Jonathan's Lecture Hall: Introduction
Jonathan's Lecture Hall is a personal study of a collection of sermons--in small bites. It began at a separate location, and is moving here to simplify things.
Jonathan Edwards composed sixteen "lectures" drawn from 1 Corinthians 13, the great "love" chapter. His writing on the true nature of Christian love is simple, full of thought and timeless. These are great old works, still loved today (see links below).
In order to make the lectures more accessible to those of us with a busy schedule, this study will divide them into much more than sixteen parts. We'll follow Edwards's divisions within the works to break them down. In some cases, I will act as a sort of secretary or editorial assistant to create explanatory footnotes for the old style of grammar.
Even if you're not into the "blog" thing, I encourage you to share your thoughts by clicking the "Post a Comment" button at the bottom of the entry you're reading. You can type your name in the space above your comments where it says "Anonymous." (That's just a default setting.) The sharing so far has been a huge added bonus to this study. You don't have to agree to give your opinion, in fact, it's more interesting if you have an alternate view to express.We're working from the Sixth American Edition of "Christian Love, As Manifested in the Heart and Life," published sometime in or shortly after 1874 by the Presbyterian Board of Publication. Credit for the editorial work on this old edition goes to the Rev. Tryon Edwards, D.D.
Here's what the Preface says about the book:
This work, under the title of "CHARITY AND ITS FRUITS," or "CHRISTIAN LOVE, AS MANIFESTED IN THE HEART AND LIFE," was first published from the original manuscripts in 1851. It was republished in England in 1852. After that, several editions were issued in this country, when the work was purchased by a Christian gentleman of wealth and culture, with the express view of printing it for distribution as a means of doing good. He had himself been so impressed with its great value as a treatise on the Christian spirit and life that he intended to issue edition after edition, at his own expense, for gratuitous circulation in every part of the land. On second thought, however, he liberally presented the stereotype plates to the Presbyterian Board of Publication, so arranging with them as to be able to carry out his design, while, at the same time, the work, in their hands, might have a more extended circulation, and thus be the means of a greater good....October, 1872.The sixteen sermons can be found online at Bible Bulletin Board's
Jonathan Edwards Collection. The Collection is ordered by its own topical index, so the Lectures are dispersed in a different order to that of the original publication.
A current hardcopy edition of this work can be found through
Grace and Truth Books.Other Edwards sermons (in the public domain due to their antiquity) can be located at
Select Sermons of Jonathan Edwards.
Labels: BibleStudy, JonathanEdwards
There Is a Fountain
It sounds gory and archaic. But it sums up the message of the Bible.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath its flood lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.
This old hymn says what many Christians don't like to say: It states the unglamourous truth that sacrifice had to be made to satisfy God's wrath against sin. In this day and age, the word "sin" is subject to all manner of redefinition. But it remains true that the human soul has an emptiness that aches for something beyond this life, and a sense of guilt that longs for a resolution to wrongs done.
It's up to us whether we place our trust in Christ's substitution for us.
Click to listen to There is a Fountain.Labels: Music, Podcasts
How Firm a Foundation
Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers overflow it....
~Song of Solomon 8:7
This week's podcast (yes, there finally is one!) is dedicated to my friend Tamara and her family. Tam's husband passed away of cancer this spring. I had started uploading and mixing these tracks already when I visited her blog. As I finished the sound engineering, I thought of their family. It's easy to think words like these turn out true when we watch others suffer loss and hardship; it's much harder in the midst of many waters. (2 Samuel 22:17-20)
Tam, here's a June song for you.
How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
What more can He say than to you He has said--
To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
"Fear not, I am with you, oh, be not dismayed;
For I am your God, I will still give you aid.
I'll strengthen you, help you and cause you to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."
"When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow
For I will be with you, your trials to bless,
And sanctify to you your deepest distress."
"The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to her foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake."
Click to listen to How Firm a Foundation.Labels: Music, Podcasts
How Deep a Love
today's podcaster: Cat, Lazy Creek ZookeeperOkay, well, I haven't played guitar in at least 15 years. That is to say, I taught myself back in junior high. But there is a story to the guitar, if not much of one to its owner's track record.
This guitar was my grandfather's. It's a Takamine C-128 from the late 1970s or early 80s, back when I was too little to know the date it was built. My father has the identical one. A quick walk around the internet will tell you they sell for around $200 USD on eBay, but the musicians who buy them say they play like a $1000 instrument.
Not under my fingers. However, it's still a beautiful instrument. Whenever I pick it up, I have to smile a little, because my grandfather never took to it. He preferred his old beater, a warp-necked thing that couldn't be tuned to itself, but to which his hands had become fitted over the years.
Guitars are a staple in my family. We grew up with them, and all of us know how to pluck a few chords and tunes. When I think guitar, I think of my childhood, my home, and the unique love and harmony that exists across the varying beliefs and perspectives among my loved ones.
In love for each other, we've chosen to stick by each other. Making the other person more important than yourself is what holds people together. My family's not perfect (whose is?), but this is something they're good at.
On that note, I decided to arrange
Stuart Townend's How Deep the Father's Love For Us. I apologize for the beginnerish quality - maybe you'll be able to track my progress from this point on, if I get motivated to keep at it.
How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.....
How deep the pain of searing loss - the Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory.
It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life - I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything - no gifts, no power, no wisdom,
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.
Click to listen to How Deep The Father's Love For Us.Labels: Music, Podcasts
Nothing But The Blood
"What can take away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
Those well-worn words of a children's hymn sound almost trite, but they pose some major points to consider.
First, what is sin? The old archery term means to miss the mark. The Bible equates the word with the term "trespass" - to go without permission on someone else's property. In this case, the property is God's. Another term is "transgress" - to cross a boundary or break a law. Yet another is "iniquity," which is to say, being unequal in our judgement.
The word assumes there are ultimate spiritual laws, boundaries, goals and justice, things which people don't define by their own opinions. Not a popular idea these days.
Then there's the second half of the phrase - "nothing but the blood of Jesus." It seems straightforward, but most religious denominations tack subtext onto it.
It may be, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus, which causes my water baptism to be effective for the removal of sin."
It may be, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus, through which my good deeds have a chance of earning heaven, whereas a non-believer never could."
Or it may be, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus, which obligates me to follow certain rules."
Actually, none of those are in the song lyric, because they're not in the Bible.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow,
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Here, with his very own original solo arrangement for euphonium, is 11-year-old Spazzerific.
Click to listen to Nothing But the Blood.
Labels: Music, Podcasts
Blessed Assurance
It's late, but we do have a music podcast this week. This is an on-the-fly retake of the old Fanny Crosby standard
Blessed Assurance. Enjoy, and happy weekend!
Click here to listen to Improv on Blessed Assurance.Labels: Music, Podcasts
Getting Unlost
Today's podcaster: Cat, Lazy Creek ZookeeperAfter attending a large gathering to sing religious songs, I came away discouraged and distressed. It seemed strange to be in a room full of people I knew, watching them sing songs about teachings I knew many of them didn't agree with or live by. I have no problem being in a room full of people with different concepts of God, as long as everyone feels free to be honest about it. But one major problem I have with the church culture is the enforcement of "nicey-pie" syndrome.
This simply means that people are expected to pretend they agree for the sake of looking like they get along. Not getting along is being a bad Christian. It doesn't matter whether we really get along, as long as we try to make the rest of the world think we do.
It feels like a form of fraud. It is pure public relations, intended to deflect criticism of the Christian religion rather than honestly deal with the obvious conflicts and problems. The world is not fooled, either.
I think we can do better than that. I believe in a God who is a person, not just a force or a part of the universe's fabric. I think this God is required by simple logic to be infinitely everything - infinite love, infinite justice, infinite reasonableness. Infinite relationship.
I think this God gives us answers to our problems, answers that are infinitely smarter than what we come up with. We're free to choose His thoughts or our thoughts. But we usually choose our ways, because the cost of fixing things is to give up pride in our religious accomplishments, our comfort, our self-assurance. The cost is to give up our cherished ideas and beliefs, and to believe instead in God and in His ideas. His definition of Himself.
I get in trouble whenever I bring up this matter. Not from the rest of the world, which often expresses the same sentiments about the state of Christianity. No, I get shushed by Christians.
But I'm not a "Christian." I don't come from a church background. All I am is a believer in God as revealed in the Bible. And I must say, I don't like being judged on the assumption that I'm "judging others" out of some kind of arrogance or lack of love.
So, on Sunday evening after that religious concert, I sat down and talked out my feelings. I wanted to make my actual tone heard, not just my words. Here's a little bit of the story of how I came to believe the things I now believe.
Click to listen to How To Get Unlost.Labels: Podcasts, Talk
