Friday Photo

Fall in Yosemite. Near the entrance into the valley, there is a turnout where you can park, and there used to be an old dam there.

This location has changed since this photo was taken. The dam was old and missing boards. The dam was dismantled, so now it is more "natural". But I love the angle the water would flow over this dam.

Fall is my second favorite season in Yosemite, the first being winter.

Ducks Beats Wings in OT, 5-4

Selanne got a hat trick!


Os not lookin' happy.


Another good shot of Getzlaf - the kid gets around.

Today in Church History - Oct 28

October 28, 312: According to tradition, on this date the 32-year-old Roman emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at Milvian Bridge. Before the battle, Constantine had seen the symbol of Jesus, chi-rho, in a vision, accompanied with the words "By this sign conquer." He is considered Rome's first Christian emperor.

Today in Church History - Oct 22

October 22, 1844: Between 50,000 and 100,000 followers of Baptist lay preacher William Miller prepared for "The Day of Atonement"—the day Jesus would return. Jesus didn't, and though Miller retained his faith in Christ's imminent return until his death, he blamed human mistakes in Bible chronologies for "The Great Disappointment." Several groups arose from Miller's following, including the Seventh-Day Adventists.

William Miller

Read more about it on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment



This is a chart showing how Miller came up with the date. Kinda cool looking, if not goofy!

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only." Matt 24:36 ESV

Pics from the Ducks Win last night

The Ducks won in a shootout last night against Toronto, 3-2.

Another Yosemite in October Picture

Packers Win against Colts 34-14

Both Ducks and Kings win!

Neidemeyer given Giggy a big hug after shutting out the Sharks 4-0.

Frolov beatin the Canes.

Friday Photo

Malibu Beach Clouds.
If I remember correctly, I took this the same morning as several other photos in Malibu, previously posted here.

What I do remember was taking several pics of this scene, then this guy pulls up in his truck with his surfboards. At first, I was bummed that he was now in my pic, then I saw the possiblity of him standing there with a board. So I talked to him about posing, and he says that he is too busy and wants to get surfing. I offered him 10 bucks to stand there with his board, and he suddenly found time to model for me...

Today in Church History - Oct 17

October 17, 108: According to tradition, Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was martyred on this date. The Apostolic Father closest in thought to the New Testament writers, Ignatius wrote seven letters under armed guard on his way to Rome—some asking that the church not interfere with his "true sacrifice".

From Wikipedia:
Saint Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) (ca. 35-110)was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch and possibly a student of the Apostle John. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.

Ignatius, along with Clement of Rome and Polycarp of Smyrna, is one of the chief Apostolic Fathers, early Christian authors who knew the apostles personally and were taught and usually ordained by them as bishops.

St. Ignatius was arrested by the authorities and transported to Rome under trying conditions:

“ From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated. —Ignatius to the Romans, 5. ”

He was sentenced to die in the Colosseum. The Roman authorities hoped to make an example of him and thus discourage Christianity from spreading, but his journey to Rome instead offered him the opportunity to meet with and teach Christians along his route, and he wrote six letters to the churches in the region and one to a fellow bishop.

St. Ignatius is claimed to be the first known Christian writer to argue in favor of Christianity's replacement of the Sabbath with the Lord's Day:

“ Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace.... If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny ... how shall we be able to live apart from Him? ... It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practise Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity — Ignatius to the Magnesians 8:1, 9:1-2, 10:3, Lightfoot translation. ”

He is also responsible for the first known use of the Greek word katholikos (καθολικός), meaning "universal," to describe the church, writing:

“ Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, J.R. Willis translation. ”

It is from the word katholikos that the word "catholic" comes. When Ignatius wrote the Letter to the Smyrnaeans in about the year 107 and used the word "catholic", he used it as if it were a word already in use to describe the Church. This has led many scholars to conclude that the appellation "Catholic Church" with its ecclesial connotation may have been in use as early as the last quarter of the first century.

On the Eucharist, Ignatius wrote in his letter to the Smyrnaeans:

“ Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 ”

Saint Ignatius's most famous quotation, however, comes from his letter to the Romans:

“ I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.— Letter to the Romans.

Ducks Lose 3-2, Fall to 0-4

At least this picture looks cool!

Today in Church History - Oct 16

October 16, 1555: English reformers Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley are burned at the stake at the order of Roman Catholic Queen Mary Tudor. The picture is a woodcut of the event.

From Wikipedia:
Hugh Latimer (c. 1485-October 16, 1555) was the bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley was an English clergyman.

Latimer was born into a family of farmers in Thurcaston, Leicestershire. From around 14 years of age he started to attend Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was known as a good student. After receiving his academic degrees and being ordained, he developed a reputation as a very zealous Roman Catholic. At first he opposed the Lutheran opinion of his day, but his views changed after meeting the clergyman Thomas Bilney.

In 1510, he was elected a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and in 1522 became university preacher. He became noted for his reformist teachings, which attracted the attention of the authorities. He became a noted preacher more widely. In 1535, he was appointed Bishop of Worcester, in succession to an Italian absentee, and promoted reformed teachings in his diocese. In 1539, he opposed Henry VIII's Six Articles, with the result that he was forced to resign his bishopric and imprisoned in the Tower of London (where he was again in 1546).

During the reign of Henry's son Edward VI, he was restored to favour as the English church moved in a more Protestant direction, becoming court preacher until 1550. He then served as chaplain to Katherine Duchess of Suffolk. However, when Edward VI's sister Queen Mary I came to the throne, he was tried for his beliefs and teachings in Oxford and imprisoned. In October 1555 he was burned at the stake outside Balliol College, Oxford.

Latimer was executed beside Nicholas Ridley. He is quoted as having said to Ridley:

"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

The deaths of Latimer, Ridley and later Cranmer — now known as the Oxford Martyrs — are commemorated in Oxford by the Victorian Martyrs' Memorial which is located near the actual execution site. The Latimer room in Clare College, Cambridge is named after him.

Nicholas Ridley came from a prominent family in Tynedale, Northumberland, and was born early in the sixteenth century. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and the University of Cambridge, where he received his Master's degree in 1525. Soon afterward he was ordained as a priest and went to the Sorbonne, in Paris, for further education.

After returning to England around 1529, he became the senior proctor of Cambridge University. Around that time there was significant debate about the Pope's supremacy. Ridley was well versed on Scripture, and through his arguments the University came up with the following resolution: "That the Bishop of Rome had no more authority and jurisdiction derived to him from God, in this kingdom of England, than any other foreign bishop."

In 1540, he was made one of the King's Chaplains, and was also presented with a prebendal stall in Canterbury Cathedral. He was also made Master of Pembroke College.

He succeeded to the Bishopric of Rochester in 1549-50, and shortly after coming to office, directed that the altars in the churches of his diocese should be removed, and tables put in their place to celebrate the Lord's Supper. He was translated to Bishop of London in 1550.

He was burned at the stake, a martyr for his teachings and his support of Lady Jane Grey, along with Hugh Latimer on October 16, 1555 in Oxford. He burned extremely slowly and suffered a great deal. A metal cross in a cobbled patch of road in Broad Street, Oxford marks the site, and the event is also commemorated by the Martyrs' Memorial, located nearby.

In 1881, Ridley Hall in Cambridge, England, was founded in his memory for the training of Anglican priests. Ridley College, a private University-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, was founded in his honor in 1889. There is also a Church of England church dedicated to him in Welling, south east London.

Today in Church History - Oct 15

October 15, 1880: Germany's Cologne cathedral is completed, 633 years after construction began.

Good article on the Cathedral from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral

LA Kings get their first win, against the Ducks..

Being the child of Canadian parents and living most of my life in SoCal, I kind of HAVE to like hockey and know a little about the happenings of SoCal teams. Especially if I want to talk to my folks in the next few months about anything, since they kind of get glued to the sport. Don't get me wrong, I like it myself, and even had the Penguins/Flyers game on last night, telling my kid that we might go skating this winter. You have to be careful telling a 2 year old about a hockey puck, especially if she doesn't say her "P"s all that well - it could come out as sounding like another word.

I've been more of a Kings fan my whole life, going to games to see Marcel Dionne, Rogey Vachonne, and the rest at the LA Forum. Back when their colors were Purple and Gold(that would be the 70's, in case you wanted to know). This was before Gretzky came to town and changed the look of Hockey in LA. So in my heart of hearts, I want to see the Kings do well. But since the Ducks started, my family has had season tickets to their games, and I have taken in my fair share of contests at the "Pond", in spite of its current name.

In spite of how the picture looks, the Kings beat the Ducks in their first of six meetings of the regular season 6-3. Three of the Kings goals came on power plays! This drops the Ducks to 0-3. The Ducks have had issues with penalties in the previous 2 games that they lost. If they don't turn it around soon, it's gonna be an ugly year for hockey in SoCal. Because yeah, the Kings probably won't do much this year as well....

A Thought from Jonathan Edwards...

"And confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things, declare plainly that they seek a country." -- Hebrews 11:13, 14

Why the Christian’s life is a journey, or pilgrimage?

1. THIS world is not our abiding place. Our continuance here is but very short. Man’s days on the earth, are as a shadow. It was never designed by God that this world should be our home. Neither did God give us these temporal accommodations for that end. If God has given us ample estates, and children, or other pleasant friends, it is with no such design, that we should be furnished here, as for a settled abode, but with a design that we should use them for the present, and then leave them in a very little time. When we are called to any secular business, or charged with the care of a family, [and] if we improve our lives to any other purpose than as a journey toward heaven, all our labor will be lost. If we spend our lives in the pursuit of a temporal happiness, as riches or sensual pleasures, credit and esteem from men, delight in our children and the prospect of seeing them well brought up and well settled, etc. — all these things will be of little significancy to us. Death will blow up all our hopes, and will put an end to these enjoyments. “The places that have known us, will know us no more” and “the eye that has seen us, shall see us no more.” We must be taken away forever from all these things, and it is uncertain when: it may be soon after we are put into the possession of them. And then, where will be all our worldly employments and enjoyments, when we are laid in the silent grave! “So man lieth down, and riseth not again, till the heavens be no more.” (Job 14:12)

2. The future world was designed to be our settled and everlasting abode. There it was intended that we should be fixed, and there alone is a lasting habitation and a lasting inheritance. The present state is short and transitory, but our state in the other world is everlasting. And as we are there at first, so we must be without change. Our state in the future world, therefore, being eternal, is of so much greater importance than our state here, that all our concerns in this world should be wholly subordinated to it.

3. Heaven is that place alone where our highest end and highest good is to be obtained. God hath made us for himself. “Of him, and through him, and to him are all things.” Therefore, then do we attain to our highest end, when we are brought to God: but that is by being brought to heaven, for that is God’s throne, the place of his special presence. There is but a very imperfect union with God to be had in this world, a very imperfect knowledge of him in the midst of much darkness: a very imperfect conformity to God, mingled with abundance of estrangement. Here we can serve and glorify God, but in a very imperfect manner: our service being mingled with sin, which dishonors God. — But when we get to heaven (if ever that be), we shall be brought to a perfect union with God and have more clear views of him. There we shall be fully conformed to God, without any remaining sin: for “we shall see him as he is.” There we shall serve God perfectly and glorify him in an exalted manner, even to the utmost of the powers and capacity of our nature. Then we shall perfectly give up ourselves to God: our hearts will be pure and holy offerings, presented in a flame of divine love...

Fall in Yosemite...

Wish I was here....

Today in Church History - Oct 10

October 10, 1560: Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius, the founder of a theology that challenged Reformed assumptions, is born in Oudewater, Netherlands.

From Christian Classics Ethereal Library:
Jacobus Arminius (aka Jacob Arminius, James Arminius, and his Dutch name Jacob Harmenszoon) was a Dutch theologian, best known as the founder of the anti-Calvinistic school in Reformed Protestant theology, thereby lending his name to a movement which resisted some of the tenets of Calvinism - Arminianism. The early Dutch followers of Arminius' teaching were also called the Remonstrants, after they issued a document containing five points of disagreement with classic Calvinism, entitled Remonstrantice (1610).

Arminius became a professor of theology at Leiden in 1603, and remained there for the rest of his life. The theology of Arminianism was not fully developed during Arminius' time, but was systematized after his death and formalized in the Five articles of the Remonstrants in 1610. The works of Arminius (in Latin) were published at Leiden in 1629, and at Frankfort in 1631 and 1635. After his death the Synod of Dordrecht (1618-1619) judged his theology and its adherents anathemas and published the five points of Calvinism (later knows as TULIP) as a point-by-point response to the five points of the Arminian Remonstrants.

Friday Photo

Taken in Riga, Latvia, about 1991. I went there with a group for evangelizing. We stayed in Jurmala on the Baltic, and would go into Riga(capitol of Latvia) every day. I was the "official photog" for the group.

One day after lunch, we stepped out of the restaurant, and I saw this man sittng in his parked car, and I knew that I needed to get his picture. He was staring straight ahead, and had a rather stern look on his face. I turned my back to him to get the camera settings correct(this was before autofocus), and then turned back around to snap the picture. He sees me and breaks out this BIG SMILE. So this guy who could break me in half gets out of his car and shakes my hand. I didn't have a translator with me, but I think he wanted me to send him a picture.

He was a really nice guy named Imats, and he gave me a business card. I may still have it somewhere...

Fall Pic

 

I went out for a walk yesterday during my lunch hour and took my camera with me. I found this trail that's about a 5 minute drive from the office. With the fall colors blooming, it was theraputic.

I did do a "little" saturation manipulation on the pic before I posted this.

Today in Church History - Oct 9

October 9, 1747: David Brainerd, pioneer missionary to Native Americans in New England, dies of tuberculosis at age 29. His journal, published by Jonathan Edwards, inspired hundreds to become missionaries, including the "father of modern Protestant missions," William Carey.

From Wikipedia: Brainerd was born in Haddam, Connecticut. He was orphaned at fourteen and had an experience that intensified his dedication to Christianity at age 21 in 1739. Shortly after, he enrolled at Yale, but was expelled his junior year for privately saying of a college tutor, "He has no more grace than this chair", and refusing to publicly apologize. The episode grieved Brainerd, but some two months later, on his 24th birthday, he wrote in his journal, "...I hardly ever so longed to live to God and to be altogether devoted to Him; I wanted to wear out my life in his service and for his glory …"

The University later named a building after Brainerd (Brainerd Hall at Yale Divinity School), the only building on the Yale University campus to be named after a student who was expelled.

He then prepared for the ministry, being licensed to preach in 1742, and early in 1743 decided to devote himself to missionary work among the Native Americans. Supported by the Scottish "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge," he worked first at Kaunaumeek, an Indian settlement about 20 miles from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and subsequently, until his death, among the Delaware Indians in Pennsylvania (near Easton) and New Jersey (near Cranbury). His heroic and self-denying labors, both for the spiritual and for the temporal welfare of the Indians, wore out a naturally feeble constitution, and on October 19, 1747 he died at the house of his friend, Jonathan Edwards, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Brainerd is believed to have died of tuberculosis.

He made only a handful of converts, but became widely known in the 1800s due to books about him. His Journal was published in two parts in 1746 by the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; and in 1749, at Boston, Jonathan Edwards published An Account of the Life of the Late Rev. David Brainerd, chiefly taken from his own Diary and other Private Writings, which has become a missionary classic. A new edition, with the Journal and Brainerd's letters embodied, was published by Sereno E. Dwight at New Haven in 1822; and in 1884 was published what is substantially another edition, The Memoirs of David Brainerd, edited by James M Sherwood. Brainerd's writings contain substantial meditation on the nature of the illness that eventually led to his death and its relation to his ties with God.

Today in Church History - Oct 8

October 8, 451: The Council of Chalcedon opens to deal with the Eutychians, who believed Jesus could not have two natures. His divinity, they believed, swallowed up his humanity "like a drop of wine in the sea." The council condemned the teaching as heresy and created a confession of faith which has since been regarded as the highest word in Christology.



Creed of Chalcedon:
Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

For more reading on this, click the links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Chalcedon

Hockey Season Starts Tomorrow!

This pic is from 2006 Stanley Cup Finals during the National Anthem, and just looks so cool.

GO DUCKS! (Yeah, I feel stupid for saying it, but there's NO HOCKEY IN KANSAS CITY, so there!)

Friday Photo - 100 posts!

Let me first apologize for the qaulity of the scan. We are looking into getting a better scanner, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know.

This was on my first trip to Death Valley, and this is a sunrise picture. So yes, you have to wake up EARLY to get these shots.

This is another example of the axiom, "You can never have TOO much film."

This is the 100th post of the Papias blog - thanks for your support! Paypal is always an option!

Iron Man

Bought the DVD yesterday and watched it last night. Pretty good flick!

It was good to be able to watch a movie during the week...

Merry Go Round...

Sorry it's been so long since an update. But since I get so much traffic and comments, I lost interest in my own blog for awhile.

I like this shot of the kid on the Merry Go Round at the Oak Park Mall. Took this with the cellphone camera, and I can't figure out how to remove the datestamp.

Friday Photo

Friday Photo

Sierra Nevada range, outside of Lee Vining and Mono Lake. Cool clouds.

Friday Photo

California Poppies. I probably took this in the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, which is busy during springtime. Just beautiful.

New CD

I placed a library hold on this CD when I saw that it was coming out, "Maria" by Cecilia Bartoli. Kind of forgot about it until I got the email that my hold was ready for pickup.

I go into the library and this book is in the place of the CD that I expected. When I picked up the book, it has the CD in it, see the link: Maria

So the packaging is VERY COOL. Its a small book, nicely illustrated on good bond paper(hey, you can feel the qaulity!). The CD is in the back flap, and a little hard to get out of the book.

The music itself is great, with different moods throughout. I have several Cecilia Bartoli CD's , and I may have to buy this one. Or not take it back to the library! :)

Supposedly there is a DVD that goes along with the music, but I haven't seen it yet..

Friday Photo

Funny story behind this picture...

Landscape photograghers spend alot of their time "scouting" an area before shooting that area. So I am driving in Malibu for the first time one weekend day, and pulled to the side of the road(PCH), along an area called Leo Carillo State Beach. Lots of other cars are there, so it must be OK right? Walking around the beach I found this tree and previsiualized the picture at sunrise, and I knew it would work - but I would have to get out there before sunrise to get the shot. After walking around for about 2 hours I get back to the car to find not one, but two parking tickets! They were from different jurisdictions, but one was from Malibu and I had to appear in court one particular morning, during the week. This looks like a good reason to take a day off of work, get up early and drive out to Malibu again!

So that's just what I did: got up EARLY and got out there to get this shot - which is actually a double exposure with the moon, but done "in camera". (You advance the film while holding the film release button on the bottom of the camera, thereby causing the camera to think that you advanced the film, when in reality you have the already exposed film ready to now lay your next shot on top of, in this case the moon. IMO - this technique is the truest to a non-darkroom double exposure).

After shooting that morning, I went to court. My dad had told me that getting two tickets for the same offense was not legal, so when the judge called my name, I asked him about getting the two tickets. He confirmed that the other ticket should not have been gibven and wrote it off. I tehn had to pay the fine, and I think go to traffic school for the other one, but at least I only had to pay for one ticket and I got a few good shots that morning.

This trek also started me on the "early morning Malibu drives" that I began to do - once I realized it wasn't that hard to get up to get these kinds of shots!

Friday Photo

Icicle in the Merced River - Yosemite.

This was just one of those photos that I didn't plan initially, just happened to be there and saw the icicle in the river. Once I saw the icicle, I knew that I had to try to get a shot with the water moving around it, using I used a slow shutter speed to get that effect. The camera was on a tripod, and I had tho scrunch the tripod down as low as it would go to get the angle right.

With these water shots, you have no idea what it's going to look like until you get your film back. This one seems to work the best.

I took the stick and icicle with me when I left, it just looked so cool!

Creeping Phlox

Can you believe that I bought three 1 gallon containers of Creeping Phlox about 3 years ago, and this is how big they are now? Two of them grew together, but you can see how big the one by itself got.

The flowers look nice when it stays cool, but when it gets warm, the they go away. Another reason to wish for a mild summer!

JE Bio by Iain Murray - Chapter 1

This is a good book, and I don't normally read bios!

Chapter One gives a background to JE's family, starting with his grandfather and father. It gave me a good context for how he became the man he was. His father Timothy was a pastor and a skilled tutor, so much so that when his pupils would be examined for college, that it was said, "Mr Edwards pupils need no examination". Here is where JE learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew, all before he went to college at age 13 - which blows my mind.

JE was also the only son, but had 10 sisters! It would seem that each of them was tall for the day(about 6 foot tall), because it is was said "Mr. Edwards(Timothy) sixty feet of daughters".

His mother was the daughter of Solomon Stoddard, one of the more famous pastors of the day. During his time, Solomon Stoddard was considered to be the most powerful New England clergyman.

He also seems to have been voracious reader as well as a proficient writer, even at a young age. He wrote a treatise on spiders that was influential in its observations. This seems to have set him on the path that later on in his life he would continue his learning.

Friday Photo

Death Valley.

This might have been the trip that I got a flat tire while in Death Valley. I would only go there in the spring, when the temps would only get up to the 80's.

No big interesting stories on this trip, sorry!

Jonathan Edwards Bio by Iain Murray - Intro

I have heard so many good comments about the book, “Jonathan Edwards – A New Biography” by Iain Murray, that I had my eye on purchasing it for a few months. The writer has written other well respected biographies, most notably a two volume set on D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of my favorite pastor/authors, even though he’s been dead for 25 years. So when I won the book in an online auction, I had to wait a few long days for the book to arrive! But it did and I didn’t even wait until I got into the house before tearing open the shipping packaging!

I am going to blog the book so that I have a record of what I get out of it. I have the tendency to read a good book really fast and get a lot out of it, but then forget some of the “Ah-HA!” moments of the book. Lastly, I also want to share with others what I get out of this book, and to see if the book is worth their time and money.

Introduction – On Understanding Edwards.

Murray begins by pointing out, “Whether or not a biographer of JE reveals his personal standpoint at the outset makes little difference, for inevitably it will soon be apparent.” Since the time of JE, biographers have had different views of him, from being America’s first philosopher and greatest thinker of the eighteenth century, to being a “tragic religious figure of a bygone era”, to being “a great Divine”.

These different views of Edwards are not due to the lack of source material. There are over 1100 sermons existing in their manuscript form. There are many books that Edwards published during his life. We have portions of a diary and about 200 letters from his hand as well.

Murray makes a great point when he says, “The modern writers, in general, have passed over in silence what was at the front of JE’s own thinking. First of all, he was a Christian and a teacher of the Christian Faith.” Later the he drives the point home, “ depending on where we stand in relation to Christ, we shall join ourselves to one side or the other in interpreting this man who was, first of all, a Christian.”

Murray then surveys biographies of Edwards, the first being in 1765, going through the 19th and early 20th centuries, and ending in 1962. This is an enlightening section.

He closes the introduction by relating a story of a gathering of Edwards descendants that occurred in 1870. One of them, S. Irenaeus Prime, was asked at the last moment to give a brief speech. He told them that “remembering Edwards was more than a mere bow to history, but the message he preached was for every age… ‘His theology has in it revivals and repentance, and salvation from hell, and this made it, and makes it, and will keep it divine theology until Christ is all in all. A student comes to Princeton and hears that same theology, visits the grave of Edwards and his fellow-laborers, and something of their fire kindles in their soul.’ We fail to understand Edwards aright until the record of his life begins to make the same impression upon us.”

After that, I had to put the book down and ponder, why am I reading this book, to learn more about Edwards, myself, or to have a fire kindled in my soul for the Almighty?

Ducks Season is over

I still haven't gotten over it yet....

Friday Photo

Yosemite Valley with El Capitan shrouded in low clouds. 4x5 positive(you can see the poor job of scanning I did - I will have to rescan this.

This pic was part of a weekend project when I was in college getting my degree. For a reason the eludes me today, I decided to do one of my photo class assignments by taking a road trip. It was in the fall and I started by going to Mono Lake. After I got my shot at sunset, I then went to the hotel in Lee Vining. They had on the board that Tioga Pass was closed that night, and that it may open in the morning. I needed to get to Yosemite by the next day, as I had reservations that I didn't want to not use.

So I get up early the next morning, and Tioga Pass is still closed, but the passes to the north are still open. I decided to go for it on the next pass north, which I think was Sonora Pass. I get there, and that pass is closed. So I decided to try the next pass to the north, and it was open. I had to "go a little faster" than I wanted to to get to Yosemite while it was still light enough to shoot, but I made it! I think I got a few shots off before it got too dark. But this one photo was worth the trip.