1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, a commentary by Patrick Fairbairn, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 464 pages, £13.95, obtainable from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom.
When the call came to Bunyan’s Mr Valiant for Truth to cross the river, he said, “I go to my Father’s and, though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the troubles I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.”
This spirit is one of the leading themes of these Prison Epistles. Paul’s eye is not only looking backward over his life of faith but forward to the reward of faith, the crown of righteousness, and out towards others who love His appearing (2 Tim 4:9,10). Fairbairn’s comment is instructive here: “The action of loving being put in the perfect [tense], betokens it as a thing commenced in the past, but continuing on till the proper completion is reached: who have fixed their love on His appearing, and so still love. A remarkable characteristic! How rarely it is possessed by believers as it ought to be! . . . To love Him in this particular aspect bespeaks not only faith, but such a full assurance of faith and hope in Him as casts out fear, and carries with it the confidence that, when He appears, we shall also appear with Him in glory” (pp 392,393).
But if Paul is taken up with the land that is very far off, he does not fail to deal with the practical aspects of church life. He speaks of the sad declension which will mark the latter days; the place of the old, the young, servants and women; and the qualifications required of a gospel minister. Again Fairbairn’s comment (p 138) shows insight: “But even this [the gift of teaching], possessed too in no ordinary measure, will prove of little avail for the great practical ends of the ministry unless it is accompanied with not only the sobriety which shuns all lawless excess, but also the discreet and orderly or becoming deportment which instinctively shrinks from needless occasions for offence, and indicates a temper and habits under due management and control. How often do ministers, otherwise highly endowed, lose
well-nigh the fruit of all their gifts and labours by marked failings and imperfections here!”
This commentary is attractively produced and gives a solid and reverent exegesis of the text by another Mr Valiant for Truth. At £13.95 it is money well spent for the serious student.
(Rev) J R Tallach
Protestant View
The Situation in Ulster
In the opinion of many who view political events from a Christian, and especially a Protestant, perspective, the outcome of the recent Assembly elections in Northern Ireland, which resulted in the Democratic Unionist Party gaining the largest number of seats, is highly significant. Over the last 30 years, at times openly, but for the most part covertly, successive British Governments have pursued policies towards Northern Ireland which have had as their aim to detach that province from the United Kingdom and have it absorbed into the Irish Republic. This has also been the long-time aspiration of the Papacy, and as it connived at IRA terrorism and skilfully manipulated the political machine it seemed to be only a matter of time before its hope of a united Ireland would be fulfilled.
The election result has, however, revealed that the majority of Protestants in Northern Ireland are now aware of the danger of being railroaded into a united Ireland, the so-called Good Friday Agreement being used as a means to that end. We may be sure that the God-fearing in Ulster will seek to see the Lord’s hand in this turn of events. “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” We pray that He will hasten the time when, as we believe, Ireland will be united again under the British crown, and when the uniformity of divine worship and church government envisaged in the Solemn League and Covenant will become a reality north and south of the borders on both sides of the Irish Sea.
JM
Notes and Comments
The Queen’s Speech
One of the functions of government is to restrain sin and promote virtue: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil” (Rom 13:3). It is particularly reprehensible that the government of this nation, which is still constitutionally Christian and Protestant and which has a history of legislation
formulated in accordance with the Word of God, should be proceeding rapidly to demolish the foundations of whatever recognition the nation has given to God and His revealed will. The Queen’s Speech at the recent opening of the new Parliamentary session, outlining the Government’s proposals for legislation during the next 12 months, provides further evidence of this God-defying process.
It is a commentary on the state of Parliament and society that the proposed Civil Partnerships Bill is not among the very few items in the Speech which are regarded by commentators as politically controversial. This Bill will provide for the registration of relationships between couples of the same sex before a registrar and two witnesses. The Scotsman, 27 November, 2003, reported that “although there will not be an official ceremony, the system has clearly been designed to mirror marriages as closely as possible. It will even offer couples the right to dissolve the agreement in the form of a divorce. Registration as “civil partners” will be available only to homosexuals and not as an alternative to heterosexual marriage. The radical moves, covering England and Wales, will allow gays to benefit from a dead partner’s pension, grant next-of-kin rights in hospitals and exempt them from inheritance tax on a partner’s home. They would also have the right to register their partner’s death and be able to continue tenancy of a property . . . [and be] able to gain parental responsibility for each other’s children and be obliged to support each other financially.”
The Scottish Executive propose to avail themselves of a parliamentary device which enables them to introduce legislation from the House of Commons to the Scottish Parliament. The Deputy Justice Minister in the Scottish Parliament has claimed that there is no intention to undermine the institution of marriage but that the Executive are solely concerned to give “civil partners” the same tax and pension benefits enjoyed by married people: “We’re talking about people in long-term loving relationships who are denied legal recognition for certain very significant parts of their lives. I don’t see how giving certain rights to people who cannot get married can possibly undermine marriage.” The new Conservative leader is reported to have welcomed the introduction of civil partnerships and Conservative MPs will be given a free vote. This is a departure from the stance of his predecessor, who committed his MPs to voting against homosexual adoption. The development of the party system, and the lack of distinction on religious and moral matters between the parties, deprives Christians in the population of a voice in the parliamentary system.
If the Government, in response to the advocacy of shameless pressure groups, applied the same principle across the whole range of conduct con-
demned as sinful by the Word of God and gave the transgressors of His law the same recognition it gives to those who endeavour to conform to it, society would soon sink into the heathenism from which it was delivered by the gospel. Is it any wonder that the legislators who play fast and loose with God’s law for private and public morality are presiding over a nation increasingly characterised by violence, immorality and racial tension, and are at a loss how to deal effectively with the situation? When government and society abandon the framework for morality and politics provided in the Word of God, it is no wonder they become a prey, not only to the will of the majority, but often to the pressures of groups who are quite prepared to take advantage of the legitimate liberty and the illegitimate licence characteristic of a nation at the meeting point of a Christian past and an increasingly pagan present.
It is significant also that, while the Queen’s Speech promises a referendum on the euro, there is no promise of a referendum on the European Constitution, which is by no means a mere “tidying up” exercise, but has been described by one involved at a senior level in the discussions as a renegotiation of the Treaty of Rome – a renegotiation which will take us even further along the road to the European superstate and deprive us of many of our dearly-bought national rights and liberties. The same deceit which has characterised the whole process of European integration is still being practised by the Prime Minister and those involved with him in this betrayal of our nation. The deceit is as culpable as the work in which it is employed. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men” (Ps 11:3,4).
HMC
Alcohol and Violence
Scotland has been condemned for its “booze and blade” culture after recent figures showed murder rates among the worst in Europe. More than half of these 127 killings in 2002 were the results of stabbings, with alcohol or drugs involved in almost two-thirds of the cases.
The Scottish Justice Minister declared: “Most occur at the weekend and involve young men. It doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to connect many of these tragic incidents with binge drinking and street disorder. This kind of behaviour and its shocking consequences can no longer be tolerated in a modern Scotland.” One need only comment that only a few generations ago there were far fewer murders. But that was an age when, properly, the ultimate penalty for murder was death.
The Minister’s comments about binge drinking chime in with a report that the UK has the worst record in Europe for binge drinking – 40% of men’s drinking sessions and 22% of women’s come within the definition of binge
drinking (imbibing more than, for instance, four pints of beer in a relatively short period of time). Such drinking results in social problems on a vast scale, besides murder. But the situation is characteristic of an increasingly godless society which has no conception of that most elementary statement of true religion: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever”.
Hallowe’en Postscript
On two occasions I have been impressed by the widespread nature of Hallowe’en observance. In 1996, in the late afternoon and evening of October 31, as we travelled through various Czechoslovakian towns and villages on our way to the Ukraine, we saw many people making their way to cemeteries, carrying baskets and greenery. We learned they were going to carry out rituals at the graves of relatives that “All Hallows Eve”. As darkness fell, it was not only eerie to see people standing in the ghostly glow of candles burning beside literally hundreds of gravestones throughout each cemetery we passed; it was also so very sad to see these people in bondage to such superstition.
The other occasion is now, as I write from Canada. I am surprised at how many houses in the town where I am staying were decorated outside on the days around October 31 with such things as carved pumpkins; ghoulish figures of witches, wizards and skeletons; lit-up plastic tombstones; and plastic vampire bats. On the main street the lamp posts have bunches of dried corn stalks tied to them with broad yellow ribbons, many shop windows are decorated with Hallowe’en symbols, and some shop assistants and bank workers even wore Hallowe’en caps or waistcoats for the day. In the evening, “trick or treat” young people were out in force.
“All harmless fun,” say most people. Not so – and for two reasons at least. Hallowe’en is not only a practical form of superstition but is also firmly rooted in paganism and associated with evil. It has been known too for Hallowe’en activities to encourage some young people to experiment with the occult. If we value Christian principles and seek to live by them, we will avoid Hallowe’en activities and not allow our children to be involved in them. “Church schools around the country,” says one British press report, “banning Hallowe’en celebrations.” It would be good for everyone if other schools followed their example.
Another and increasingly disturbing fact in Britain is that “trick-or-treating” has developed into a nasty experience for many householders. A newspaper columnist notes that police forces in, for example, Merseyside, Dorset and West Sussex, are having to contend with “gangs of raucous vandals cruising the streets seeking handouts on demand from homeowners foolish enough to open their doors to them”. All the more reason to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph 5:11). NMR
For and Against Darwin in Texas
Here in Texas, from where I write at present, there is an ongoing debate about school biology textbooks. The Texas State Board of Education has begun to evaluate current biology textbooks against state standards for accuracy in their presentation of Darwin’s theory of evolution. This exercise is generating some heated arguments.
On one side are many Texas scientists, educators and students who simply want biology textbooks to comply with state law by presenting the weaknesses of Darwinian theory and being free from factual errors. They are requesting that students learn all the evidence they need to assess Darwinism – not just the evidence that seems to support it.
On the other side are evolutionist scientists and academics, and their supporters in the media, who cannot suffer any reasoned criticism of Darwinism. Indeed, they go far beyond that. One anti-Darwinian scientist, Stephen Meyer, has written in the Houston Chronicle, “Cynical old lawyers have a maxim: When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When neither is on your side, change the subject and question the motives of the opposition. That seems to be the strategy of many Darwinists [in this debate].”
Defenders of current Darwinian textbooks, who want their theory to be presented uncritically, not only dismiss all critiques of it as religiously motivated (which is not the case) but heap personal abuse on those who present them. Some Darwinists have gone as far as to compare to Stalinists and Nazis those who want a full scientific disclosure, even although some of the errors are obvious, have often been exposed, and are widely admitted in the scientific world.
“For example,” writes Stephen Myer, “at least three of the textbooks currently used in Texas use discredited nineteenth-century diagrams of embryos as support of Darwin’s universal common ancestry thesis. These now infamous Haeckel embryo drawings allegedly demonstrate the similarity of the early embryological development of fish, chickens, pigs and humans. Yet scientists have long known that these different vertebrate classes do not strongly resemble each other during early embryological development.”
As Darwinist apologists pursue their anti-Christian agenda with fanatically religious fervour, they are not only deaf and blind to the testimony of Scripture but even to the simple and obvious fact, stated by Darwin himself in his Origin of Species (as Meyer points out) – that a fair result can only be obtained by balancing the facts and argument on both sides of each question.
It is encouraging, however, that the God-dishonouring theory of evolution is being increasingly questioned by scientists. While today the masses of
ungodly and unreasonable men are “willingly ignorant” (2 Peter 3:5) of the most wonderful and glorious fact that God is the Creator, the day will assuredly come when the multitudes worldwide will delight in the truth that “by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible” (Col 1:17). NMR
Church Information
Meetings of Presbytery
Southern: At Glasgow, on Wednesday, February 11, at 5 pm.
Western: At Laide, on Tuesday, March 9, at 6 pm.
Skye: At Portree, on Tuesday, February 10, at 11 am.
Zimbabwe: At Bulawayo, on Tuesday, March 9, at 1 pm.
Urgent Need for Teacher in Zimbabwe
A teacher is urgently required for the John Tallach Secondary School, Ingwenya, particularly to teach Bible Knowledge, Science and Computer Studies. The preferred qualification is a university degree but anyone interested should apply, even for a short-term tour, in the present staffing difficulties. In the first instance please contact the Clerk of the Jewish and Foreign Committee, Rev J R Tallach, F P Manse, Raasay, IV40 8PB.