Happy birthday, Charles Simeon!

Today is the 250th birthday of Charles Simeon, who was a major figure in the Evangelical Revival of the 18th/19th centuries and for 54 years was vicar of Holy Trinity Church, the church I attend in Cambridge. (The pictures are from a series of silhouettes of Simeon preaching cut by the French silhouette artist Augustin Edouart.)



On Justin Taylor's blog, there is a guest post marking the day with a short biography by David Helm, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Chicago. More extended reflections on Simeon and lessons we (particularly church leaders) can learn from his life include Vaughan Roberts' article ‘What we can learn from Charles Simeon’ and John Piper's biographical address ‘Brothers, We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering’. These three admirers of Charles Simeon are Anglican, Baptist and Presbyterian pastors, suggesting the breadth of Simeon's legacy.



Charles Simeon had a bit of a rough start to his Christian life and ministry, since for two years after his conversion he knew no-one with the same living faith as he had. On his appointment to Holy Trinity, he had his services boycotted by his parishioners (who locked their pews) for twelve years, things were thrown at him in the street and fellow academics refused to speak to him. By the end of his life all the shops of Cambridge closed in honour of his funeral.



Simeon played an enormous role in promoting the cause of the gospel in the Cambridge, the national Church of England and overseas. Besides his passionate preaching, his initiatives included holding tea parties where he answered students' questions and taught them to preach, sending out many of his curates to mission work in India, and playing a leading role in the formation of the Bible Society and the Church Mission Society. He also had quite a sense of fashion and was one of the first people in Cambridge to carry an umbrella.



Simeon's teapot and umbrella are in the possession of Holy Trinity - apparently John Stott has commented that this is the only evangelical church he knows of with relics.



Notwithstanding all his achievements, how Charles Simeon wanted to be remembered is encapsulated by the inscription on the memorial tablet in the chancel of Holy Trinity:

In Memory of
THE REV. CHARLES SIMEON, M.A.,
SENIOR FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE,
AND FIFTY-FOUR YEARS VICAR OF THIS PARISH, WHO,
WHETHER AS THE GROUND OF HIS OWN HOPES,
OR AS
THE SUBJECT OF ALL HIS MINISTRATIONS,
DETERMINED
TO KNOW NOTHING BUT
JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED
1 Cor. 2.2

on the one hand ... on the other hand

I was thinking the other day:

On the one hand, it seems good to be able to see both points of view about everything, as this can enable us to have humility and to listen graciously to what people are really saying. On the other hand, it's perhaps not good to see everything from both points of view, as this can lead us to dither and be unable to make a decision, and can cause us to lose our moral clarity about things which really are black and white.

I think we need both either/or thinking and both/and thinking. Do you agree (or not)?

One of the most influential theological works of the Middle Ages was called Sic et Non (Yes and No) by Peter Abelard, in which he juxtaposed apparently contradictory quotations from the Bible and the Church Fathers on all the major topics of theology.

In the Renaissance, one of the popular rhetorical exercises taught in schools was called argumentem in utramque partem, which means arguing on either side, being able to argue both points of view on any given question. Often pupils would be told which side they were to argue, and perhaps the next day they would be told to argue for the other side. This was deemed to be a useful skill for future lawyers, courtiers and preachers to learn.

On the one hand, this seems like a fun exercise - they debated questions like “Which is better - day or night?”, “Should one seek to live a life of work or a life of leisure?”, “Was Brutus right to kill Caesar?”

On the other hand, there are some unsettling, even sinister, implications in developing this skill - it is said that one celebrated orator in ancient Greece argued passionately on one day that justice was of supreme value, and the next argued just as passionately that injustice was a great idea.

I am reminded of the words of the philosopher Protagoras:
“You can dispute about everything with equally convincing arguments on both sides, even about the problem whether everything is disputable on both sides.”

Some biblical passages for reflection:

The one who states his case first seems right,
until the other comes and examines him.
(Proverbs 18:17)

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:49-50)

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30, Luke 11:23)

I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:16-20)

In other news:

The Naked Scientists (don't worry, the content of this site is entirely family friendly) have discovered that a chocolate teapot is less useless than previously thought.

The BBC reports that teachers can guess which children will be trouble from their names. For the teachers among my family and friends, this is not news.