Ten Fook Seong on Calvin's Institute and The Pracitice of Pietism

Calvin's Institue of Christian Religion continued to be read and studied since they first appeared, and they have spread in new translations in modern times. It's less commonly remembered that Calvin was also both a preacher and pastor; his commentaries, sermons, prayers and letters offer important insights into piety that transformed the communities which came to be called Calvinist.

The present paper written by Pastor Ten Fook Seong seeks to trace the spiritual legacy of Calvin's piety focusing his teaching in the Institute about the human relationship with God. The purpose was to lead and challenge all who heard him, or read his writings, to realize that their true happiness consists in devotion to God for God's glory; that their salvation is assured by Christ's grace; and their lives will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and should be given over to the service of God and their neighbour. Here are a short excerpt:

「今年恰逢加尔文诞生500周年纪念，作为一位十六世纪伟大的改革家，又是牧者，加尔文无疑在历史长河中留下深远的影响，被称为属灵伟人实是当之无愧，而他的巨著<基督教要义>更被认为是基督教经典中的经典。不过，许多人对加尔文<基督教要义>的认识，仅流于它是一本基督教教义的阐述，而非对灵性有所助益的著作。」

The review is written by brother Yong Pai Chan here in chinese, and translated by Daniel Chew here in english.

[The paper and review are now open to discussion.]

Cathy Tan on The Quest for Calvin's Essence of Worship: Passion and Love of God －A Journey Away from Ritualistic Worship

One of the best ways to get at the heart of Calvin's concept of worship , preferably his idea of liturgy is to study his interpretation of the first tablet of the law. The Institutes contains a chapter devoted on the law. Surely a completely study of Calvin's theoloy of worship will also deal with his chapters on the sacraments, his chapter on prayer, the Genevan Psalter，and other documents.

This study, however deals with Calvin's theology of worship as found in his liturgy in Strasbourg. Cathy Tan, a part-time music ministry advisor for Jubilee Presbyterian Church Singapore, a choral conductor, a music educator, and a speaker and writer on music and worship，provides pratical wisdom concerning the purpose of Calvin's liturgy, calls us back to biblical worship with theological content as the priotity in today's church. She opens it this way:

「1538年，年青的加尔文接受布赛尔(Martin Bucer) 的邀请，到斯特拉斯堡(Strasbourg) 牧养日益增多的法国难民。本文要探究的，就是这间拥有数百名会众，被加尔文呢称为「小法国教会」(Ecclesiola Gallicana) 的崇拜礼仪。从加尔文在流程的修订与元素的取舍上，认识其考量的依据，希望藉此为今日教会提供一个崇拜更新的标引。」

Pastor Gao from Shanghai, a reflective pracitioner of regulative principle of worship, his review in chinese here, and english translation done by brother Daniel Chew here.

[This paper and review are now open for discussion.]

Wang Zhi Yong On Calvin and the Psalms: Singing the Songs of Jehovah

Psalm singing is experiencing a revival in our time. Why sing psalms? or the real questions should be "why not sing psalms?" Even though Luther did not limit his singing to the psalms, he did have a great appreciation of the psalms. John Calvin, on the other hand, championed exclusive psalms singing in the Reformed churches. In this paper, our conference advisor, Rev. Dr. Wang Zhi Yong gives us a very clear cut treatment of the exclusive psalmodist view, here are the opening lines:

「我自己从一九九七年开始在中国大陆牧会，也曾在多处旅行，如今在美国研修，参加多处华语教会，见到大陆以及海外华语教会中一个颇为普遍的现象就是：弟兄姐妹的敬拜虽有热心，但往往不是按着圣经中所启示的真知识。各种人所撰写的歌曲大摇大摆地进入公共敬拜，有的甚至声称是“在圣灵感动下”撰写的，大有让人非接受不可之势！有的人觉得甲某某写的哥属灵，有的人认为乙某某写的歌属灵，教会中总是不断有人为在敬拜中唱谁写的歌曲而争执不休，但却甚少有人主张唱颂上帝在圣经中亲自默示的<诗篇>！我对这种现象感到非常痛心，自己又感到困顿乏力，就向上帝多多祷告，希望华文诗篇能够早早面世，有更多的基督徒能够认识到用上帝所默示的诗篇敬拜的重要性。 」

Cathy Tan's chinese review paper here, the review has been translated into english by Daniel Chew as follows:

In his article “Singing the songs of Jehovah,” it is apparent that Zhiyong Wang relies on the Puritans’view of the Regulative Principle of Worship when discussing the issue of worship. Expressed in the 17th century Reformed confessions (the 1646 Westminster Confession of FaithChapter 21, paragraph 1 & the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith Chapter 22, paragraph 1) [More]

[The paper is now open for discussion.]

Ang Lai Hoe: Addressing the biblical validity of a claim against unconditional election

The biblical doctrine of election has many foes, and much misunderstanding. In this paper, Lai Hoe Ang attempts to clear up the fog over the matter, in dealing with one objection against the doctrine of election: the salvation or damnation of infants. An excerpt:

Many objections have been raised against the biblical teaching of divine election. This paper aims to address one of them, namely that “God is not fair to send non-elect infants/babies upon death to burn in hell”.

This particular objection is predicated upon a denial of Original Sin, or at least a non-consideration of that doctrine. Those who make such an objection thus reveal their error, denying the direct teachings of the Bible on the sinful nature of the baby and even the unborn (Ps 51:5) such that infants are sinners born in sin. This objection therefore does not primarily deals with the state of non-elect infants but rather on the biblical teaching of original sin. If one truly understands the doctrine of divine election and the salvation of man biblically, this objection would not be raised, for the eternal judgment of the non-elect is for the glory of God.

[more]

Pastor Lemuel Hii reviews Ang's paper as follows:

预定论是教会历史中一直争论不休的课题，有人就知难而退，认为毕竟这是牵涉到上帝的奥秘。预定论的确会因为错误和不完整的了解，以致产生一些的危机和误解。但，就如奥古斯丁所说：“对预定论绝口不提的人，他们要用什么掩饰自己的骄傲，因为他们这样就间接指控神是愚昧的、无深虑的，就如神没有预测到他们自以为有智慧所看见的这危险？"

[more]

The review has been translated into English as follows:

The doctrine of predestination is a contentious topic throughout the history of the Church. Some discern the difficulty in addressing it and therefore refrain from doing so, figuring that we should not transgress the hidden mysteries of God. Indeed, misunderstanding or incomplete understanding of the doctrine of predestination does indeed cause spiritual danger and doctrinal error.

[more]

The paper is now open for discussion.

Translation of Tsun En's review done

The Chinese-English translation work has been ongoing for the various reviews and articles submitted for the CREDO500 conference. On the 14th Sept, David Chong posted his paper on the New Perspective, of which Pastor Tsun-En Lu reviewed. At that time however, the review was only in Chinese and so limited to those more fluent in that language.

It is my pleasure to say that the translation work for Pastor Lu's review has been completed and can be accessed here. An excerpt:

With the growing number of translations of the works of the British Anglican Bishop of Durham and leading New Testament scholar Nicholas Thomas “Tom” Wright (N.T. Wright) into Chinese (for example, the recently published translation of What Saint Paul Really Said), the Anglo-American theological theory of the New Perspective on Paul has in recent times slowly but surely attracted the attention of the Chinese churches.