The Scriptorium Daily

Category: Blog

  • "When I accept Christ… I am in Communion with the Entire Trinity" (Schaeffer)

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Francis Schaeffer had a powerful doctrine of the Christian encounter with the triune God. I’ve explored it here and here. One of the most remarkable characteristics of his teaching on the subject is how it consistently combined two virtues: simplicity and depth. Over and over in his teaching on the Trinity, Schaeffer uses the phrase,…

  • Review of Christopher Bass, That You May Know

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    Fred Sanders
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    There is only one biblical foundation for a Christian’s assurance of salvation: that God the Son came to be our propitiation and advocate. Only when faith is solidly founded there can a believer go on to apply these rigorous tests: Is my belief correct enough? Do I live a holy life? Do I love other…

  • The “Tongues Movement” is Not of God

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    R.A. Torrey
    in

    Q. Is the present “Tongues Movement” of God? A. It is not. This is clear from the following facts: First–The present “Tongues Movement” makes speaking with tongues the one and only decisive evidence that one has the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The “Tongues” people constantly declare that if one has not spoken with tongues…

  • Today is St. Patrick’s Day

    Today is St. Patrick’s Day

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today is the day we commemorate Patrick of Ireland, an amazing missionary who accomplished so much, and has been so beloved down through the ages that vast quantities of legendary material have stuck to him. I don’t want to get into the arguments about whether he really used a shamrock to explain the Trinity, whether…

  • Trinitarian Salvation according to Francis Schaeffer

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    In 1951, Francis Schaeffer had an encounter with the Trinity that revolutionized his life. I wrote about that discovery in a previous post. It sparked the phase of his ministry that we all remember him for, and put him in touch with a sense of spiritual reality he had lacked before: “a moment-by-moment, increasing, experiential…

  • Paul Spears, Master Teacher

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    “Master Teacher” sounds like some kind of superhero, or ninja elder, or cult leader, or maybe the first line of a contemporary praise song. But today Paul Spears won his university’s “Provost Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching,” and if that acclamation from his peers doesn’t qualify him as a Master Teacher, I don’t know…

  • Today Robert Bowman was Born (Far East Broadcasting)

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    Fred Sanders
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    According to Blake’s Alamanac of the Christian Church, March 16 is the day Robert Bowman was born in 1915. Bowman was one of the co-founders of Far East Broadcasting Company in 1945. He was the baritone voice in the Haven of Rest quartet, and parlayed that group’s popularity into ever-increasing ministry opportunities. Together with John…

  • Today H. P. Lovecraft Died (1937)

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    Fred Sanders
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    I know this day is most famous for the death of Julius Caesar, but I did not come to bury Caesar or to praise him. Instead, I want to point out a writer for whom every day was the Ides of March. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (born 1890, died this day, March 15, 1937) was one…

  • Today Henry Barclay Swete was Born (1835)

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    Fred Sanders
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    Henry Barclay Swete (March 14, 1835 -1917) was an Anglican theologian whose long career took place during the decades when the waters of destructive liberal criticism were rising all around traditional Christianity, and seemed to be coming in right up to the soul of the church. Liberalism was advancing, and the epochal reactions against it…

  • Today is Charles Cowman’s Birthday (1868)

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Charles E. Cowman was the founder of an important missions organization, originally under the name Cowman-Kilbourne mission around 1902, then under the name Oriential Mission Society, and still thriving as OMS International. He was a whirlwind of a man, organizing a plan to take the gospel to every person in Japan. His life story was…

  • Gregory’s New Decalogue

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    Fred Sanders
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    Gregory of Nazianzus, in his sermon on Baptism (Oration 40:65), stumbles into an interesting comparison and makes the most of it for his preaching. He is thinking of how the Christians he is about to baptize are being introduced into the great mystery that is life in Christ, and it makes him think of the…

  • Today is Paul Gerhardt’s Birthday (1607)

    Today is Paul Gerhardt’s Birthday (1607)

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607-1676) is widely considered the greatest German hymn-writer. Some people reserve that title for Martin Luther, but Gerhardt is famous primarily for hymns, while Luther had some other accomplishments that boost his fame. As one scholar has argued, “Every Protestant hymn writer must undergo comparison with the great father of German…