The Scriptorium Daily

Author: Fred Sanders

  • “Accomplished and Applied” in the Apostles’ Creed

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    Fred Sanders
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    The Apostles’ Creed has three articles, one for each person of the Trinity. The first article, on God the Father Almighty, is very short. He created heaven and earth. Much more could be said, but it isn’t said. The second article is the longest, because it tells the story of Jesus: conceived by the Spirit,…

  • Erasmus, Born to Bring Back Literature

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today (October 27) is the birthday of Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known simply as Erasmus, famous in his own time as Mr. Renaissance. He was “born to bring back literature,” his contemporaries said of him: ad restituendas literas natus. The Renaissance was a defining event in Western intellectual history, precisely because it looked back into antiquity…

  • Lewis Bayly and the Practice of Trinitarian Piety

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    Fred Sanders
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    We don’t know when Lewis Bayly was born, but he died on this day (October 26) in 1631. Who was Lewis Bayly? It’s a little sad that almost nobody knows anymore. Bayly is an unjustly forgotten spiritual treasure. He was the author of a book called The Practice of Piety, one of the best-selling and…

  • There’s a Party Over at First Things

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    Fred Sanders
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    Last weekend Joe Carter, the founder of Evangelical Outpost and now the web editor of First Things, put together a group blog called Evangel. Justin Taylor almost immediately declared it the best group blog in evangelicalism. And in its first week of existence it has logged 94 posts, 497 comments, over 30,000 visits, and a…

  • The Peace of Westphalia

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today (October 24) in 1648 the Treaty of Münster was signed. Together with the signing of an earlier treaty, this event is known as the Peace of Westphalia. It brought a resolution to the terrible conflicts we call the “wars of religion,” chiefly the Thirty Years’ War. Peace is good and war is bad –the…

  • Happy First Day of Creation

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today, October 23, is the day the world was made, a little over six thousand years ago. It was a Saturday night. It happened late in the day, at the time of day we would call nightfall once there was a night to fall. Archbishop James Ussher, Anglican Bishop of Armagh, is remembered these days…

  • T.R.I.U.N.E. God

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    Fred Sanders
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    The main reason the doctrine of the Trinity can be difficult for inquirers to grasp, or for believers to get comfortable with, is that it contains so many ideas within itself. It is a doctrine that summarizes vast stretches of biblical revelation, integrates them, and holds them together so they can be taken in at…

  • The End of Paul Tillich’s Life

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today (October 22) is the day Paul Tillich (1886–1965) died. Tillich is one of America’s most famous theologians, but he’s co-owned by the Germans. He came to America in the 1930s after having spoken out decisively against Hitler. Tillich taught at Union Seminary, Harvard, and Chicago, and ruled the roost of academic theology in America…

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Talker

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    Fred Sanders
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    Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose birthday is today (October 21, in 1772), is remembered today as the poet who left us the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the strange fragment Kubla Khan. But in his own time he made waves as an amateur theologian. And as he remarked to a friend, his reputation was different…

  • Stuart Hamblen’s Cowboy Church of the Air

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today (October 20) is the birthday of Stuart Hamblen (1908-1989), the cowboy singer. His story is a little bit larger than life. The public conversion of this radio star at Billy Graham’s 1949 Los Angeles crusade was a major media event. Hamblen had lived a rough enough life: hard drinking, playing bad guys in Western…

  • Happy Birthday to Matthew Henry: Read the Bible and Pray

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today (October 18) is the day Matthew Henry (1662-1714) was born. The right way to celebrate his birthday is to read the Bible and pray. Henry left a literary legacy that helps you do both. His commentary on the Bible is a remarkable achievement: a one-man show, available in one volume (though the classic form…

  • Aquinas on Divine Missions

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    Fred Sanders
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    At the very end of Thomas Aquinas’ treatise on the Trinity (questions 27-43 of the first part of the Summa Theologiae), he deals with the way the Son and Spirit are sent into the world by the Father. That is, he takes up the subject of the divine missions. It’s a brilliant discussion in its…