The reason for hope within
‘The Reason for the hope within: defending and declaring the Christian faith in the 21st century’ was the title for the 13th Salisbury Conference in October.
Held at Emmanuel Church, roughly 200 people attended, many of whom were able to stay in the homes of church members. The visiting speaker was Professor James Grier of Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, USA, and the chairman Rev. Malcolm H. Watts.
The Friday evening meeting was entitled ‘In the beginning, God’ and dealt primarily with creation and its perfection, as well as laying out principal themes for the conference.
Dr Grier began by declaring that no philosophical arguments can compare with the right use of the Word of God with the unconverted. To this end, he presented the scriptural narrative to display both the unity of the Scriptures and their divine origin.
The Saturday sessions, the first of which was called ‘The corruption of man’, dealt with the events and judgement connected with man’s Fall. The second Saturday session, ‘Old and new covenant redemption’, gave a grand overview of the Scriptures, dealing with redemption through Jesus Christ from the time of Adam and Eve to the New Testament church.
The final Saturday session was entitled ‘In the end, God’; Dr Grier, preaching from the final chapters of Revelation, dealt with restored perfection. Many visitors stayed for the Lord’s day services next day, when in the morning Dr Grier preached from Revelation 4-5 on heaven, and in the evening a gospel sermon from Luke 15 on the prodigal son.
The meetings ended with a brief address at the after-church meeting on the parable of the rich fool. Conference addresses are available on tape and CD from N. Davis, 30 Canadian Avenue, Salisbury, SP2 7JN (£8.00 a set).
John Magee
