Fall 2006 PROFILES in FAITH in THIS ISSUE

EST. 1976 KNOWING A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind C. S. LEWIS INSTITUTE OING &D Fall 2006 PROFILES IN FAITH IN THIS ISSUE

Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–1990) 3 C.S. Lewis “Mr. Valiant-for-Truth”: Reminiscenses of a Friendship Institute Feature: Character by James M. Houston by Art Lindsley Senior Fellow, C.S. Lewis Institute 6 What’s Founder of Regent College (Vancouver, B.C.) and Happening to Professor of Spiritual Theology (retired) Atheism by Alister McGrath

8 Four Circles of Intimacy homas Malcolm Muggeridge to organize in Oxford. Through him I with God was born in 1903, named by his was introduced to his father, after he by J. Oswald Sanders father Henry after Thomas Car- had resigned as rector of Edinburgh T lyle. A lover of words, University. A friendship then 12 Fellows Feature: TMalcolm was to become one continued with Malcolm and Cultivating Godly of the great literary ﬁgures of later his wife Kitty, from 1968 Ambition by Steven J. Law British public life in the twen- until a few years before Mal- tieth century. After the death colm died in 1990. 16 Guest Feature: of C.S. Lewis in 1963, many After the death Malcolm came from a The Flight from came to regard Muggeridge poor home, with an illiterate Reality of C.S. Lewis by Michael as Lewis’ successor as a mother and a father whose Ramsden Christian popular apologist. in 1963, many career as a socialist mem- Although he grew up in an came to regard ber of Parliament was brief. 28 Conference atheistic environment, Mal- In spite of this background, Resources colm admitted to me that he Muggeridge Malcolm was educated at had always believed in God, as Lewis’ Cambridge and became a vague though his religious journalist. He had a great convictions remained for a successor as love of words, pouring out long time in his life. One can millions of them.2 Like his trace this search for God in a Christian father, he had a passion for reading his diary1 and other popular “truth,” but living among the of his works from the 1930s. rich and the famous, he had Malcolm’s eldest son, apologist. much greater opportunity to Leonard (born in 1928), had become quixotic, and either become an evangelical as hated or idolized. His wife, a member of the Plymouth Kitty, was the niece of Bea- Brethren while in the British trice Webb, whose biography army in Austria, during the she wrote.3 Beatrice and her early 1960s. I had gotten to know Leon- husband, Sidney (Lord Passﬁeld), estab- ard when he attended an annual sum- lished the London School of Economics, mer biblical conference I had helped founding Fabians, many of whose ideas (continued on page 18) KNOWING & DOING A Note from the President is a publication of the C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE, INC.

Production Editor, Karen Rummel It is both sadness and joy that we feel this I SENIOR FELLOW summer at the departure of our dear friend James M. Houston, Ph.D. C. S. LEWIS and colleague, Jim Beavers. At the end of SENIOR FELLOW July, Jim left the staff of the C.S. Lewis Insti- INSTITUTE Steven S. Garber, Ph.D. tute and moved to Ambridge, Pennsylvania, E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 7 6 SENIOR FELLOW where he will attend Trinity Episcopal School Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D. for Ministry. SENIOR ASSOCIATE I ﬁrst met Jim and his wife, Anne, in 1990, when I was Greg Headington, D.Min. on the search committee that interviewed Jim for the posi-  PRESIDENT tion of Headmaster of Trinity Christian School in Fairfax,   Thomas A. Tarrants, III Virginia. He and I became fast friends and have been ever since. His commitment to Christ, sterling character, servant In the legacy of EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Thomas W. Simmons heart, and professional excellence have been a great example to me over the years. Jim faithfully led Trinity Christian C.S. Lewis, ADMINISTRATOR Emily J. Roberts School from a small, struggling, church-based school of 120 students to a strong institution with 320 students on four the Institute COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR James L. Beavers campuses. Under his inspired leadership, a capital campaign successfully purchased 25 acres of prime real estate endeavors to develop VOLUNTEERS in Fairfax County, where the school has subsequently built OFFICE & EDITORIAL ASSISTANT a beautiful facility, housing 525 students. disciples who can Karen Olink When he joined the staff of the institute in 2000, he PECIAL ROJECTS brought his considerable gifts to bear in helping us re- articulate, defend, S P B.J. Blunt invigorate the small and struggling C.S. Lewis Institute, which had been languishing for several years. His good and live HOSPITALITY COORDINATOR Jennifer Collins judgment, commitment to excellence, and attention to detail have played a major role in the institute becoming what it faith in Christ CONFERENCE COORDINATORS Jim & Cynthia Eckert is today. Although we will miss Jim greatly, we are excited about through personal and BOARD OF DIRECTORS his future. His natural and spiritual gifts clearly point to Kenneth W. Broussard pastoral ministry. And his study at Trinity Episcopal School public life. William R. Deven James W. Eckert for Ministry will prepare him well to enter into the service of Christ in the orthodox Anglican world.   Elizabeth B. Fitch, Esq.  Cherie Harder Please join us in praying for Jim and Anne as they make James R. Hiskey Dennis P. Hollinger, Ph.D. this change and embark on a new stage of life in the service Kerry A. Knott of Jesus and his church. Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D. With great appreciation and affection, Carl R. Meyer John O. Renken, Esq. Bruce M. Scott Thomas A. Tarrants, III

© 2006 C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE. Portions of For the Board and Staff this publication may be reproduced for of the C.S. Lewis Institute noncommercial, local church, or ministry use without prior permission. For quantity reprints or other uses, please contact the CSLI ofﬁces.

KNOWING & DOING is published by the C.S. Lewis Institute and is available on request. A suggested annual contribution of $25 or more is requested to provide for its production and publication. An electronic version (PDF ﬁle) is available as well and can be obtained via the web site: www.cslewisinstitute.org. Page 2 Requests for changes of address may be made in writing to: KNOWING & DOING C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE; 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 300; Springfield, VA 22151-2110 Fall 2006 or via e-mail to: [email protected]. C.S. Lewis Character Institute by Art Lindsley Feature C.S. Lewis Senior Fellow

“Consider how to stimulate one another to is easy to neglect the cultural context love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24). Love is in which people live, the social, eco- never safe apart from character. nomic, and community pressures that contradict or undermine faithfulness. Character in Crisis We can also underestimate the diffi- The oft-discussed crisis of character culty of reversing deeply entrenched in this nation is due to the widespread patterns (bad habits) that bind us. We Art Lindsley disdain for moral absolutes. If there is can also neglect desire. We can teach nothing fixed, then character is based people duty, but it is much more diffi- on quicksand. The attitude of many cult to teach the desire to do your duty. Dr. Art Lindsley is a Senior Fellow with the (more than two-thirds of people in the You can want to do what’s right (desire), C.S. Lewis Institute, USA) is that morality is based on the but not know what right is (duty). But where he has served since situation or that it is solely a matter of many know what is right (duty) yet 1987. Formerly, he was Director of Educational personal preference. Despite this rela- lack sufficient desire to consistently do Ministries of the Ligonier tivistic tendency, there is a desperate it. So we must seriously “consider how Valley Study Center desire to inculcate character in the edu- to stimulate one another” to really love and Staff Specialist with Coalition for Christian cational process. But you cannot have and consistently manifest good deeds. Outreach, Pittsburgh, it both ways. Either you give up your Pennsylvania. Art relativism or you give up a solid foun- The Importance of Character received a B.S. (Chemistry) from Seattle dation for character. As the Hebrews Love is never safe apart from character. How Pacific University, an passage calls us to do, we need to “con- can we risk loving friends, spouses, co- M.Div. from Pittsburgh sider how” to shape or create character workers, neighbors, and fellow citizens? Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. (Religious in our time. Sometimes we are called to love without Studies) from the The word for “let us consider” (kata- regard for our own safety (as in loving University of Pittsburgh. noeo) is used fourteen times in the New our enemies). Yet it is wise before en- He is author of True Truth: Defending Testament. It means “notice, consider, tering into a long-term relationship to Absolute Truth in a pay attention to, look closely at.” George consider the other person’s character. Relativistic World Guthrie says: “Believers are to rivet their This is especially true in friendship, (IVP, 2004), C.S. Lewis’s Case for Christ attention on the need for conscious ac- marriage, business partnership, etc. (IVP, 2005), and co- tivities of encouragement among those Love in a relationship is only safe when author with R.C. Sproul there is character present. A habitually and John Gerstner of in the Christian community.” Classical Apologetics. Consider how to stimulate. We are to abusive spouse may do an occasional Art, his wife, Connie, consider one another, considering how good deed, but it is not safe to be in a and their two boys, Trey relationship with him or her. In like and Jonathan, make to stimulate each other to love (and their home in Arlington, good deeds). Such consideration has manner, a church is not safe apart from Virginia. not often been done. Sometimes it is the character of its members. A business assumed that merely teaching what is partnership is only as safe as the char- right and what is wrong is enough. It acter of the partners. A nation is only as (continued on page 4)

Page 3 Permission is granted to copy for personal and church use; all other uses by request. © 2006 C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE • 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 300 • Springfield, VA 22151-2110 KNOWING & DOING 703/914-5602 • www.cslewisinstitute.org Fall 2006 Character (continued from page 3) safe as the character of its citizens. You based on something more than plea- can only trust wisely when you discern sure, if you were to meet years later, good character being present. you might only be able to talk about Relationships can only rise as high as the the good old times you had together. characters of those involved. Plato argued Now it is good to have friendships of that you cannot be good friends with utility and pleasure as long as you do a bad person because sooner or later not expect more of those relationships that bad character will manifest itself. than they can deliver. In Proverbs 17:17 That relationship will only rise as high it says, “A friend loves at all times and as the lowest level of character between a brother is born for adversity.” A true the two. Similarly, Aristotle argued friend is with you and for you despite Only the that there are three kinds of friendship: changing situations and circumstances. friendship of (1) utility, (2) pleasure, (3) virtue. Only When good times, times of pleasure, the friendship of virtue can be trusted change to times of adversity, the true virtue can to rise to the heights because only it is friend continues to love, so much so that be trusted based on unchanging values. Friend- it seems that they were born just to help ships of utility, based upon a common in that time of adversity. But that is not to rise to situation, such as working at a sum- true of all friendships. the heights mer camp, playing on a sports team, or It is only the third type of friend- working at the same job, can be of great ship—one of virtue—that can survive because only value but it would be unrealistic to ex- changing contexts and calamities. Be- pect that all these relationships would cause the friendship of virtue is based it is based on continue beyond the common context on that which is eternal and unchang- unchanging in which they grew. If the relationship ing—the true, the good, and the beau- was primarily about playing basketball tiful—it lasts no matter what. As a values. together, it may be that if you were to believer in Christ, if you meet such a meet later, the only thing you would person years later, and you have both have in common was basketball. If you been pursuing the unchanging Christ, were together in a summer camp situa- you pick up right where you left off. Not tion, it could be that accomplishing the long ago, I spent a few days at a Young task of running that camp was what the Life camp with a friend I had not seen friendship was about and that outside much in almost thirty years since our that context, there would be little else days in a Young Life leadership house. in common to bind the relationship. If Yet, because we both had continued the relationship is primarily about util- to follow Christ, study His Word, and ity—accomplishing a task—then the re- pursue ministry, there was still a bond lationship may not continue outside the present and our conversation flowed context of that task. easily and naturally to eternal things, The second one of Aristotle’s friend- permanent things, what we can call ships was a friendship of pleasure— first things. Relationships based on first based upon common good times you things will withstand the storms of life. had together. Fun times in high school, Only those relationships that are based college, and beyond often draw people on that which is unchanging have a solid together and create good memories. basis to withstand the constant changes However, if the friendship was not life brings.

Page 4 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 How Can You Discern Character? the case. Would that it were always so! You can only trust someone to their degree Believers are forgiven for their sin but of character. How can you discern what come to Christ with various character level of character a person has? Look deficiencies. These faults do not always at the person they have treated or are automatically disappear. What Christ treating most poorly. That shows the brings by the Holy Spirit is renewed de- degree to which their character can desires (being born again) and the guide- Often scend. It is not wise to trust that per- lines for our actions revealed in the believers son beyond that level of their character Scriptures. But that does not mean that because what they do to another, given “love and good deeds” automatically assume that enough time and opportunity, they will abound. Often it takes a battle requiring because likely do to you. Proverbs warns us to the whole armor of God to overcome distinguish between people who pre- bitterness, lust, envy, pride, and other someone tend to be friends (but are not) and the vices. Love and good deeds need to be real thing. Proverbs 18:24 says, “There stimulated, cultivated, created—apply- calls are friends that pretend to be friends, ing the principles of Scripture by the themselves but there is a friend that sticks closer Holy Spirit to real deficiencies in our than a brother.” lives. It is wise for leaders to be discern- a Christian It is one thing to forgive someone, ing about those to whom they entrust that they but another to trust them. Because of responsibility. Do they demonstrate the my background in dealing with cults, I level of character appropriate to the re- should be was called to go to another city where sponsibility to be given them? trusted more a leader had abused a small group of followers. He had abused money, sex, Love and Character: than another. Love Is the Best and power for a number of years and It is not was finally found out. When the whole The way to character is the way of love. In sordid story came out, the little flock the Scriptures, love is the best or highest necessarily was in dismay. How could this trusted virtue because it sums up them all. In leader have been for years so abusive I Corinthians 13, it says that of the great the case. in manipulating people, have many virtues—faith, hope, and love—“the adulterous affairs, and much financial greatest of these is love” (v. 13). Jesus misdealing? He had pleaded with them summarizes the whole law by maintain- to forgive him and trust him again. As ing that loving God and your neighbor we talked, we together came to the con- are the foundation of the Law and the clusion: Forgiveness? Yes. Trust? No! Prophets (Matt. 22:40). Jesus’ new com- Christ calls us to forgive when anyone mandment is that we love one another asks. But he does not call us to trust ev- as Christ has loved us (John 13:34). The eryone equally. It would only be wise Apostle Paul, following Jesus, indi- to trust that leader again when he had cates that “love is the fulfillment of the demonstrated over time that he had Law” (Rom. 13:10). The commandments changed his ways. against adultery, murder, stealing, and Often believers assume that just covetousness as well as other command- because someone calls themselves a ments are summed up by saying, “Love Christian that they should be trusted your neighbor as yourself” (Rom. 13:9). more than another. It is not necessarily The Biblical centrality of love is well (continued on page 22)

Page 5 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 What’s Happening to Atheism by Alister McGrath Professor of Historical Theology, Oxford University, and President of the Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics

ew Year’s Eve, 1999. The next Now that the hype about the year day would be the year 2000— 2000 is behind us, perhaps we can take Nthe new millennium! The a more sober look at those predictions. world was swept by rumors of what Neither computer networks nor airlin- would happen. The Y2K virus would ers crashed. The world did not end. The cause global computer networks to Millennium Dome was an embarrass- crash. Airliners would be stranded in ment of monumental proportions. Yet mid-air, with nowhere to land. Reli- religion shows few signs of diminishing gious sects predictably proclaimed the globally, even if its fortunes in western end of the world. The British were told Europe are mixed. (Interestingly, studies Alister McGrath is that the hottest party in town was see- indicate that western Europe is the only Professor of Historical ing in the new year at the Millennium region to buck the trend of a worldwide Theology at Oxford Dome. surge in interest in spirituality.) The University, and President of the Oxford Center for With such colorful prognostications implosion of the Soviet Union, with its Christian Apologetics around, less media attention was given atheist (anti)religious establishment, led (www.theOCCA.org). to another prediction about the new to the resurgence of Christianity in Rus- He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in millennium. For some secular pundits, sia, and Islam in former Soviet Central 1953. A former atheist, he a new era would dawn, in which reli- Asia. Radical Islam, having been sup- converted to Christianity gion would evaporate as a significant pressed under the secularist policies of while studying chemistry at Oxford University. force in human culture. Globalization Saddam Hussein, is now emerging as His many books deal would lead to secularization. Humanity a major political force in western-occu- with various aspects of apologetics, especially in would leave behind its religious ideas pied Iraq. And instead of spreading the relation to the natural as children abandon their innocent and secular Gospel of the west to the rest of sciences. He is now naïve belief in Santa Claus. It was time the world, globalization has brought the beginning a major research project on developing new to grow up. As Richard Dawkins put it, religious passions of Asia and Africa to apologetic methods based “Humanity can leave the crybaby phase, the west. on an appreciation of the and ﬁnally come of age.” Past and more recent conﬁdent pre- natural world. It’s not the first time we’ve heard dictions of a secular future now seem this. For more than a century, lead- curiously ill-judged. In 1965, the Har- ing sociologists, anthropologists, and vard theologian Harvey Cox published psychologists have declared that the The Secular City. It became a best-seller. next generation would live to see the Its message was simple: secularism was dawn of a new era in which, to bor- here to stay; God was dead. Its basic row a neat phrase from Freud, the “in- ideas are now regarded as somewhat fantile illusions” of religion would be unrealistic and utopian by most observ- outgrown. ers—including Cox himself. In his Fire

Page 6 Permission is granted to copy for personal and church use; all other uses by request. KNOWING & DOING © 2006 C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE • 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 300 • Springfield, VA 22151-2110 Fall 2006 703/914-5602 • www.cslewisinstitute.org from Heaven, written 30 years later, Cox the abuse of power, and intolerance argues that it is no longer secularism seemed highly plausible. But that was that holds the future for Christianity, before atheism itself seized power in but Pentecostalism—“a spiritual hur- the twentieth century. As the baleful ricane that has already touched half a history of the former Soviet Union billion people, and an alternative vision makes clear, when in power atheism of the human future whose impact may was just as oppressive, corrupt, and only be at its earliest stages today.” Pen- intolerant as its religious alternatives. tecostalism, a form of Christianity plac- Little wonder that those who had been ing emphasis on direct experience of “liberated” from religion in eastern God, now numbers something like 600 Europe and beyond rushed to regain million adherents, mostly in the great their faiths as the Soviet empire col- Atheism, urban sprawls of Asia, Africa, and Lat- lapsed around them. Atheism is often once seen in America. It has long since displaced portrayed as the “religion of moder- Marxism as the friend and comforter of nity”—that great shift in western cul- as western the poor in these regions. And it’s on its tural mood which took root in the culture’s hot way here. eighteenth century. So what is its fate Atheism, once seen as western in our postmodern cultural situation, date with the culture’s hot date with the future, has which has inverted many of moderni- waned both in influence and appeal. In ty’s foundational beliefs? Is it about to future, has part, this reflects the postmodern cul- enter a twilight zone? waned both tural mood, which is intensely suspi- Secularism remains an important cious of totalizing worldviews (whether issue in the west—witness recent con- in influence Christian or atheist), and has a new fas- troversies over Muslim headscarves and appeal. cination with spirituality. Celebrity pre- in France. Yet a recent conference at occupation with the kabbalah or New Princeton University’s Department of Age spirituality is easily dismissed as Politics raised hard questions about superficial—yet it is a telling sign of our its future. Far from presenting a posi- times. It reflects a deep-seated convic- tive worldview of its own, secularism tion that there has to be more to life seems increasingly reduced to control- than what we see around us—that hu- ling religion in the public arena. Is sec- man nature is not fulfilled until its spir- ularism now just a means of publicly itual side is satisfied. The Harry Potter policing other people’s grand visions publishing phenomenon is a sure-fire of reality, where it was once such a vi- sign that rationalism—here reflected in sion itself? Some are openly speaking the spiritual or magical incomprehen- of a “post-secular era,” in which reli- sion of the “muggles”—is seen as dull gion fills the vacuum created by the and plodding, missing out on some- failures of secularism. Others—such as thing deep and significant. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Can- But the failure of atheism also re- terbury—make the more modest point flects a much deeper concern about the that the global political agenda is being movement itself. It was easy for athe- set by the concerns of religious com- ism to criticize religion in the nine- munities, mostly Jewish, Muslim, and teenth century. Back then, the atheist Hindu. Secularism has not managed to mantra that religion led to oppression, confine these “untamed passions” in a (continued on page 23)

Page 7 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Four Circles of Intimacy with God by J. Oswald Sanders Reprinted by permission from his book Enjoying Intimacy with God

t is an incontrovertible fact that some Christians seem to experience a Imuch closer intimacy with God than A native of New others. They appear to enjoy a reverent Zealand, the late familiarity with Him that is foreign to J. Oswald Sanders us. Is it a matter of favoritism or caprice (1902-1992) was a on the part of God? Or do such people consulting direc- qualify in some way for that desirable tor for Overseas intimacy? Missionary Fellow- Frances Havergal envisioned such a ship, the organization founded by Hudson life of deepening intimacy: Taylor in 1865. He preached and taught in conferences in many countries and wrote And closer yet, and closer the gold- over 40 books on the Christian life, includ- en bonds shall be ing The Incomparable Christ, Satan Is No Enlinking all who love our Lord in Myth, and In Pursuit of Maturity. pure sincerity; This article is a reprinted chapter from And wider yet, and wider shall the his book Enjoying Intimacy With God. circling glory glow As more and more are taught of God, that mighty love to know.

Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. (Exodus 33:7-11)

Reprinted by permission from Enjoying Intimacy with God, J. Oswald Sanders. Moody Press, Chicago. © 1980 The Moody Page 8 Bible Institute of Chicago. KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Are there secrets we may discover fellowship with Him. Twice, the confer- that would admit us to a similar inti- ence lasted for forty days. On one of macy? Our aim will be to answer that those occasions, the people of the na- question. tion were associated with him. A study Both Scripture and experience teach of the circumstances reveals that four that it is we, not God, who determine circles of intimacy developed. Everything the degree of intimacy with Him that in our we enjoy. We are at this moment as close The Outer Circle (Exod. 19:11-12) to God as we really choose to be. True, there As the Law was about to be given, God Christian are times when we would like to know told Moses to prepare the nation for His a deeper intimacy, but when it comes manifestation on Mount Sinai. They life and to the point, we are not prepared to would see His visible presence, but service pay the price involved. The qualifying there were limits beyond which they conditions are more stringent and ex- must not pass. flows acting than we are prepared to meet; so from our we settle for a less demanding level of Let them be ready for the third day, Christian living. for on the third day the Lord will come relationship Everything in our Christian life down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all with God. and service flows from our relationship the people. And you shall set bounds with God. If we are not in vital fellow- for the people all around, saying, “Be- If we are ware that you do not go up on the ship with Him, everything else will be not in vital out of focus. But when our communion mountain.” with Him is close and real, it is glori- fellowship ously possible to experience a growing The people could approach the moun- intimacy. tain, but they could not ascend it, on with Him, In both Old and New Testaments, pain of death. Barriers were erected to everything there are examples of four degrees of keep them at a distance from God. “Mo- intimacy experienced by God’s people. ses alone, however, shall come near to else will be In the Old Testament, it is Moses’ and the LORD, but they shall not come near, out of focus. the nation of Israel’s experience with nor shall the people come up with him” their God. In the New Testament, it is was the divine dictum (Exod. 24:2). that of the disciples and their Lord. In Why the exclusiveness? The sub- each case, the growing intimacy arose sequent reactions of the people clearly out of a deepening revelation of the di- demonstrated that they were neither vine character. qualified for nor desirous of coming Dr. J. Elder Cumming contended that too close to God. There were obviously “in almost every case the beginning of conditions for a fresh revelation of God. new blessing is a new revelation of the They did have a vision of God, but to character of God—more beautiful, more them “the glory of the LORD was like a wonderful, more precious.”1 This was consuming fire on the mountain top” certainly true in the case of Moses. (Exod. 24:17). Moses on the Mountain The Second Circle (Exod. 24:9-11) On several occasions God summoned Then Moses went up with Aaron, Moses to ascend Mount Sinai to have Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the (continued on page 10)

Page 9 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Four Circles of Intimacy with God (continued from page 9) elders of Israel, and they saw the God God. But to the elders he said, “Wait of Israel…They beheld God, and they here for us until we return to you.” ate and drank. How quickly the numbers dwindled That group pressed past the barriers as the mountain path grew steeper! Of that excluded the rest of the nation and all Israel, only two qualiﬁed for inclu- had a much more intimate vision of God sion in the third circle of intimacy. What than the people: “Under His feet there was Joshua’s special qualification for appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, that privilege? A clue is given in Exo- as clear as the dus 33:10-11: “When all the people saw sky itself.” They the pillar of cloud standing at the en- had a limited trance of the tent, all the people would vision of God arise and worship…Thus the LORD used Although [Joshua] in His transcen- to speak to Moses face to face, just as a dence, a glimpse man speaks to his friend. When Moses fell short of the of the Eternal. It returned to the camp, his servant Josh- was probably ua, the son of Nun, a young man, would vision granted to a t heopha ny. not depart from the tent.” Moses, he ascended “They beheld The tent was the place where the God, and they Shekinah glory rested, and where God higher on the glory- ate and drank.” manifested Himself to His people. “Josh- covered mountain They must ua…would not depart from the tent.” As have felt a very Moses’ servant, he would have many er- than any of his real and con- rands to go on and services to perform, contemporaries. scious sense but whenever he was free from those of the divine duties, he made his way to the tent. He The lesson for us presence. Their wanted to be where God manifested does not need to be experience was Himself. He would have been present far in advance on many occasions when the Lord spoke spelled out. of that of the to Moses face to face; thus he enjoyed people, but it an intimacy with God excelled only by effected no per- that of his leader, Moses. Although he manent trans- fell short of the vision granted to Moses, formation. Only he ascended higher on the glory-covered a short time later, they were found mountain than any of his contempo- worshiping the golden calf. They had raries. The lesson for us does not need a vision of God but showed that they to be spelled out. were not qualiﬁed to ascend to the top of the mountain into deeper fellow- The Inner Circle (Exod. 24:15-17) ship with God. Then Moses went up to the mountain, The Third Circle (Exod. 24:13-14) and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of the lord rested on So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it and Moses went up to the mountain of for six days; and on the seventh day He

Page 10 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 called to Moses from the midst of the (Exod. 32:32, NIV). The intensity and cloud. selflessness of his intercession grew out of his growing intimacy with God. The divine summons must have Not only did he refuse to profit at their filled Moses with awe as he climbed expense, but he was willing to sacrifice alone, for “the glory of the LORD was his privileged position in their favor. like a consuming fire on the mountain top” (v. 17). The people in the outer He Had a Surpassing Revelation of circle saw only the consuming fire and God’s Glory feared. Moses saw in it the glory of God Communion with God kindled in Mo- and worshiped. ses an intense desire to know Him better. “I pray Moses Experienced a Deepening T h e e, s h o w Intimacy of Communion with God me Thy glory” “Thus the LORD used to speak to Mo- was his request ses face to face, just as a man speaks to (Exod. 33:18). his friend” (Exod. 33:11). “With him will God’s answer God’s goodness and I speak mouth to mouth” (Num. 12:8, gave him, and glory are enshrined KJV). What could be more intimate— us, an insight friend to friend, face to face, mouth to into the nature in His name, in His mouth! Is there any parallel to that in of His glory: moral character. our experience? “I Myself will make all My Moses did not see He Shared the Divine Perspective goodness pass the full glory of He was daring enough to make the re- b e f o r e yo u , quest, “Let me know Thy ways” (Exod. and will pro- God in its unveiled 33:13). He desired to know his Friend’s claim the name effulgence—only principles of action, to share His pur- of the LORD poses, and God opened His heart to before you…. the afterglow that Moses and revealed something of His The LORD, the own inner nature. LORD G o d , He left behind as compassionate He passed by. He Experienced a Searching Test in and gracious, the Area of Ambition slow to anger, When the nation turned to worship the and abounding golden calf in Moses’ absence, God’s an- in loving-kind- ger was kindled, and He said to Moses, ness and truth; “Now leave me alone so that my anger who keeps loving-kindness for thou- may burn against them and that I may sands, who forgives iniquity, transgres- destroy them. Then I will make you into sion and sin; yet He will by no means a great nation” (Exod. 32:10, NIV, italics leave the guilty unpunished” (Exod. added). Moses’ integrity and disinter- 33:19; 34:6-7). ested love for his people found expres- God’s goodness and glory are en- sion in his audacious response to the shrined in His name, in His moral char- divine proposition: “But now, please acter. Moses did not see the full glory forgive their sin—but if not, then blot of God in its unveiled effulgence—only me out of the book You have written”

(continued on page 24)

Page 11 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Fellows Feature Cultivating Godly Ambition by Steven J. Law

Steven J. Law is the ost Christians are taught to be- is what nearly happened to the great Deputy Secretary at the lieve that ambition is sinful and British social reformer William Wilber- U.S. Department of Labor. therefore to be avoided. “Blessed force, who was fortunately convinced by He has held numerous M positions in Washington, are the meek,” the Beatitude instructs, a wise, older believer that his calling to D.C., over the last two “for they shall inherit the earth.” In the the world of power and politics was just decades, including Chief meantime, however, it seems that the as noble, and could be just as fruitful, as of Staff to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and ambitious, not the meek, are laying a life spent as a parish priest. Executive Director of claim to the earth quite successfully, and Is ambition inherently sinful? Or can the National Republican not only in worldly pursuits. Ministries, it be a force for good? Are there prin- Senatorial Committee. He has a degree in music churches, and evangelistic crusades are ciples we may discern and apply for ex- from the University of often birthed and built up by people ercising ambition in an honorable, godly California, Davis, and with tremendous energy and ambition. way? received a J.D. from Columbia University Is that wrong? Here in Washington, D.C., where School of Law. Steven is Sincere Christians who yearn after there are more high school class presi- married with two young some great goal may reasonably con- dents per square foot than any other children, and is a member of the Falls Church clude that what they have been taught in place on earth, the answers would ap- Episcopal. church about ambition is incompatible pear to be yes, no, and doubtful. It’s a with a life of achievement and success. city where people read the distinguished At least some of them decide, whether weekly National Journal from back to consciously or not, that the Christian front: first checking the index for any life cannot contain their aspirations, mentions of them, and then scanning and they quietly break away, plunging the “People” section to see whether any headlong into the world of their dreams of their colleagues are moving ahead and desires. They may still go to church of them. Some say the most dangerous and be known as Christians, but in fact place in Washington is the space be- they are barely distinguishable from tween a television news camera and an their secular counterparts in the way aspiring congressman. they advance their goals, the way they But for all those sad caricatures of treat their underlings, the premium im- misplaced ambition, we may still ﬁnd port cars they drive, and their moth-like hope that human ambition can be rec- attraction to celebrity and media. onciled with godly character, in the life That is just one kind of tragedy that of the Apostle Paul. results from the apparent conflict be- When Paul was still Saul, prior to his tween human ambition and godly living. conversion, he made himself a central Another kind is when a Christian, usu- figure in the persecution of the early ally a recent convert, gives up on some church. He even solicited special letters goal or gifting because he or she be- of introduction to pave his way to Da- lieves it is not “Christian” enough. That mascus, so that he could personally lead

Page 12 Permission is granted to copy for personal and church use; all other uses by request. KNOWING & DOING © 2006 C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE • 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 300 • Springﬁeld, VA 22151-2110 Fall 2006 703/914-5602 • www.cslewisinstitute.org the anti-Christian campaign in that cru- the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of He- cial city. Like many ambitious people, brews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; Saul had vision: he saw the early church as for zeal, persecuting the church; as as a blasphemous, dangerous cult, and for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” grasped that an outpost church on a But as he rode out to launch his Damas- major trade route could become a ger- cus campaign, Saul was a rising star in minating spore. Pharisee circles. Today he would be It is worth reﬂecting on these terri- called a “young man in a hurry,” one ble events, and Paul’s later sorrow over of the highest compliments that Wash- them, because they reveal a crucial er- ington can bestow. And then he heard ror that many Christians fall into con- a voice—the voice of Jesus—and his

cerning ambition. They may be tempted whole view of the world, and of him- Is to say, “Of course, ambition is wrong self, was forever changed.

because it is tainted with self-interest. If we had stage-managed Jesus’ con- ambition Zeal, on the other hand, is admirable frontation of Saul on that Damascus inherently because it is focused on something road, no doubt we would have struck “ higher than our selves, especially if it a very different chord. There would be sinful? Or “ is religious zeal.” Regardless of whether lightning, and God’s voice thundering zeal and ambition can in fact be dis- from heaven in righteous indignation: can it be tinguished from one another, we need “Saul, in thy abominable pride, thou only look at the example of Paul prior hast persecuted My people, and unless a force for to his conversion to see how zeal—even Ye repent, I shall annihilate thee in My if it seems completely free of self-inter- dreadful wrath!” Instead Saul, and Saul good? est—can turn into something brutal, alone, hears Jesus ask him a question. self-justifying and rapacious. Over the It is an intensely personal, searching centuries, millions of people have died question, full of plaintive concern: at the hands of zealots who were self- “Saul, Saul, why are you persecut- less in their devotion to a virulent re- ing Me?” ligious sect or ideology. Disinterested Saul falls to the ground and asks zeal is no guarantee of godliness—or the Voice, whom he instinctively calls, even human kindness. “Lord,” to identify himself. The Voice We can see that in Saul as he rides answers with pastoral tenderness: toward Damascus, full of grim pur- “I am Jesus, whom you are persecut- pose and armed with the appropriate ing. It is hard for you to kick against the credentials. Ambitious people are often goads.” obsessed with amassing the right cre- Jesus confronts Saul’s bristling am- dentials: titles, diplomas, photographs bitions—and ours—with a question with famous people, and that all-im- aimed straight at our hearts: “Why are portant assurance of significance in our you doing this?” Set aside for a mo- media-drenched age, press clippings. ment what the substance of the goal is; Later in life, Paul would review his re- Jesus’ question probes at the underlying sume with acid irony: “If anyone thinks reasons. Why? What’s motivating you? he has reasons to put confidence in the What are you really after in all of this? flesh, I have more: circumcised on the Do you even know what you are doing? eighth day, of the people of Israel, of Saul thought he was doing something (continued on page 14)

Page 13 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Cultivating Godly Ambition (continued from page 13) good and important: eradicating a cult strength and under His guidance. God that was a threat to his religious culture, informs Ananias, a believer living in a stain on God’s sacred honor. He had Damascus who has heard of this mur- What is no idea how off-base he was. derous Saul: “This man is my chosen in- Saul is stopped dead in his tracks strument to carry my name before the striking not only because he hears a voice from Gentiles and their kings and before the about Saul heaven, but because he hears his own people of Israel.” After Ananias goes to name—repeated, caressed. The Voice Saul and lays hands on him, “something after his knows who he is, knows where he like scales” fall from his blinded eyes, conversion came from, and has tracked him down a sign that Saul’s way of looking at life to this remote, dusty road. The word is being dramatically transformed. And is how from God that shatters us, that brings so Saul begins to fulfill the mission that us back to our senses, is not always a God had revealed to Ananias, God’s am- his earlier rebuke or a warning but our own name. bition for Saul—first in Damascus, then natural The revelation that begins to change us in Jerusalem, and throughout much of and change the course we are on is the the known world. traits of simple fact that God knows us, deeply What is striking about Saul after his ambition, and personally. He sees our hearts, our conversion is how his earlier natural hopes, our fears. He sees who we are traits of ambition, vision, and drive stay vision and behind the public façade. “[H]e knows with him—though they are utterly trans- drive stay how we are formed, He remembers that formed by the Holy Spirit. Throughout we are dust.” the Book of Acts, Saul is portrayed—ad- with him— If we care to admit it, God actually miringly—as relentless, obstinate, con- though they knows us far better than we do. The frontational, insistent, resolute, and voice that Saul hears on the Damascus absolutely driven by the desire to preach are utterly road, the voice of the Good Shepherd, the Gospel, build up the churches, and sees all of Saul’s ambitious fulmina- bring glory to his beloved Savior. transformed tions as nothing more than a misguided What is equally, striking, however, is by the Holy sheep, kicking obstinately against the how Saul’s ambition differs from most of goads. In his own mind, Saul is mak- the natural ambition we encounter in the Spirit. ing things happen, leading an impor- world, even among religious leaders. tant campaign. But in the clearer reality The first critical difference was that that Jesus sees, Saul is merely injuring Saul’s ambition was pursued in the rich himself, fighting against the mysterious soil of community. Thirteen chapters into purposes of God. How often that is true the Book of Acts, Luke mentions almost of ambitious, driven people: they see a as an afterthought, “Then Saul, who was vision, they launch a campaign, they also called Paul….” Somewhere along the push and push—and all they are doing way, Saul had acquired a new name: is pushing against God, pushing against Paul. Many commentators postulate His standards and ways, and injuring that Paul dropped his Hebrew name in themselves in the process. favor of a Roman one, in order to relate Fortunately, it doesn’t stop there for more easily to the Gentiles. Some tradi- Saul, or for us. It turns out that God tions also hold that Saul was short in has ambitions of His own, a vision for stature, and the new name (meaning what we have the potential to be, in His “little”) reflected that fact. Regardless

Page 14 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 of the origin, Saul had acquired some- so that none of you may be hardened thing that is the ultimate sacrament of by sin’s deceitfulness.” Without real friendship: a new name. New names, friends—provoking us, querying us, including nicknames, reflect a deeper chastising us, standing with us, pray- relationship, a closer bond. If he really ing for us—we turn into hard, driven was short, “Paul” would have been a people, deceived and distorted by our good-natured dig. Or perhaps the new moral blind spots. Roman nickname was a wry observa- The second crucial difference be- The vast tion—that this Hebrew of Hebrews had tween Paul’s ambition and much of “gone Gentile.” what we find in the world was that majority of The vast majority of ambitious peo- Paul’s greatest ambition was for Christ ambitious ple climb their ladders alone, but Paul Himself. We are confronted again with pursued his God-given goals in the the question Jesus posed to Saul on the people company of friends. They ate together, Damascus road: “Why are you doing climb their worked together, prayed together, wept this?” Not what, but why? Many ambi- together, and ministered together. Most tious people, including Christians, fo- ladders of the decisions that were crucial to cus so obsessively on the what that they alone, Paul’s life and ministry were not made lose track of the why. The corner office, by him alone, but in a group, usually the next election, the professional recog- but Paul after fasting and prayer. His friends nition, becoming partner, building the pursued included peers like Barnabas as well church roster, making your first million as younger disciples like Timothy and or your fifteenth—all reasonable goals, his God- Titus, whom he nurtured as if they but why? were his own sons. These were vital, Paul was passionate about spread- given goals emotional relationships, which means ing the Gospel, he was in love with the in the they were subject to all the pain and church, and he was devoted to the vul- disappointment that true friendship nerable flocks under his care. Yet for company risks. Paul confronts Peter “to his face” Paul, the why was even more desirable of friends. in Antioch; Mark deserts Paul and than all these immensely important, Barnabas in Pamphylia; Barnabas and God-honoring activities. When he de- Paul have “such a sharp disagreement” scribes his deepest longings in the letter over Mark that they part company al- to the Philippians, there is white-hot in- together. Yet late in life, Paul sends for tensity in his words, a consuming am- Mark again, and Peter refers to Paul as bition that makes all worldly striving “our dear brother” in his second letter, seem lukewarm by comparison: when both of them are probably near- ing martyrdom. I consider everything a loss compared In Paul, we see how the fire of ambi- to the surpassing greatness of knowing tion can serve God’s purposes, but we Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake also see how friendship sanctifies am- I have lost all things. I consider them bition and checks its soul-destroying rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be potential. We desperately need the en- found in him…. I want to know Christ couragement of friends that is described and the power of his resurrection and in Hebrews 3:13: “But encourage one an- the fellowship of sharing in his suffer- other daily, as long as it is called Today, ings, becoming like him in his death, and (continued on page 26)

Page 15 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Guest Feature The Flight from Reality by Michael Ramsden European Director, Zacharias Trust

t was Woody Allen who quipped: illusion. It would appear, therefore, that “What if everything is an illusion to make such an appeal is to try (ineffec- and nothing exists? In that case I tually) to escape from the problem rather Michael Ramsden definitely overpaid for my carpet.” than address it. However you approach has been the European IAlthough written for comic effect, it, it is difficult to fly from reality. Director of the Zacharias Trust since its foundation the idea captured by this simple witti- A consequence of making an appeal in 1997. He grew up cism reflects a school of thought whose to illusion, and perhaps explaining its in the Middle East, existence can be traced down through increasing popularity, is that it also ad- returning to the UK to work investing money the centuries. Recently I heard a story, dresses a far greater dilemma—that of for the Lord Chancellor’s told by an easterner, concerning a guru meaning. If everything is illusion, then Department and to who expounded the “illusion theory” in it follows that meaning is also illuso- study. While at Sheffield University doing research relation to pain and suffering. Shortly ry. And since for many the search for in Law and Economics, he after spouting forth on the subject for meaning has been fruitless, the idea that taught Moral Philosophy several hours, one of the guru’s disciples there is no meaning to be found can be and lectured for the International Seminar on saw him running for safety while be- strangely comforting. At least we are not Jurisprudence and Human ing chased by a wild elephant. After the missing out on something! Rights in Strasbourg. guru had climbed down from a tree in Of course, once life in general is Michael is a passionate evangelist and apologist which he had taken refuge, his disciple held to be devoid of meaning, it follows for the Zacharias Trust, asked him why, if pain and suffering that subjects such as history, the record and is also honorary Lecturer in Christian were illusionary, did he run away? Paus- of life’s events, become themselves a Apologetics at Wycliffe ing for thought, the guru replied “The meaningless record. In a book entitled Hall, Oxford. Michael elephant is illusion, my running away is The Search for Meaningful Existence, the travels widely speaking in universities and churches illusion, everything is illusion.” author raises a very good question when and at conferences. He is The attraction of claiming that all is he writes: married to Anne and they illusion must be that it partly relieves live in Oxford with their three children. us of the anguish we sometimes feel in But we must ask the question, why for trying to make sense of life. If every- this generation of young adults has thing is indeed an illusion, then there even history lost its meaning? I doubt is no real need to worry, since there is that most would be able to provide the nothing real to worry about. But here reason. As a matter of fact, they would lies the problem. An appeal to illusion probably suggest that the question it- assumes that there is such a thing as re- self is wrong-headed, and that the bur- ality, hence allowing us to distinguish den of proof lies with those who would between the two. And if there is such a claim that history itself is meaningful. thing as reality, then everything can’t be It is a rejection in terms of negation.

Page 16 Permission is granted to copy for personal and church use; all other uses by request. KNOWING & DOING © 2006 C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE • 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 300 • Springfield, VA 22151-2110 Fall 2006 703/914-5602 • www.cslewisinstitute.org History is eventless and meaningless Someone once described a histo- because it was never eventful and rian as a prophet in reverse, and it is meaningful. You can never lose that the coming together of both of these which you never possessed. records, of the prophetic and the his- toric, that makes up the series of books Since for But can we say with confidence that known collectively as the Bible. This history never had any meaning to be is precisely the claim that the authors many the lost? As soon as we make the claim, the of the Gospels make. Descriptions of claim itself becomes an historical state- past happenings, predictions of fu- search for ment. Even as the sentiment is given ture events, and the recording of these meaning expression, it moves from the present events “coming to pass” make up the to the past. Even the time taken read- written record of God’s own authorita- has been ing this article now belongs to the past. tive interpretation of both the world in fruitless, Do we conclude therefore that nothing which we live and the understanding meaningful took place? of our place in it. It is a fantastic claim, the idea Of course, this makes the problem and one that I think can be supported that there look a little too crude. Some claim that by good evidence. Have you taken time although historical facts may be ascer- to look into it? is no tained, their interpretation cannot be. And it is this prophetic element meaning Again, this is a startling claim. More that limits the degree of interpretation than that, as soon as it is expressed, it available to us concerning key events to be found becomes a startling historical claim! chronicled in the Bible. As a matter of How should we interpret it? No matter fact, you could even go so far as to say can be how the problem is addressed, anyone that it prescribes the appropriate inter- strangely who wishes to advocate this position pretation. Interpretation becomes sec- will find it very difficult to defend. ondary to recognition. We are not only comforting. Maybe what we could say is that as- told what events will come to pass, but At least certaining the correct interpretation of how and why. Little is then left to inter- any historical fact is very difficult. But pretation, all that is left is to recognise a we are not this is not the same as saying that the course of events when they happen, as missing interpretation is inaccessible to us. It the interpretation has already been pro- simply means that there is a wide mar- vided by the God who made the events out on gin for error. come about. something! This, of course, raises several imme- Not only does God provide a mean- diate questions for the Christian. Chris- ingful framework within which to tianity does not simply claim to bring interpret history, He also provides a some special revelation about God in an framework within which meaning for abstract way. It claims that a revelation our own being becomes possible. Which was brought in a very concrete way, in is why one of the early Christians, Paul, history and ultimately in the person said “In Him we live and move and have of Christ. How then can the problems our being.” Meaning is not illusionary involved in understanding history be because we were created for a purpose, overcome? How could we gain a mean- and purpose is a prerequisite for meaningful interpretation of it? ing, and all of this is grounded in the Reality of an ever-present God. ❖

Page 17 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Profiles in Faith: Malcolm Muggeridge (continued from page 1) were later popularized in the socialist for libel actions, despairing to the point society blueprint of Lord Beveridge. of a timid attempt at suicide, and living Kitty told me that, as a child, her in the half mad world of the eccentri- Aunt Beatrice became emotionally at- cally famous. Marrying tached to the “father figure” of Her- In 1932-33, Malcolm and Kitty spent bert Spencer, a frequent visitor to their seven months in Russia, leaving behind into “the home. His social Darwinism, she said, in boarding school their four-year-old seduced Beatrice’s childhood Christian son, Leonard. Contrary to popular opin- monarchy of faith. When Malcolm and Kitty got mar- ion, Malcolm was never infatuated with Socialism,” ried in 1927, in a registry office, Kitty’s socialism, so he went to Russia prepared father pleaded with his daughter not to to be skeptical of the communist utopia while sign the document with “Red Malcolm,” being depicted in the leftist press. What despising while his own parents knew nothing of he suspected was that it was power-hun- the event until later. Marrying into “the gry journalists who envied Stalin’s use his own monarchy of Socialism,” while despising of power, not romantic idealists. Know- parental his own parental working class social- ing his candid reports about Russia ism, was just the beginning of the many would be unpopular in the leftist press working paradoxes of Malcolm’s life. A previous in Britain, he wrote a novel in 1934, Win- class short time in India and a meeting with ter in Moscow, which was a brilliant ex- Gandhi set Malcolm’s path towards a posé of the willful credulity of Western socialism, more mystical-religious way of life. In journalists and of “mystified scientism” contrast, the socialism of the Webbs was about Russia. Thinly veiled autobiogra- was just the bureaucratic, rationalistic, and theoreti- phy, the character “Wraithby” depicts beginning cal, which he detested ever after. For as Muggeridge’s own state of mind at the he told me, it saw all of life under neon- time: “He was a dim, fitful person. Float- of the many lighting: the sun and the heavens never ing loose on society; making little darts, paradoxes of penetrated whatever inner world the like a bee in search of honey, at news- Webbs might have had. paper offices and literature and politics Malcolm’s After a short assignment in Egypt— and love affairs, and then hastily with- life. then in political turmoil—Malcolm drawing into himself; interested in the came back to Manchester in England to world and in human affairs, but having work for the newspaper, the Manches- contact with neither; carried this way ter Guardian, then one of Britain’s most and that by changing emotions and con- influential media. He found its editor, victions, he had observed from afar the C.P. Scott, “a little mad, high-minded, Dictatorship of the Proletariat and had who fed on moral problems, fattened felt it to be substantial. He knew that it on moral problems, jumped out of bed was brutal, intolerant, and ruthless. He in the morning to struggle with them, had no illusions about its consequences reluctantly extricated himself from their to individuals and to classes. Only, he clasp when he went to bed at night. His thought, it offered a way of escape from whole life had been one moral problem himself. It was Brahma; an infinite; and after another.”4 This also was repeated by becoming one with it he would cease in Muggeridge’s own family life; until to be finite.”5 the late 1960s, it was a catalogue of mari- Almost religiously, Malcolm hoped tal unfaithfulness, sailing near the wind it would be a baptism and a rebirth for

Page 18 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 him, like “a sea that would cradle him.” ter an assignment in Washington, D.C., It was the quest for clear, authoritative he returned to London, adding to his “truth” in a liberal world which had literary activities, and becoming the lost its moral moorings. Returning via editor of Punch in 1952. Then two years Germany, he realized the Nazi show of later he was appointed as an interview- force was the same, “brown terror” no er with the BBC, and his television ca- worse than “red terror.” Already he pre- reer was launched.6 dicted in 1933 there would be war in the It was typical of the man that he got He saw, West, and his critique of communism bored with every job he took on, so that was years ahead of George Orwell’s he lasted scarcely five years at Punch. too, that the Animal Farm. His political satire against the icons of idolization The years 1935-38 were bleak years his day also frequently embarrassed for Muggeridge, feeling demeaned as a those who hired his services. As a result of political reporter working for a London tabloid, he also lost old friends, especially after leaders, The Londoner’s Diary: it was all about his resignation as rector of Edinburgh gossip and the satirical portraiture of University and his public embrace of whether of public figures. Then in 1936 he went the Christian faith. Yet Muggeridge had Churchill or into work as a freelance writer, meet- long recognized that the greatest divide ing many of the upcoming writers of in society was not between those politi- of Kennedy, the time. He also became more articu- cally “right” or “left,” but of those who filled a late on his religious quest, recognizing believed in God and those who did not. that it alone could sustain true individ- He saw, too, that the idolization of po- secular uality, in avoiding both the isolation of litical leaders, whether of Churchill or materialism and the false brotherhood of Kennedy, filled a secular vacuum for vacuum of totalitarianism. But it was the institu- those who did not believe in God. As for those tional container of the religious life that an outstanding lampoonist of society, always bothered him, with its inevitable Muggeridge observed in 1964 that “the who did not deprivations of personal life and faith. only fun of journalism was that it puts believe in Among the works he wrote in this peri- you in contact with the eminent with- od was an autobiographical pilgrimage, out being under the necessity to admire God. In the Valley of the Restless Mind (1938). Its them or take them seriously.”7 bleak vignettes depicted a civilization After his BBC film on Mother Teresa in decline, only sustainable by satirical in Calcutta in 1969, Michael Chantry, detachment. With the outbreak of the the chaplain at Hertford College (where war in 1939, Muggeridge immediately I was a Fellow), invited him to preach joined the army, was commissioned as one Sunday evening in Michaelmas an officer, and was then recruited into term. His visit aroused unusual inter- the Special Intelligence Services, or MI6. est, as well as considerable hostility, in Sent out to Mozambique, he entered the public debate that followed the cha- into a tumultuous period of his life, pel service. Escorting him to his room, I with sex, booze, intrigue, and guilt. It put my arm around him, and reminded was then he made his suicide attempt him that, like the apostle Paul, he would in July 1943, was sent home, and after a doubtless receive a lot of ridicule for brief assignment in Paris, once the war now becoming “St. Mugg,” after all the was over, joined the Daily Telegraph. Af- mockery of the established church and (continued on page 20)

Page 19 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Profiles in Faith: Malcolm Muggeridge (continued from page 19) the loose moral life he had previously Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri likewise did exhibited. He began to invite me down not go too well, since he knew he was to Robertsbridge, his home near Brigh- to be quizzed as to how soundly he had ton. Sitting on the couch in the living been converted. But Schaeffer’s ardency room after lunch one day with Leonard, to express his own views left no space as Malcolm had his afternoon nap by for any response from Muggeridge. the fireside, Leonard asked me, “Do you So as we walked around the shore think Dad has become a Christian yet?” of Lake Geneva, his first impression of I noticed a suppressed smile on what evangelicals was that they were like Malcolm should have been a sleeping face while modern skyscrapers, designed mono- never I was assuring his son, “Yes, I think he’s lithically, to have no gargoyles. Whereas there now.” Malcolm never interpreted medieval cathedrals had gargoyles ev- interpreted his conversion as a single event, but as a erywhere: at the drainage points of the his life-long journey, helped along by many roof, and carved at the end of the pews. writers—William Blake, George Herbert, His point was that religiously we need conversion Blaise Pascal, and Simone Weil, among much humor and should never take our- as a single others. For he saw Christian faith more selves too seriously in claiming to do the as a living drama than as a series of doc- work of God. event, trines. Often I asked him when he was Early in 1975, Malcolm was resident but as a going to write his third volume, Chroni- on Saltspring Island, near Vancouver, cles of Wasted Time, about his conversion. writing his book, Jesus: The Man Who life-long He never did, and instead wrote a sepa- Lives.9 I kept him stocked with reference rate work, in a differing genre.8 books, and my wife and I would visit journey.... It was the great cultural sweep of him each weekend to hear him read the Muggeridge’s literary life that made him script as he progressed. In contrast to his more a prophet than an apologist. I sug- previous book of essays, Jesus Rediscov- gested he should be invited to address ered (1966), when he was still searching, the Lausanne Evangelical Congress his mood was then penitential about instead of Henry Kissinger, who had “those empty years, those empty words, originally been proposed. But Malcolm that empty passion!”10 Now in Jesus: The found it all rather uncomfortable. Put Man Who Lives, he was ready to embrace up at the luxurious Beau-Sejour Hotel, a the God-Man, in joyous assurance, after well-known religious television person- having already witnessed in the saintly ality strolled up the first morning to his life of Mother Teresa, Something Beautiful breakfast table, coming straight to his for God (1971). offer: $50,000 for a television program. Much has been speculated about When Malcolm declined, and a double Malcolm and Kitty’s entry into the Ro- fee was suggested, Muggeridge retorted, man Catholic church. After their admit- as if facing the devil in the wilderness, tance in 1982, I suggested to John Stott “Go away you nasty man!” Ruffled by that the two of us should visit them. On the encounter, he was met in the foyer the railway platform at Charing Cross by Billy Graham, who asked solicitous- station, we met Lord Longford, their old- ly how he had slept. “Very well, thank time friend and neighbor, who had knelt you, but I doubt whether Jesus would with them in his chapel, where they had have done so.” His first meeting with become members. “Well now,” he said,

Page 20 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 “you chaps can tell me, why did Mal- modern Qoheleth was, “Vanity of vani- colm become a Catholic?” We laughed ties, all is vanity,” all his life Malcolm at the irony of his question, when he was “against consensus.” But once he was largely responsible for making it learned to abide in Christ, he confessed: so easy for them to join. But as we jour- “All I can claim to have learnt from the neyed towards Robertsbridge, we all years I have spent in this world is that agreed the factors were not really theo- the only happiness is love, which is at- We most logical at all. tained by giving, not receiving.” We First, they were aware of their mor- most appreciate the world as a beautiful appreciate tality, and needed a priest soon, to of- place when we become aware that we the world as ﬁciate at their burial. But Malcolm had have another, heavenly destiny. We are told me more than once that the local here, then, to acclimatize ourselves to a beautiful Anglican church had no appeal. Then another, an eternal reality. Consensus the Catholic priest Fr. Bidone, on Lord with this fallen world has no future. ❖ place when Longford’s estate, had a community of we become mentally retarded people whom the References Muggeridges loved, and who com- Muggeridge himself invited Ian Hunter to aware that use all his available papers to write his biography, prised a large part of the local church. Malcolm Muggeridge, A Life, Nashville, Tennessee: we have There was Mother Teresa’s influence, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980. 1. John-Bright Holmes, Like It Was: The Diaries of another, which had been so signiﬁcant in their Malcolm Muggeridge, London: Collins, 1981. pilgrimage to faith. He also respected 2. Muggeridge once estimated: “Over the last heavenly the Catholic church’s stand against forty years I must have written, at a modest esti- mate, some 5,000 words a week, or, say, a quarter abortion, and its staunch orthodoxy of of a million words a year. In all, ten million writ- destiny. We doctrine, unlike the weak compromises ten words, of which so very, very few, if any, may are here, apparent within modern Anglicanism. be considered as having more than a momentary value.” Muggeridge Through the Microphone, 1969, Muggeridge’s Death of Christendom quoted in Ian Hunter, edit. The Very Best of Malcolm then, to seemed an exaggerated attack against Muggeridge, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1998, institutional religion, but now we can p. 260. acclimatize 3. Kitty Muggeridge (with Ruth Adam), Beatrice see how prophetic it was. Likewise, his Webb: A Life, London: Collins, 1967. ourselves broad sweep of the decadence of West- 4. Malcolm Muggeridge, Picture Palace, a novel ern civilization in Chronicles of Wasted written in 1934. Reprinted by Weidenhall and Nicol- to another, son, London, 1987, p. 9. Time may prove more profound than 5. Malcolm Muggeridge, Winter in Moscow, Lon- an eternal any other survey of the twentieth cen- don: Eyre and Spottiswode, 1934, p. 207. tury. Malcolm has had a profound ef- 6. This earlier, secular part of his life is well reality. described in the biography of Richard Ingrams, fect upon our family, demonstrating Muggeridge: A Life, New York: HarperSanFrancisco, that to be truthful, one needs to be 1995. courageous, humble, simple, and de- 7. New Statesman, 1964, p. 38. 8. Malcolm Muggeridge, Conversion, London: cidedly free from ambition. Egotism Collins, 1988; reprinted in the U.S.A., as Confessions was for him, “the hiss of the cobra.” of a Twentieth-Century Pilgrim, New York: Harper- SanFrancisco, 1988. Towards the end of our friendship, I 9. From a Christian perspective this was es- asked him what further book would he teemed his best book, according to Gregory Wolfe, have desired to write before he died. Malcolm Muggeridge, a Biography, Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Com- Unhesitatingly his reply was, Against pany, 1997, p. 379. Consensus. But he added, “Perhaps you 10. Malcolm Muggeridge, The Green Stick: will write it!” Since his favorite text as a Chronicles of Wasted Time, London: Fontana/Collins, 1975, vol. i, p. 15.

Page 21 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Character (continued from page 5) known and uncontroversial, even taken must be based if it is to exist at all.” We for granted. are desperately seeking a renewal of char- But this is strikingly not the case acter but are not willing in the culture to in the culture. There have been nu- give it sufficient foundations or justifica- merous attempts to teach character in tion. Hunter says: the culture without mentioning God, Jesus, or the Bible. Moreover, the lists We say we want a renewal of character We are of virtues being taught almost always in our day but don’t really know what exclude an explicit mention of love. For we ask for. To have a renewal of char- desperately instance, the Character Counts! Coali- acter is to have a renewal of a creedal seeking a tion lists “six pillars of character”—re- order that constrains, limits, binds, ob- spect, responsibility, trustworthiness, ligates, and compels. This price is too renewal of fairness, caring, and citizenship. The high for us to pay. We want character character Community of Caring affirms “five but without unyielding conviction; we core values—caring, respect, trust, re- want strong morality but without the but are not sponsibility, and family.” The Character emotional burden of guilt or shame; willing in Education Institute focuses on “univer- we want virtue but without particular sal values” such as courage, honesty, moral justifications that invariably of- the culture truthfulness, justice, tolerance, honor, fend; we want good without having to name evil; we want decency without to give it generosity, kindness, helpfulness, freedom of choice, equal opportunity, and the authority to insist upon it; we want sufficient economic security. The Heartwood In- more community without any limita- stitute based in Pittsburgh stands out tions to personal freedom. In short we foundations as an exception including “love” as one want what we cannot possibly have on or of the “seven universal attributes along the terms that we want it. with courage, loyalty, justice, respect, justification. hope, and honesty.” Leaving out love not only deprives The problem is that once you strip character traits of coherence (love as the these values of their theological founda- sum) but it deprives character of motive— tion, there is no solid answer as to why rooted in the love of God as demonstrated you ought to be the kind of person pre- in Christ and commanded by Him. scribed. James Davison Hunter in his insightful book, The Death of Character, The Broader the Better points out that the “demise of character Christ calls us to a love that extends begins with the destruction of creeds, the into increasingly wider circles—family, convictions, and the ‘god terms’ that made friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, those creeds sacred to us and inviolable neighbors—eventually even to enemies. within us.” Once values are stripped of No other religious perspective em- their “commanding character,” then the phasizes “love” to the same degree or word “value” is reduced to utility, person- extent. More than mere passive “toler- al preference, or community consensus. ance,” Christ calls us to love very diverse Hunter argues that contemporary moral people—of every tribe, tongue, people, education, as well intended as it may be, and nation (Rev. 5:9). Only a great Lord actually “undermines the capacity to form could give us the capacity to love people ❖ the convictions upon which character so different from us.

Page 22 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Whatever Happened to Atheism (continued from page 7) private space, nor to rival their vision- The British mainline churches have ary power. neither caused nor yet significantly This might suggest that Christianity benefited from the failure of atheism. is poised for rebirth in the west. I would A step away from atheism is not nec- urge extreme caution about drawing essarily a step in the direction of the The any such conclusion from the evidence churches. Although the Alpha Course is greatest available, especially in the United King- proving hugely successful in introduc- dom. Church attendance figures con- ing a new generation to basic Christian challenge tinue to dwindle relentlessly. It remains ideas, the growing interest in spiritual- unclear whether this represents a loss ity in the United Kingdom is partly due that we face of faith, or a movement away from or- to cultural shifts. Atheism, thoroughly is building ganized religion towards more infor- wedded to a modernist worldview, has mal expressions of faith, such as the found itself beached through the rise on a new burgeoning house churches. There is of postmodernism. This movement re- interest in evidence that it is the latter—but it is an gards the traditional atheist dismissal interpretation that brings little comfort of the transcendent as arrogant and spirituality to the Church of England. premature, and gives cultural and intel- within our The 2001 Census disclosed one of lectual legitimacy to the wistful quest the most striking paradoxes which the for something meaningful in life. culture, mainline churches need to confront, So what can we do? There are many and seeing painful though this will be. Seventy- answers that can be given. We need to one percent of the British population take this shift in cultural mood serious- if we can chose to self-define as Christian (hard- ly, and get away from the “modernism ly pointing to a massive move away good, postmodernism bad” mentality develop from religion)—but less than one-tenth that has emerged in some quarters. pathways of these attend church. What are the Neither is good, neither is bad; they are churches doing to encourage and sup- simply cultural moods that Christian by which port those who wish to self-define in apologetics must take with the utmost that culture this way? New ways of “being church” seriousness. Some older evangelists will have to be devised to meet the seem to think we have to convert post- can be needs and aspirations of those who modern people to modernism before enabled to wish to be associated with Christian- we can convert them to the Gospel. So ity, but not with organized religion. The let’s get real about this. The greatest encounter gulf between the traditional worship challenge that we face is building on a the living forms of the Church of England and the new interest in spirituality within our culture at large has never been greater. culture, and seeing if we can develop Christ. Tellingly, those churches that are at pathways by which that culture can be present making the greatest impact on enabled to encounter the living Christ. our culture are those which have aban- Who said it was going to be easy? But doned traditional forms of worship. Is there is so much that we can do. The there a future, one wonders, for tradi- new millennium has only just begun. tional Anglicanism? And if not, what Maybe it will surprise us all by the di- ❖ will replace it? rections it takes.

Page 23 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Four Circles of Intimacy with God (continued from page 11) the afterglow that He left behind as He one who appropriated the special place passed by (Exod. 33:20-23). on Jesus’ breast, and through whom the disciples channeled questions to the Some of God’s Glory Master (John 13:25). “He, leaning back Rubbed Off on Moses thus on Jesus’ breast” is the way John “When Moses was coming down from described his privileged position. Sev- Mount Sinai…Moses did not know that enty, twelve, three, one! In which group the skin of his face shone because of his would we be found? Each of the disci- speaking with ples was as close to Jesus as he chose to Him” (Exod. be, for the Son of God had no favorites. 34:29, italics We are similarly self-classifying. added). That is G. Campbell Morgan wrote concern- still the divine ing the special three: Each of the prescription for radiance. There can be no doubt that these men, disciples was as H a d w e Peter, James and John, were the most lived in those remarkable in the apostolate. Peter close to Jesus O l d Te s t a - loved Him; John He loved; James was ment times, in the first to seal his testimony with his as he chose to which group blood. Even their blunders proved their would we be strength. They were the men of enter- be, for the Son found? With prise; men who wanted thrones and of God had no t he c r owd? places of power…. Mistaken ideas, all The seventy- of them, and yet proving capacity for favorites. We four? The two? holding the keys and occupying the The one? throne. What men from among that are similarly first group reign today as these men? Jesus self-classifying. and His On four special occasions, Jesus admit- Disciples ted them to experiences from which From among they learned precious lessons. On the t hose ea rly occasion of the raising of Jairus’ daughter f o l l o w e r s (Luke 8:51), they were granted a preview who had evi- of their Lord’s mastery over death and denced their faith in Him, Jesus chose saw His gentleness with the little lass. seventy and sent them out two by two On the mount of transfiguration (Matt. to preach for Him. Later, after a night of 17:1), they gained clearer insight into the prayer, He chose twelve to be with Him importance of His impending death, for training—to learn His ways and im- although they grasped its significance bibe His spirit. Within the twelve, there very inadequately (Luke 18:34). There, emerged a circle of three with whom too, they had a preview of His glory and Jesus became especially intimate. They majesty. “We beheld His glory,” recalled were closer to Him than any of the oth- John (1:14). “We…were eyewitnesses of ers. Within the circle of three, there was His majesty,” said Peter (1:16).

Page 24 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 On the Mount of Olives (Mark 13:3), that drew John into a deeper intimacy they marveled at His prophetic dis- with Jesus than the other apostles. Je- cernment, as He shared with them the sus loved them all, but John alone ap- sweep of the divine purposes and the propriated the title “the disciple whom inner secrets of God. Jesus loved.” If Jesus loved John more, In the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. it was because John loved Him more. 26:37), they glimpsed in the sufferings Mutual love and confidence are the of the Savior something of the cost of keys to intimacy. their salvation, although they were at It would a loss to interpret His agony. Those s e e m t h a t were some of the privileges of the in- admission to ner circle. Could any of the twelve the inner cir- have been among that favored group? cle of deepen- Were the three specially selected by ing intimacy the Lord? With Him there is no ca- with God is It is a price or favoritism. Their relationship the outcome with Him was the result of their own of deep desire. sobering choice, conscious or unconscious. It Only those is a sobering thought that we too are who cou nt thought that as close to Christ as we really choose s u c h i n t i - to be. The deepening intimacy of the macy a prize we too are three with Jesus was the result of the worth sac- as close to depth of their response to His love and rificing any- training. t h i ng e l s e Christ as we They recognized that intimacy for, are likely with Him involved responsibility as to attain it. If really choose well as conferred privilege. The Mas- other intima- ter had told them that “whoever does cies are more to be. the will of God, he is My brother and desirable to sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). There us, we will are some ties that are closer even than not gain en- those of kinship. try to that What excluded some disciples from circle. the inner circle? If perfection were the cri- The place terion, then Peter the denier and James o n J e s u s ’ and John the place-seekers would have breast is still vacant, and open to any been excluded. But they were included. If who are willing to pay the price of deep- it were temperament, then surely the vola- ening intimacy. We are now, and we will tile Peter, and James and John the ﬁre- be in the future, only as intimate with ❖ eaters would not have found entrance. God as we really choose to be. Why then did John have the pri- macy in the group? Because he alone Note appropriated the place of privilege 1. J. Elder Gumming, Keswick Week 1906 (Lon- don: Marshalls, 1906), p. 22. that was available to all. It was love

Page 25 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 Cultivating Godly Ambition (continued from page 15) so, somehow, to attain to the resurrec- die in ignominy, their greatest achieve- tion from the dead. Not that I have al- ments undermined, their monuments ready obtained all this, or have already toppled, even their very names erased been made perfect, but I press on to take by the selective memory of history. Few hold of that for which Christ Jesus took “go gently into that good night.” Facing hold of me…. Forgetting what is behind the twilight of their lives and their sig- and straining toward what nificance, they become de- is ahead, I press on toward bilitated by bitterness and the goal to win the prize for regret. And after a life of which God has called me compulsive achievement, heavenward in Christ Jesus. amassing power and (Emphasis added.) How could wealth and importance, they melt away, like the Every other ambition a man so Wicked Witch of the West that Paul had was second- in The Wizard of Oz. “As for ary to knowing Christ, mistreated, so man…he flourishes like gaining Christ, being marginalized, a flower of the field; the found in Christ, sharing in wind blows over it and it His sufferings, and becom- so apparently is gone, and its place re- ing like Him in his death. unsuccessful, members it no more.” The fuel for Paul’s ambition That’s not how we find was not his job—as noble finish out Paul at the end of his life. — as it might have been but his days Despite all the rejection, Jesus Himself. the disappointments, and The proof of this is evi- with such the humiliations of im- dent at the conclusion of confident prisonment, Paul writes Paul’s life. By all appear- a final letter to Timothy ances, his ministry had joy? that is full of hope. One been a failure. Many of the moment he is dispensing churches he had helped advice, another he is ask- found were falling away, ing for scrolls to be sent to embracing either Gnosti- him. He is surrounded by cism or pagan immorality. close friends, and reach- Other “apostles” had sur- ing out to old colleagues. passed him in perceived While many grow faint in the face of ability and influence. Some of his clos- death, Paul seems positively inspired by est associates had abandoned him. All it. He warns Timothy fervently about the that remained for Paul was a martyr’s coming “last days,” which he probably death, not in the mold of a valiant hero has realized he will not live long enough but, as Paul saw himself, “on display at to see. And he compares his impending the end of the procession, like men con- death to the pouring out of a drink of- demned to die in the arena…the scum fering, an act of pure, extravagant wor- of the earth, the refuse of the world.” ship to God. Passed over. Forgotten. Abandoned. How could a man so mistreated, so Alone. Countless once-great people marginalized, so apparently unsuccess-

Page 26 KNOWING & DOING Fall 2006 ful, finish out his days with such con- So how do we pursue goals in a fident joy? Again, the answer is that God-honoring way? How can we be am- Paul’s sights were set even higher than bitious without it corroding our souls? the great work that God had entrusted The secret is summed up in a word that to him; they were set on heaven itself Paul uses to describe ambition gone and the God who was calling him there. awry. “Do nothing out of selfish ambi- Churches may fall, and tion,” Paul exhorts the Phi- friends may betray, but lippians. The word he uses Christ is the same, yester- is Greek, possibly coined day, today, and tomorrow. It is a sin to by Aristotle in his treatise Paul’s deepest ambition on Politics. It refers, in a was to know this Christ, squander our derogatory way, to merely above all else, so that energy and eking out an existence. For when the time came for Greeks like Aristotle, one’s his “departure,” his exter- God-given highest calling was to be nal circumstances scarcely talents on the a citizen, immersed in the mattered. civic affairs of the polis. It is significant that ephemeral To them, self-promoting Paul uses his favorite imag- climbers were like the poor ery—athletic competition indulgences of castes outside of Athens’ and military contests—to recognition, elite society, preoccupied describe his impending with nothing more than death: “I have fought the status, earning a day’s bread. good fight, I have finished fame and We (and Paul) emphati- the race, I have kept the cally reject such disdain for faith.” For those who are respectability. the strivings of the poor. ambitious after worldly Paul’s life But the transformation of aims, death is the bitter, this word into a generic nullifying conclusion. For tells us to aim description of perverted Paul, death is a triumphant higher.... ambition suggests that the culmination, where a life true danger of ambition is of fruitfulness and devo- not aiming too high, but tion releases its fragrance aiming too low. “Spend- to heaven, and the Voice ing and getting, we lay that called us at the beginning declares waste our powers,” the poet William it well-done indeed. Wordsworth lamented. It is a sin to As we see in Paul’s life, God can make squander our energy and God-given good use of people with passion, energy talents on the ephemeral indulgences of and vision—whether they serve in minis- recognition, status, fame, and respect- try, government, business, the non-profit ability. Paul’s life tells us to aim higher— world, the military, or at home raising aim for heaven, aim for Christ’s glory, children. It is no slight to God’s sover- aim for the sweet knowledge of the Sav- eignty to observe that ambitious, dedi- ior, aim for a life that makes death an act cated people often accomplish more than of emancipated worship and a welcome those who are reticent and phlegmatic. into our everlasting inheritance. ❖

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