Easy Reference for Appendix A

Appendix A: Abridged Guide to Evangelicalism as Middle EarthNo Tolkien work ever gets published without a fascinating appendix. So why shouldn’t a review about Tolkien. For those of you who have been struggling to “contextualize” this review into postmodern applications the following is for you. Tolkien detested allegory of all kinds, so please keep in mind this is just a hyper technical, completely accurate application of Tolkien’s world to the modern evangelical scene.

PEOPLE & PLACES

High Elves (Puritans)

Numenor/High Peoples (Scotland/Presbyterians)

Middle Peoples (Baptists)

The Gray Havens (The Banner of Truth)

The Elves of Rivendell (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals)

The Elves of Mirkwood (Sovereign Grace Ministries)

Lothlorien (Desiring God Ministries)

Rohan (Southern Baptist Convention)

Meduseld (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

Beornings (Founders Movement)

Barrow Downs (Catacombs of Rome)

The Paths of the Dead (Paedobaptism)

The Green Dragon (challies.com)

Forest of Fangorn (reformation21)

Quickbeam (Justin Taylor)

Findegil (monergism.com)

Tom Bombadil (RC Sproul)

Farmer Maggot (Phil Johnson/Team Pyro)

Glorfindel (Derek Thomas)

Weathertop (Harvard)

Village of Bree (Redeemer Church Planting Network)

City of Dale (Grace Community Church)

Rhovanion (Nine Marks Ministries)

Arnor (New England Congregationalism)

Blue Mountains (Dutch Calvinism)

Gondor (Presbyterianism)

Osgiliath (Princeton)

Minas Tirith (Old School Presbyterianism)

Minas Morgul(New School Presbyterianism)

Ilithien (Northern Presbyterianism)

Henneth Annun (Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia)

Dol Amroth (Southern Presbyterianism)

Tirith Aear (First Presbyterian Church of Jackson)

The Dunedain (Twin Lakes Fellowship)

Lossarnach (Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville)

Anduin (Calvinism)

The Argonath (Westminster Standards)

Húrin (Machen)

Red Book of Westmarch (Textus Receptus)

Daeron (Erasmus)

UNHELPFUL

Radagast the Brown (NT Wright)

The Blue Wizards (National Associations of Evangelicals)

Ioreth of the House of Healing (Doug Wilson)

Mines of Moria (Carl McIntire)

Ted Sandyman (Rousas John Rushdooney)

EVENTS

Entmoot (Philadelphia Council on Reformed Theology)

Council of Elrond (Together for the Gospel)

Helm’s Deep (Battle for Inerrancy)Pelennor Fields

(Battle for Imputation)

Defense of Cair Andros (Battle for Complementarianism)

Battle of Bywater (Every committee that has ever dealt with issues of music in worship)

BAD

Saruman (Karl Barth)

Isengard (Higher Criticism in general)

Corsairs of Umbar (Emergent Church)

Southrons (Lakewood Church)

The Mumakil (Joel Osteen)

Haradrim (Eastern Orthodoxy)

REALLY BAD PEOPLE

The Nazgul (National Council of Churches)

The Mouth of Sauron (Pope Benedict)

Shelob (Joyce Meyer)

Bill Ferny (Ergun Caner)

OTHER

Gollum (John Lennon)

Review up at ref21

The boys over at ref21 have published a review I wrote over on "The Children of Hurin." You can read it here. Or you can follow below. The appendix is where all he fun is. I'll post it separately.


The opening of an exhibition in a fine museum is often greeted with wary warmth from discerning patrons and denizens of style. The curator who carefully guards the work of the old masters is trusted to understand and shape the new display in such a way that the exhibition is faithful to the spirit of the masterpieces. Such in my judgment is the effort given to us from the Tolkien estate with the release last April of The Children of Húrin, a marvelous portrayal of a grand, but lesser known painting of an old master...

JRR Tolkien (the greatest mythmaker of the twentieth century) left an entire gallery of unfinished tales for the happy curator of his cosmogony. They extend from first light of the two trees to the successors of Aragorn at the beginning of the Fourth Age. Estimates place the total number of his books sold as approaching 200 million. Tolkien is among the most read writers of English fiction, and his works consistently top popular polls in every part of the English speaking world. His stories are more complex than much of Greco-Roman mythic literature, wiser than Aesop’s fables and more beloved than Mother Goose. I believe eventually he will be reckoned amongst the most important authors of his century. I have privately thought for many years some scholar is going to look at Tolkien’s legendarium and validate it as the best Anglo-Saxon style literature ever conceived outside of the dark ages, but I digress. Long scorned by the keepers of the English literary canon, Tolkien’s legitimacy is gaining. Tolkien set out long ago to create a new mythology for Britain. Just imagine his popular audience battling its way into the academy like the great battering ram Grond knocking on the door of Minas Tirith. Now you have an accurate picture of Tolkien’s place in the modern literary world.

Thus enters the latest part of Tolkien’s literature into the modern fray, The Children of Húrin. The story is not properly speaking a new story, nor is it (as is being advertised) “the Oldest Tale in Middle Earth.” That tale would be the Ainulindalë, found in The Silmarillion, which tells of the Creation of Arda by Eru Illúvater and his Ainur and concludes with the binding of Melkor.
Children existed in uncompleted fragments and rough drafts (some dating back to WW1) in different manuscripts from Tolkien. Think of these works as being like the Dead Sea Scrolls in the family files. For the last 30 years Tolkien’s son has been putting together the pieces of the puzzle as best he could.

Large parts actually have appeared in other posthumous works. A chapter in The Silmarillion (1977), called “Túrin Turambar” first introduces the hero and his doom. Later an entire section of Unfinished Tales (1980) known as the “Narn I Hin Húrin” (Tale of the Children of Húrin) shows Túrin’s tragedy in the context of his family for the first time. In volume three of the History of Middle Earth: The Lays of Beleriand (1985) two versions of the tale of the children of Húrin are recorded and amplified in ways that tantalize the reader with alternative development surrounding this saga.

The newly released book The Children of Húrin is ultimately a majority text document, carefully measured against other versions and thoughtfully crafted by the consigliore of all things Tolkien – Christopher Tolkien, son of “the professor,” member in his own right of the Inklings, teacher at Oxford and literary executor for the Tolkien estate. In the preface to this edition we are introduced to a third generation of the family – Adam, son of Christopher, who aided his father in the editorial process as his father had done for his father.

Children primarily concerns the son of the remarkable Húrin. Túrin, who in his own way is an equally famous man as his Prometheus like dad. Túrin’s warrior father was head of a great house of men. Elves had once greeted Túrin’s distant forebears, welcoming them as settlers into their land of Beleriand teaching them speech and much wisdom in the first age. Túrin would grow up in a royal house that fell to grinding ruin after battling alongside the elves their great enemy Morgoth (Melkor of the Valar). In appreciation of his family’s sacrifice the elves would take in Túrin (but not his mother and new born sister) and raise him to be a prince. In a few short years this child of the edain (men) would command armies of the eldar (elves). His fame spread throughout the world, but Túrin carried with him always the doom that fell upon his father, a man so ill fated that he brought down his entire house through his own tragedy. The story of how he discovered this doom is the story of The Children of Húrin.

A Brief Word about Tolkien’s Legendarium

Whenever I read the works of JRR Tolkien I am reminded of a description once given of Moria in The Lord of the Rings. “The Mines of Moria were vast and intricate beyond the imagination of Gimli, Glóin’s son, dwarf of the mountain-race though he was.”

Often I seem to be like Gimli wandering again into Middle Earth. I encounter on every page a new world full of valor and treachery, hope and despair, kindness, pity and perseverance. I recognize the rise and fall of great civilizations, puzzle at byzantine genealogical relationships, and glory in sagas so grand that entire languages have been invented, lost and rediscovered just to tell the tale. So it was when I stepped back into the First Age of Middle Earth this past spring and reacquainted myself with The Children of Húrin. This tale is old, very old, and has a Job-like place in Tolkien’s old testamentesque legendarium. I am tempted to say because of the darkness surrounding this tome that The Children of Húrin has been sent to us like a Balrog from the depths of the earth to trouble the world of men.

To appreciate fully The Children of Húrin one must understand the proper ancientry of Middle earth and have a fairly good grasp of the deep legends that run through The Lord of the Rings. A story that deals primarily with events occurring at the end of the Third Age of Middle Earth and culminating in the defeat of Sauron and the ascent of men as the dominant people in the world. We know this world through the recent movies, and of course through the beloved children’s story The Hobbit.

Let’s remember a bit of this past, the age before The Lord of the Rings was full of high drama.
The Second Age primarily deals with the descendents of faithful men who have been given dominion over much of the earth. These men (Númenoreans) are rewarded with great wealth and wisdom and inhabit a chosen island midway between the shores of Middle Earth (this world) and Valinor (the next). The Second Age is thematically a blending of the promised land of Israel and the legend of Atlantis. It culminates with mankind trying to wrest immortality away from the angelic Vala, an event which literally rends the world apart.

The original age or First Age which forms the context of The Children of Húrin spans creation to the binding of Morgoth, the Luciferian protagonist who once apprenticed a young Dark Lord named Sauron. It also ends in cataclysm or “eucatastrophe” as the Tolkien scholars now love to say. Along the way through the First Age we touch grand themes such as the fall of the angelic beings, the birth of elves, men and dwarves, the origins of Ents, Trolls, Orcs, the coming of elves to Valinor (elves hereafter known as the high elves or eldar) and the return of certain high elves to Middle Earth for less than noble purposes right at the time men were first wandering into the western parts of the world. It is within this first meeting of elves and men that The Children of Húrin comes into the greater story.

A useful Tolkien dictionary for the advanced reader like Robert Foster’s “Complete Guide to Middle Earth” or J.E.A. Tyler’s “Complete Tolkien Collection” or the new “JRR Tolkien Companion and Guide: Chronology Vol .1 & A Reader’s Guide Vol. 2” by Scull and Hammond not to be confused with the excellent and equally useful “The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion” by the same authors will enable you to sort out and enjoy the saga better. At all costs avoid purchasing the new “JRR Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment by Michael Drout who is himself a nice scholar/author. Yet his publishers produced an outrageously overpriced, poorly edited and woefully formatted book.

The Children of Húrin is one of Tolkien’s three grand unfinished stories about Middle Earth from the First Age. The other two are the Tale of Beren and Lúthien (one of four unions between elvish brides and men) which to the keen observer is the story of Tolkien’s own married life and later a foreshadowing of Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. Lastly there was the tale of the Fall of Gondolin, that most majestic of Noldorin cities within Middle Earth, perhaps the greatest city in Arda outside Valinor, secretively found within encircling mountains and guarded by the great eagles of the north. Gondolin would be the last kingdom of elves to fall to Morgoth. Each of these great tales oozed with what Tolkien and his friend CS Lewis called “northernness” and are shaped by the languages, legends and sagas of the ancient Germanic and Scandic folklore of old world Europe.

The context of the First Age contains some of the most exciting parts of the entire cosmogony. It is an age in which elves make jewels so beautiful that even the angelic Vala covet their glitter. It is the age where we first meet Gandalf (by another name) weeping by the pools of Lorien and learning pity (Tolkien’s beloved virtue) for the children of Illúvater. It is an age in which civilizations are built behind hidden walls and warriors (great and small) face down creatures of immense, indiscernible power. It is the age where dragons first walked the earth. It is the age of Túrin.

The story of Túrin and his father found in The Children of Húrin may be the saddest Anglo-Saxon style tale ever written.

The Tragic Tale of Túrin Turambar

If you have made it this far, you are to be commended! If you haven’t read the book or you intend to read the book and do not want it spoiled you might pause here and skip down to the last section for saga-busting context free conclusions.

We first meet Túrin in the early part of “The Lord of the Rings” at Rivendell when Elrond speaks of him in his Council meeting immediately after Frodo agrees to the Ring Quest. Elrond mentions Frodo as being worthy as the elf friends of old. He identifies Túrin and his father as “one of the mighty Elf-Friends of old.”

Throughout the book Túrin is constantly being given or taking for himself new names. Taken as a whole they give you a nice sense of what his life and the book is about: Neithian (The wronged) Gorthol (The dreaded helm) Agarwaen Úmarth (the bloodstained, ill fortune’s child) Adanedhel (Elf man) Mormegil (the black sword) Turambar (master of doom).

In some ways Túrin is a Southerner in 1866. He’s fighting constantly, bitter about the loss of his home and the lack of dignity of his people to an invading Yankee-like swarm of Easterling carpetbaggers. Túrin comes to hate foreigners of all kind (accept Elves), and men most of all even though he himself lived the life of an outlaw his entire life.

In other ways Túrin reminds us of a virtuous Cowboy-frontiersman who saves the town from peril but always has to leave because of some calamity he brings down on himself. Túrin is John Wayne in the “Sons of Katie Elder” who has to leave because he wounds anyone and everyone who gets too close to him. He saves the day but always loses a bit of himself in the process.

What’s all this Doom about?

We read early on the story of an exchange between Melkor and Túrin’s father Húrin.
“I am the Eldar King: Melkor, first and mightiest of all the Valar, who was before the world, and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will. But upon whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death.”

Húrin had been faithful until death defending a retreating army of elves as they escaped from a helpless battlefield with the “auld enemy” Morgoth. Húrin would be captured after the battle and taken and tormented for the rest of his life by Morgoth. The Dark Vala tried every trick that the Father of Lies could use to wrest Húrin’s knowledge of the hidden whereabouts of Elvish Gondolin. But Melkor couldn’t break Húrin and so in a final effort he let him go free but did so with a malediction upon Húrin’s family. This malediction brought to light the dark providence that guides Húrin and Túrin to the end of their days. Túrin would slay thousands of enemies in his life, build up little kingdoms and villages of free folk, slay a monstrous dragon but in each case he would wound himself far worse and leave tragedy in his wake.

Some Eschatology in Middle Earth

Deep within the bowels of Tolkien’s legendarium one finds that Túrin is significant beyond his great heroism in the slaying the monstrous dragon. It is in the end times, the last days of Middle Earth that Túrin will achieve his greatest deed. Morgoth we are told, will again rise and wage a “last battle” against the Valar and the faithful elves, men and dwarves (and hopefully hobbits) of that age. In that day Túrin Turambar will avenge the doom of the children of Húrin. He will lead the “children of Illúvater” in battle as final instrument of wrath and judgment upon Morgoth. Therein is found Armageddon for Melkor, redemption for Túrin, a fitting deed for one whose doom had been ever so marred by wrath and ill judgmental begotten upon himself.

Tolkien and his critics

Harold Bloom once commented on Tolkien’s Legendarium, “It’s like trying to read the Book of Mormon.” Salman Rushdie famously opined “I am a big fan of The Lords of the Rings but nobody ever read Tolkien for the writing.” There are some who will never enjoy Tolkien, mainly these seem to be his critics. I suspect that Brian Appleyard will become the bane of a thousand Entmoots. His Sunday Times review (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1613657.ece ) is noteworthy for his dismissive tone of Tolkien’s body of work, yea verily Denethorian. We can all delight in the fact that for every angst ridden agnostic Anglo-Saxon phobic literary critic there will be entire generations of children learning about the English language through the cultural milieu of this most pre-modern of tales.

Why should you read this book (the conclusion)

Why should one read The Children of Húrin? You should read if you enjoy great literature grounded in a world fixed by grand Christian themes that paints a “Job-like” tale of pre-modernity. You should read this if you love the world of “Middle earth” and you want to see how an earlier age of heroes stacks up against the ones of the 3rd Age. You should read this if you want to get a sense of how Tolkien wrote his stories, and how he painted the canvas of Arda with the sadness of its fallen creatures. You should read this book if you want to see the consequences of running all the time. You should read this if you want to meet more characters from Tolkien’s myth and be thrilled by sights of new places in Middle Earth.

Appendix A: Abridged Guide to Evangelicalism as Middle Earth
No Tolkien work ever gets published without a fascinating appendix. So why shouldn’t a review about Tolkien. For those of you who have been struggling to “contextualize” this review into postmodern applications the following is for you. Tolkien detested allegory of all kinds, so please keep in mind this is just a hyper technical, completely accurate application of Tolkien’s world to the modern evangelical scene.

PEOPLE & PLACES
High Elves (Puritans)
Numenor/High Peoples (Scotland/Presbyterians)
Middle Peoples (Baptists)
The Gray Havens (The Banner of Truth)
The Elves of Rivendell (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals)
The Elves of Mirkwood (Sovereign Grace Ministries)
Lothlorien (Desiring God Ministries)
Rohan (Southern Baptist Convention)
Meduseld (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Beornings (Founders Movement)
Barrow Downs (Catacombs of Rome)
The Paths of the Dead (Paedobaptism)
The Green Dragon (challies.com)
Forest of Fangorn (reformation21)
Quickbeam (Justin Taylor)
Findegil (monergism.com)
Tom Bombadil (RC Sproul)
Farmer Maggot (Phil Johnson/Team Pyro)
Glorfindel (Derek Thomas)
Weathertop (Harvard)
Village of Bree (Redeemer Church Planting Network)
City of Dale (Grace Community Church)
Rhovanion (Nine Marks Ministries)
Arnor (New England Congregationalism)
Blue Mountains (Dutch Calvinism)
Gondor (Presbyterianism)
Osgiliath (Princeton)
Minas Tirith (Old School Presbyterianism)
Minas Morgul(New School Presbyterianism)
Ilithien (Northern Presbyterianism)
Henneth Annun (Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia)
Dol Amroth (Southern Presbyterianism)
Tirith Aear (First Presbyterian Church of Jackson)
The Dunedain (Twin Lakes Fellowship)
Lossarnach (Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville)
Anduin (Calvinism)
The Argonath (Westminster Standards)
Húrin (Machen)
Red Book of Westmarch (Textus Receptus)
Daeron (Erasmus)
UNHELPFUL
Radagast the Brown (NT Wright)
The Blue Wizards (National Associations of Evangelicals)
Ioreth of the House of Healing (Doug Wilson)
Mines of Moria (Carl McIntire)
Ted Sandyman (Rousas John Rushdooney)
EVENTS
Entmoot (Philadelphia Council on Reformed Theology)
Council of Elrond (Together for the Gospel)
Helm’s Deep (Battle for Inerrancy)
Pelennor Fields (Battle for Imputation)
Defense of Cair Andros (Battle for Complementarianism)
Battle of Bywater (Every committee that has ever dealt with issues of music in worship)
BAD
Saruman (Karl Barth)
Isengard (Higher Criticism in general)
Corsairs of Umbar (Emergent Church)
Southrons (Lakewood Church)
The Mumakil (Joel Osteen)
Haradrim (Eastern Orthodoxy)
REALLY BAD PEOPLE
The Nazgul (National Council of Churches)
The Mouth of Sauron (Pope Benedict)
Shelob (Joyce Meyer)
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins (Beth Moore)
Bill Ferny (Ergun Caner)
OTHER
Gollum (John Lennon)

Melton L. Duncan (mduncan@ligonier.org) is director of church relations for Ligonier Ministries and a ruling elder in the PCA. He and his wife Lynda are raising two Southern Presbyterians near the house of Tom Bombadil in the South Carolina Upcountry. He blogs at http://riverandrhett.blogspot.com/

News From The Four Farthings III

Greenvilliana
Ken Hamm will be on Greenville radio 660am Wednesday (July 25th) from 1-2pm with our good friends Dr. Paul Dean and Pastor Kevin Boling who host "Calling For Truth." They will interview the Answers in Genesis founder on the July 25th Show. Listen to the show live at 1pm here.

Kudos to RC Sproul
RC was recently awarded a lifetime achievment award from the Evangelical Christian Publishing Assocation. It was quite a huge occasion for him and Ligonier Ministries. See Here for a video tribute with some familiar faces from River and Rhett sending out their congratulations. Working for RC and Ligonier has been the most awesome thing I've ever done. By the way Ligonier Regional Conferences are just around the corner for Charlotte, Forth Worth and Portland.

River and Rhett People
Richard D. Phillips, pastor of Second Presbyterian Greenville was profiled this week in The Greenville News. See Here. Rick's ministry has begun in ernest at the church and we are rejoicing over God's goodness in bringing us this faithful soldier-servant of the Lord.

Billy Graham & Sinners in the Hand of An Angry God
The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale has a fascinating look at one of America's most famous sermons preached by one of America's most famous preachers. See Here. Look how Billy changes the sermon slightly to adapt it for the Los Angeles crusade and then read below and consider whether this sermon could ever be preached in your church.

Interview with a Vampire
Michael Scott Horton talks with Anne Rice on a recent broadcast of the "White Horse Inn." See Here (and scroll down to previous broadcast July 8th). I was struck by how wrong so many of the accounts I've read of her "conversion" have been. Her relationship with NT Wright is fascinating, her critques of atheist descriptions of biblical truthworthiness is spot on while her account of returning to the Romanism of her youth is equally gripping. MSH plays Larry King on this interview, but its still a great listen.

Hearing the Gospel (John Wesley)

Three days after his brother John had become a Christian, and three years after preaching the Gospel on a mission trip to Colonial Georgia Charles Wesley records what happens in his life when he heard the gospel. He was walking along Aldersgate Street in London, it was nighttime and he was listening in on a Moravian prayer meeting.

"About a quarter of nine, while [the speaker who had read the preface] was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assuarnce was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Hearing the Gospel (Spurgeon)

In January, 1850, a sixteen year old boy attended a service in a Primitive Methodist church in England. Because of the inclement weather, the regular pastor was not present. So a lay preacher spoke a few words from this text which instantly transformed the young man. Listen to his testimony...

"You have often heard me tell how I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed—by me, at any rate,—except his text.

I remember how he said, "It is Christ that speaks. 'I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out my soul unto death; I am on the tree, dying for sinners; look unto me! Look unto me!' That is all you have to do. A child can look… However weak, or however poor, a man may be, he can look; and if he looks, the promise is that he shall live." Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, "That young man there looks very miserable." I expect I did, for that is how I felt.


Then he said, "There is no hope for you, young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin, but by looking to Jesus;" and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, "Look! Look, young man! Look now!"

And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep and more was falling; so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through my heart, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;" and it seemed as if all nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus Christ."

That young man was Charles Spurgeon…

Phillips installed at Second

Tonight at Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville the presbytery installed Richard D. Phillips as our new minister. It was a grand occasion and we enjoyed visiting with many folk from area churches who joined us. At least a dozen ministers (within and outside the PCA) were there with us to see Rick's official beginning at the Corner of River and Rhett.

You can listen to the service here we were especially thrilled to have Sinclair Ferguson and Philip Ryken in town to particpate with us in the installation.

I thought some of our readers might enjoy my small contribution to the effort.Here are my remarks (revised and extended) to those gathered.

"Good Evening, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I welcome you to this evening worship service of the Second Presbyterian Church. It is a special occasion in the life of this church family and in the life of PCA churches in the area. As a “connectional church” we have mutual accountability one church with another in the Lord. Tonight a Commission appointed by your presbytery, the Presbytery of Calvary will install Richard Davis Phillips to the office of Minister. As a representative from this commission I also bring greetings from the family of PCA churches here in the South Carolina Upcountry, sister and daughter congregations who are rejoicing at the Lord’s work here in the West End of Greenville.

We are delighted to welcome visitors with us tonight. Second Presbyterian is an ordinary means of grace congregation committed to the Bible, the Reformed Faith and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. We invite you to unite with us in our worship and work, and to be active participants in this special service of installation.

Let me also invite visitors and members alike to a reception after the service, in the Gymnasium to honor Rick and Sharon Phillips, and their children: Hannah, Matthew, Jonathan, Ellie and Lydia. Deacons will be ready to assist those who need help finding their way. Please enjoy the rich time of fellowship within our church family as we end our Lord’s Day together.

You will note that our order of worship will be different tonight, since it is indeed a meeting of the presbytery, the service itself may well be longer, or perhaps I should say more full, J pay careful attention as we listen and receive special “charges” or messages given to us and our new minister. We will take solemn vows to receive Mr. Phillips as our pastor, and we will make promises to care for him, his family and uphold his ministry among us. Even now we should look at these words placed before us in our bulletin and ask God to give this congregation grace to be faithful in saying these words.

In the Preface to our Book of Church Order, the founding fathers of the Presbyterian Church in America gave some principles setting forth Church Government, in accordance with the Word of God. One of these states that is the responsibility of a local congregation to call a man to be a pastor/elder of a local church and also we are reminded that Christ has “appointed officers to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments, and exercise discipline.” We will do, expectantly, both of these tonight.

At this time I will recognize the Members of this Commission

Teaching Elders:

Dr. James Edward McGoldrick of the presbytery
Mr. Carl David Robbins, of the Woodruff Road Church
Dr. Benjamin Shaw of the presbytery
Mr. Robert Edward Spears III, of Second Church and our commission chairman

Ruling Elders on the Commission include

Mr. Pat Correll Holbrook of Second Church
Dr. Charles Stuart Patterson of Second Church
Mr. Philip James Temple of the Mitchell Road Church
and myself Melton Ledford Duncan of Second Church.

Honorary Members of this commission include The Session of Second Church.

The Presbytery is especially delighted to recognize and welcome two ministers who have traveled far to be with us…

Dr. Philip Graham Ryken, pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia with whom Rick served under the late Dr. James Boice is with us.

And also joining us is the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, Dr Sinclair Buchanan Ferguson a beloved theologian and former professor of Rick's at Westminster Seminary.

We welcome Rick's Mom, Mrs. Margaret Phillips, as well as Sharon's parents Jeff & Linda Wilkie. We are so glad you our with us tonight. We also would like to extend our greetings to Tim Vertz, a Ruling Elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Margate/Coral Springs who has journeyed to be with us tonight, welcome.

Welcome to each of you and thank you for being with us on this occasion in the life of this congregation.

…."It was a cold night in the early spring of 1892, snow was on the ground but the inclement weather did not deter the newly organized members of the Second Presbyterian Church from resolving to build a church in the West End of Greenville, across the Reedy River but as close to the center of the city as possible." (adapted from Katherine Jones 75th anniversary "History of SPC")

In the one hundred and fifteen years since, we marvel at the ways God has been faithful to this congregation. We have watched the city grow, decline and grow around us again. We have assisted our presbyteries in the planting of 4 churches, including (Dr. Ferguson will be delighted to hear an ARP church! J) We have sent forth from our midst more than a score of ministers and missionaries. We have been especially privileged to be a part of the formation of the Presbyterian Church in America.

We are thankful to God that he has now raised up a pastor, Richard Davis Phillips to shepherd our people and to guide us with the Bible, the very words of Life. In accordance with this truth and under the authority of the presbytery, we are gathered here tonight to install Mr. Phillips to be the 12th Minister of this congregation and to worship the triune, Sovereign, most holy, most merciful God.

Let us now worship God."

My GA Report

Here is my report given last Sunday Night to the congregation about the recent PCA General Assembly.

The 35th General Assembly of the PCA met last week in Memphis, Ruling Elder Bill Wheeler and I represented our Church. General Assembly (often called “GA”) is a wonderful cacophony of people, meetings and activities. Sometimes it feels like a circus so much is going on. But they are always a wonderful picture of the Kingdom of God. So many people from different backgrounds drawn to serve Christ in His church. The PCA is still after 35 years a wonderful denomination that is healthy and planting churches, and sending out ever increasing number of missionaries all firmly grounded in the Bible and broadly speaking in the Reformed Faith.

This year there were only about 1,200 commissioners present (down from recent years), at night when we would meet for worship there would be 2,000-3,000 in the hall. We heard informational reports from all our denominational committees and agencies… all of which seemed good.

Amazingly this year the formal business meetings of the church took less than two days to finish. This brevity seems to be a new trend for the denomination reflects how we’ve reorganized debate in recent years, so that more process takes place on the committee level than on the floor of “GA.” On most matters all we are now asked to do is vote something up or down. While many opposed the reorganization of the GA (if you remember back a couple of years ago I referred to this new system as creating a caste system of “levitical lawyers” it must be pointed out that so far the new system has worked well. One interestingly item for us here at Second Church is an overture sent up and later approved from North Texas presbytery commending Paul Settle for his faithful service to the PCA.

The Moderator of GA alternates each year from Teaching Elder (or a Minister) to Ruling Elder. The Moderator this year was a Ruling Elder from Colorado and was very good at procedure, kept things from getting personal and everything moving along on schedule. No easy thing to do with a room full of preachers!

The main event at this years GA was the debate over a study committee report that dealt with a new theological movement within the church known as the “Federal Vision.” The “Federal Vision,” sometimes called the “Auburn Avenue Theology” (after the church the teaching began in) along with what has been called “The New Perspectives on Paul” has been a controversial matter for the PCA the last few years.

These views were characterized by this new study committee report as a form of hyper-covenantalism blurring our Confessional understanding of biblical doctrine on subjects ranging from the nature of church membership & paedo-communion to what appears to be a new form of the teaching of baptismal regeneration. I’d be happy to show you examples of this wrong teaching if you are interested. “Federal Vision” adherents (which from counting their heads at the GA last week there appears to be less than 40) have tirelessly promoted their views on blogs and private message boards and have developed quite a following amongst some of our younger seminarians.

Almost everyone in the PCA from every wing of the PCA has condemned this new teaching. Our new pastor Rick Phillips interestingly enough participated in a major debate with the adherents of the new view a few years ago sponsored by Knox Seminary in Florida. Rick has been an outspoken critic of the “Federal Vision.”

The PCA’s Federal Vision Study Committee was made up of 3 PhD’s, and some of the most experienced Ruling & Teaching Elders in the PCA. Our own Ligon Duncan, a past Moderator served on this committee. The committee presented their report and not a single person chose to criticize its scholarship or its conclusions in debate. The main debate around its acceptance (as Presbyterians are want to do) was a procedural objection.

Interestingly enough none of those of the “Federal Vision” adherents who had engaged in a rigorous amount of online pamphleteering before the General Assembly not a single one ever chose to identify themselves as an adherent to the Federal Vision view during debate. On the floor of the GA it was puzzling. Some, concerned about due diligence argued for more study of the matter, and new people put on the committee. Let me say it is always tempting to agree with this reasoning, that something should be studied more and in effect nothing should be done.

The debate was going back and forth, and because the matter is awfully technical we were verging between substance matters and procedural concerns when a minister from Florida stood up by the name of RC Sproul, let me read you what he said, it’ll give you a flavor of what it’s like to be at GA. (Thanks to someone on Justin Taylor's blog for transcribing RC)

RC Sproul, Central Florida Presbytery, speaking against the motion.

I think we’re all aware of Luther’s evaluation of the doctrine of Justification where he said that it was the article upon which the church stands or falls. Calvin added to that, “it’s the hinge upon which everything turns”. And in our day, we’ve had an unprecedented attack on the Reformation understanding of Sole Fide, particularly at the point of the denial of imputation. Which if you look at the declarations, you see is front and center of this report. And I believe, fathers and brethren, that the kingdom of God is not at stake here, but I think the purity of the PCA is.

And I don’t understand, I just can’t fathom the hesitancy about this matter. Too much is at stake. This is the gospel that we’re talking about, gentleman. And if the Westminster Confession does not already give us a faithful exposition of the gospel, at what point can we trust our Confession? And it seems to me to add those people to the committee, whom our previous committee, fulfilling their mandate to examine whether their views were in conformity to our confession, is like asking in a courtroom to have the accused become members of the jury. It doesn’t make any sense to me. And…

(Applause) Moderator called for order and instructed assembly to not applause / RC interrupts the moderator and says…Shame on you fathers and brothers, you’re not allowed to do what you just did. So… I…

(Yet Greater Applause ) Moderator tries again to get every one to stop….

RC Sproul: I apologize for that outburst of unseemly, but righteous applause.

(Riotously Applause and Laughter)

It was an amazing moment, I’ve been going to GA’s since I was a boy and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. After that the procedural motion was set aside, and the study committee was adopted by overwhelming numbers. The Stated Clerk told me the next day that it at was at least 90% maybe 95% in favor of adopting the Report.

So what does this mean?

Well it means that in the strongest possible terms the 35th PCA General Assembly is asking presbyteries and local churches to distance themselves from this teaching. It also means that men who hold such views are in a tenuous position, perhaps even subject to having their credentials reviewed in the near future. It means that the declarations and recommendations of this committee should be studied and considered as good explanations of this matter. In some ways this action what most presbyteries have been doing for some time (including Calvary Presbytery) be diligent to weed this view out of candidates coming for examination. It means the PCA is serious about expressing a clear and unambiguous testimony on this matter.

Again I’d be delighted to share you this information as well.

All in all the PCA reaffirmed that it is robustly evangelical, capable of doing the right thing when asked and interested in having a good debate about theological matters that touch at the heart of our faith. On a personal note let me say I think this debate bodes well for the theological health of the denomination. I also think that this debate showed a healthy appreciation for holding to a vibrant embrace of the Confession as well. It served us well as we needed understanding.

Bill and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank You.

RE Melton L. Duncan, Sr.
Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, SC
June 17, 2007

Resolution of Thanks at the PCA GA

The General Assembly is over! Thought some of our readers might enjoy reading the final "Resolution of Thanks" composed by TE Rick Fite and myself and then presented at the end of this years's "GA" in Memphis last Thursday night.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THANKS

Fathers and Brothers. We have gathered in the great “river city” of Memphis, Tennessee to listen to the story told of the Presbyterian Church in America. We marvel in this Mississippi Delta land so rich with the culture, sound and taste of the American experience we have called home during this 35th General Assembly. We commend the local churches of Covenant Presbytery for their faithfulness to Christ as they present the Gospel to the people of the Mid-South. God’s grace continues to flow through you like the waters of the mighty Mississippi which rolls along through this land. Truly as the Psalmist says “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise.”

The 35th General Assembly has been richly blessed by the teaching and preaching of our gifted leaders and workers. The seminars have enriched our people and equipped them for ministry in their own local congregations. The preaching at this Assembly has been remarkable and we especially thank TE’s Dr. Dominic Aquila, Dr. RC Sproul and Dr. Bryan Chapell for their edifying and challenging messages which reminded us of the victorious church, the worshipping church and the majestic church.

On behalf of the commissioners and their families we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the marvelous leadership of Covenant Presbytery and its able Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chaired by Wayne Herring and Phillip Johnson. The helpful volunteers and committee staff have made our experience here in Memphis so very comfortable. Thank you for taking care of your sisters and brothers from the rest of the PCA as Paul said in Philemon “Your love has given great joy and encouragement because you, brothers, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

We also extend our gratitude to the Stated Clerk, Dr L. Roy Taylor and the good folks on the Administration Committee staff who have organized and facilitated all the deliberations of this church court with a servant attitude in a helpful manner.

We have been blessed by all our musicians, worship leaders, skillful liturgists all. We commend our Assembly Organist, TE Larry Roff, as well as James Brown, Nathan Clark George, Stuart Neil, Paul Jones, the Westminster Brass and the wonderful choir who complemented the preaching of the word with the exaltation of God in song and music. As the author of Hebrews said “God will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped his people…”

We congratulate our Moderator Ruling Elder E. J. Nusbaum from the Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs for his fair and amiable work throughout this Assembly. At times when we were “all shook up” and tempted to stand on one another’s “blue suede shoes” (as someone from Memphis once said) we were reminded of how the PCA has always been so capably served by Ruling Elders like “EJ.”

Thank You Mr. Moderator, please accept this motion.

Respectfully submitted on this 14th of June,
RE Melton L. Duncan (Presbytery of Calvary) & TE Richard B. Fite (Presbytery of Rocky Mountain)

Reagan on Forgiveness

While on my way to Memphis for the Presbyterian Church in America's General Assembly I picked up and began reading Douglas Brinkley's excellently edited Reagan Diaries. What an enjoyable read. There he is, Ronald Reagan, "the Gipper" in all his "well" aw shucks glory. The most striking thing I've noted so far is his expressions of Christianity.

Here is an excerpt from the first day he wrote in his personal diary after the assassinatin attempt in March 1981.

...I walked into the emergency room and was hoisted onto a cart...It was then we learned I'd been shot & had a bullet in my lung...

Getting shot hurts. Still my fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to breathe it seemed I was getting less and lessair. I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed. But I realized I couldn't ask for God's help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me. Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all God's children & therefore equally beloved by him. I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold.

I opened my eyes once to find Nancy there. I pray I'll never face a day when she isn't there. Of all the ways God has blessed me giving her to me is the greatest and beyond anything I can ever hope to deserve...

...Whatever happens now I owe my life to God and will try to serve him in every way I can.

News From The Four Farthings II

Walking in Memphis
The 35th General Assembly of the PCA convenes a week from tomorrow in Memphis, TN. For more information you can follow online here. For those of you who have an interest in such things the three big questions seem to be:

1) A Traditional question...Who will the moderator be?
2) A Procedural Question...How will the new "Book of Church Order" and "Rules of Assembly Operations" changes effect the debate of the Assembly - particularly the new "Super Bills & Overtures" supercommittee
3) A Theological Controversy...What to with Federal Vision Study Committee report? A report which largely summarize and condemns certain "miscreant" views within the life of the church.


Greenvilliana
PCA folk have been rocked this week by the death of a beloved missionary from the Woodruff Road PCA congregation in Uganda. Laura Sheffer died after being the victim of a hit and run car accident last weekend, she is survived by her gregarious husband Scott and their 4 lovely children. Carl Robbins their pastor preached a bold and Gospel focused message at Laura's memorial service. He reminded those gathered that the Sheffers were WRPC's first homegrown missionaries and challenged all of us to remember that we have been called to be not of this world. Her memorial blog can be seen here. We grieve but not as a the world grieves and our prayers go out to Clan Sheffer and the good folks at WRPC.

Pure Church on Race Discussions

The 8th wonder of the Blogosphere, my friend Thabiti has an excellent post on how to talk to our children about Race. You can find it here. I particularly enjoyed this part.

Not only are we alike in our humanity, but we are therefore alike in our sin, guilt, shame and need for divine rescue. We are far more alike than we are different. And the ways in which we are alike when it comes to sin and salvation are far more important than the ways we are alike in cultural, economic, social, psychological, or even physical terms. We often may be tempted to leave our discussion of ethnic similarity or difference at some superficial level rather than pour eternal gospel truth into the conversation.

When your three year old surprises you with some observation of ethnic difference, direct the conversation to sin and salvation as the common problem and common need of all men. Pray for a ready mind before the topic comes up, a mind that skillfully takes the child to Jesus and the cross as the solution for the common problem and need. Pray for a ready mind that then gives a child a vision for what she or he can do in the areas of missions and evangelism to be used of God to meet their playmates' greatest need.

Challies on Conferences
The ubiquitous Tim Challies recently gave his thoughts on the strengths and differences of pan- reformed conferences he attended throughout the spring of 2007. You can find the orginal article here.

"As I reflected on these conferences I tried to find a single word that helped summarize my experience and my feelings about each event. Here is what I came up with..."

Resolved - "Diversity"
It is easy to believe that these conferences, which are all run by ministries that are distinctly Reformed, attract an audience that is largely Caucasian. Resolved was the first conference of the year and easily the most racially diverse. There was a very large Asian population at the conference (I would think it was probably about 40% or so), prompting John Piper to exclaim "I didn't know this was an Asian conference!" Many other races were all well-represented and it was very refreshing to see the diversity of God's kingdom represented in that auditorium. The diversity was noticeable and it was beautiful.

Shepherds' - "Service"
One of the things that caught my attention the first time I went to the Shepherds' Conference was the shoe-shine service. This is a service run by volunteers who give of their time to shine the shoes of pastors and is a perfect example of a service that exists only to pamper the pastors who attend the conference. The same is true of the books that are given out and it seems to me that it was a great idea to transition this year from quantity of books to quality. Each of the men in attendance got some good and helpful books, but also books that are significant and otherwise expensive. Pastors do love their books and they were well-served by the ones they were given at this conference.

The conference is dedicated to serving pastors through the teaching, but also through the whole experience of being there (right down to the candy shop where everything is, of course, free). It is oriented around service and it is easy to see the pastors head for home and head back to their responsibilities feeling relaxed and refreshed.

Ligonier - "Detail"
I felt that the Ligonier conference was exceptionally well-crafted in its logistics. It moved smoothly from session-to-session and from day-to-day. Though each session was led by a different speaker, each built logically upon the previous one so that by the end R.C. Sproul was really just left to recap each of the sessions and to add some concluding remarks. This attention to detail pervaded the conference to the extent that they even replaced the pictures on the walls of the facility they rented with ones relevant to Ligonier ministries. Of course it is not only the conference that was done with excellence, but also the ministry's presentation through its web site and books and even advertisements. It seemed to me that no detail is overlooked.

Twin Lakes - "Fellowship"
Twin Lakes is different from the other conferences I attended in that it is rightly a fellowship and one that is not quite as open to the public as the others. The event centers on this word "fellowship" and on friendships forged from meeting in rural Mississippi year-after-year. It was also a time of worship as the conference is built around a series of worship services, allowing different pastors to show how they structure their services. Though a newcomer to the ministry, I felt immediately included and appreciated and had many opportunities to enjoy close Christian fellowship with brothers in Christ.

The Basics - "Humility"
I found that The Basics and the Shepherds' Conference are in many ways a lot alike. The notable difference, other than its smaller size, is that The Basics does not feature speakers that have the high profile of the ones who speak at Shepherds'. So rather than featuring John Piper and R.C. Sproul it features Derek Thomas and Voddie Baucham. This made for a different atmosphere and one that was very relaxed. Somehow not having the big-name speakers seems to make the whole event seem more relaxed. The speakers were available for anyone who wished to speak to them and they seemed very pleased to interact with all those who came to them.

The word "service" would also apply well at The Basics. A large team of volunteers ensured that the pastors in attendance had their every need met and did so joyfully. I was especially moved to see men and women of means joyfully and gratefully serving in any way they could--serving with true humility. Humility pervaded the conference.

New Attitude - "Passion"
It is interesting to compare and contrast New Attitude with Resolved. Both conferences had similar speakers, similar crowd sizes and a similar audience of teenagers, college students, and young adults. Some people asked me about this and assumed that the New Attitude crowd would be far less sedate and subdued than the crowd at Resolved. Except during the times of worship I found the opposite true. There was plenty of excitement at Resolved and plenty of exuberant joy. To my surprise Resolved also had more production in terms of lights and lasers and other fun details. I suppose I must have been stereotyping a bit too much.

As I thought about New Attitude I thought mainly of the passion of the organizers, the speakers and the many volunteers. This conference featured a great group of speakers who were absolutely passionate about what they spoke about. There were groups of roving Ninjas (couples who distributed treats, prizes, and so on) who seemed absolutely thrilled to be able to serve us however they could. There were hoards of people wearing blue Na shirts greeting us whenever we walked through the doors of the conference center (and even when we arrived at the airport). The worship was loud and passionate. This passion pervaded the weekend and, from what I've been reading on the blogs of those who attended, has lingered in the aftermath.

Whatever happened to the Christian Right?

Consider these recent events:

The passing of Jerry Falwell
The health Problems of D. James Kennedy
The fall of Ralph Reed
The failed run for Presidency of Gary Bauer
The collapse of the Christian Coalition
The political dabblings of Jim Dobson
The lack of a clear choice for evangelicals in 2008 (consisting of a Mormon, an Actor, a pro choice/pro gay Mayor, a Nixonian war hero, and others)

Whatever did happen to the Christian Right?