Day 39

I am still trying to get to grips with Webster’s book – Holy Scripture – a dogmatic sketch.

Again I have been irritated by his frequent use of Latin words, phrases and sentences!

But he is clearly placing a great emphasis on Scripture and reminds his readers that the church needs to be a ‘hearing church’ before it can be a ‘speaking church’.

He writes of the ‘canonisation’ of the Scriptures and clearly takes the view that the Scriptures as we have them are a matter of grace, part of the sphere of the Lordship of Christ( although he also suggests that they can become the ‘playground of human self will’).

He frequently quotes Barth who suggests –

“ If we believe that the Lord is mightier than the sin which indisputably reigns in the Church, if we believe that He is the victor in the struggle against grace which is indisputably widespread even in the Church, then we can count on it that a genuine knowledge and confession in respect to the Canon, and therefore a knowledge and confession of the genuine Canon, is not at least impossible in the Church, not because we have to believe in men, but because if we are not to give up our faith we have to believe in the miracle of grace.”

Today I have also been printing off posters for ‘The Journey of the Magi’ being performed on Saturday 8^th December. I hope the tickets will be snapped up over the coming month.