We often look to the early church as role models of how to be a sacrificial church. There has even been a big push in a lot of churches to get back to the early church. On the other hand we rarely look to these pillars of the church to see how they interacted with the world around them. Often because we can’t easily relate to them. This is where a dear friend named Justin Martyr can aid us.

Justin Martyr lived between 100 and 165 C.E. in Judea. He was born into his Christian heritage, in fact his parents were both pagans. He was trained in the Greek classics as a boy, Justin was well versed in the Roman way. Later in life he was extremely influenced by the piety of Christians being persecuted in his day. This lead Justin to become one of the most fierce critics of the Roman Empire.

    In Justin Martyr’s first apology he wrote to Augustus Caesar. The Church was under tremendous persecution for creating social and civil threats as far as the Romans government was concerned. Justin wrote in defense of the Christian faith, to stop the injustice and the wrongly served punishment. Justin Martyr states in his apology,

‘Hence are we called atheists. and we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity. But both Him and the Son (who came forth from Him and taught us these things, and the hose of the other good angels who follow and are made like to Him), and the prophetic spirit, we worship and adore, knowing them in reason and truth, and declaring without grudging to everyone who wishes to learn, as we have been taught.’

The entire apology is bursting at the seams with theological goodness. The thing to notice is that they are not preferential doctrines either. They are ones that have built the christian faith, as taught to us by Christ, as Justin Martyr points out above. These doctrines he has brought to the Emperor’s attention are Christian distinctives. Not theistic proofs or rationalistic diagnostics. But rather he makes his defense with Christian theism, trinitarian Christianity. It is through his theological underpinnings that Justin can speak with authority on topics like justice, love and mercy. He was a great theologian and thusly a great apologist.

Justin’s insistence of proclaiming the truth eventually lead to his death, under the judgment of Marcus Aurelius. If we want to learn anything from the early church it is to suffer well, but to defend the faith diligently, with a theological foundation. We can take from Justin Martyr’s example of never erring from the truth, because Christ is forever sweeter.

BOOKS BY JUSTIN MARTYR

1. Dialogue with Trypho
2. The First and Second Apologies

BOOKS ABOUT JUSTIN MARTYR

1. One True Life: The Stoics and Early Christians As Rival Traditions
2. Christian Apologetics Past & Present: A Primary Source Vol. 1 to 1500
3. The 40 Most Influential Christians… Who Shaped What We Believe Today
4. Early Christian Thinkers: The Lives and Legacies of Twelve Key Figures

(Note: We do not have a whole lot of info on his life, so it is hard to find biographies on his life. These are some books with chapters about him that are helpful.)

Author: Andrew Keenan

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The second of eleven children, Herman Bavinck, was a Dutch theologian and statesman born in the town of Hoogeveen in 1854.  From childhood Bavinck had an astute theological mind being raised in the home of Jan Bavinck, a German Reformed Pastor and Theological professor at Kampen. Herman attended Kampen for one year, and then made the intrepid move of  transferring to the modernist university of Leiden. From 1874 – 1880 Bavinck studied at Leiden in the furnace of an aggressively modernist faculty, although he often disagreed with their doctrinal conclusions and presuppositions. After completing his dissertation, Bavinck sought ordination in the Christian Reformed Church and accepted the pastorate in a small church in 1881.

By 1883 Bavinck was called to teach theology at Kampen, where he taught until 1901. While at Kampen, Bavinck wrote his magnum opus, Reformed Dogmatics, a mammoth of a work, which was just recently translated into English! Beginning in 1902 Bavinck lived and taught in Amsterdam at the Vrije University. He suffered from a heart attack, while preaching in 1920, from there on his health deteriorated and he died in July of 1921. During those years in Amsterdam, Bavinck was heavily involved in politics, and wrote extensively on philosophy, pedagogy, education and of course theology.

Bavinck as a theologian left no stone unturned, as his, Reformed Dogmatics attests. He believed that all of life should sought to be understood through the Trinity, and that his main purpose as a theologian was “to think God’s thoughts after him”. His Reformed Dogmatics themselves take on a distinctly Trinitarian shape, which reflects Bavinck’s theological framework.

There are two addresses that Bavinck gave at during his time at Leiden that shed insightful light on the thrust of Bavinck’s work. The first “The Science of Holy Theology”, in which Bavinck argued for theology as the science (field of knowledge) that unites all disparate fields of knowledge, and in the second “Common Grace” Bavinck argues for the centrality of common grace to Reformed theology’s participation in the world. In other words, Bavinck as a theologian rather than seeking to flee from the world, wanted to seek a synthesis in which theology provides coherence to all reality.

Bavinck’s influence on theology in America hasn’t been directly felt, however theologians such as Cornelius Van Til, Geerhardus Vos, and Louis Berkhof have each recapitulated with their own nuances much of Bavinck’s thinking.  In the end, Bavinck is a theologically rich theologian who has much to say to the church today.

“Where God’s Word is, there is God Himself, there God’s Spirit is at work, there God establishes His covenant, there He plants His church.” – Herman Bavinck, Saved by Grace

Four Books by Herman Bavinck

Reformed Dogmatics, 4 Volumes
Saved by Grace: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Calling and Regeneration
Essays on Religion, Science and Society
The Last Things: Hope for This World and the Next

Three Books on Herman Bavinck

Bavinck on the Christian Life: Following Jesus in Faithful Service
Herman Bavinck on Preaching & Preachers

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Most people today want a sense of direction or purpose, let’s face it we live in a confused time. Not only the world, but the people in the pew seem just as confused. It is just as Paul describes when he admonishes the Ephesian church to hold fast to the gospel, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” So when we have individuals who lead with vigor and truth, they are a beacon of light. One man who was a great gift to the Church was John Gresham Machen (1881-1937.)

    When Machen was beginning his career and ministry the denomination he belonged to was in turmoil. German high criticism had been leaking in for a long time, and was starting to take control of the denomination. Machen, who studied at Marburg, the bastion of german liberal theology, was a professor of New Testament at Princeton where he wrote a scathing critique of liberal theology. This book was entitled Christianity and Liberalism, and is arguably one of the most important books written in the 20th century. Just look at the title of the book! He makes a definitive distinction between liberal theology and conservative theology.

    One of the sharpest distinctions that Machen makes is how the events of the Gospel, and our theological heritage are anchored in history. Dr. Machen makes that point masterfully here in Christianity and Liberalism,

 “From the beginning, the Christian gospel, as indeed the name “gospel” or “good news” implies, consisted in an account of something that had happened. And from the beginning, the meaning of the happening was set forth; and when the meaning of the happening was set for then there was Christian doctrine. “Christ died”– that is history; “Christ died for our sins”– that is doctrine. Without these two elements, joined in an absolutely indissoluble union, there is no Christianity.

    Ringing through the halls of our Church’s history the words of Machen still reside with great power and force today. For me, Machen has been so impactful because he constantly reminds me to take comfort in the gospel. He was not only a phenomenal scholar who wrote a Greek Grammar, still used in many seminaries, but wrote a book on the apostle Paul, and an Introduction the the New Testament, and in addition was a great churchmen. This is what we can learn from a man like Machen, how to love the Lord with you mind and your hands. He was a scholar through and through, but he never relieved himself of the task of preaching, for the sake of his beloved denomination.

    When Dr. Machen had passed away there was a great sorrow among those who knew Dr. Machen, he was leaving behind a brand new denomination and seminary. There was also sorrow among those who opposed him. Pearl S. Buck, a woman that Machen had defrocked said in an obituary she wrote on his behalf stated, “J.G. Machen was worth one hundred of his fellows.” This is a large statement considering the controversy surrounding these two scholars. John Machens legacy are hard shoes to fill, and leaves us to consider our place in the Church of Christ, but his dying words sent in a telegram to his dear friend John Murray, are ones that we can continue to reflect on “So thankful for the active obedience of Jesus Christ, no hope without it.”

5 Books by John G. Machen

1. Christianity and Liberalism, Revised
2. The Christian View of Man
3. The Origin of Paul’s Religion
4. New Testament Greek for Beginners
5. What is Faith?

3 Books About John G. Machen

1. Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America
2. J. Gresham Machen
3. What Is Christianity? Notable Addresses from a Noble Defender of the Faith

Author: Andrew Keenan  

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Our fruit pilfering friend, Augustine, was born in November 354 CE  and died shortly before the Vandal’s besieged his hometown of Hippo in 430 CE. Augustine is the premier theologian of the early church, and his writings have shaped much of Western philosophy, and theology.  For Catholics he is considered the patron saint of brewing, theologians, and the allever of eyesores. However for Protestants Augustine is often better known as a theological fore-runner to the Reformation, with his writings capturing the theologians of that generation, moreover his works are still being studied in Universities and Seminaries today.

The most retold story of Augustine comes from his Confessions, which is largely considered the most influential autobiography ever written, in which Augustine amongst his childhood hooligan friends vaulted a fence to steal some pears, only to throw them away moments later. This short tale is followed by a penetrating digression on the nature of sin. He discloses, “I had no motive for my wickedness except wickedness itself.”  The pilfering of the pear is seared into Augustine’s mind as the moment that captured his sinfulness, in addition it recalls the mind to the Garden of Eden.

In his journey to Christianity, Augustine, a master of rhetoric, sought out the preaching of Ambrose, who himself was a skilled orator, who introduced him to the vast depth of the Christian faith. Shortly after, in his autobiography, Confessions Augustine tells of hearing a small youthful  voice telling him, “Tolle, Lege! Tolle Lege!” (Take up and read!). He took this as a divine summons, opened up and read The Book of Romans. His life was never his own.

 As a theologian, Augustine was most at home when dwelling on the majestic nature of the Trinity. His book De Trinitate underscores that contemplating the Trinity is the purpose for all actions, and the key to everlasting joy and satisfaction: “For this contemplation is held forth to us as the end of all actions, and the everlasting fullness of joy. For we are the sons of God; and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. For . . . this it is which we shall contemplate when we shall live in eternity.”

Augustine, a gift to the church, we commend him to you, “Tolle, Lege!”

Five Books By Augustine:

1. The Confessions
2. The Trinity
3. City of God
4. On Christian Doctrine
5. Essential Works of Augustine

Three Books on Augustine:

1. Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography
2. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography
3. Augustine for Armchair Theologians

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