The Northern Training Institute promotes theological reflection on the practice of mission and ministry. The NTI papers are a vehicle for disseminating this reflection. Many of the papers will be written by NTI students. The views expressed in the papers do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute.

NTI papers are available for free download from this website and you can get news of the latest papers as they are published by subscribing to the site. Please feel free to leave comment on this papers.

No. 1
Congregation or Community: Interacting with the ‘Robinson-Knox’ View of the Nature of the Church
Michael Tinker (June 2007)
“The question I want to ask is ‘when is the local church not a church?’ … Are we ‘doing’ church when we are loving
and caring for each other at a bus stop? The answer must be ‘Yes’ … The ‘gathering’ is determinative of what it is to be the ekklesia, but not exhaustive of its meaning.”
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No. 2
The End of Christendom and Mission in the Local Church
Christopher de la Hoyde (May 2007)
‘The end of Christendom [means] the church is increasingly losing its grip on its positions of authority within society and finds itself more and more on the margins of society. People are suspicious of the church and its tendency to gain power and influence for itself … Churches must disavow the positions of privilege and influence they have sought to exploit in the past.’
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No. 3
The Book of Leviticus and the Doctrine of the Atonement
Jonny Woodrow (June 2007)
‘Through the sacrificial system, the holiness spectrum and through the priestly inspection of cleanliness, the worshipper had a multi-sensory experience of the nature of sin and uncleanness, and the consequences of sin as they lived in the presence of the holy God.’
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No. 4
An evaluation of Anselm’s doctrine of atonement
Matthew Spriggs (November 2007)
The doctrine of the atonement has become an area of controversy in recent years. One of the key figures credited for articulating our doctrine of atonement is Anselm. He has been accused of beginning a process in which our view of the cross has been corrupted. This latest NTI Paper welcomes the foundations laid by Anselm, while suggesting some areas of critique.
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No. 5
The Kingdom of God is at Hand: Eschatology and Mission
Tim Chester (December 2007)
‘The gospel is an eschatological message. In evangelism we declare that Jesus is king and that Jesus will be king … We do not offer people a gospel invitation; we command people to repent and submit to the coming king … The pattern of New Testament discipleship is the pattern of suffering followed by glory reflecting the pattern of the cross and resurrection … Resurrection power is given to us that we might live the life of the cross. It is power to be weak … Without eschatology we are left with a limp Christian existentialism in which immediate experience is everything.’ This paper by NTI’s director is due to be published in What Are We Waiting For? Hopeful Theologians in Discussion, eds. Stephen Holmes and Russell Rook (Paternoster, forthcoming).
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No. 6
A Community Process for Biblical Learning
Michael Tinker (December 2007)
Michael Tinker calls for a move from an ‘instruction paradigm’ for a ‘doing paradigm’ in which obedience is to the goal of Bible teaching. With this goes the need for a ‘community hermeneutic’ in which the Christian community wrestles together to understand apply the text of Scripture.
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No. 7
Rolling in the Aisles: Communicating the Word of God in an Image-Dominated Culture
Jonathan Clark (January 2008)
Jonathan Clark explores the challenge of proclaiming the Word in an image-dominated culture. ‘The media reshapes our perception of what is important, what is normal, what is to be desired and what is transcendent, the effects of this can often be most clearly seen among the younger generations of the church … Christians cannot be reactionary, wishing ourselves back to the ‘good old days’ when a congregation would listen to an hour-long sermon without wriggling or dozing … [But] to offer an undemanding message, and to not require a reflective response is to sell out to “the Age of Show Business”.’
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No. 8
Good S ex
Tim Chester (January 2008)
Evangelical se xual ethics have focused on s ex outside of marriage. Tim Chester, NTI’s director, urges us to go further and recognise that s ex within marriage can also be ungodly. He opens up a discussion of what constitutes good and bad s ex within marriage.
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No. 9
An examination of the Puritan principle of preaching the law to wound and the gospel to heal
Matthew Spriggs (January 2008)
‘First humble by the law, and then revive by the gospel…This phrase – preach the law to wound and the gospel to heal – is an accurate description of the preaching of many Puritans. It is, however, also a simplistic phrase that does not do justice to the Puritans’ rich understanding of the law and grace… Paul does not mention the law here. He preaches Christ crucified to the Jew and the Gentile… Paul preaches Christ crucified, and it both condemns and saves. It reveals the glory of God, but humanity chooses to swap that glory for another and so call the cross foolish. But to those who are being saved, the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God…’
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No. 10
Atonement: engaging with an emerging theology
Christopher de la Hoyde (January 2008)
‘Sin is caricatured as something pleasurable, fun, exciting … ‘the idea that such acts may be insults to God, to the fabric of the world, seems to be lost forever… To be self-centred is a twenty-first century virtue… One who fails at “project self” must gaze into the mirror and confess: “Against you alone have I sinned”… Mann argues that the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement as a means of engaging with the chronically-shamed self is almost entirely barren…the post-modern mind cannot be said to be more hardened to its accountability than any other – it is always a supernatural work to bring true conviction of sin… atonement is therefore at the heart of God’s character and is the only means of dealing with the heart of our predicament as human beings… Any understanding of the of Jesus which seeks to downplay the punishment of Christ for our sins will of course be more attractive to any generation, as it also downplays human responsibility and divine justice.’
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No. 11
The ‘successful’ church? The growth of Pentecostalism worldwide in the twentieth century
James Williams (February 2008)
‘Sometimes the ‘successful’ church is the small, struggling one that that keeps going and stays faithful in doctrine and practice despite its small numbers… Without the willingness of hundreds, even thousands of men and women to leave their homes, the international impact of Pentecostalism would have been much slower… The high drama of the conversion experience in Pentecostal churches (partly because of the prominence given to a dualistic metanarrative of darkness and light, and partly because of the physical manifestations of Pentecostal worship) also serves to emphasize the radical change that takes place in the new Christian… A major reason for the success of Pentecostalism may be found in the extent to which it encourages and embodies evangelical gospel teaching and gospel living in a particularly passionate vein… the offer of a largely unmediated spiritual experience to all… this sense of empowerment and significance is of tremendous importance in explaining its appeal, particularly among the poor and disenfranchised in the Developing World… Part of its success lies in this capacity to embody the openendedness of a global network of flows, a composite of heterogeneous elements flexible and indeterminate enough in meaning to allow their setting to work in a multitude of contexts, yet offering at the same time a stable collection of narrative formulae and well-organised structure which provide solid anchorage for individuals at large in the frightening sea of possibilities and frustrations… Pentecostals emphasise that the work of the Holy Spirit needs to touch every area of life. Though the Pentecostal movement as a whole has not yet touched the intellectual realm in a special way, it has encouraged its believers to experience holistic change in all areas of their lives.’
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No. 12
Justification, Ecclesiology and the New Perspective
Tim Chester (March 2008)
‘It is true that there is not much evidence of a subjective experience of existential anguish in Paul. It is clear, however, that Paul views guilt as an objective reality leading to judgement and (Rom. 1–3). The guilt of sin plays a central role in defining the problem for which Christ (and the justification which comes through faith in him) is the answer… To say that we get in by grace and stay in by grace plus works still gives works an instrumental place within salvation… According to Wright … justification follows reconciliation with God. In Romans 5:1, however, Paul’s logic is quite explicit: justification is the precondition for reconciliation with God… Wright is more ambiguous on this than some of his critics recognise … Yet he also says: ‘present justification declares on the basis of faith, what future justification will affirm publicly on the basis of the entire life’. Wright surely knows the issues too well for this to be an unconsidered statement… The New Perspective is right to say that Galatians is about the identity of the Christian community. It is … however, wrong to see this as antithetical to a soteriological view of justification. It is, instead, the practical out-working of a soteriological view of justification.’
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No. 13
Christopher de la Hoyde (March 2008)
How does the New Testament use the concept of ‘the s of the flesh’ to understand human behaviour?
‘… talk about ‘lusts’ and the ‘flesh’ might seem entirely out of place … should this kind of talk perhaps be ditched altogether? … the New Testament simply does not allow us to do so…it is the status of that desire in a person’s heart …[they] are seen to be sinful when they take a ruling place in a person’s heart and become more important to a person than a desire to do God’s will… the New Testament teaches a believer to distinguish between godly and sinful desires by examining the fruit in one’s life to see if it is a good or bad… It is a lack of love for the Father and a love for the things of the world that leads to lives controlled by sinful desires… The concept of ‘the s of the flesh’ must therefore be rehabilitated in our churches to replace competing pseudo-Christian psychologies based on needs, empty love tanks and instinctive urges.’
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No. 14
Steve Vaughan (March 2008)
Re-evaluating tongues and prophecy today
‘None of us come to this topic from a neutral standpoint. We all have our past experience – good or bad – on these issues…The focus for the debate, as I understand it, is not whether the gifts of tongues and prophecy have ceased, but whether the contemporary practice of tongues and prophecy conform to that of the New Testament… It seems that the tongues attracted the crowd, but it was Peter’s sermon and explanation that converted the thousands… Despite these positive examples, I am unsure whether a lot of what I have experienced in charismatic circles can really be classed as biblical prophecy in action… When it comes to guidance, the emphasis should not be turning to prophecy, but to Scripture… As Psalm 119:105 says: ‘your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.’ Here in God’s word we find the source of God’s direction and will… If we are Bible-believing Christians who seek to obey Scripture, why do we fall short of Paul’s command to eagerly desire spiritual gifts? We are far from the situation in Corinth and I wonder whether Paul would write a letter to us to rebuke us for being boring, and lacking God’s imminent presence.’
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No. 15
Christopher de la Hoyde (March 2008)
Jonathan Edwards and The End for Which God Created the World
‘God’s aim in creation is… to enjoy himself by his creatures enjoying and participating in him… for ever… there is no external scale of virtue or happiness by which the purpose of the universe can be judged… all virtue and happiness are to be found in the creator himself… The goal of our pastoral care as a whole will always be God’s glory through his people delighting in him, and not people’s recovery in itself… Edwards’ God-centred theology offers… hope for change now, because God’s own glory is tied to our growth in knowledge of him: in our being conformed to him and in our finding our happiness in him.’
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No 16
Jonathan Skipper (April 2008)
The Decalogue in Old Testament Missiology
‘Mission is not a sub-theme that only a few key texts address, but the theme of the whole Bible… There is to be single-mindedness in their devotion to God: they are not to worship the gods of the other nations…They are to be ethically distinctive and not follow the detestable practices of the other nations… Throughout the Old Testament these two themes of idolatry and ethics are repeatedly related to mission…the polemic against idolatry and the ethical imperative… are applied in the Old Testament itself in the context of Israel’s mission in the world…the exclusivity of devotion demanded of Israel is to demonstrate both to Israel and to the nations that the Lord is God and there is no other…’
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No. 17
Christopher de la Hoyde (May 2008)
Calvin and the spirit of modern capitalism
‘Wherever in Europe Calvinism was to be found, there also was capitalism hot on its heels… in commerce, in trade and in manufacturing, hard work and the acquisition of capital became the highest good and the most worthy way of serving one’s maker … to refuse to take opportunities in this realm was to deny God… Calvin’s… recognition of the realities of contemporary life –interest, injecting capital into emerging industries, the possession of property and the division of labour – were all conducive to the growth of capitalism… Weber’s assertion that it is primarily in one’s engagement with the world in terms of business that one’s good works are performed must be called into question… wealth is no longer an end in itself. Rather, for Calvin, it is a means of service to others… Calvin’s theology provides a radical and extremely balanced approach to wealth to help the 16th Century Christian engage with his culture while retaining a critical distance from it… Calvin’s theology is entirely at odds with modern-day capitalism and the exploitation of poor… Calvin’s work ethic is truly radical and world-changing … as it is applied by the Spirit of God, to bring about a church… able to engage with the world in every sphere yet without ceding to the values of the world.’
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No. 18
Jonny Woodrow (July 2008)
Being human in modernity and postmodernity
‘Reality might be a virtual reality generated by your brain… Essentially the human has become a subjective observer of a ‘world-out-there’, knowing the world through pictures or representations but not first hand.. Therefore the new ‘modern’ way to be human is to be autonomous, disconnected and sovereignly looking onto the world… The self has become an identikit self. The aspiration of our culture to evolve out of any restrictions that may be placed upon it is clear in the realm of sexuality and gender…Our souls have been replaced by observable subjectivity: attitudes, personality, motivation, memory, perception, emotion, reaction times, social skills and so on.’
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No. 19
James Williams (December 2008)
The sovereignty of God and pastoral care
‘The pastoral role or office in Scripture is not primarily one of counsel, emotional support or friendship. The shepherds of God’s people were the kings and leaders of the community …the kind of care for fellow Christians that naturally comes to mind when we hear the phrase ‘pastoral care’ is actually something that each believer should be eager to offer to others in the body of Christ… The Holy Spirit can and will work a continuous miracle even in my hard heart because not even Satan can resist his will… Whether the decision is big or small, an essential piece of the framework for making it is the sovereignty of God. His kingly sovereignty limits our choices …and his metaphysical sovereignty frees us up to act in confidence…We can encourage one another to take risks …because we know that faithfulness to God’s revealed will is what counts and that God will take care of tomorrow… Alternative understandings of God’s sovereignty give no comfort whatsoever to the afflicted… I know that in the midst of the deepest melancholy, when all motivation has vanished and a cold fear physically grips the chest – or in the midst of the anxiety when the head knows what the heart refuses to rest content in – that ‘doctrines’ and clear, logical conversations are not much comfort. On the other hand, what helps us to pull through the troughs if not the underlying conviction that God is in control?… One basic problem with doubts over assurance is that they are inward-looking rather than Godward. When things are teased out it is rare that the person struggling with assurance actually believes God to be bad and thus against them; it is something subjective that they lack. Even to come to the point of diagnosing the lack of assurance in oneself is something of an inward process… While our concern for others must make us patient as we try to correct and train for righteousness, a high view of God’s sovereignty frees us from the burden of final persuasion… The kingly sovereignty of God flows through church discipline and is a legitimate part of the very minds and corporate decisions of the leaders who have to excommunicate someone. The metaphysical sovereignty of God cannot in any way be arrogated to the church but instead grounds the confidence of church leaders that God will deal justly with the excommunicant, bringing them to repentance or protecting the church from their malign influence…’
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No. 20
Jonathan Skipper (January 2009)
Diversity and Translation in Christian Mission: Andrew Walls on Contextualisation
The gospel is not fixed to one cultural form, but is to be translated into every culture, re-orientating each one Godwards… the Christian faith is ‘infinitely translatable’ and its history is a history of diffusion across cultural boundaries and its appropriation by new cultures… Cultural diversity is an implication of the Lordship of Christ… Christ’s Great Commission is to disciple the nations, not to make some disciples in each nation.
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