Andrew Wilson's Spirit and Sacrament review

Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship
Andrew Wilson

The most enjoyable book I've read this year. Clearly written by a preacher-scholar rather than a scholar alone, the rhetorical flourishes made this book a joy to read.

I really wanted to read Schreiner's and Wilson's book close to each other, and managed to fit both of them in within a week. They were both written concisely and clearly and with a view to a general audience, but without holding back from entering into serious discussion when warranted.

This book was an exhortation, or, as Wilson describes it, an invitation, to "eucharismatic worship"; essentially this means taking tradition and in particular the liturgy more seriously, but also zealously pursuing the spiritual gifts. These dual perspectives made for a more well-rounded book than Schreiner's, although it's a little unfair to compare as Schreiner had only one purpose (to make the case for cessationism). Nonetheless, by combining them, Wilson well made the point that the two aspects (liturgy + charismata) both have a history which we discard to our detriment. To be a historically faithful Christian is to celebrate all that is in the liturgy (at the forefront is the eucharist but also the elements of confession, thanksgiving, creeds and so on) but also to pursue and practice the spectacular spiritual gifts (my term) in continuity with NT Christianity as well as the early church.

As Schreiner said in his ETS paper published in Themelios, the very least a cessationist should take away from this book is the importance of the liturgy. But this is similarly a very good case for an historically rooted and orderly practiced charismata.

Apart from being a joy to read, the overwhelming impression was the generosity with which his view and the alternate views were presented. There was no point at which anyone was called anathema (although perhaps those who refuse to celebrate communion might be in danger of this!), but rather people of differing opinions and histories were reminded firstly of the primacy of our unity in Christ. I'm very thankful to have read this book and will continue to reflect on the implications.

Brief review of Schreiner's "Spiritual Gifts"

A few months ago there was an interesting discussion between Thomas Schreiner (cessationist) and Andrew Wilson (continuationist), which led to a debate and dominated a recent edition of Themelios. I ordered their books on spiritual gifts and wasn't sure which to read first, but Schreiner's arrived first, and I read most of it on a plane last week and finished it this morning (172pp with large font and lots of white space).

Here is my very brief review. I will probably have more to say once I've read Wilson's book.

Spiritual Gifts: What They Are and Why They Matter
by Thomas R. Schreiner


Good little primer on a case for cessationism. There were a few leaps of logic and I really wanted more detail at several key points, but overall it was not a bad book.

I disagreed with Schreiner's discussion on Acts 8, as I read the receipt of the Holy Spirit after their belief as the remarkable outward manifestation of the Spirit, not as indicating a lack of receipt in the first instance.

Similarly I was unsure why the discussion on the fallibility of prophecy was required and so long, but there must be a debate I'm unfamiliar with that he was entering into.

The irenic tone of the book was much appreciated and I look forward to reading Andrew Wilson's book next as a companion to this.

Psalm 123 Structure

This year's preaching has been mostly Acts during school terms, and the Psalms of Ascent (120-134) over the school holidays. My first psalm was 123, which has an interesting structure as shown below:

After the heading (1a), the psalm divides into three based on the three verbs present:

• 1b-2c נשׂא (to lift up)
• 2d-3a חנן (to be gracious)
• 3b-4 שׂבע (to fill)

As is evident from from the passage, נשׂא only occurs once, in 1b, but is assumed throughout verse 2: what is done with the eyes there is that they are lifted up as per verse 1.

In the second paragraph חנן occurs three times in rapid succession, a prayer to the one to whom the pilgrim's eyes are lifted.

Finally, the third paragraph gives the reason behind the plea, namely the filing with contempt. It is structured with שׂבע occuring once in each of the first two lines, and is also bookended with בוז (contempt) (3b,4c).

As can be seen, although the psalm can be divided into three paragraphs based on the use of each of the three verbs, the logic flows between them so that the psalm is very tightly held together based on verses (1-2,3,4) as well as by verbs (1b-2c,2d-3a,3b-4).