Calvin 500 (7)

Apologies for falling behind with the blogging but not wanting to take my Macbook into town the schedule is not conducive to blogging.

Here are my brief comments.

JULY 6, 2009 (MONDAY) Decided to live on sandwiches and beer in protest at cafe prices. I can afford them but resent them.
9:00 Paper: Dr. Douglas Kelly: “The Catholicity of the Theology of John Calvin”
Excellent. Catholic means more than universal, Calvin used it for that which is based on Scripture so Protestants are catholic, RCs are not.
9:40 Paper: Dr. Richard Gamble: “Recent Research in Calvin Studies”
Very comprehensive. I had no idea so many books have come out in 9 years.
10:20 Paper: Dr. Darryl Hart: “Calvin Among Nineteenth-Century Reformed Protestants in the United States”
Arcane debates not of much interest and he missed out some that might have been.
11:00 Break
11:15 Paper by and Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Robert Kingdon: “Calvin and Ecclesiastical Discipline”
(read by Dr. William McComish)
Informative.
12:00 Keynote Address: Dr. John Witte: “Reading Calvin as a Lawyer”
Left me cold. Attention waning.
12,45 Walked to the lakeside and enjoyed the fountain and a read.

19:00 Sermon by Dr. Philip Ryken: “A Wide Door for Spreading the Gospel,” 1 Cor. 16:5-11
I did not take sermon notes but it was good.
20:00 Sermon by Dr. Peter Lillback: “All the Glorious Offices of Christ,” 1:Cor. 1:29-31
The evening schedules were not mere sermons but three hour long services between them based on different reformed liturgies. Today was based on Strasbourg liturgy, The organ is great but stays silent for some verses acapella which would have been the singing of Calvin's congregation. Two centuries after Calvin they got an organ.
21:00 Sermon by Dr. Robert Godfrey, “Calvin’s Cherished Text,” John 17:1-5

JULY 7, 2009 (TUESDAY)
Another sanwich and beer day.
9:00 Paper: Dr. Richard Burnett: “Calvin on Secular and Sacred History”
I found this so uninspiring I snoozed.
9:40 Dr. William Edgar: “Calvin’s Impact on the Arts”
Better. Calvin freed art from church patronage and reformation teaching an the image of God meant common people could be painted too.
10:20 Paper: Dr. Anthony Lane: “Calvin’s Doctrine of Assurance Revisited”
Good from the lecturer of London Theological Seminary.
11:00 Break
11:15 Paper: Dr. Isabelle Graessle: “Calvin and Women: Between Irritation and Admiration”
I enjoyed this.
12:00 Keynote Address: Dr. Herman Selderhuis: “See You in Heaven: Calvin’s View of Life and Death”
Told us also of Calvin's person sufferings with a short marriage and the death of his infant son.
1.00 after some gruyere cheese, roll and beer I visited the International Museum of the Reformation. The special audio-visual exhibition of a day i the life of Calvin was excellent but I was disappointed with the scope of the main exhibits as they are so francocentric as to make me want to rename it The Francocentric Museum of the Reformation. Germany, England, Scotland and the Netherlands are hardly mentioned. Afterwards I exhausted myself with about 200 steps up the two cathedral towers where I found tonight's last preacher and chatted to him. I then descended to the archeological exhibition beneath the cathedral, the largest archeological site in Northern Eurore.
19:00 Dr. Steven Lawson: “John Calvin and Guarding the Gospel,” Gal. 1:6-10
I was starting to feel tired.
20:00 Dr. Iain D. Campbell: “Three Great Intercessions,” Rom. 8:26, 34
I noticed the Free Church minister could not bring himself to join in hymn singing when in the pulpit.
21:00 Sermon by Dr. J. Ligon Duncan: “The Christian Life,” Phil. 2:12-13

JULY 8, 2009 (WEDNESDAY)
9:00 Paper: Dr. George Knight: “Calvin as New Testament Exegete”
Yesterday's climbing of the towers had left me tires and I was not concentrating well all day. But I am one of the few to attend everything, in body at least.
9:40 Dr. R. Scott Clark: “Calvin’s Principle of Worship”
No critique of the fact that he took us to a regulative principle which looks back to the temple on earth and not up to the real temple in heaven.
10:20 Paper: Dr. Hughes Old/Dr. Terry Johnson: “Calvin’s Worship Reforms”
Informative.
11:15 Paper: Dr. Henri Blocher, “Calvin, the Frenchman”
Good from a Frenchman.
12:00 Keynote Address: Dr. William McComish, “Calvin’s Children”
A clear case of Irish prejudice against the English. The only paper which angered me. Where were Cranmer et al, I can understand an Ulsterman not naming Cromwell but to ignore the Pilgrims in favour of a list of Ulstermen who signed the Declaration of Independence is as gross as mentioning campaigners against the slave trade without Wilberforce being named. he also ignored the Covenanters.
1.00 Lunch in the museum cafe where for 5sf I enjoyed a bottle of Calvinus beer and kept the bottle.
15:00 Young Calvin Scholars Symposium (The Auditoire):
Five papers the best of which for me was on Calvin and Economics.
17:00 Address: Archbishop Henry Orombi and Dr. Henry Krabbendam: “Reformation and Revival”
Revival in Uganda. The most spiritually thrilling part of the conference.
19:00 Sermon by Rev. Geoffrey Thomas: “Election,” Eph. 1:3-14
With whom I had a chat and conveyed my pastor\'s greetings.
20:00 Sermon by Dr. Joel Beeke: “Cherishing the Church,” Mt. 16:18b
20:45 Psalms
21:00 Dr. Martin Holdt: “Psalm 110 Then and Now,” Psalm 110
Very passionate and encouraging. Then hope to hear we had a reasonable good start to The Ashes.

Here is today's programme, final day of the conference.

JULY 9, 2009 (THURSDAY)
9:00 Paper: Dr. Andrew McGowan: “John Calvin’s Doctrine of Scripture”
9:40 Paper: Dr. Michael Horton: “Union and Communion: Rediscovering Calvin’s Eucharistic Theology”
10:20 Paper: Dr. Henri Blocher: “Calvin on Divine Election”
11:00 Break
11:15 Paper: Dr. Jae Sung Kim, “Calvinism in Asia”
12:00 Keynote Address: Dr. Bruce McCormack: “Union with Christ in Calvin’s Theology: Grounds for a Divinization Theory?”
19:00 Sermon: Rev. Ted Donnelly: “More Than Conquerors,” Rom. 8:37
19:45 Psalms
20:00 Dr. Hywel Jones: “One of a Thousand,” Job 36:1-4
21:00 Dr. Derek Thomas: “Adoring the Majesty of God,” Rom. 11:33-36