THE PRINCE ALBERT Te Deum is a nineteenth-century Anglican choral mini-masterpiece which deserves to be better known. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819-1861) was, as you may know, the husband of Queen Victoria. Less well-known, though, is that he was also a fine Christian man and a generally multi-talented bloke. His was the genius that drove the Great London Exhibition of 1851, which led to the building of the Crystal Palace and many other London landmarks. And his remarkable talents extended into music.
The SATOR Square
THE SATOR SQUARE
THE SATOR SQUARE is an ancient “rebus” or word-square. Similar word-squares are known to us from ancient times. But, among them all, the SATOR square is an especially ingenious little construction. Yet more ingenious still is what is concealed within it. Once we decipher it, it will teach us something very significant about the earliest creeds of the Christian faith.
As Moses Lifted Up the Serpent in the Wilderness
Jesus said: “For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
My wife’s a doctor. One day they brought a man in for treatment. He was in a coma. Like a dead man. In fact, she could see that if he didn’t get treatment quick, he really would be a dead man.
The Name of Jesus
The Bible tells us that the name of Jesus is the name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9–10). Is this just enthusiastic rhetoric? Or is this there really something special in this name?
Saint Joseph of Nazareth
The 19th of March is the Feast of Saint Joseph, the adoptive father of the son of God. He is remembered as a righteous man, Joseph the just. Yet he lived a humble and obscure life. And perhaps he struggled with his conscience too…
Spiritual Guidance
SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
Recently, my good friend P**** asked me for some spiritual guidance. (He is an amazing Brussels-based musician, who can play everything from early Baroque harpsichord to Bossa Nova with a 2-3 clave.) After thinking about it a bit, this is what I had to say to him…
The Saint Matthew Passion of J.S. Bach
Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion is one of the greatest monuments of Christian and European sacred music. In Holy Trinity, we perform it, or its sister work, Bach’s Saint John Passion, every year. But the Saint Matthew Passion was a flower that bloomed in a particular place at a particular time. And a little knowledge about its background and its native soil will help us to appreciate it better.
The Story of Silent Night
I’ll begin the story of Silent Night with a happy reminiscence. Recently, a Viennese friend sent us a Christmas card. We had visited him in Vienna the summer before, and had Kaffee und Kuchen together, as he showed us all round his wonderful city. His Christmas card had a stamp showing a picture of a manger scene, with the words “200 years: Silent Night” (200 Jahre: Stille Nacht). But it’s not the only Austrian stamp like this, as we’ll see in a moment. In fact, the Austrians are immensely proud of this Christmas carol. And rightly so. Lots of folk would say that it is the greatest Christmas carol of all. It is certainly the best known. So I’ll talk about it here, and illustrate its story here in Austrian stamps.
Tyndale and the Triumph of the Bible
If you ever visit Brussels, and drive out past Zaventem Airport, then you will come to the pleasant Flemish town of Vilvoorde. The town maintains a Tyndale Museum. It also has a little patch of green called Tyndale Park. There football pitches jostle with a monument erected in honour of the English Reformer William Tyndale, who was martyred at the town’s south gate on 6 October 1536. This is the tale of Tyndale and his triumph in translating the Bible into English.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats Explained
THE PARABLE of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25:31-46 is, I think, one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible. Like other people, I spent years misunderstanding it and worrying about what it meant. But once you find the key, it makes perfect sense.