Monday evening we had great lecture given by Pastor Jeremy Walker with the title ‘Latimer – God’s Bulldog. It was a pleasure to meet Jeremy in the flesh for the first time after communicating via blogs and email. We’ll have to get him back for 2014.
As soon as the Audio for the lecture is available you can be sure I’ll have a post to notify it.
We had put before us a real man, not a fantasy figure that bears no resemblance to reality but as Cromwell said the picture was painted with ‘warts and all’.
The lecture was presented in a lively manner and through the account of the execution quite moving – and why not! You could almost smell the musty cell, hear the crackle as the faggots began to burn and feel the heat of the fire as the flames licked those Holy men of God (Ridley was next to Latimer).
One of the human qualities of Latimer was how he didn’t come to the Reformed faith with a fully worked out theology as in fact few of us do. We mull things over in our mind; try to make connections and to piece it together to eventually emerge with a fuller theological conviction and knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. How we need people who will bear with us as we journey towards a greater understanding. It’s a blessing indeed to have someone come with us and not jump on our feeble and sometimes downright wrong and incomplete understanding.
Another quality that Latimer had was his earthiness and a consistency of manner and preaching. He was the same man wherever he was and his character consequently endeared him to all but those that sought to silence his plain Gospel preaching. And this is what he was primarily – a preacher. I wondered if those same earthy and endearing qualities would be ‘intellectualised’ out of men that go through ministerial training – I hope not!
All in all a great lecture and I commend it to you.
Related articles
- The liberation of Latimer (eardstapa.wordpress.com)
- Nick Needham History Lecture (xercised.wordpress.com)
- Hugh Latimer: the preaching prelate #1 Introduction (eardstapa.wordpress.com)
- Hugh Latimer: the preaching prelate #3 Latimer’s practice of preaching (eardstapa.wordpress.com)
- Hugh Latimer: the preaching prelate #2 Latimer’s principles of preaching (eardstapa.wordpress.com)
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