New Book by Stranraer Minister

The Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press contained the following report on 30th July:

June saw the publication of a new book entitled "Written on the Heart" by Stranraer minister Rev. Stephen Steele. The book is part of the Grassmarket Press series, named after the spot in Edinburgh where many Covenanters were executed in the seventeenth century. Grassmarket books aim at introducing key Christian doctrines to the ordinary person. Other books in the series cover topics such as love, generosity, the worship of God, the church, etc. Steele's contribution seeks to introduce the law of God. He told the Free Press: "The law of God is a topic that many Christians are confused about. There are some laws in the Bible that almost all Christians agree no longer apply — but how do we know which do and which don't? The new Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, has accused Christians of picking and choosing which laws to follow. Is that the case? The New Testament can be very positive about the ongoing role of the Old Testament law, but also says 'we are not under law, but under grace'. My book seeks to show that it is possible to avoid legalism — trying to obey the law to earn salvation — but still have a high regard for God's law, as lived out perfectly by Jesus Christ." Copies of the book are available from Galilee Books in Glasgow, Covenanter Books in Belfast, or the author. It is also available as an ebook on Amazon Kindle.

(American readers can buy direct from Crown & Covenant)

The following review appeared in the July/August Covenanter Witness:

Grassmarket Press has provided many timely and helpful volumes. The trend continues with Written on the Heart. Rev. Stephen Steele has been writing regular blog posts and journal articles for many years and his accessible and persuasive style is very much to the fore in this, his first book. He deals with a crucially important subject: the question of a Christian's relationship to the Law of God. Recent decades have seen a great deal of debate and confusion on this subject. Many Christians, whilst perhaps vaguely persuaded of the need to observe nine of the Ten Commandments, nonetheless claim there are reasons to discount the Fourth Commandment altogether. Others seem determined to impose various codes of conduct on the Church for which there is no biblical requirement.

Stephen has provided us with a wonderful resource to navigate this tricky terrain. The first chapter - Road Map' - traces the importance of God's Law throughout the "big story' of the Bible, from creation to consummation. Further chapters outline why Reformed, confessional Christians hold to the "Threefold Division of the Law”, seeing the ongoing significance of the Ten Commandments whilst understanding the ceremonial and judicial laws of the Old Testament as having served their purpose. A right understanding of the relationship between Law and Gospel is also laid out, as well as very concise, applicable chapters on Legalism and the Lord's Day.

Few subjects need to be so urgently addressed in the Church today as this one. Stephen has done so with clarity, readability and enthusiasm. His breadth of study is evident in a strikingly wide variety of authors cited, from the Early Church Fathers, to Covenanters, Puritans and modern-day theologians. Yet he also includes plenty of relatable illustrations to bring home his arguments.

This is a book to be read thoughtfully, one that will help disciples of Christ to love him, and his Law, more than we did

The same issue contained the following interview with Stephen:

You can read a review by Daniel Sturgeon, pastor of Stranraer Baptist Church, here.

Everyone's a Theologian

Book review by Trinity McConnell

Everyone’s a Theologian
R. C. Sproul
Ligonier Ministries, 2014

Is theology a dying art?

So often as a young person in this day and age I hear the phrase: “As long as you have a relationship with Jesus, nothing else matters." Although I commend the prioritisation of a relationship with Christ, it's disheartening to think of my generation in the church growing up with no desire to inspect the Scriptures to have a broader understanding of their faith and how they practise it. Everyone's a Theologian, by R.C. Sproul, seeks to make theology more accessible by encouraging all Christians to take an interest in, and giving a simple introduction to, big Biblical concepts.

As a novice myself I found that the book lived up perfectly to its subtitle: ‘An introduction to Systematic Theology.’

The book is in eight parts. An introduction informs the reader of important concepts to consider before studying theology at any level, eg the infallibility of scripture, the purpose of theology and the three theological disciplines: biblical, historical and systematic.

This is followed by sections on; Theology proper (the study of God), Anthropology (the study of human beings) and Creation, Christology (The study of the nature and work of Jesus Christ), Pneumatology (the person and work of the Holy Spirit), Soteriology (salvation), Ecclesiology (The study of the church) and finally Eschatology (death, judgement, heaven and hell). The book is laid out in simple format and uses easy to understand language.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to study theology (young or old), who thought they hadn't the ability or didn't know where to start. I'd also recommend it to anyone who thinks that theology is unnecessary or leads to traditionalism or legalism - in the hope that it will give them the positive outlook and joy that studying the word of God should bring. I would even suggest that those looking to revise an old topic, begin a new one or even just get a refresher of the overall picture of the main branches of Systematic Theology pick up a copy of this informative and to the point piece of literature.

I Will Build My Church

Stephen reviewed the following book for the February 2023 Banner of Truth magazine:

I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath
Thomas Witherow; Jonathan Gibson (ed.)
Westminster Seminary Press, 2021
313 pp., hbk, $29.99
ISBN 9781733627269

Why would anyone read a little-known, nineteenth-century Irish Presbyterian writing about secondary issues? Sinclair Ferguson’s answer in the foreword is that this trilogy really sets out to answer the questions of how God wants us to regulate our church, family and weekly lives. As for being unknown, a new 70-page biographical sketch by the editor fills out the life story of a man trained under Thomas Chalmers, who pastored a small-town church of almost 2,000 people, before becoming the first Church History and Pastoral Theology Professor at Magee College, Derry.

Witherow’s Apostolic Church seeks to bring Prelacy, Independency and Presbyterianism before the bar of Scripture. While he claims to have entered the project with misgivings as to which would triumph, he unsurprisingly finds Presbyterianism to meet all the Apostolic criteria (Independency meeting half, and Prelacy none). His only real departure from historic Presbyterianism is a radical two-office view which sees no place for a distinct ordination for ministers.

The second work, Scriptural Baptism, robustly sets out the paedobaptist position. Witherow writes as a man who had seen the 1859 Revival lead to defections from the Presbyterian Church, and takes no prisoners.
His work on the Sabbath (a published address) is the weakest of the three. Witherow’s Sabbatarian conclusions are biblical, but some of his argumentation is problematic, not least the claim that our Lord breached ‘the inspired interpretation…of the Mosaic law’.

The three works have been lightly edited for readability. The decision to characterise them all as ‘Presbyterian distinctives’ seems odd when only one of them is. While a number of footnotes say that the editor was unable to locate sources for quotations or books, all are easily found using Google.

Overall, this is a very valuable volume and many will feel that Witherow’s arguments have never been answered.

The Happy Christian

Stephen wrote the following review in 2015 of David Murray’s book The Happy Christian: Ten ways to be a joyful believer in a gloomy world:

If someone who had never encountered Christianity walked into your home or church, how would they describe the mood? That’s one of the searching questions David Murray asks in a book, which given its neon blue and yellow cover, looks at first glance like just another self-help resource. But behind its frothy exterior comes theological punch as a seminary professor marshals Biblical teaching, scientific research and his own personal experience as a ‘recovering sceptic’ to make the case that the Christian faith has too often been misrepresented by its friends, never mind its enemies.

He sets his sights on a siege mentality in the church, where sermons and prayers often sound more like discontented defeatism than inspirational calls to worship and serve. The Bible is the most positive book in the world – but Murray contends that the church has not always been successful in communicating the Bible’s uplifting and inspiring message.

The book starts with the good news that both the Bible and scientists agree that happiness is mostly not dependent on our circumstances (studies say only 10%). While 50% is based on genetics that still leaves 40% that we can do something about. But rather than going down the ‘Power of positive thinking’ route, Murray says the way to change things is not to believe in yourself more, but to believe in God more.

In a chapter on ‘Happy Media’, Murray points out the harmful effects of listening to a stream of negativity. Challengingly, he applies this not just to secular media but to those who teach God’s word. The reason a doctor can tell what an unhealthy heart sounds like is that he’s listened to 1000s of healthy ones. In the same way we should focus more on the truth than innumerable errors and heresies – and spend more time exalting Biblical marriage than highlighting the latest perversion of it.

In ‘Happy Salvation’ Murray tries to encourage us to stop being discouraged by never ending to-do lists and rest in our completed salvation provided by a Saviour who has already done it all and tells us: ‘It is finished’. God has given us a weekly reminder of this in the Sabbath, which we reject to our peril.

In the battle for happiness, involvement in church plays a key role. Murray points to Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer having banned all telecommuting as the lack of personal contact resulted in more loss than gain. Statistics show that those who attend religious services at least once a week have a 25% higher life expectancy than those who don’t, probably because church attendance increases social support, which is a proven life-extender. Murray also extols ‘Everywhere Grace’, reminding us that we shouldn’t just look for God’s grace in Christians. We shouldn’t be ashamed to use goods and services provided by non-Christians, or truth discovered by them.

This is a book which Murray would admit himself would not have been written if he hadn’t swapped Scotland for America, and he extols our transatlantic cousins’ ability to praise other people. ‘Scots don’t do praise’ he says. ‘Of God sometimes, but never of one another’. He seeks to unmask the sinful reasons behind this and urges us not to wait for one another, our churches or our children to be perfect before we praise them.

Murray also sets his sights on the ‘Gimme Generation’ (ie the generation most Messenger readers are part of!) whose failure to give their money and themselves is damaging charity, marriage and work, as well as being a poor witness to the secular world.

One of the biggest challenges many people find to being a happy Christian is their work, and Murray devotes a whole chapter to this area, showing that the most mundane job is as valuable as any other if it’s done for Christ. ‘The Lord’s work’ isn’t just something ministers do.

The tide of negativity in our thinking, relationships and churches is having a devastating effect, and Murray’s book is a helpful and invigorating corrective. Anyone could benefit from it and small groups could benefit from discussing and fleshing out some of the issues raised – and then holding each other accountable. Happily, of course!

For a review of Murray’s earlier book, Jesus on Every Page, see here.

Jesus on Every Page

As we’ve been working our way through the book of Acts, we’re seeing that the message of evangelists like Philip and Apostles like Paul can be summed up by the words ‘Jesus Christ’. All they had from which to preach Christ was the Old Testament, but they had no problem doing so.

Given the fact that we can be a lot slower to see Jesus in the Old Testament, one recommended resource on the topic is Jesus on Every Page by David Murray. Here’s a review of the book written by Stephen in 2013 for the Messenger Magazine:

Every so often a book comes along that before even finishing it I start trying to think how I can persuade everyone I know to read it. Last year it was Rosaria Butterfield's The Secret Thoughts of an Unexpected Convert. A few years before that it was Michael LeFebvre's Singing the Songs of Jesus. This year it's David Murray's Jesus on Every Page. As RPCNA pastor Barry York writes in the midst of pages of glowing endorsements: 'If you heard that archaeologists had discovered a genuine book with pictures of Jesus’ life, a diary of his thoughts, and further explanation of his ministry, would you not yearn to have that book in your hands? If you have the Old Testament, you do!'.

The problem the book seeks to tackle is that 'Christians seem to have forgotten that the Old Testament has everything to do with Jesus Christ'. Surveys show that the ratio of Old Testament to New Testament sermons is 1 to 10. Yet even if we sit under a balanced mix of preaching and even if we diligently read as much or more of the Old Testament as we do of the New, we can often fail to see how it relates to Jesus. Occasionally we might come across prophecies or appearances which are pretty clear, but we're far from seeing Jesus on Every Page.

Murray himself took a long time to see the Old Testament in this way. It wasn't until he had gone through 3 years of theological training, been a pastor for a number of years and then been asked to teach Old Testament at the Free Church (Continuing) Seminary before the light even began to dawn. In the first section of the book he retraces the steps of his own journey, focusing especially on how key figures in the New Testament (Jesus, Peter, Paul and John) understood the Bible they preached from.
The ten steps to seek and find Jesus in the Old Testament begin with Creation. Murray recounts how he was asked to speak at a conference on 'Christ in creation'. Sounds like it would be a short talk? He felt the same. Up until then, he thought Genesis 1-2 was all about Creation versus Evolution. Yet being asked to speak at that conference was a turning point for him and in a few short pages he shows that Jesus is everywhere in the Bible's opening chapters; from creating sheep so he could teach sinners about how he is the good Shepherd to creating angels, not because he was lonely but to minister to his needy people - and to himself in Gethsemane.

The next nine steps are similarly short but profound. He covers seeing Jesus in Old Testament characters, appearances, law, history and prophets. His chapter on 'Jesus' Pictures' (Old Testament 'types' or 'visual theology') takes Patrick Fairbairn's 700 page pre-cut-and-paste classic on the topic and reduces it to 10. The chapter on 'Christ's Promises' is really a masterly introduction to what is in fact Covenant Theology, but with the usual jargon replaced by terms like 'The Covenant of the Defeated Serpent'. In fact, the book is really a Christ-centred Bible overview. It's God's Big Picture but simpler and more Jesus-focused.

He also challenges popular conceptions of God's people before 1AD. They didn't trust in works righteousness or an earthly king. Neither did they just have some vague hope of a Messiah to come. They had a lot clearer understanding of Jesus than we often give them credit for. As Mr and Mrs Israelite read the Old Testament, they were always peering over the horizon for the one who was to come.

The book finishes by looking at Christ's Proverbs and Christ's Poems. Proverbs, 'the Old Testament Twitter', and the 10 Commandments are both expositions of Jesus' life. The section on the psalms brings the book towards a fitting climax; the fact that many have thrown out their psalters and replaced them with gospel choruses is 'because of a fundamental misunderstanding of Old Testament theology'. And in light of everything that's gone before, guess what? He doesn't think the Song of Solomon is about marriage guidance!

Every Christian will benefit from this book. Anyone who teaches the Bible in any capacity (whether to your children, in Sunday School or to a congregation) will find help for that task. Murray started off writing this book for pastors but then scrapped that idea and aimed it at everyone. It even includes study questions, which actually look good! I couldn't recommend it more highly.