket recently. I was laid off my part-time job (the owner is selling up) and Tom is having to go part-time at his church. But we believe the Lord will continue to supply and to prove Himself as Jehovah Jireh on our behalf.

There you have it. Plenty of work, lots of exciting opportunities, and some challenges. Please pray for us and continue to watch us move forward!

Your brother,

Paul.

Veritas School of Theology…

The old Puritans used to say “Man proposes but God disposes.” That certainly sums up our lives over the past few months. By now I fully expected to be writing this from Bismarck, N.D., but that has not come to pass (at least, not as yet). During the meantime I have been busy working from Texas on the online part of the seminary, and I am seeing God work in a definite direction, using outward circumstances. Even though there is much work to do we are seeing the ministry beginning to create its own momentum – it is quite exciting! Let me fill you in:

Veritas School of Theology is a venture that has grown out of a general concern of several pastors and educators with the state of theological training in America. This forward-looking theological project has sprung up because of our belief that anyone desiring a deeper knowledge of God’s truth ought to have access to it in the place where the Lord has placed them. To read more about the plan and purpose of the seminary, click here to visit the Seminary Page!

Breaking news at this point is that, as of this week, we have a website set-up to host interactive online courses.

Why I Am A Dispensationalist (Despite Myself) – pt. 2

Last time I stated that I am a dispensationalist because I believe that God says what He means and means what He says. If God makes specific promises to people (e.g. the Jews) and they go away believing the content of those promises, then proper communication has taken place. They have simply believed what they have been told (like children do). Now there may be things that many Jews have not believed which they should have. For instance, they should have believed in Jesus, and they should have believed that the covenant promises of national restoration, salvation, and kingdom come through Christ and by Him a right relationship to God. But this in no way affects the literalness of the promises themselves.

Why I Am A Dispensationalist (Despite Myself) – pt 1

I’m an Englishman. An English Christian. I came to Christ through the reading of the Bible after a sojourn through the history of Art (where I also read about people like Savonarola, and his ‘negative’ impact on the likes of Botticelli), and through fruitless meanderings in the writings of Sophocles, Plato, Aristophanes, Cicero, Macchievelli, Bertrand Russell and the like. I have always felt it important to try to take authors at “face value” (although one must recall the famous dictum about Hegel meaning the opposite of what people imagine he means).

When it came to my encounter with the Bible; first through the Gospels, then Genesis, etc., I just took for granted that God knew how to speak plainly.