by Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M.Cap. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1995.

When I first heard of Weinandy’s book, I was both excited and frustrated. Excited, because it spoke of the Spirit being integrally involved in the begetting of the Son; frustrated, because the very person I first heard about this book from had rejected a similar thesis I had put to them (the similarities of which were confirmed via a short email exchange)!

Ruffled feathers aside, I began to try to get myself a copy. The first problem: it is out of print. Second problem: the only (three) second-hand copies I could find would cost me over AU$250.00 if I bought the one in America, or over AU$400.00 if I bought one of the two in Britain! Finally I decided on a course of action with a fair amount of cheek – I contacted Father Weinandy himself. Fortunately for me, he thought $400 was too much for 160 pages and managed to get a copy to me for much, much less. Thank you Father Tom.

His book is far better than my thesis, and far better than any of the attempts to explain Weinandy’s views found on the internet - and that will include the present one. Continue Reading »

I’ve really grown in appreciation for Doug Wilson over the last few months. It all began Continue Reading »

Sam Storms has had this book out since 2005 and, being a Charismatic Calvinist, I succumbed to a moment of weakness and bought it. Continue Reading »

I look out for indigenous Bible commentaries, scholarship etc.  I appreciate American and British authorship, but while there is a lot of similarity between Western nations, there is quite a bit of difference also.

So, when I came across the Reading the Bible Today Series, an as-yet-incomplete accessible Australian commentary series, I was quite excited. Continue Reading »

Eusebius begins this dialogue asking how the meetings should be carried out. Continue Reading »

In this chapter, Theophilus begins outlining his “rules”.

“[T]here should be stewards in every fellowship” the number according to the number of people or geographical location i.e. if there are fewer people spread out over many districts, one should come from each district.

Eusebius suggests that stewards would be head over everyone and so highly gifted – more experienced, wise, discrete and cautious than others – along with the ability to recognize “the temperament, the emotions, the troubles and the inclinations of all the different ages and ranks” of those in the fellowship. In this way the stewards can help each person where they are at, not treat them like people on an assembly line. Continue Reading »

Theophilus begins his defense of experience meetings with the assertion that, even if there were not a single example in the Old or New Testaments, the fact that the meetings bring such benefit to Christians is proof enough that they are God’s will. The benefits he refers to include the following: Continue Reading »

In this first dialogue, the two participants in the dialogues are introduced.  Eusebius visits Theophilus with the express intention to get advice about Experience Meetings. This first dialogue gives an imaginary history of the awakening in Eusebius’ area, though one can imagine that the history is a compilation of similar histories throughout Wales.

Eusebius outlines a situation where only a few faithful Christians gathered together for prayer, not because of any fervor on their part, but purely because the Bible promised that wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name he would be there to bless. Even so, their meetings were “lifeless”, a description emphasized seemingly because the Experience Meetings to be discussed were anything but. According to Eusebius’ history, they finally decided to no longer meet, but at their last meeting, the most timid and unbelieving of them suddenly began to pray with passion, speaking “unusual words” as if in agony of soul. This state of mind spread to everyone else who was there and they all “laid hold upon God, His attributes, His Word and His promises, resolving that we would never let go our hold until all our desire should be satisfied.”

And God came. Continue Reading »

Dr. David Martin Lloyd-Jones begins by placing the book in the context in which it was written, “The Methodist or Evangelical Awakening of the 18^th Century”. Apparently the Awakening began in Wales about two years before England, but both had great similarities, the greatest being the rising of little groups meeting outside of normal service times “for further teaching and nurturing in the Faith”. The object, according to Lloyd-Jones, “was primarily to provide a fellowship in which the new spiritual life and experience of the people could be safe-guarded and developed” due to the deadness of the Churches. Experience and experiential knowledge of God’s love and ways was the goal; teaching and bible study and “intellectual aspects of the Faith” were left for preaching services and other times.

The meetings themselves consisted of sharing what God was doing in each person’s life and what sins and difficulties they were facing. “Here, the emphasis was on daily life and living, the fight against the world, the flesh and the devil, and the problems that arise inevitably in the Christian’s pilgrimage through this world of sin.”

Lloyd-Jones then introduces the writer, William Williams, Continue Reading »

I’ve decided to blog through a small book called, “The Experience Meeting: An Introduction to the Welsh Societies of the Evangelical Awakening” by William Williams. The reason for this is that these meetings were clearly Spirit-initiated and in many ways developed to meet some of the goals outlined in Spirit-inspired Scripture for the meetings of the earliest Christian community. My intention is to see if the experience of the Welsh Christians during the evangelical awakening gives a broader background upon which to set 1 Corinthians 11-14 and, perhaps, to fill in some gaps in our knowledge.

It is important to note that neither the author nor Dr. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who writes the introduction, consider these meetings to be examples of 1 Corinthians 11-14. This will become clear as we progress through the book. However, I do not think that their disagreement with me in this area means that the Spirits activity cannot be correctly understood in ways that they did not.

So, the book.

It was originally written in Welsh and was translated by the wife of Dr. Lloyd-Jones with an introduction by the Doctor himself. It is short – 62 pages – and divided into seven dialogues between two men called Theophilus and Eusebius. (As a side note, my wife wants to call one of our children Theophilus Bartholemew. Apparently barristers need long names like that! I keep telling her that no one really cares about the name of the guy who makes their coffee.) The English is old and the characters sound like pompous spiros (spiritual show-offs) unless you read it with a Welsh accent. Then it sounds perfect. The form is not user-friendly to lazy modern readers like me who like to have everything laid out very clearly, but neither is it really difficult to grasp the content once you decide to make a bit of effort and persevere.

One of the great advantages of this book is that it comes straight from an author who experienced a move of the Spirit of God in his circles for years on end. The result is that we have a maturity that has sifted the initial enthusiasm of a revival and can speak with some authority on what is actually beneficial, what is mere enthusiasm and what is harmful. It is rare, in my experience, to have a book with that maturity that describes the means by which Christian experience can be maintained through a community rather than individually. Whether anyone agrees or disagrees with my comparisons with New Testament Christian meetings, this is a valuable and challenging resource for anyone who wants to learn how to truly meet with others and have iron sharpen iron.